Almost everything we argue about is a substitute for the thing we should be arguing about: the immense wealth & power of an oligarchic class, which captures governments, ruins lives and wrecks the living planet.
This class redirects our rage at scapegoats. To resist its lies is to resist its power.
Two Emperor Moths on a bramble with wings open: one larger and grey (female) and the other smaller and orange (male)
Did you know that a male Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia) can smell a female more than 7 miles away? 👃
These winged wonders can be seen across the UK in open countryside such as heathland and moorland between April and May.
📷: Julian Dowding
#MothMonday #MothsMatter #TeamMoth
Good article 👍🏼
Pow!
Took a bit of a gamble today with a jaunt up to Upper Teesdale, not expecting too much if truth be told. But even a handful of these was enough to make the journey worthwhile.
📸 Spring Gentian (Gentiana verna)
#botany #wildflowerhour
Nice set of shots 👍🏼 Amazing how so many people can seem to be totally indifferent or blind to such beauty in front of them isn’t it. Even though I see & hear these regularly I always notice and enjoy them.
A cool day on the @greenwingstours.bsky.social False Apollo tour resulted in an impromptu photography workshop (20 minutes that turned into 2 hours thanks to all of the great guest questions!), with a Small Copper then appearing as things warmed up. A favourite species for the last 50 years!
This male Orange-tip wasn't taking 'no' for an answer, despite the female clearly rejecting him by raising her abdomen, as many species in the Pieridae family do! It was nice to see so many of them flying today, along with Holly Blue in numbers not encountered for several years!
'Gorgeous Gargano'
A few picture postcards from our botanical tour of the Gargano in Italy. This exclusive tour is led by Paul Harcourt Davies & his wife Lois. Italian residents & the most experienced and knowledgable guide team around, with 30+ years experience of visiting this famous Peninsula!
Yay, my first Wall of the year, but the big surprise is that it’s a female. They usually come out a bit later to make sure there are plenty of males around to mate quickly. Seen on chalk ridge near Swanage @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social
Just back from another very successful @greenwingstours.bsky.social tour in Greece! I'm not sure why, but this photo of a Green-underside Blue seems to evoke something about the place that I just can't put into words ... answers on a postcard!
Couple of phone snaps from the concrete jungle.
A small but exceptional Naked Man Orchid (Orchis italica). Saw this hyperchromic stunner in central southern Crete 12.04.26 #orchid #orchis
Stunner 👌🏼
Another great day on the @greenwingstours.bsky.social False Apollo tour. Lots of lovely Grecian Copper, including an aberrant female with elongated spots. Finding the rare Krueper's Small White was the icing on the cake!
Can’t really ask for more than that Pete! 👏🏼 Great pics too!
A fantastic start to the @greenwingstours.bsky.social False Apollo tour. Not only did we find adults, but also managed to locate a few batches of False Apollo eggs on its main foodplant, Aristolochia hirta.
A magnificent clump of Arum creticum, at around 1000m altitude. Thripti, Crete, 08.04.26. Thrilled to tick it off my wishlist in such spectacular fashion! 😄
Very smart orchid that one 👌🏼 And good set of pics 👍🏼
A pair of gloves hands with a black and orange fire salamander in one of them and a dark crested newt in the other.
An unexpected start to the day when my wife and I squeezed a step ladder into the car and drove to a sewer with an open lid she'd discovered while out running. We soon lifted a dozen frogs, a baby toad, two lizards, a young slow worm, a pair of fire salamanders and two crested newts to the surface!
Lovely looking plant!
Ophrys ferrum-equinum
#RhodesOrchidOdyssey
@greenwingstours.bsky.social
A like for the plant but not for the backstory! Forestry management I’m guessing?
Ace 👌🏼
Goodnight from Greece with this, Fritillaria rhodia. A dainty flower, no bigger than a fingernail. A firm favourite that I love finding each spring.
#RhodesOrchidOdyssey
@greenwingstours.bsky.social
I like them too, and I was lucky enough to watch three actual bees fighting over one, in Malta, a couple of years ago !
Wow! Thats epic 👌🏼
Some may consider this one a bit boring, but I’m fond of them.
Ophrys bombyliflora - Bumblebee Orchid 🐝
#RhodesOrchidOdyssey
It is this year (today). Host is either C. salviflorus or parviflorus.
You can be almost guaranteed to see it here. You can also find the even cooler red form of Cytinus hypocistus ssp. clusii or Cytinus ruber (pic attached). That one tends to be found on Cistus creticus.
