Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker for
#BirdsSeenIn2026
#birds

A Peacock butterfly resting on a twig with its wings nearly fully open and a sea of white Blackthorn blossom in the background

A big stand of Blackthorn with a lovely Peacock butterfly on my walk this afternoon #wildflowerhour

Shop | Svea Solar Ontdek duurzame zonne-energieproducten bij Svea Solar. Hoogwaardige balkoncentrales, accessoires en oplossingen voor milieuvriendelijke energie – nu online bestellen!

Got it from IKEA subsidiary Svea Solar. www.sveasolar.shop/category/shop

Cetti's Warbler. A map of known singing locations to date. If anyone knows of others please let me know, but look at those gaps! There's first county records going begging there! 😉 #irishrarebirds #birds #birding #birdwatching

Just shy of 4 kWh battery storage arrived this morning.
1300EUR + 100EUR for shipping.
Looking forward to seeing how this performs.

'What you get when you vote Green is councillors with two vested interests: to protect people in the community and to protect the planet and the environment.'
@zackpolanski.bsky.social on what you'll get when you vote Green on 7th May.

Photo of the South of Scotland regional ballot paper for the Scottish election on 7th May 2026. Added text identifies the "INDEPENDENT GREEN VOICE" as "NOT the Green Party" and "SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY" as "The actual Green Party".

Anyone who received their postal ballot today in the South of Scotland region, please be aware that "Independent Green Voice", which appears second on the list on the peach regional ballot paper, is NOT the Scottish Green Party. This is in fact a deliberate vote spoiling attempt by right-wingers.

50,000 members of the young greens

Ciara and Callum quote as co-chairs of the young greens.

WOW.

Our @younggreens.bsky.social now have 50,000 members - they are the biggest political youth movement in the UK.

And we're growing. Every single day I am meeting more young greens out on the streets campaigning.

This is how we make change happen.

Join us: join.greenparty.org.uk

Male Kentish Glory attached to a Silver Birch trunk

Stretched out Kentish Glory

Even their bums look good!

Today got off to a good start with my first Kentish Glory of the year in the garden! #teammoth

A Cepero's Groundhopper on the fabric of an insect net's. The kink on the ridge on the top of the hind femur can be made out on the right hind leg.

Sedges and reeds on the margins of a water-filled ditch, with a sea wall behind.

A bit of sunshine, so I thought I'd go looking for Cepero's Groundhopper on the marshes near Faversham. Success - a new tetrad record for this scarce insect! Taken from the open sedgy vegetation on the ditch margin in the second picture. #KentNature #Orthoptera #UKOrthoptera

Glad to see that the Cross-Government Nature Strategy (CGNS) should be published soon - good PQ by @chrishinchliff.bsky.social chasing the government on timings

The CGNS should set out how the whole government estate is restoring nature 1/

questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-ques...

Male Hen Harrier in flight with a good view of his back, right wing and distinctive tail. Grey sky background and a bit of out of focus ground in the lower third of the photo

Hen Harrier, male. #Bird #Benbecula #Scotland

Nature in Wales needs urgent action, says RSPB Cymru, ahead of Senedd election RSPB Cymru has set out a series of priorities aimed at reversing nature decline across Wales with the 2026 Senedd election approaching, From farmland and forests to coastlines and communities, decisio...

RSPB Cymru has set out a series of priorities aimed at reversing nature decline across Wales with the 2026 Senedd election approaching

A small dark bronze, slightly mottled beetle with large eyes resting in a patch of sunlight on bare sandy soil

A small dark bronze, slightly mottled beetle with large eyes resting on bare sandy soil

A new-to-me ground beetle today, possibly one of the Velvetback or Asaphidion species, a nice one to come across. #teambeetle

A Green-veined White butterfly resting on blades of grass close to the ground with its wings closed so that the veins on the underside are easy to see

First Green-veined White of the year today, plus Swallows and House Martins back in residence and noisily chasing each other around above the garden

A pine ladybird, shiny black with four red markings, nestled on the branch of a pine

Scymnus suturalis, a tiny brown ladybird with a dark triangle at the front of the wing cases, extending in a like down the suture

Counting Pine Ladybirds, I spotted this tiny Scymnus suturalis clambering along a branch. A second one appeared soon after.

#Beetle #Coleoptera #Ladybird

Painted Lady butterfly

Large Tortoiseshell

There is an influx of Painted Ladies on Dungeness, Kent this morning

Seen 7 in a small sheltered areas at the top Long Pits

Plus the Large Tortoiseshell found last Thursday is still present east side of top Long Pits

@savebutterflies.bsky.social
@migrantmothuk.bsky.social

Labour faces a green apocalypse at the local elections

Yes. That's the plan.

Join.greenparty.org.uk

Snipe news!
1/4
Two Snipe tagged in Iceland by José Alves left Ireland at dusk on 5 April and reached Iceland 17 hours later. See map.
Averaging 80 and 87 km/h
@birdwatchireland.bsky.social
#ornithology

@lesserspotnet.bsky.social The Blean, 11th April. He spent much of the morning flicking out wood chips and his mate popped by on a couple of occasions

A half-disk view of the moon, with a tiny crescent Earth above it.

🚀 🌔 🌍 📸 The Artemis II mission's 10-day odyssey around the moon and back was captured in stunning photographs at every moment. Here are 12 of our favorite images: www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...

An overcast sky above the brow of a hillside with the sun shining brightly through cloud, some blue sky in the corner but silhouetted woodland in the bottom half making the picture look monochrome overall. A tiny speck is just visible near the sun and is a distant House Martin flying high…

The tops of trees are visible in silhouette along the lower edge of the photo but the picture shows a swathe of white and grey clouds against some blue sky. Swirling in front of the clouds are some of a dozen or so Swallows just visible as dark specks against the cloud

My first hirundines of the year this afternoon: a House Martin (barely a pixel in my first pic!) just a couple of minutes ahead of a party of a dozen or so Swallows passing through my local glen… @birdinglothian.bsky.social

Saving your money on peanuts and suet, and instead planting up your garden for wildlife is also an option. After all, how much time does anyone actually spend *looking* at their birdfeeders?
Donate those savings to groups/charities doing habitat creation instead, for real conservation benefits.

Amazing! I’ve just heard a Nightingale within walking distance of my house. I love that sound, but usually have to travel to experience the immense joy it brings. Bonus Chiffchaff for good measure.

Sound up as loud as you can get it!

A Red Kite over Big Ben this morning.

Close to extinction in Britain not so long ago, this is one of our most successful species recovery efforts to date.

We can do a lot more of this kind of thing, & @naturalengland.bsky.social we’re excited about new work in the pipeline for many others.

Bembidion genei, a black beetle with four orange markings on the wing cases, the front two triangular and the rear two round.

Stenolophus mixtus, a black beetle with burnt orange edges to the wing cases

It was fun searching for beetles along the muddy margins of a ditch. I found the beautiful Bembidion genei and the only slightly less dazzling Stenolophus mixtus.

#Beetles #Coleoptera

A Northern Diamond-back (one of two from last night’s moth trap) among 90 individuals of 15 species overall #TeamMoth

4 day week. Increased productivity. Reduced stress. Less burnout. Improved health. Lower climate emissions. Let's demand better. On May 7th vote Scottish Greens.

Study after study has shown the benefits of a 4 day week - without loss of pay - for employees, employers and wider society.

We could transform how we work, helping people spend more time with their families, supporting their communities and living happier, healthier lives.

I thought Trump's clearly full-blown dementia would result in him just telling more fantastical lies, or talking about something mad, like aliens. How could I have not considered that the core of him is so dark and broken, he'd want to annihilate an entire civilisation?

Bringing the ocean into view.

The Global Fishing Watch map is tracking activity across the ocean using AIS and VMS data—helping make what’s happening at sea easier to see.

Explore what we’ve been working on:
https://bit.ly/4viyrF6