A horse

Some very nosey company for NVC surveys today. Personal space doesn’t translate into farm horse apparently

A view of an upland common in Wales

Alongside the hammering rain that seems to have made itself at home over the past couple of weeks, the other challenge I’ve noticed is finding time to post work updates alongside the annual August fieldwork rush. NVC surveys have been enjoyable despite the weather though!

Cladonia portentosa, a lichen (central and bottom right) surrounded by Calluna vulgaris

A dwarf shrub heath dominated by calluna vulgaris

Cowberry in fruit

Back to the Blorenge this week in search of some more peat amongst the heath. Fantastic site with some great examples of Cladonia hiding under the heather, this photo’s of Cladonia portentosa. The cowberry is also still going strong! Fantastic colours all around.

Beautiful weather at Parc Cwm Darran for today's #BioBlitz with Buglife! We're here til 4pm, with the next wildlife walk at 2pm.

Part of the Buglife Coal Spoil Connections project.

Four sheep in a foggy heath

Some absolutely stunning views for peat depth surveys today. Now that’s what I call a gorgeous Welsh summer!

Gwna wahaniaeth!
Mae hon yn swydd allweddol i gyflawni amcanion Adfer Mawndir Cymru. Byddwch yn dod â'ch sgiliau a'ch arbenigedd i gefnogi'r tîm deinamig a llwyddiannus sy’n anelu at #NaturUwchCarbonIs.
bit.ly/45ieGkI
£45K-£50K+
Cau 15/9/2025
@natreswales.bsky.social @iucn-uk-peat.bsky.social

Make a difference!
This is a key post to achieve the aims of Wales Peatland Action. You’ll bring your skills and expertise to support the dynamic and successful NPAP team aiming for #HighNatureLowCarbon.
bit.ly/3H1UbAR
£45K-£50K+
Closing 15/9/2025
@natreswales.bsky.social @iucn-uk-peat.bsky.social

Osmundia regalis growing at the base of a willow

Osmundia regalis

Nice to see a population of Royal Fern in full swing during some lowland peatland surveys near Swansea today. A very unassuming site when you first get to it but it hides some great features and nearly 4m of peat in places

An upland peatland site in south Wales

Bog asphodel

All sorts of weather from 10 minutes of driving rain to an hour of blazing sun on site for peatland water vole surveys today. Managed to catch the last of the bog asphodel in flower as well, expecting them all to be bright orange in seed the next time I see them

Emperor moth caterpillar

Drosera rotundifolia on a Sphagnum carpet

A concrete fence post covered in lichen including Xanthoria

A few other species highlights from this week including an emperor moth caterpillar, which I don’t think I’ve seen before. Drosera (always a favourite of mine) and a well developed lichen community on this fence post which I think is mainly Xanthoria parietina.

A stilling well in a reed dominated stream

A wasp spider

Back out onto the local marsh today, but this time for some stilling well repairs rather than water sampling. Highlight of the day though was not retrieving the stilling well from a very interesting smelling reed dominated channel, it was seeing a wasp spider in the field next to it on the way in!

Clear-cutting forests linked to 18-fold increase in frequency and size of floods Clear-cutting can make catastrophic floods 18 times more frequent with effects lasting more than 40 years, according to a new UBC study.

"Clearcutting can make catastrophic floods 18x more frequent with effects lasting more than 40 yrs, according to a new study. In one watershed, these extreme floods also became >2x as large, turning a once-in-70-yrs event into something that now happens every nine years." 🌏 phys.org/news/2025-07...

Typically, I forgot to take any pictures despite writing in my notebook to do so, but I had a great time at the University of Manchester on Monday delivering a Sphagnum ecology and ID workshop. Thanks to the people who came and big thanks especially to @jpritson.bsky.social for organising

Hello world!

RSPB Conservation Science has officially landed on BlueSky

Follow us to hear about our science discoveries, new publications, citizen science, and all things conservation research

Eroded peat on the Blorenge, South Wales

Cowberry (also known as Lingonberry)

Absolutely roasting day to be out on the Blorenge mapping peat and erosion around footpaths with Adfer Natur CIC. Incredibly dense heath with more cowberry than I’ve seen in one place before

Chwip o bryfyn prin ar drothwy #WythnosNaturCymru!
Dyma’r ffurf euraidd o’r pry llwyd – yr Atylotus fulvus – tybed all rhywun gynnig yr enw Cymraeg cywir? Mae’r fenyw am amsugno gwaed cyn gollwng ei wyau ar y mawndir gwlyb. Diolch i’n cydweithiwr Rob Bacon am yr aberth!
@natreswales.bsky.social

What a rare beauty on the eve of #WalesNatureWeek!
This Golden Horsefly, was spotted by Rob Bacon on a Tywi forest peatland restoration site. See how this female probes for blood to guzzle before laying her eggs. The sacrifices our team make to share good nature pictures!
@natreswales.bsky.social

A peat site with bog asphodel in flower

Bog asphodel is starting to come into flower at Maerdy. About half of it still seems to be in bud so hopefully some great photo opportunities in a couple of weeks. Luckily I’ll need to be back here for more vegetation and water vole work

The moss house at the Firs, Manchester University

Mossy protest signs from the Moss Worlds project

Wilson’s filmy fern at the moss house, the Firs, Manchester University

Cross stitch pieces of mosses, on plant pots, in a glass house

A very busy but rewarding week with the highlight definitely being the Moss Worlds final exhibition. The moss house at the firs is now one of my favourite places, it has Wilson’s filmy fern growing on the walls! Great as well to see the moss protest signs and everyone’s moss stitch pieces in person

A chair in a brick yard

Highly glamorous bat surveys this evening. They can’t all be glorious views all the time!

Recovery of Sphagnum from drought is controlled by species-specific moisture thresholds - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Recovery of Sphagnum from drought is controlled by species-specific moisture thresholds

New paper out today led by Ben Keane on Sphagnum recovery from drought.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A peat pan with a remnant piece of peat, presumably resultant from erosional action. A sundew - Drosera rotundifolia - is growing on the small patch of elevated peat

The heatwave continues for the peatland surveys today. Back on familiar ground at Maerdy wind farm for vegetation monitoring. Interesting to see the worlds most adventurous Drosera clinging to the last patch of eroding peat in one of the large pans on site

Fields with young bracken in the background and a blue sky

Bog pimpernel

The most blue sky seen during surveys in Wales for some time today. Looks like the heatwave finally showed up. Highlight of the survey was the first bog pimpernel seen this year! Found on a flushed slope just over that hill

Hi, Joey here! I have finally set up a separate voice for Haven Ecology, my ecological consultancy company based in South Wales. This account will be used to share things for Haven but for posts about all the projects I’m involved in with my various hats on check out @bootlegbryos.bsky.social