This year the BSBI launched the 100 Plants in 2026 Challenge - a project encouraging brand new botanists and recorders to identify their first 100 plants this year and to submit the records.
bsbi.org/take-part/ac...
It's been about three months now, so how is it going?
My son got a new card game of Welsh legends. This dude is pretty evil looking but honestly, he wouldn't need magical candles to lure me onto bogs; I'd go quite willingly.
A border collie asleep in a pub
Well it’s taken a very long time, but Indy’s finally old enough and calm enough that he’s happy to fall asleep on my feet in the pub.
It’s a wrap for now!
Restoration on next Autumn’s sites need planning, whilst nature will thrive on the new bunds and pools. Soon sphagnum will spread across the surface, later forming new layers of peat to offer a sustainable habitat for the bog’s unique species.
@natreswales.bsky.social
Creating green jobs!
#WalesPeatlandAction upscale creates more green jobs for contractors in Wales. Here the Wales Peatland Programme specialists are providing training to local contractors diversifying to work on peatland (Lot 3 in the Framework).
@natreswales.bsky.social @iucn-uk-peat.bsky.social
Deeply disrespectful to the theatrical craft, this. The actors *also* shake.
Bryum alpinum, an acrocarpous moss
Mitrula paludosa, a fungus
Couple of eye catching finds out in Eryri today, Bryum alpinum and Mitrula paludosa (aka Bog Beacon which is a much cooler name than the Latin I think!). Stunning colour on the Bryum, really stands out on the boulders.
A border collie on grass with a rugby ball
Sunny days in Swansea means being outside all the time and playing rugby for one happy border collie. Looks like rain again next week, so Indy’s going to have to suffer through being inside while I work on my greenhouse flux data
First beefly of the the year for me today in Killay. Typically it was too fast for me to get a photo while walking Indy. I also had four or five red-tailed bumble bee queens (massive!) emerge from the grass near the clyne river on my morning walk. Spring is well and truly springing!
So chuffed to have my current Valleys show in Clwb Ffoto on the front of the Apollo magazine website! I'm still here, taking photography in Wales to the biggest audiences I can! Thanks to Owen Pritchard for the great writing that accompanies the pictures. apollo-magazine.com/south-wales-...
Also just a note of importance. They say that Sphagnum has antimicrobial properties in this episode, but Polytrichum is actually a reasonably effective diuretic so don’t eat it or you’ll be in for a bad time
Very clearly a Polytrichum moss on a television
Academics who couldn’t name even one genus of moss (really?come on…) and were told that what is clearly a photo of Polytrichum is actually Sphagnum. On a TV.
Unbelievable scenes on University Challenge as they put up a picture of Polytrichum and Amol tells them that the correct answer is that it’s a Sphagnum moss. Who’s got the phone number for Ofcom? The country needs to know the truth, and the bryology community needs a written apology!
A national survey of breeding waders is underway in #Wales, organised by @natreswales.bsky.social. All records of Curlews and Lapwings in potential breeding habitat are valuable, so please do share your knowledge via @cofnod.org.uk.
📷 Cameron Sharp
www.birdnotes.wales/blog/welsh-w...
A group of people by a roadside on a blanket bog in the Rhondda, south Wales
A very enjoyable but very rainy day out on the bog today with our yearly MSc field trip to Castell Nos habitat restoration area. A really engaged group this year, which is fantastic to see, and it’s a highlight of my teaching for me to come back here every year and see how the peatland is doing
Work by contractor Greenwise has already opened up areas of grassland shaded by gorse.
From April, we’ll be running volunteer work parties to tackle invasive Cotoneaster — we’d love your help!
We’ll also run free guided walks from May. Keep an eye on our socials for dates. 💚
(2/2)
🦋 Our 'Save the Small Blue at Cwm Tips' crowdfund has now closed — and thanks to your amazing support we raised £2,446.83!
Thank you to everyone who donated, shared and offered to volunteer. Together we can now begin restoring flower-rich grassland for the Small Blue and other wildlife. 🌼 (1/2)
Who do I have to bribe to get Sphagnum moss nominated to go on the UK bank notes as part of the nature themed re-design?
If anyone from my Wales, peatland, ecology, research, science or nature conservation communities (or anyone else) would like to support, or help spread the word about this crowdfunder for the fantastic Glo I Natur CIC, please do. They’re so close to reaching their target
🪲 Only 4 spaces left!
Join Liam Olds & Carys Romney of Glo i Natur CIC for a guided woodland invertebrate walk at Coed Bach Park, Pontarddulais. Discover beetles, spiders, woodlice & more living beneath the leaves.
⚠️ 2 morning / 2 afternoon places left
🎟️ Book: www.trybooking.com/uk/FVTB
Great news about Danes Moss North, an important peatland in Cheshire. Congrats to @savedanesmoss.bsky.social who have run a brilliant campaign to marshal the local community to protect this local gem.
Sphagnum medium on Cors Fochno
Sphagnum austinii on Cors Fochno
A peat bund holding water on Cors Fochno
Saw some familiar friends (people & mosses) during my first week with @peatlandcymru.bsky.social as part of the NPAP survey team. Been a long time since I’ve been back to Cors Fochno and it was great to see the parts of the peatland I did my MSc on years ago still with Sphagnum austinii hummocks
If you have an environmental story that needs investigating, please do contact our investigative journalism team at Wild Cymru - Cymru Wyllt. www.wild.cymru/contact-wild...
Today we begin a new chapter: Cymru Wyllt / Wild Cymru.
We believe Wales can be wilder — in its landscapes, its wildlife and its spirit. This isn’t just a new name. It’s our vision for nature recovery.
What does a wilder Wales mean to you?
#CymruWyllt #NatureRecovery
A Dark-edged Bee-fly sat on a leaf, basking in sunshine - library photo by @kitenet.bsky.social
Bee-flies are go! A 1st #BeeFlyWatch record for 2026 is in, from east Surrey on 26 Feb. Look out for more during warm & sunny spells over coming weeks, & please send in sightings, via iRecord if possible. Full details on the @dipteristsforum.bsky.social website: dipterists.org.uk/bee-fly-watch
A racist, absurd cartoon character Was the inspiration for this comic book villain
The life and times of Bilious Barrage
Enough said
Alongside being a nature and moss nerd, I am also a comic book nerd. If anyone isn’t familiar with the 2000AD villain Bilious Barrage, please enjoy. He last appeared in the comics in 2016 in the final weeks run up to the brexit vote.
It’s when the sheep start talking back that I think we have to start worrying
Dipwell (actually stilling well) 1 in a ditch
Dipwell 23, a pipe in a Molinia bog
Looking back on photos from instrumenting the bog this last week, it’s become clear to me that somewhere in the four days of lone working between installing dipwell 1 and dipwell 23, i did in fact lose my mind
Frogspawn in a puddle
Sun shining over the Neath Valley, looking northeast from the summit(ish) of Cefn Morfudd
Swansea bay in the sun from the summit of Cefn Morfudd, near Tonna, Neath
First frogspawn in the bog of the year for me today. Along with the first real bit of sun I’ve felt for months at this point I think. Much more enjoyable dipwell installing weather than Monday
A dead or dying Sitka spruce on a mound of peat excavated for planting
A dead Sitka spruce on a mound of drying peat left from planting
A dead Sitka spruce on a mound of peat excavated for planting, next to the pit the peat was dug out from
Some VERY healthy and happy looking Sitka that were planted on deep peat on a site I work on. I’m of course devastated about it. Check out the cracking on that excavated peat dollop. Hard to even think about the carbon balance for planting on 1m+ of peat when the trees don’t even survive 18 months
A forest to bog site in south wales, the trees are about 400m away, shrouded by heavy rain and fog. The site is covered in tree stumps
A logging stilling well in a ditch on a forest to bog restoration site
A logging stilling well in a ditch on a forest to bog site. The yellow thread lock is actually Rimmel London quick dry nail varnish which works better and is much cheaper than the commercial alternative. Don’t tell anyone, trade secret
Absolutely shocking weather but still managed to get some logging dipwells and stilling wells into the bog today. Two sites down, three to go before the end of the week!
