Grey Heron eyeing up our urban garden pond.

It’s amazing what a garden pond will attract! #greyheron #hantsbirds

Wow!

Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis)

Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis) flowering at Titchfield Haven NNR, Hampshire (Vice-county 11). #wildflowerhour

That’s crazy! I had no idea we had springtails like that in ol’ Blighty!

Wow, epic!

Reform would create ICE-style agency and end leave to remain, Zia Yusuf to say Nigel Farage’s party plans to deport up to 288,000 people a year on five flights a day and expand stop and search

If you want concentration camps in the UK, people being grabbed off the streets, or murdered on them, five year olds being separated from their parents and locked up #VoteReform

Thanks for the info!

A bit like the mammoths on Wrangel Island.

Yes, or Variegated Lords and Ladies is another name for it. It’s a garden plant that commonly escapes into the wild.

Frogspawn

Frogspawn in our garden pond in southeast Hampshire 🐸✌️ @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social

Brazil sets out its strategy for nature Brazil is the world’s most biodiverse country, and the title is not closely contested in absolute numbers: between 10% and 15% of all known species live within its borders. The country contains nearly...

Brazil's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan includes the goal of conserving 80% of the Brazilian Amazon by 2030. It is easy to announce targets, but another thing to achieve them. I hope that Brazil succeeds. 🌍

#amazonrainforest #amazonia #amazon

news.mongabay.com/2026/01/braz...

Red Squirrel

Firecrest

Cattle Egret at RSPB Brading Marshes

White-tailed Eagle in the mist at RSPB Brading Marshes

Brilliant few days on the Isle of Wight seeing Red Squirrels, Firecrests, Cattle Egrets, White-tailed Eagle, White-fronted Geese and Great White Egrets. #isleofwightbirds @rspb.bsky.social

HPAI is another issue too, I think I read a lot of Dalmatian Pelicans died in 2023.

How bigger wetlands do they need? Some of the images of their breeding lakes in Greece look smaller than a lot of English lakes/reservoirs. I should imagine they would be very controversial here, as anglers get very upset about cormorants.

Get well soon Martin!

Yes, it’s dogwood. Looks to have just finished flowering. I had it flowering in my garden in December, must be confused by the mild conditions (until now!).

Wow! European Mink is mega!

Fabulous Martin! I love the dead pine too.

You’re welcome, I heard about the fire. Unfortunately these events will probably become frequent in a rapidly changing climate. Another Orthopteran species to look out for is the rapidly spreading Large Conehead, that is established in part of the New Forest.

Bog Bush Cricket is certainly at Holt Heath. Not sure about Large Marsh Grasshoppers, they’re on Purbeck and in the New Forest. Mole Crickets are a lot harder to find, breeding at a secret location in the New Forest I believe. Have seen them in France, quite common in the right habitats there.

I’m really looking forward to this book!

A great read!

That’s a Whitethroat

Amazing record!

Blue-winged Grasshopper (Oedipoda caerulescens) at Folkestone today.
Proximity of the Channel Tunnel suggests train-assisted.

Looks epic! Will have to go there!

Yes, I told them I won’t be getting the insurance and therefore won’t do the survey. They gave me permission and the license in the following email.

Thank you

Hi Darren, what’s a good modern book on Dinosaurs please? More for reading than looking at pictures.

Yes, both correct