Butterflies crossing oceans, moths navigating by the stars: unravelling the mysteries of insect migrations Trillions of insects embark, largely unnoticed, on epic journeys every year across mountain ranges, deserts and seas, and it is only now, as their numbers suffer huge declines, that scientists are tra...

Nice summary of long distance insect migration in the Guardian today with fancy graphics www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Just 2 days left to donate and receive match funding from the Aviva Community Fund for setting up Summerhouse Community Farm in Lancaster. Only £2500 more in donations to reach the funding target! Find out more and donate here:

#LancasterDistrict
#LESSCIC
#FoodFutures

Large tortoiseshell butterfly confirmed no longer extinct in UK Early spring sightings show colourful insect is a resident species for first time in decades, says conservation charity

@savebutterflies.bsky.social now considers Large Tortoiseshell a resident species once again.
It is yet to recoloniese our region. But with a continent-facing coastline and abundant elm surely soon.

@richardfoxbc.bsky.social @patrickbarkham.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

At the bottom of the photo a partial view of a pavement with a bench towards the right hand side. Behind it a mass of wild flowers, mostly Kidney Vetch and Ox-eye Daisies. In the background are houses, a few parked cars, and some small trees. There are white clouds in an otherwise blue sky.

Our Wildflower Enhancement Project at Rock Edge has increased populations of important wildflowers such as Field and Small Scabious and vastly increased the resource of nectar and pollen-rich flowers available to insects on this amenity grassland. Link in next post. 🌰🌍 #WildflowerHour

Fair Funding for Hospices Hospice UK's campaign for fair hospice funding

Until this year I didn't really know quite what hospices did. I know, I've been lucky - many of you no doubt know already what amazing work they do for people going through the absolute worst things. So obviously they're severely underfunded. www.hospiceuk.org/fair-funding...

Yorkshire Dales sheep and cattle swap boosts biodiversity - studies Natural England began switching to cattle grazing at its Ingleborough site in the Dales in 2004.

"There's five times as many butterflies on cattle grazing sites compared with sheep grazed sites,"

@bcyorkshire.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

That was my thought too!

I really know very little about the project other what's on their website. But nice connection is that FoodFutures have the polytunnel adjacent to our wildflower polytunnel at the Council's White Lund depot.

I don't know exactly, but I think it's between Ashton Road and the Lancaster Canal, possibly adjacent to Haverbreaks.

Setting up Summerhouse Community Farm in Lancaster communitiesfund.avivafoundation.org.uk/p/summerhous...

Donate to help LESS CIC set up Summerhouse Community Farm in Lancaster. This project supports climate action through strengthening the local food supply, improving biodiversity and building practical skills. Match funding via the Aviva Foundation on all donations up until 11th March. #FoodFutures

Oh, BBC. Jenrick urging British people to 'join the Reform movement' is not news. It's propaganda. Also 'writing in the Telegraph' behind a paywall is not a public announcement. Is it, BBC? Lead story on R3 at half-six.

Wow, stage 2 looks like it will pass within 5 minutes walk of our front door (on the way out of Lancaster to the 'Côte de Jubilee Tower'). Fantastic.

Guidelines: - Best Practice for Using iNaturalist in the UK: Best Practice for Using iNaturalist in the UK A practical, optional guide to help your observations integrate smoothly with the UK biological recording system This guidance is entirely optional. You...

forum.inaturalist.org/t/guidelines...

Donate to the Cerne Abbas Nature Appeal Donate to the Cerne Abbas Appeal so together, we can help restore the land, habitats and species that live there.

The National Trust is halfway to their appeal to buy Giant Hill, one of the UKs top butterfly sites, also rich in insects and flowers. The last good habitat for Duke of Burgundy in Dorset. Please donate if you can @nationaltrust.org.uk www.nationaltrust.org.uk/support-us/a...

Ye Olde Naked Man Cafe.... 🫣

Gotta love Yorkshire....

Nearly half way to the target. Please support this appeal if you can, it’s an amazing place

"What promotes biodiversity often doesn't align with human perceptions of beauty and order": interesting 🧵on disturbance in grassland. Translate button at bottom of each post.

Butterfly numbers booming in St Albans! Managing meadows with low mow techniques and sowing wildflower seeds have resulted in a big increase in butterfly number. Congratulations to St Albans Council @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Hay meadows once covered the UK; now 97% are gone! 🌾

Join us to explore how traditional management can bring these rich habitats back.

Hay Meadow Restoration webinar with Carol Edmondson on Thursday, 29th January 2026.

Sign up: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1821584400...

@forestofbowlandnl.bsky.social

Can gardens save the world? A new report from the RHS gives me hope that the role of gardens in the climate and biodiversity crisis might finally be realised.

open.substack.com/pub/katebrad...

'A huge milestone' - Community group takes ownership of Bridestones Moor Bridestones Moor, the dramatic 114-acre expanse above Todmorden, has been officially brought under community ownership.

Huge congrats to community group Bridestones Rewilded, who this week brought Bridestones Moor in west Yorkshire into community ownership:

www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/environ...

Find out more about their project here: bridestones.love

I always wish I’d kept notes, but never do!

I think you should. We've had very little success with surface sowing in our wildflower poly tunnels. I poke bigger seeds like knapweed about 1cm down and scrape some compost over the hole. With tiny seed we sometimes just cover with perlite/vermiculite.

Like pulling the plug of a bathtub: an incredible mass of #glacier ice disappearing at Griesgletscher (🇨🇭/🇮🇹) in one century.
It felt emotional to visit the exact same spot @swisstopo cartographers chose in 1919. The view was so different.
Simply unbelievable!!
@vaw-glaciology.bsky.social

Lovely! I know the Edge well – my partner grew up in the village, with a view of the Edge from the house.

Fabulous. They always seem to be nectaring on Red Clover don't they? The last one I saw (20 years ago) was in Sussex – walking along the Seven Sisters. We live in North Lancashire. Clouded Yellows much more unusual here than on the south coast I think.

A Clouded Yellow butterfly showing its underwings of soft greenish-yellow dotted with brown and white spots is nectaring on Red Clover against a background of green grasses.

My first walk into the field for 5 weeks and there's a Clouded Yellow right by the path. First I've seen for around 20 years. #ukbutterflies #ukwildlife

(Not Birds…) At least 40+ Small pearl-bordered fritillary seen on the Claife, Cumbria afternoon… seem to like the thistles in the emerging bracken… #ukbutterflies #butterflies

A Ribbon of Wildness Between Road and Pasture At first glance, the scene is an ordinary roadside wall – a strip of stone edging the tarmac footpath, with a fence and pasture beyond. Yet the top of this wall tells a richer, more hopeful story. …

Between tarmac & pasture, a wall-top blooms with Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Harebell, ferns and fine grasses. A narrow ribbon of biodiversity squeezed between two low-diversity landscapes. #WildflowerHour #Biodiversity #Cumbria forktail.co.uk/2025/08/27/a...