Cumbria Nature Festival mixed up with event for nudists Cumbria Nature Festival offers a refund to anyone who

It’s happened again. 🫣

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Yup! A Canada goose nesting in a tree.

So, today I found out that Canada geese occasionally nest in trees.

I was admiring this old oak, then realised I was being watched. 👀

Feathers McGraw (a penguin with a rubber glove for a hat, or a chicken depending on who you ask) stands outside the entrance of The Museum of English Rural Life.

we're thrilled to share that we've started the year with a new addition to our team! he's extremely smart, capable, charming, persuasive, and boasts a wealth of museum experience

Oldest evidence of domestic dogs discovered in Europe and Türkiye | Natural History Museum Bones unearthed at several sites show that dogs were widely distributed across West Eurasia by at least 14,000 years ago.

This is really cool! 😮

DNA analysis has revealed what may be the oldest genetic evidence of domestic dogs.

Several fossils found across Europe and Türkiye indicate that dogs may have been widespread by at least 14,000 years ago.

Check it out 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Natural History Museum most popular tourist attraction in 2025 The venue broke the record for the most visitors to any museum or gallery in a single year.

Wonderful to see the Natural History Museum is as popular as ever! 💚

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Dolphins Saved a Swimmer From a Shark! A Rare Combination of Three Marine Myths. Last Month, the Huffington Post and other outlets reported that dolphins protected long-distance swimmer Adam Walker from a nearby great white shark....

This is your regularly-scheduled reminder that "someone saw a shark, saw dolphins, and was not eaten by a shark" does NOT mean "dolphins saved someone from a shark eating them."

(By me, more than 10 years ago)

slate.com/technology/2...

So excited for this! 👏

A house by a river surrounded by fields

An old mill on a river

A quaint little village with a bridge over a river.

A large house in front of a river

Spent my birthday weekend in the Cotswolds and now I get the hype.

Given how much nature is declining, I’d say it’s a fantastic time to highlight Britain’s wildlife on our banknotes.

Can’t wait to see which designs get chosen. 👏

Two minutes of octopuses bursting into the world. @schmidtocean.bsky.social has the 4k version on their socials. Dive 622 #octoodyssey #MarineLife

Wildlife to replace historical figures on banknotes The public will help choose which animals and birds will appear on the Bank of England's new notes.

Love this! 🐦‍⬛🐛🦔🐝🐞🦡

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ancient DNA and spatial modeling reveal a pre-Inca trans-Andean parrot trade - Nature Communications Here, the authors combine ancient DNA, stable isotopes, and computational modeling to study colorful feathers from a pre-Incan tomb in Peru. They identify four species of parrots, which were likely ca...

🦜🏔️ How did vibrant Amazonian parrot feathers end up in a desert tomb on the Pacific coast of Peru 1,000 years ago? Our new paper on @natcomms.nature.com reveals they didn't just trade feathers, pre-Inca societies transported live macaws and parrots across the Andes!👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Macro photo of a brown stink bug in face view on a leaf, guarding a tightly-clustered bunch of eggs that are shaped and colored exactly like a full tray of dark beer with foam on top.

Finally, the bug is back with a round of the Guinness.

What is a plesiosaur? The prehistoric sea creatures that inspired the Loch Ness Monster | Natural History Museum Find out what plesiosaur fossils have revealed about these animals, and how big they could grow.

What have I been up to this week? Quite a bit, but here are the articles that have come out!

First up, (hopefully) everything you wanted to know about plesiosaurs:
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/wha...

Astonishing Spinosaur Unearthed in The Sahara Is Unlike Any Seen Before A new Spinosaurus species has been unearthed from the Saharan desert, and its skull bears a magnificent crest never seen before on this kind of dinosaur.

A new species of Spinosaur with a remarkable crest has been discovered in the Sahara!

www.sciencealert.com/astonishing-...

The BBC Olympics snowboarding commentary is bringing me so much joy.

Never before have I wanted two people to start a podcast this much.

So in the Bluesky user map, I find myself sitting in the Palaeontology Researchers and Educators. Which is fair.

But we definitely have the best neighbours. 🌈💃

Apes Share Human Ability to Imagine YouTube video by Johns Hopkins University

Imagination in bonobos!

I am thrilled to share a new paper w/ Amalia Bastos, out now in @science.org

We provide the first experimental evidence that a nonhuman animal can follow along a pretend scenario & track imaginary objects. Work w/ Kanzi, the bonobo, at Ape Initiative

youtu.be/NUSHcQQz2Ko

We got sheep! 🐑

Come meet Barley and Rye in the gardens of the Natural History Museum. 😁

@nhm-london.bsky.social

A BBC news article about someone dressed in a purple dinosaur costume dumping rubbish in the streets.

I see Barney has turned to a life of crime. 👀

A bird is standing on a forest floor. It has a cicada bug in its bill, and its long iridescent purple-blue tail is raised behind it.

And yet more gorgeous wildlife images from this year's People's Choice Award! 🙌🏻

Particularly love this one of a rufous-vented ground cuckoo with its lovely metallic orange-purple tail 🪶🧪
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2026/february/vote-for-wildlife-of-the-year-nuveen-peoples-choice-award-2026.html

Polar bears are getting fatter in the fastest-warming place on Earth Shrinking sea ice has made life harder for polar bears in many parts of the Arctic, but the population in Svalbard seems to be thriving

Great news for Svalbard polar bars, for the time being anyway. ❄️

Interesting to see how some animals are adapting to the effects of climate change.

www.newscientist.com/article/2513...

Fossils show that ‘Nutcracker Man’ ventured further and wider than previously thought | Natural History Museum A 2.6-million-year-old fossil is changing our understanding of early human evolution in Africa.

This #FossilFriday, we have a new Paranthropus fossil that was recently discovered in northern Ethiopia! 🦴

The latest discovery shows that this group was as widely distributed as other early human relatives, despite having a more specialised diet.

Check it out 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Headline: "Scientists discover emperor penguin colony in Antarctica using satellite images"

Yesterday it was cows using tools, today its penguins using satellite imagery.

Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in different ways – something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees

Cows use tools! 🧹

www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

A "chicken flap" in the wall of a chicken house, made out of an old toilet seat. (If they'd flipped it around, they could have also had a little entry ramp.)

I doubt I will ever see a more inspired bit of upcycling.

This is my 30th year as a journalist.

But I still continue to be shocked daily at the extent to which these same 'news'papers revel in wilful misinformation in order to relentlessly promote the ideology/interests of their senior editors and owners.

An utter disregard and contempt for their readers

Wallpaper depicting a drawing of Guildford. In the foreground are colourful drawings of flowers and kingfisher.

Every time I visit an Ivy restaurant, I always come away with new ideas of how I want to decorate my house.