Carla Jack

Gorgeous photos and an amazing find.

A mini 'beast' of the leaf litter the pseudoscorpion Chthonius ischnocheles. This tiny arachnid is just a few millimetres long. It uses its venomous 'pincer palps' to immobilise prey such as mites then covers them with digestive fluid and injests the liquefied remains. They are harmless to humans!

Having recently had heat pumps installed the addition of heat recovery mechanical ventilation was the real game changer for us. We have no moisture buildup and the heat pumps don't have to work as hard to keep the rooms warm.

Really happy to see this book is now published as I find Patrick's sci-illustration to be so engaging!

It makes me wish I was studying waterbodies in the US.

#WaterEcology #WildlifePonds #booktok

Learnt a lot about spot ons and wormers persistence and damage thanks to studies posted on blue sky thankfully.

The blender jute is a great option to point people to.

What's the verdict on sheep's wool? If I know it's insecticide free would there be any reason not to keep leaving it out for the birds?

Trans women have lots to teach the rest of us about resilience in the face of epic stupidity that seeks to make us small and broken.

Every spring during marsh tit surveys I check on the Monks Wood bottle, now lain here undisturbed for at least 72 years, but prob since WW2 when a pigpen was here. Huntingdonshire Brewery closed in 1954. Still a few smashed snail shells: Song Thrushes have used it an anvil for generations.

"Unlike today – where crop monocultures are dominant – mixed agricultural systems were the norm over the majority of the last 2,000 years. "

Absolutely great observations and information in the books! I know I'll be coming back to them often over the coming years.

Interesting study on host plant selection

#EcosystemRestoration #WildlifeGardening

Tomato leaves with late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans

Hello friends of science! I’m migrating over here from X. There, I had 3,000 followers enjoying plant pathology content! Please help me rebuild. I’ll post plant disease photos, management info, science & nature content. Kicking off with some tomato late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans.

So we can try to diversify things a little with:

A) a few of the sports of species that would have been there historically but aren’t nearby, and could be popped back in

B) things in case it gets hot for a bit

C) things in case it gets cold after

Everyone will flip out regardless.

45 year old fogeys agree too. I'm opting out of so many things because I choose a different more beautiful chaos that does not require a monthly subscription.

Honestly on the dark days I picture us plunged into much colder conditions if we don't find a way to stop the collapse of AMOC. I'm actively increasing natives for wet winters and slowly increasing cold tolerant European species on the same rough latitude as Ireland in the longer term.

Challenge accepted (she said to no one)

And what a great place to have access to.

I can visualise the downward path but I'm struggling to see how the eels make their way back upstream. They are amazing creatures. I'm off to try find videos now instead of all the boring grownup things I'm meant to be doing.

Thread 🧵 worth reading

It's disappointing for sure. The effort of making something is the point. The AI shortcuts destroy the benefits of effort while tricking them into thinking that the only thing that matters is what they 'produce'.

Did u know? This is what happens when you don't raze your garden to the ground in readiness for winter - i.e cutting seed heads off, clearing out plant pots, pruning spent stems & dead branches. If you leave stuff, then winter feeding insects like the Angle Shades moth larva still have food. 🌿🌱🇬🇧🌱🌍🪲🐛

I'm very happy to be a part of this initiative to set up a free seed library that will be hosted permanently in Portlaoise Library (Irish Midlands) from Sat 7th March onwards.

Sowing & sharing local grown seed should be accessible to everyone.

Inspired by the Cork Zero Waste volunteers ❤️

Never enough books 😂! They are pricey enough but definitely on my wishlist too :) Beautiful just to look at either way.

You would have loved it Jamie. Some of the large old trees looked like they were in leaf only to be actually covered in silvery beard-like lichens for the winter. Small selections of the Irish rainforest still intact.

Unidentified mosses/lichen photo taken in Killarney, Ireland

Unidentified mosses/lichen photo taken in Killarney, Ireland

Unidentified mosses/lichen on pavement twigs under the trees. photo taken in Killarney, Ireland

Unidentified mosses/lichen photo Killarney, Ireland

Favourite lichens and mosses from our weekend trip to Killarney. I wouldn't know their names but appreciate those beautiful textures and the miniature worlds they support.

One of the many benefits of Alder #trees Alder goblet #fungi grow on the old rotting catkins. They are tiny as you can see compared to the moss sporophytes. A similar fungi grows from the rotting cones.

One would hope so. Study suggests that the man-made dune lakes hold the dual role of being both a novel ecosystem & perhaps a successional one. I've seen similar said of restored bogs here in Ireland regards to high diversity.

Speaks to the lasting impact of previous land use. Only time will tell.

Image of seed catalogue and heirloom seeds purchased from the charity: Irish Seed Savers at their co Clare seed swop event Feb 2025

Fantastic day at the #IrishSeedSavers seedswop in co. Clare today.

I'm so impressed at the amount of conservation work they do for heritage vegetables, grains and fruits.

Quality is top notch! (I get great germination rates compared to shop bought ❤️).

#OpenPollinated #HeirloomSeeds

"Overall, constructed dune wetlands support diverse but compositionally distinct, early-successional plant species assemblages. Rather than replacing natural systems, they complement them at the landscape scale. "

The effect was seen even with conservation grazing in just under 80 dune wetlands.

Image of book cover "Botany Illustrated Introduction to Plants, Major Groups, Flowering Plants Families" by Janice Glimn-Lacy and Peter B. Kaufman

Scientific colouring book page from "Botany Illustrated Introduction to Plants". Colour code on opposite page.

Scientific colouring book page close-up of flower from the mint family from "Botany Illustrated Introduction to Plants". Colour code on opposite page.

Scientific colouring book page birch family from "Botany Illustrated Introduction to Plants".

Loving Botany lllustrated science colouring book. Introduces not just flowering plants but tissues, fossils, mosses lichens etc.

Great fun way to understand plant families and learn plant anatomy visually.

#ScientificIllustration #Booksky

Started wildlife gardening 12 years ago when we dug out the lawn in our urban garden and watched what showed up. Tillage weed guides started me on a journey into conservation topics like disturbance, plant reproductive strategies & insect population balance.

Welcome Emily! 🪲 #FormerlyKnownAsWeeds