Collecting nest material this morning...
09.03.2026 12:03
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Collecting nest material this morning...
My first Peacock butterfly of the year, on Clay Pits Lane near Stocksbridge. #springwatch
Just heard my first Chiffchaff of the year, singing on the Steel Valley Walk near Stocksbridge. #springwatch
Sitting on 70 Acre Hill, listening to the Skylarks singing.
Received my copy yesterday. It looks excellent!
Green Leaf-hopper, Cicadella viridis. Male left, female right.
Leafhoppers & Allies: identification, ecology and recording - Alan Stewart
Thursday 19/02/2026, 19:30, online via Zoom
Book here: www.naturespot.org/node/262956
#Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55 #Auchenorrhyncha
Please share!
One of the Lewis Chessmen - currently on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Found in 1831 on a beach at Uig on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, the Chessmen dates to the late 12th or early 13th century. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday #LewisChessmen #NMS
Photo by G. Solecki/A. Piętak of a small figurine of a bear carved out of amber between 9600 and 4100 BC. The amber is a deep translucent orange. The display lighting makes it glow in places. The bear's head is carved to show ears, mouth, nostrils and eyes. A hole runs through the bear’s torso, suggesting it was threaded onto a cord. Dimensions: Length 10.2 cm, Height 4.2 It was discovered in Słupsk during peat mining in 1887. According to the museum catalogue ‘’Shortly after its discovery, the figure underwent conservation work to restore its original appearance as it was covered with a layer of dull patina from the exposure to the minerals contained in the peat. Already at that time, at the end of the 19th century, it was assumed the restoration had gone too far. The figure was stripped entirely of patina, the anatomical features of the animal were emphasised, the eyes and nostrils were sharply drawn, and the amber was carefully polished”. In 2013, a competition was organised by the Education Department of the National Museum in Szczecin, for children to choose a name for the bear. The winning name was ‘Słupcio’,
A little bear figurine carved out of amber some 6,000 years ago 🐻❤️
A hole runs through the bear’s torso suggesting it was threaded on a cord, perhaps worn or carried as a protective charm.
Found in a peat bog near Słupsk, Poland, in 1887.
📷 National Museum in Szczecin
#FindsFriday
#Archaeology
3 weeks since launching our 'Save the Small Blue at Cwm Tips' #Crowdfunder and we’ve raised £915 - nearly halfway! 💙
Thank you for your support 💚
If you would like to donate, visit: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-s...
#SaveTheSmallBlue #GloiNatur #CoaltoNature #Nature #Wales #Cymru #Wildlife
Three weeks on and they are now definitely "an item".
Yesterday I discovered that I can potentially use AI tools to simplify and speed-up the processing of botanical records. However, I need to work out an effective system for quality control before I proceed. #BiologicalRecording
The worst smelling place in the UK that I ever came across was a carcass rendering plant near Leeds. I couldn't get the smell out of my nostrils for days.
Screenshot from the iRecord website.
I've just passed the 90,000 records milestone on #iRecord: 54,939 of my own records and 35,061 records uploaded on behalf of colleagues at @sorbynathissoc.bsky.social (with their permission).
It's arrived! Pan-species Listing: How to Become a Super-Naturalist published by @pelagicpublishing. My first book.
I am so pleased with it. It looks amazing, all those photos of incredible British species really make this a very colourful book and a celebration of how fantastic our wildlife is.
The front cover of the Sorby Newsletter for March 2026, featuring a photo of a Northern Hairy Wood Ant nest mound on the Longshaw Estate.
The latest edition of our monthly newsletter is available now!
For details of how to join, please visit www.sorby.org.uk/about-us/membership
This morning I noticed the first signs that the two Robins which visit our garden may be about to pair off for the nesting season. They now seem to be tolerating each other's presence at the bird-feeder and are no longer trying to kill each other!
George wearing a black T-shirt that says "ENTOMOLOGIST - like a normal scientist, only cooler. See also awesome, exceptional."
Best Christmas present...
Our Christmas afternoon walk in the Rivelin Valley produced two Dippers and a Kingfisher.
Crimson Waxcap (Hygrocybe punicea).
Hurrah! My records of Hygrocybe punicea have been verified as correct by Steve Hindle. I'm particularly glad to receive his confirmation as this is a species that I haven't attempted to record in previous years.
There's nothing wrong with being "somewhat obsessed". Most of our #biodiversity data comes from people who others might describe as "obsessed"!
Here's an interesting piece about data-mining from NatureSpot. In answer to AJ Cann's question, I would say that NatureSpot does have some of the best natural history content online... and I'm not a sycophantic AI bot!
www.naturespot.org/node/263486
Its heart-shaped seed capsules are very distinctive too.
One of my favourite wildflowers. In September we found masses of it blooming on the edge of Land's End Airport in Cornwall.
I ordered my copy yesterday.
I had no idea that it grew so far east!
Watching Labour MPs take a wrecking ball to nature makes me so angry & so sad. Their action tonight voting down amendments to the #PlanningBill intended to protect wildlife & habitats from destruction is so reckless & so counterproductive. People didn’t vote Labour for this 👇
I've noticed a lot of "feral" Snapdragons (and Marigolds) this year.
Looks like there's plenty of flesh left on the fish. Do you think the Otter might come back for a second feed?
