paul51.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

This is one of my favourite hoverflies, Chrysotoxum festivum. Quite widespread in England & Wales. Very recognisable, usually seen feeding on flowers, spring & summer. #hoverfly #pollinator #ukwildlife.

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

Eyed Hawk-moth. I had this one in my trap June 2020. I haven't seen one since. #ukwildlife #teammoth #mothsmatter #paulspatch

submitted 14 days ago • 3 comments

#TeamMoth surprised there’s a lack of data on moths (macro at least) - just keep trapping and recording..

submitted 14 days ago • 3 comments

Should soon be time to look out for these beauties. Dark-edged Bee-fly. Earliest sighting in uk is 9 Feb. They love spring flowers. Check out 'Bee-fly Watch' for this year's progress. #flies #ukwildlife

submitted 15 days ago • 1 comment

It’s #beefriday or #fridaybee so here’s a little summer active #solitarybee a leaf-cutter bee. She cuts half moon pieces from leaves to make little nest cells for her babies. She doesn’t sting. She doesn’t live in a hive & she doesn’t make honey but she’s a brilliant pollinator. #saveallthebees! 🐝🌸🐝

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

A nice colourful soldier fly, Banded General (Stratiomys potamida) seen on the South Downs near Alfriston in East Sussex in July 2021. #flies #ukwildlife #macrophotography

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Light at the End - by contemporary landscape artist, Annie Taylor For anyone struggling in the dark More of this artist's light-filled landscapes, here: annie-taylor.com #Trees #TreeTunnel

submitted 20 days ago • 6 comments

On #WorldWetlandsDay don't forget to celebrate the wonderful range of #soldierflies that depend on unpolluted natural wetlands for their survival, alongside all the other plants and animals of these special places www.worldwetlandsday.org @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

Recent reading - highly recommended. "This is a book about the power of resistance in an age of loss; a testament to the transformative possibilities that emerge when people come together to defend our most special places and wildlife from extinction." julian-hoffman.com/irreplaceable/

submitted 21 days ago • 2 comments

For anyone who enjoys nature writing, here's the starter pack: go.bsky.app/NXoPc6D & the feed: bsky.app/profile/did:... Please share with other interested folk. Thanks! #writingcommunity #nature #naturalhistory #birdingUK

submitted 102 days ago • 41 comments

Is the book mightier than the shotgun? Not really, but this book of mine has been pulling its weight for nearly a decade in setting out the case for banning driven grouse shooting - see petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70... I notice that it's selling v. cheap here www.nhbs.com/backlist-bar...

submitted 28 days ago • 4 comments

Just finished a fantastic book Cloudstreet by Tim Winton. Perth Australia in mid 20th century. Two families trying to live together in a large house. A happy book. 🖋️📚

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

If you're using flea treatment for your dog or cat, do not offer fur brushings to birds for nesting material. The chemicals are linked to reduced egg hatch rates in songbirds: www.ecowatch.com/pet-flea-che...

submitted 23 days ago • 7 comments

A three-year project to protect birds of prey in Sheffield has been launched:

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Hoverfly Meliscaeva auricollis feeding on Honeysuckle. Widespread and common. Easily seen in gardens. #hoverfly #pollinator #insect #macrophotography #ukwildlife

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

This isn’t just about badgers—it’s about standing up for science, compassion, and common sense. The badger cull is a failed policy that needs to end. If we reach 100,000 signatures, Parliament will have to consider it. Sign and share now! petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

submitted 23 days ago • 4 comments

I got a bit bored with drawing the rocky background to this Snow Bunting (as I knew I would before I started it! 😄), but I think it works OK just 'suggested' like this rather than detailed. Gouache and coloured pencil on Strathmore toned grey mixed media paper #BirdArt #Birds

submitted 55 days ago • 4 comments

Team Bat & Team Newt vs Team Destroy Nature I know which team I'm on

submitted 24 days ago • 1 comment

Nature is not a blocker to growth. The UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has claimed that 'The balance has gone too far in the direction of always protecting every bat and every newt.' But how can this statement be true when the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world?🌍

submitted 24 days ago • 12 comments

England’s #LandUseFramework is a golden opportunity for ambitious thinking. And #rewilding 30% of land, rivers and seas should be at its heart — restoring nature isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Read more:

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

Beautiful antennae on this Feathered Thorn, a visitor to my moth trap a few years ago. #mothsmatter #teammoth #paulspatch

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

Pied Hovefly Scaeva pyrastri. Easy to ID, black body & white markings, 10-12mm winglength. Widespread in UK, seen in Summer. Hovers over flowers while feeding. I see it regularly in my garden in Hunmanby. #hoverfly #ukwildlife #macrophotography #paulspatch #pollinator

submitted 26 days ago • 2 comments

Another reminder about how good dandelions are at attracting insects. Here is an Early Mining Bee (Andrena haemorrhoa) #bees #pollinator #dandelions #macrophotography

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

Art for today is this tangerine cool beauty from Paul Evans. Frosted Evening

submitted 87 days ago • 2 comments

Good morning - I hope you slept like lichen-stuffed caribou - I'm starting with ‘Farm in the Snow’, Julie de Graag, linocut, 1918. Available as a pack of four Christmas/Winter cards with envelopes. 5% of all proceeds go to Shelter, the housing charity. www.rathergoodart.co.uk/product/chri...

submitted 95 days ago • 0 comments

It’s cold today up here in #Northumberland. It’s always a good time to cheer yourself up by scanning through photos from previous summers, reminding yourself of all the joy you’ll get watching the year unfold. Here’s a #hoverfly , an important #pollinator. #UK #invertibrates #naturewriting

submitted 32 days ago • 1 comment

Just read a great book from 1930. Miss Mole by E H Young. Think Mary Poppins but for grown ups. 🖋️📚

submitted 29 days ago • 2 comments

"Everybody - wake up! It's the #BigGardenBirdwatch!" Will you be taking part today? 👀🌳

submitted 29 days ago • 32 comments

I get a few of these each year in my trap. Orchard Ermine I think. I love the tongue. #teammoth #mothsmatter #paulspatch

submitted 30 days ago • 2 comments

‘Awe-inspiring and harrowing’: how two orcas with a taste for liver decimated the great white shark capital of the world www.theguardian.com/environment/...

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

Apologies, but this is about me. A very generous interview by @patrickbarkham.bsky.social in @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/environment/...

submitted 31 days ago • 6 comments

Solitary Bee Nomada goodeniana. A cuckoo bee that lays its eggs in the nests of other bees, mainly Mining Bees. Usually seen low to the ground searching for nests in Spring also visits flowers. Seen mainly England & Wales. #bees #ukwildlife #paulspatch #pollinator

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments