Rowena

Quite possibly nudibranchs are the best thing EVER! Read all about a trip to Anglesey here... analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/07/plan...

The incredible arable margins of the Norfolk Estate I am trying to finish my annual monitoring of the arable margins of the Norfolk Estate this weekend but the weather has been challenging. I ...

I found a breeding population of Carpocoris purpureipennis yesterday! Read about it here analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-...

Everything is blue & yellow in July

You know when you are gonna have a good day when the first species is something nice. Loads of Dasypoda hirtipes (this is a male) yesterday at West Beach. One of 156 species recorded.

Ahaha

1/2 #speciesaday no. 627 is Humming-bird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum). Nearly everyone knows the 'migratory' adult moth but here is the larva. Vac sampled from chalk-grassland on a farm in Brighton yesterday, they are well established here too. Feeds on bedstraws.

Dude picks up a piece of plastic in the ocean and then gets a once- in-a-lifetime shot.

1/2 #speciesaday no. 625 is Calocoris roseomaculatus, a gorgeous mirid typically on chalk-grassland, where it feeds on a range of legumes. I do sometimes get in the dunes or on really nice grassland of other types but this is rare. Identifiable even as a nymph. Adults out now.

A nice day in summer in Sussex

Waking to fog, I quickly drank my coffee and drove to my favorite beach. Misty grey, quiet and alone accept for this brave gull that I followed for a good portion of the beach.

Into the mist
#Scape
#SeaScape
#Fog
#ClassicMono
#PhotographersOfBlueSky
#LandscapePhotography

Been mothing since 1992 and this is only the 2nd ever Lappet I have ever seen. This was on the wall of the services at Pevensey yesterday, was totally stoked to see it. My last one was in July 2014 at Woods Mill. No wonder they are classed as Endangered now.

#speciesaday no. 621 is Calvadosia campanulata. A stalked jellyfish, the 1st stalked jellyfish I have seen in Sussex. Only seen this once before on the Isles of Scilly in 2020. This one was quite large (about 3 cm across) and was swept from Sargassum at The Pound last night!

Pan-Species Listing Pan-species listing is a brilliant method to keep track of a lifetime of natural history sightings. A personal list, not just of birds but including every moth, beetle, lichen, sea-spider, liverwort, ...

You can pre order the book now, with an updated publication date of October this year! pelagicpublishing.com/products/pan...

This is oligarchy. This is obscene.

While 60% live paycheck to paycheck & kids go hungry, Jeff Bezos, worth $230 billion, goes to Venice on his $500 million yacht for a $20 million wedding & spends $5 million on a ring while his real tax rate is just 1.1%.

End this oligarchy.

I always take my job VERY seriously. Heat started to get to me by Thursday!

1/2 #speciesaday no. 617 is Bordered Straw (Heliothis peltigera). One of two I found today on the Norfolk Estate. There must be so many migrants about if I am stumbling upon two of these in one day! I have now found more of these in the field than I have at light (3 in the field, 2 at light).

Bench of contemplation

Summer has arrived at Wakehurst

A storm is coming into Brighton

Ophelia (1851-52) by John Everett Millais

I love the fact that so many of London's museums are free for everyone to enjoy.
The Lady of Shalott (1888) by John William Waterhouse at Tate Britain.

Encyclopedia Britannica :)

The Blue Violin. Last night at The Brighton Fringe. Beautiful!

A walk in the woods to reset. Sunny spells, the sound of birdsong & a glimpse of a Roe deer amongst the bracken. Good times :)

1/2 #specieaday no. 607 is Leptura quadrifasciata. This incredibly early animal was seen in London yesterday (my next earliest record was the 23rd June!). Typically a July saproxylic longhorn beetle. Not rare but you never see lots of them.