Brigit Strawbridge

Sample images of my 2026 When Beasts Spoke Calendar

I am beyond excited to share my 2026 calendar, so couldn’t wait till it’s actually been printed 🤩 Here is a little sneak peek to give you an idea…
Yey! Love it! Hope you do too!!
You can preorder it on my website now
www.charlottestrawbridge.co.uk/product-page... 🤍

We certainly have a great climate here for growing...

Now there's a thought...

I can't say I've ever seen Elephant pooh to compare, but there are indeed some very lovely colours in hedgehog pooh.

Such a good sign, isn't it?

UK...

Thankfully it's native here in the UK :)

Squashed hedgehog pooh.

Just look at all those beetle parts! Looks like there's an abundance of one of their favourite foods around at the moment. No wonder the hedgehogs aren’t eating the food we leave out for them...

#hedgehogs #beetles #wildlife #nature

What a shame, Seirian! I love the idea of a #HamOrJam survey...

Ham or Jam - What are wasps after at your picnic? Summer time means wasps visiting picnics! Sometimes they go for protein (e.g. ham) other times it's sugar (e.g. jam). Learning about the type of food wasps are after tells us about their life-cycle an...

Thanks Brigit! Sadly she didn’t actually mention the survey I was promoting!! #HamOrJam!!

Pls share and ask ppl to report their #WaspPicnicSurvey obs

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Any #Cornwall based writers out there? ✍️

Free this coming Saturday morning?

If so, we'd love you to join us at our upcoming Writers Network Event, at #Liskeard Library

More details, and tickets, via the link below 👇

real-pathways.realideas.org/whats-on/the...

So pleased that Radio 4 have the wonderful @waspwoman.bsky.social speaking up for wasps, on today's You and Yours programme!

Squirrel painting

‘Deep in the Conifer Forest’ 30x30cm, oil on canvas.
Now available:
www.charlottestrawbridge.co.uk/product-page...

🐿️🧡 #squirrel #wildlifeart 🧡🐿️

Wild Mignonette is the yellow flowering plant in the photo, by the way. The dark purple flower (below) is Cerinthe, which is also brilliant for bees & other pollinators.

If you have Cerinthe, listen out for the high-pitched sound of bumblebees as they 'buzz pollinate' the flowers!

#nature #bees

If you're looking for something new to grow for #pollinators, do please consider Wild Mignonette (Reseda lutea). It's stunning alongside Nepeta & Cerinthe, flowers for months, and is a magnet for Yellow Faced bees & other short tongued solitary #bee species!

#plantsforpollinators #nature #gardening

Unfortunately we have a garden full of Horsetail too!

Trefoil is taking over in our garden… which is fine by me because the bumblebees love it!

#wildflowers #pollinators #bees #wildflowerhour

Aah... such a shame we're not closer!

I'll be 'in conversation' next Saturday 9th August with Liskeard Library Writer in Residence, Nell Carrol Turner.

Our focus will be on #NatureWriting, but the event is relevant for all genres of writing, all writers and anyone who has an interest in the natural world.

More details & tickets below

I found the wing of a peacock butterfly in the road, prob predated by a bird - Lepidoptera means scaly wing and they can be covered in scales O1mk2, 90mm and 2x focus stack @omsystem.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social @shropshirewildlife.bsky.social

Half of UK councils still use pesticides in public places, research finds Pesticide-free movement has grown, but many local authorities still spray weedkiller linked to wildlife declines and cancer

Pesticide-free public spaces are already the norm in Paris, and in Denmark, showing chemicals aren't needed to maintain them

Two thirds of the British public would support “schools, parks, playgrounds & other public spaces" being pesticide free

Time for a ban

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We now leave navigation to our phones. The result: more of us are getting hopelessly lost | John Harris The blue dot of GPS has cut us off from a basic human skill. It’s no wonder mountain rescuers are being called out so often, asks Guardian columnist John Harris

The take away is, if you are going off trail, have a compass and paper map (and know how to use them).

A skill I know I used to have from many years hiking in the Lake District and Isle of Man as a youngling, however, I'm confident that it's now rusty to the point of lost now.

#hiking #walking

Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count guide to identifying Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown butterflies. Cut-out image of Meadow Brown with wings open. Annotation next to it reads: "Mostly brown with patches of orange around the eyespots on the forewings". Cut-out image of a Gatekeeper underneath with annotation: "Generally smaller and mostly orange"

Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count guide to identifying Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown butterflies. Cut-out image of Meadow Brown with wings closed. Annotation reads: "Plain hindwings with no white dots". Cut-out image of a Gatekeeper with wings closed underneath with annotation: "Tiny white dots on the hindwings"

With the #BigButterflyCount well underway, keep your eyes open when spotting differences between species 👀

Tiny white dots on underside hindwing means you've spotted a Gatekeeper - there are none on Meadow Brown!

Get out for the Count 👉 buff.ly/BmYCIGA

‘Intrinsically connected’: how human neurodiversity could help save nature Biodiversity is linked to people’s diversity, and nature lends itself to people who are different, says author Joe Harkness

Brilliant interview in @environment.theguardian.com from @patrickbarkham.bsky.social with @joeharkness.bsky.social. Creativity & change needs diversity: “If you don’t have diversity of people, you don’t have biodiversity”. Yes Joe! Looking forward to this book v much. #neurodivergentbynature

Reed Walker 💚

What a lovely response! Thank you for all the suggestions. I've narrowed it down to these ones;
'Still Waters’
‘Reed Walker’
‘In the Stillness of Reeds’
‘A Heron Steps Through’

Which one do you like best?

Goodness... that's bold!

I've watched it at least a dozen times already. First time I've seen a fox in years!

The most exciting thing EVER!!! I check our garden web cam regularly for hedgehogs (at least 5 different individuals visit our feeding station) but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to see a FOX CUB!

Not the best footage, but isn't he/she GORGEOUS?! 🦊 #FoxOfTheDay #fox #nature #wildlife

Dear Bluesky nature-lovers...

The wonderful folk at @kernowconservation.bsky.social are raising funds to scale up their #Cornwall Water Vole reintroduction project.

Do please help if you can, by donating and/or sharing www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/p/expanding-...

Thank you! 🙏

#wildlife #nature