David Tomlinson

Leaving aside the emotive overtones, nocturnal moths don't have visual cues, so all kinds of signals may help?

Canary-shouldered Thorn. I can't rationalise it, but somehow this picture reminds me of Willie Whitelaw.

Welsh Clearwing (Iain Leach)

All welcome at Butterfly Conservation’s free online UK Moth Recorders' Meeting (Saturday 25 January 2025 on Zoom). Reserve your place now bit.ly/3Z2MOzc There’s a fab line-up of speakers: bit.ly/3Z2MxfE #TeamMoth please repost to spread the word!

Some days I wake up and I really find myself yearning for the sort of stimulating discourse you can only find on X.

Apollo (Parnassius apollo), © Jon Dunn

A butterfly with baubles on its wings! For day 6 of the Mariposa #AdventCalendar, bringing a daily dose of colour and joy to your timelines, the mighty Apollo. We see this enormous insect on many of our mountain tours in the Alps, Pyrenees & Picos de Europa. Every encounter as special as the last.

Kemi Badenoch, who has been in the job for five minutes, refused to announce any policies, and fluffed every single PMQs she's taken part in, is named the Spectator's "Leader of the Year".

I of course understand the opposite - that the left wants Macron to own the mess he largely triggered

But in the end politics still impacts people’s lives. Budgetary decisions have to be taken. So on balance I hope the left (or a part of it) seeks a way to govern short term

Living up to its name...December Moth; came to light on 1/12. I know it's common, but it is handsome and so very hairy and well insulated. A welcome end to the year's mothing.

Also a big decline in UK. Became extinct in my home county of Dorset in 1980s, but still doing OK in a few well managed woods and bracken slopes in north and west

Very very unexpectedly good night for moths. 52 of 10 species in SE Hants VC11. Nothing new and only one migrant a Diamond Back. 26 Nov Moth agg, 12 Feathered Thorn (mostly puddle rescues). Most surprising was a Blastobasis adustella

Did you know? ... Looking like a beautiful Fabergé egg, the volume of the Scotch Argus egg relative to its wingspan is 3.1% and is the largest ratio of all of the British and Irish butterflies (the smallest ratio belongs to the Meadow Brown, which is just 0.31%).

“Winter Lagoon”

Winter is perfect for black and white photography, don’t you think? 🤔

A wooded shore is reflected in a calm lake. The fog rises from the trees and reveals a view of a mountain peak and the beginning of dawn. The sight has a calming effect, beautiful blue tones dominate the scene.

The moments between night and day are ethereal 💙

#fog #landscapephotography #nature #longexposure #lake

Ullswater, Lake District

A photo of a Glanville fritillary butterfly with open wings, sitting on a marguerite between many others. The scene is photographed in the soft early morning light. The top of the butterfly is directed to the camera. The other marguerites are out of focus and more or lessed blurred.

A little tribute to the #Bluesky logo 😊🦋. I'm glad to be here.

~ Among the Flowers ~

A Glanville fritillary [Melitaea cinxia] in the early morning among many marguerites.

#butterflies #insects #naturephotography #macrophotography

Striking 13 | Ian Dunt | Substack A newsletter about British politics. Written from the bad place. Click to read Striking 13, by Ian Dunt, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

Please read Ian Dunt's substack today (iandunt.substack.com). It's about assisted dying and it brings together information from sources that are not at your fingertips. It is wise and kind and it uncrystallised then recrystallised my thoughts.

Peter’s Substack | Peter Kellner | Substack My personal Substack. Click to read Peter’s Substack, by Peter Kellner, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

Excellent substance from Peter Kellner this morning (kellnerp.substack.com), gives an objective demonstration that Starmer & Reeves must stop being spooked by the EU and get us back in the single market - well worth reading.

Do you remember these same people’s reaction any time a Labour shadow minister supported a junior doctors’ picket?

“When WE do it, it’s patriotic…”

Did you know that, when it comes to the resident butterflies of Britain & Ireland ...

5 overwinter as an adult
9 as an egg
31 as a caterpillar
11 as a chrysalis
1 (Speckled Wood, 📸 below) as both a caterpillar and chrysalis?

www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species_phen...

'Cloud Surfer'

I had to lay flat on my belly on the hard stony riverside for this shot and effect. So, the backdrop is basically all stones. As for the main subject, it's a male Odalisque damselfly (Epallage fatime) and this is the only species of the genus.

Rhodes, Greece 🇬🇷

What are Donald Trump’s plans to overhaul US colleges and universities? Republican president-elect says he wants to dismantle the US education department and fire ‘radical left accreditors’

If some of these statements that Trump made about plans for universities come off it is grave news for the sector. Targeting courses that address Dis/mis-information, measures to assess edi will be out too and accreditation for standards. 🧪#academicsky

Good morning from Greece. Let me share some of our light & sunshine with you all...

This is a Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus) nectaring on Woody Fleabane (Dittrichia viscosa).

For photography/technically minded folk, this is a full frame uncropped image, shot with a telephoto lens at about 400mm.

Ecoimmunology. Fundamental discovery lab-based immunology typically focuses on defined model systems—(in vitro or in vivo models such as mice or ex vivo tissues) to understand immune programming in the context of biological processes, health, and disease. In contrast, disease ecology focuses on the role of the environment and considers population dynamics and individual variation. Whilst there is some limited overlap in disciplines, the area of ecoimmunology aims to bridge these gaps and takes a more holistic approach to understanding what shapes the immune system and thereby health.

Delighted to share our latest in @discovimmunol.bsky.social with @kathelse.bsky.social Holly Shiels, Iris Mair & Susanne Shultz. Climate change, pollution and changing land use impact immune function, driving chronic inflammatory disease and create exposure to infections (new & old). 🧪 #Immunosky

Beautiful Killers—The Goldfish Effect A commentary article highlighting findings on the drastic effect of introduced goldfish in historically fishless permanent ponds. Furthermore, the findings are being put into context of the problemat...

Don't dump your pet goldfish in the pond. They are dangerous and disruptive. Interesting commentary by Lena Fehlinger in the journal Global Change Biology - doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

Important new paper on the rare endemic Piedmont anomalous blue (Polyommatus humedasae), threatened by woody encroachment, climate change, fires and collection.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Just joined sky, having abandoned X. Just learning the ropes. Here's another splendid moth from last summer (Gypsy Moth). A pest, but a handsomely equipped one.

Compiling moth records for the county recorder. Memories of summer - the miles are longer in winter.