Hampshire Biodiversity Information Centre

@dipteristsforum.bsky.social First Tephritid of the year today here in S. Hants, Tephritis cometa in the garden.

Another day, another Tephritid, this time Tephritis vespertina, in the garden with a good array of other insects enjoying the sunshine. Eristalis tenax & pertinax (m&f), Tree Bumblebee and at least 2spp of solitary bees.

A photo of a Peacock butterfly, a red butterfly, on the ground in the sun

Good to see a Peacock butterfly at Winnall Moors at lunch time as well as a few Brimstones and a ladybird. Also good to see Chaffinch, Moorhen and a Dunnock whilst passing Lakeside this morning. #UKWildlife #Bugsky

Tortula protobryoides

Seligeria calycina

Bryum torquescens

Lovely day out in North Hants today in the company of @pilkyplant.bsky.social , Billy from @hantsbic.bsky.social and others at Ladle Hill. Very few records for bryophytes before but there was plenty of interest including Tortula protobryoides, Seligeria calycina and Bryum torquescens.

Abietinella abietina - scarce pleurocarp moss and indicator of high-quality calcareous grassland. St Catherine's Hill. It looks like a mini fir tree and is pale green with browner marking in middle and lower parts

Aloina aloides - growing on gravel alongside a path in Winchester city centre. This tiny moss has leaves arranged in a star shape. The leaves are fleshy-looking, and opaque

Scleropodium cespitans - growing on hard substrate in Winchester city centre. Looks completely different when hydrated compared to when dry. It typically grows in extensive, almost pure, dense, usually low and fairly flat patches. The curved, or even arched branches often lie in the same direction, forming thick mats. Shoots are typically 1–2 cm long. The moss is green and looks like it is platted.

Rue-leaved Saxifrage - young plants appearing in pavement cracks around Winchester. Each leaf looks like it has three toes/fingers

Our Billy is exploring Winchester and noting #PavementPlants and mosses! Rue-leaved Saxifrage starting to appear, Scleropodium cespitans, Aloina aloides in the city and Abietinella abietina on St Catherine's Hill
@bbsbryology.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Wanting to get into botany? @bsbibotany.bsky.social have a wealth of information and training available, and this year a new challenge for beginners!

The Urban Nature Network The Urban Nature Network is hosted by The Natural History Museum's Urban Nature Project. It brings together community groups, individuals, researchers, conservation organisations and many others acros...

I'm delighted to be leading a #WildPavements webinar at 7pm on 26 Feb for the Natural History Museum @nhm-london.bsky.social's fab Urban Nature Network. Join the free network here the-urban-nature-network.mn.co/share/OZILcH... & then sign up for the webinar for free too. 💚

Hummingbird Hawkmoth just seen feeding on Sarcococca in Barton, SW Hants!!

Presumably having a break from hibernating somewhere cosy, but @migrantmothuk.bsky.social can have a tag anyway.

Comfortably my earliest ever.

#teammoth

A photo of a group of honey mushrooms, brown and cream coloured mushrooms on the ground with bracken also visible in the photo

Honey mushrooms at Acres Down in the New Forest in October #FungiFriends

As expected pretty poor trapping in SE Hants last night. 7/3 with 5x C. Quaker, 1x Chestnut and 1x T. alternella #teammoth

Signs of spring in south Hants 🙂

Issue 70 of the Hampshire Flora Group's Flora News is out now. Free to view at hantsplants.uk/floranews.php.

Chock full of records, articles and other botanical interest from Hampshire, UK.

@bsbibotany.bsky.social

What a wonderful #wildflowerhour despite the soggy weather!! Just a reminder that there are lots of useful ID resources like this amazing @naturelark.bsky.social guide to violets on our website! Why not take a peek! 👀 See you again next Sunday! ☺️

UK Stag Beetles 🪲

Iconic, unforgettable… and increasingly scarce. New research shows worrying declines in stag beetle abundance across the UK. Join our FREE entoLIVE with David Wembridge (@ptes-org.bsky.social) to hear what’s really happening.

On 12 Mar 2026
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Smooth Newt found underneath last night's moth trap in the North Hampshire garden. I quite often find one or two newts (both Smooth and Palmate) around the garden moth trap throughout the year. Not sure they are agile enough to catch moths though. #Newts

Stumbled across a small pond with around 8 common frogs breeding this morning out in the New Forest. Also 1 Goshawk tearing through the woods, 6 Hawfinch, 2 Marsh Tit and a distantly heard Lesser Spotted Woodpecker #NewForest #HantsBirds

A collage of seven photos showing eight wildflowers, they are (going clockwise from top left ending in the middle) speedwell, annual mercury, sweet violet, hazel catkins, daisy, winter heliotrope and groundsel and red deadnettle beside each other in one photo

A photo of a group of snowdrops with some in the sun beside the River Itchen at the Weirs, Winchester on Wednesday

A photo of gorse, a prickly green plant with yellow flowers, with brown bracken and green pine trees behind in the New Forest today

#TheWinter10 in Hampshire this week; speedwell, annual mercury, sweet violet, hazel catkins, daisy, winter heliotrope, groundsel, red deadnettle, snowdrops and gorse. #WildflowerHour

Snowdrops leave me a bit cold, really: I've tried but they just don't do it for me. Still, there's not much else about so here's Galanthus plicatus, G. nivalis, and G. elwesii. Hampshire. @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Three moths last night in SW Hants, singles of Acleris literana, Spring Usher & Hebrew Character.
Seven species for the year now.

#teammoth

Managed to catch up with the Snow Bunting which has been between east head and sandy point recently 👌🏼

Spotted redshank

Common redshank

Common greenshank

Three ‘shanks’ wintering together at Bunny Meadows, NR Warsash, Hampshire. Spotted and Common Redshank and Common Greenshank #ukbirding

Cool overnight conditions still yielded 73/11 in SE Hants! The Quaker horde is now advancing rapidly with 26 Common recorded. 22 T. alternella and 11 Chestnut made up the bulk. 2x DSP were NFY and further records of Dotted Border and Small Brindled Beauty were pleasing. Best was Oak Beauty #teammoth

A collage of photos eight wildflowers, from left to right top to bottom; lesser celandine, snowflakes, snowdrops, primroses, dandelion, chickweed, speedwell and ivy-leaved toadflax

A photo of a sweet violet, a dark purple flower, at Lakeside Country Park, Hampshire on Friday

A photo of periwinkle, a purple flower with green leaves at Lakeside Country Park, Hampshire on Friday

#TheWinter10 in Hampshire this week; lesser celandine, snowflakes, snowdrops, primroses, dandelion, chickweed, speedwell, ivy-leaved toadflax, sweet violet and periwinkle. #WildflowerHour

Dipterists Day 2025 - YouTube Recordings of talks from Dipterists Day 2025, held at the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge on Saturday 15th November.

As requested by many, here's the link to our YouTube channel with the recordings from the excellent Dipterist Day 2025 in Cambridge youtube.com/playlist?lis...
@davebriceflies.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @lancefly.bsky.social @naturebureau.bsky.social @norfolknats.bsky.social Please share 🙏

Frogspawn

Frogspawn in our garden pond in southeast Hampshire 🐸✌️ @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social

the room of displays a few years ago

Location of the tea/coffee

people sitting ready for the talks to start

Tea, Coffee, Natural History Book Swap, Talks, Displays, Data workshop- sound fun? Book to come to our forum, Sat 7th March 2026 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hbic-annua...

Turning wildlife sightings into powerful data 🐝🌿

Every iRecord submission supports research and conservation nationwide. Join iRecord 101 with @earthwormuk.bsky.social Brown (Thu 2 Apr 2026) and learn how to get started or level up.

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@ukceh.bsky.social

We're incredibly PROUD to be offering 80+ online and in-person courses (most completely FREE to attend!).

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Camera traps don’t stop at great footage — the real value is in the data.

Join our final camera trapping webinar with Sammy Mason (@mammalweb.bsky.social) and learn how to classify footage into meaningful wildlife insights. 🌍 🧪

Thu 19 Mar 2026
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1818786642...

Found a good population of Common Cudweed Filago germanica today, along a footpath leading to a Kildeer. Ripley, Hampshire.