Helen McAra

Minority representation on TV causes outrage

From the new Private Eye, in shops now.

A spider with an orangish-gold cephalothorax and a pale colored abdomen with two large spines sticks out in opposite directions from the abdomen. The spider is sitting on a leaf.

How about some spiky spiders tonight? This one is Micrathena acuta, a spiny orbweaver found in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. It is believed that the spines serve as a defense from birds and even predatory wasps.
Cuyabeno Reserve, 2024

Wind power has cut £104bn from UK energy costs since 2010, study finds Reduction comes from energy generated from windfarms and lower cost of gas owing to lower demand

UK wind power benefits and costs 2010-2023 :

Lower energy bills through avoided gas: £14.2bn
Avoided infra & new gas generation: £133.3bn
Subsidies paid to wind power: - £43.2bn

Overall benefit to UK economy **£104bn**

Don't believe the wind power haters

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Looking up into the crown of a much-loved ancient Small-leaved Lime coppice stool in Old Sulehay Forest on a gloomy grey day, the remaining leaves gradually changing from green to clear-yellow.

@wildlifebcn.org #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Chlorociboria aeruginascens - Green Elfcup

Morning... #FungiFriends

Bee-mimic robberfly Laphria aurea resting on Serapias carica tongue-orchid © Jon Dunn

Aren't robberflies amazing? Large, fast, predatory flies that inject their prey with a paralysing and digestive neurotoxin, then suck out the liquified contents. Yum.

We saw this fine example on an #orchid in Rhodes this year. Looking forward to what we find there next spring...

I have a lot of questions I’d like to ask Michael. I hope they’re also on your list to ask. I have no interest in his opinion on anything, sorry!

The Ent Tree in Staffordshire: possibly a distant relative...

Dragonflies and Damselflies have been around for 300 Million years, they live up to 6 months & feed on mosquitos & other insects, keeping numbers in check. They are a good species to have around as they require clean water, indicating a good ecosystem & they do not bite or sting contrary to rumour.

Australian King Parrot (Alisterus scapularis): This beautiful 43cm (17in) parrot species is endemic to eastern Australia. Ranging from Queensland to Victoria. They feed on the ground or in trees on fruit and seeds. Awesome photo taken by Joy Bourke in Sydney, Australia #kingparrot #sydney #australia

The sheer variety of fungi species fruiting this autumn is incredible. Easily explained by science but the beauty is mind blowing and joyful, feels like a gift.

Perfection #FungiFriends

Verdigris agaric or Stropharia aeruginosa - I posted this photo a few weeks ago with the wrong name. Reposting now to compare with its’s relative Redlead roundhead. There are so many species fruiting at the moment my brain is struggling to keep up with all the indentification 😵‍💫 #ukfungi

Small mushroom growing out of branches on the forest floor. The cap is orange-red with small white scales around the outer edge of the cap. The stem is white with the lower two thirds woolly in texture.

This pretty little mushroom is a Redlead Roundhead (surely should be Wooly socked scaly foxcap) aka Stropharia aurantiaca. This fungus grows out of rotting wood and can be found in clusters - what a stunner! The cap really is a orangey/red as the photo shows. #ukfungi

At this time of year there are fungal treasures to be found! Stumbling upon a Parrot Waxcap certainly feels like finding treasure, glossy, green and gorgeous, they are a joy to behold!

A lovely pair of parrots for #FungiFriday 🦜🦜
Gliophorus psittacina
#FungiFriends

Cover of 'Tigers Between Empires' by Jonathan C Slaght

Amur Tiger cubs, used with permission of the Wildlife Conservation Society

Something exciting is prowling towards us - publication of @jonathanslaght.com's superb new book, Tigers Between Empires, a riveting account of conservation of the Amur Tiger, a story set in the Cold War and cold forests of NE Asia. Publishing soon, on 4 November, it's a brilliant, compelling read.

Apart from the head scarf this was me yesterday - way more bending and looking than actually picking. The forest floor was studded with thousands of mushrooms in every colour of the rainbow. I found a few edibles and plenty of joy. @foragers.bsky.social

Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca): 13cm (5.1in). This spectacular Kingfisher is also known as the black-backed kingfisher or three-toed kingfisher and is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. Fantastic photo taken by Sanjeev Kapadia in India. #kingfisher #bird #birds #wildlife #nature

The ultimate find of scarletinas from two weeks ago. I also used this picture for the thumbnail of my latest YouTube video 🙂
🌍 Sutorius luridiformis
🇬🇧 Scarletina bolete
🇩🇪 Flockenstielige Hexen-Röhrling
🇨🇿 Hřib kovář
🇸🇰 Hríb zrnitohlúbikový
🇵🇱 Krasnoborowik ceglastopory

Photo of a small standing girl facing forwardsl in a purple dress with colourful embroidered details and an embroidered cap

In 2021 Afghan women started an online campaign to protest the Taliban's female dress code by posting photos of what traditional Afghan clothes look like #AfghanWomen
#WomensArt

Dune Stinkhorn, Phallus hadriani. An old fruitbody and, just in front, a pinkish 'egg'. Among Marram grass in sand dunes.

Dune Stinkhorn, Phallus hadriani.

An old fruitbody and, just in front, a pinkish 'egg'.

In sand dunes at Holkham, Norfolk, yesterday.

Phallus hadriani, Dune Stinkhorn fungus share.google/9pqGzabciY2U...

#Fungi #FungiFriends

It's been a late start this year with the dry weather but the grassland fungi are finally appearing. I'm going to post a waxcap species each day as we move through peak fruiting season, hoping to encourage folks to recognise and record this important group. @plantlifeuk.bsky.social

I think you mean Farage. Starmer has just passed a law expanding the time that abortions are legal.

Reform UK abandoning manifesto pledge of £90bn in tax cuts, deputy leader admits Richard Tice says party will concentrate on cutting civil service and scrapping net zero once in government

'Sorry, we can no longer offer you uncosted tax cuts - instead, we're going to focus on destroying a key source of UK economic growth, the green economy, whilst decimating public services'

Farage farrago latest:

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Infographic on fly agaric mushrooms, with an image of the mushrooms in the middle (red with white spots). The chemical structures of the mushroom's pigments are shown, including muscarufin, the primary pigment responsible for their red colour. The compounds behind the mushrooms' psychoactive properties, ibotenic acid and muscimol, are also shown. These compounds imitate neurotransmitters in the brain to exert their effects.

It's mushroom season in the Northern Hemisphere 🍄

Here's a look at the chemistry of arguably the most iconic mushroom, fly agaric, and what makes them so brightly coloured and hallucinogenic: www.compoundchem.com/2024/11/11/f...

#ChemSky 🧪

Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) This European, North African & Asian Kingfisher species has a wingspan of 25cm (9.8in). They nest in burrows close to lake edges or in riverbanks & defend their feeding territories from other kingfishers. Photo of a Kingfisher diving taken by Will Brown in the UK.

Two white mushrooms with pointy, angled caps grow in brown leaf litter.

These little ones look quite jaunty but they might be White Fibrecaps which are poisonous so best to give them a wide berth.

🍄☠️🤢 #FungiFriends

Spotted Catbird. on the ground in the wild

This green bird is the Spotted Catbird (Ailuroedus melanotis), a rainforest bird of West Papua (but also found in Australia and parts of Indonesia). Locally known as “Kuansu,” it gets its name from its cat-like, wailing call.

#birds #animals #australia #photography #nature #birding

The wonderful and rare Hazel Gloves Fungus (Hypocreopsis rhododendri). I love the fact that it’s a parasite, not of the Hazel trees where you find it, but of another fungus, Glue Crust (Hymenochaete corrugata), which forms the actual crust on the Hazel branches. 11/10/25 #fungi

Number of deportations the ECHR have actually blocked since 1980 - 13 (THIRTEEN).

Please remember this next time some grifting populist claims us leaving the ECHR (and sacrificing the rights it gives us in the process) will allow us to ‘control our borders’.