Joel Ashton

Full on day today, planting over 300 wildflowers on a south facing wildflower meadow that I manage in Yorkshire. We are looking to improve floral diversity to encourage more insects. Looking forward to seeing this one develop! 🌺🌱

Thanks so much Anette. Nature knows best 😊👍

Rather than spraying 'cides and mowing incessantly - this is an inspiring example of how people could be interacting with their yard and garden. Joel demonstrates how we can appreciate and encourage all species who find a home near us.

Their rent is paid in wonder.

YouTube video by Wild Your Garden with Joel Ashton Making a Small Wildlife Pond - Timelapse - 4K

I spent an hour every day for about 6 weeks to dig and finally build a wildlife pond that has been on my *to do* list for years. I am pretty old, (gen x) so if I can do it, you can do it. @joelashton.bsky.social you tube videos helped me.
youtu.be/JizkfNC3O_E?...

YouTube video by Wild Your Garden with Joel Ashton We Did Almost Nothing & Nature Came Back

In April 2025 I moved into a one acre plot of mostly mown grass. I then made it my ambition to try and encourage as much wildlife into the garden as possible. Here is the result of the last 8 months…

youtu.be/cztzjwbsKH8?...

YouTube video by Wild Your Garden with Joel Ashton We Did Almost Nothing & Nature Came Back

In April 2025 I moved into a one acre plot of mostly mown grass. I then made it my ambition to try and encourage as much wildlife into the garden as possible. Here is the result of the last 8 months…

youtu.be/cztzjwbsKH8?...

🧵A very happy New Year to all our followers and a gentle reminder that it's never too late to resolve to submit your #arachnid records to the GB #Spider, #Harvestman and #Pseudoscorpion Recording Schemes via our #iRecord form: irecord.org.uk/enter-srs-re.... #NewYearsResolution #MakeYourRecordsCount

What better way to start #2026 than separating this year’s collected Honesty seeds, prior to sowing them around the shady corners of my garden, to attract a host of insects in 2027.

Happy New Year everyone, and may yours be filled with wildlife 💚

YouTube video by Wild Your Garden with Joel Ashton I Went to Manage an Abandoned Wildflower Meadow on a Remote Hillside - Here’s What I Discovered

Recently I travelled to Yorkshire to help a couple revive a wildflower meadow on a steep hillside to its former glory. See the first phase of works in my latest YouTube video here👇

youtu.be/1QXBT82x5lM?...

Recently I revisited a 1/2 acre site to carry out the annual hay cut, where two years ago, I created a wildflower meadow & wildlife pond from a piece of mown grass. It’s now a thriving habitat that’s full of invertebrates, mammals, amphibians and many bird species. #NoMowSummer

Epipactis x schamalhausenii (hybrid Dark Red Helleborine x Broad-leaved Helleborine) © Jon Dunn

Dark-red Helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens) var lutescens © Jon Dunn

Day 12 of our #AdventCalendar features two helleborines, a Dark-red Helleborine x Broad-leaved Helleborine hybrid, and a pale variant of Dark-red Helleborine. Orchid treasures like these are found hidden away on the limestone pavement of Hutton Roof in Cumbria... (1/2)

#orchids #NaturePhotography

Another Hen Harrier suspected illegally killed on a grouse moor, her satellite tag had been ‘removed’ Over the last few weeks I’ve blogged about a number of illegally-killed Hen Harriers whose deaths have been barely publicised by the authorities, but instead have been quietly entered onto a …

Another Hen Harrier suspected illegally killed on a grouse moor, her satellite tag had been 'removed'.

Details and commentary ⬇️⬇️

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/12/11/a...

The charity Hen Harrier Action launches Xmas fundraiser to buy satellite tags The charity Hen Harrier Action has launched its annual Xmas fundraising appeal, this year with a target of £15K to purchase five satellite tags to be fitted to Hen Harrier chicks in 2026. As you&#8…

The UK charity Hen Harrier Action @henharrieraction.bsky.social launches Xmas fundraiser to buy more satellite tags.

Commentary on why this is important & a link to the fundraiser ⬇️⬇️

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/12/11/t...

A Lapwing amongst grassland. Wording to the left reads Wild Bird Indicators. Scottish Terrestrial Breeding Birds 1994 - 2024. Out now! Image credit bottom right of the image reads Lapwing by Liz Cutting/BTO.

1/ Brilliant to see @bbs-birds.bsky.social survey data from dedicated volunteers in Scotland being used in The Scottish Terrestrial Breeding Bird Indicator published today! ➡️ www.nature.scot/doc/official... #Ornithology #BirdingScotland 🌍 🧪

That is a beautiful thing to have been responsible for. We need more of this. Looking forward to pics of it at other times of the year.

Thank you. I’ll be sure to post more pictures throughout the year of this and many other projects 😊👍

Cheers! from Corfu 🍷

Day 9 #AdventCalendar

Two-tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius) by guest Allan F on our joint @butterflycorfu.bsky.social tour. They are partial to a drop of wine, fermenting fruit too.

As well as glasses, another tour that also raised funds for @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Recently I revisited a 1/2 acre site to carry out the annual hay cut, where two years ago, I created a wildflower meadow & wildlife pond from a piece of mown grass. It’s now a thriving habitat that’s full of invertebrates, mammals, amphibians and many bird species. #NoMowSummer

Great day recently with @savebutterflies.bsky.social Lincolnshire branch, exploring the possibilities of habitat restoration for the now Red Listed Grizzled Skipper #butterfly. Very much looking forward to getting started on this project in the new year.

Great day recently with @savebutterflies.bsky.social Lincolnshire branch, exploring the possibilities of habitat restoration for the now Red Listed Grizzled Skipper #butterfly. Very much looking forward to getting started on this project in the new year.

🤣🤣

Not the warmest of days for getting in a pond and hand pulling reeds! 😅🥶 #WildlifePond

Not the warmest of days for getting in a pond and hand pulling reeds! 😅🥶 #WildlifePond

Stunning Red-footed Falcon 'mega roost' documented in Hungary More than 5,000 Red-footed Falcons formed a single night roost in Hungary’s Hortobágy National Park in September 2025, a record for the Carpathian Basin that underlines the area's importance for migra...

www.birdguides.com/news/stunnin...

@joelashton.bsky.social 👌

A beautiful day for cutting hay! Managing one of the many #wildflowermeadows that I’ve created over the last 20 years. This one has 31 recorded butterfly species and has the same floral diversity as SSSI grassland. All on less than an acre. #Meadow #NoMowSummer

A beautiful day for cutting hay! Managing one of the many #wildflowermeadows that I’ve created over the last 20 years. This one has 31 recorded butterfly species and has the same floral diversity as SSSI grassland. All on less than an acre. #Meadow #NoMowSummer

Beech leaves looking their BEST right now…! 😍👌🍃🍁🍂

Ophrys reinholdii photograph, taken on the original & ultimate Greenwings Orchids of Rhodes tour in April 2025.

We interrupt this butterfly broadcast, for an orchid post...

Ophrys reinholdii from the @greenwingstours.bsky.social orchids of Rhodes tour in April.

Terabytes of footage. Shocking discoveries. The fight to end bird shooting starts now.

Beech leaves looking their BEST right now…! 😍👌🍃🍁🍂