Prof Duncan Westbury

Remember this? Well Malvern Hills DC have cut & collected as requested! I’m so pleased as previously they were only able to cut & mulch. This will accelerate the emerging community. A massive THANK YOU!

So frustrating hearing & seeing fruit & seed bearing hedges being cut ahead of winter. We have lost 50% of our hedgerows since the 1950’s, no wonder we are in a “”#BiodiversityEmergency in the UK.

Making Farming Buzz Again ~ 180th Lecture Series Join us for the fifth event in our180th lecture series at the RAU and learn more about enhancing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

Join me on the evening of 22nd October for a FREE talk by me on “Making Farming Buzz Again”, which will focus on what research I’ve been up to over the years. Then Ann Conquest from LUC will talk about her work on the agri-environment. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-far...

Glad they flowered Roger!

Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’ Species index fell by 4% between 2019 and 2024 – although data shows woodland populations beginning to stabilise

Not good. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Too many celebrities think that keeping honeybees addresses the #BiodiversityEmergency. Such a shame, they could do so much more with their money.

Why saving the honeybee could be bad news for other bees In this week’s newsletter: a conservation success story has a sting in its tail as wild pollinators pay the price

PLEASE READ! No more #BeeWashing. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The last bit of major wildflower colour in our front garden and what a beaut! @lgspace.bsky.social

Pond & Meadow prepped for winter. Meadow patch left to continue feeding the bees & provide shelter for inverts over winter @worcswt.bsky.social

If sowing a new meadow, go big! In the table below I've based sowing rates on a commercial mix; if you only create 1 square metre using their sowing rates, you are unlikely to get all the species 'advertised'; the number of seeds sown is simply too low! @lgspace.bsky.social

Where are all the birds that could be eating all this food in our #BumbleBird patch. Even the sparrows have disappeared after rearing three broods in our garden. @rspbengland.bsky.social

Photo of square orange tiles, set into the ground, across one of which several cats footprints are clearly visible.

One day, nearly 2000 years ago, a cat dashed across some drying tiles, somewhere near Hadrian's Wall.

It's immortality of a kind, isn't it?

Perhaps a bit late to get these in, but I’m really interested in seeing how Cotswold Seeds new range of small packet green manures do. I’ll still use my go to phacelia, & have sown one part with both!

One great thing about growing your own grapes is being able to take a large handful, shove them in your mouth and releasing all of the wonderful grape juice!

My new #WildlifePond has a long way to go, but it will get there!

It’s very early in the process I’m afraid! #WatchThisSpace

The RAU & Asahi supported the BBPA at the House of Commons to demonstrate what was being done as part of #BrewingGreen. We discussed the challenges faced by the remaining 42 hop growers in the UK, and how our research in collaboration with Warwick Uni will lead to more resilience.

Bumblebee on a purple scabious flower

UK gardens cover c270,000 hectares – more than all the country's National Nature Reserves. And nature-friendly gardens – even small ones – can form a huge network of green spaces that are havens for wildlife. More: littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/Wil...

New addition to #WildlifePond an amphibian refuge. Most people forget about this. Where are they meant to go when they aren’t in your pond? @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social

To create access to the wealth of seed in our #BumbleBird patch, I’ve created a strip across it. Hopefully this enough… @rspb.bsky.social

Wildflower strip cut & collected, with patch left to overwinter. Cuttings put on top of habitat piles!

Which bat are you today? There's a strong case to be made for #3 🤪

📸 Jennifer Barros

Great point Miles! If we had biocontrol of all non-native invasive species like this in the UK it would be lovely!

Yes, but they never used my other pond! This is why I created a shallower different pond type.

Vast areas of peatland destroyed since peat ban announced exactly 3 years ago | The Wildlife Trusts It has been three years since the UK Government announced that it would ban the sale of peat for use in the amateur gardening sector, yet there is still no sign of legislation to enact the ban.

Every day the government delays banning the sale of peat compost means more carbon lost to the atmosphere from this appalling practice

www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/vast-ar...

Really can’t believe this; a frog has already found the pond only hours after I finished it!

It’s a hessian bag filled with granite pieces that serves as a planting pillow & an escape route for wildlife like hedgehogs!

Frog/Toad pond complete! It’s got a long way to go before it looks anything like my other wildlife pond, but it will get there! @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social

Join us at the Wild Summit on 11 Sept 2025 at the Bristol Beacon - Wild Justice We’ll be attending the inaugural Wild Summit on 11 September 2025 – an environmental extravaganza organised by Wildlife & Countryside Link which […]

Join Wild Justice at the inaugural Wild Summit for an interactive and visual dive into the past, present and future of what George Monbiot describes as the ‘bronze plague’.

Bristol Beacon, 11 Sept, all day!

wildjustice.org.uk/general/join...

Wildlife pond #2 nearly complete! Will let it settle in before I start covering the flaps! @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social @arc-trust.bsky.social