Les Hughes

Bottom trawling to continue in English protected waters, government rules Defra says blanket ban on ‘destructive’ fishing practice disproportionate as MPs urge minister to reconsider

Our lovely green government has just announced "destructive" seabed bottom trawling will continue in English marine protected areas (MPAs) - so, not really protected at all then!

Research posts on Bluesky are more original — and get better engagement Bluesky posts about science garner more likes and reposts than similar ones on X.

Nice to know!

Gentian sage (Salvia patens) and mini-beasts in our back garden. Isn't nature brilliant🤩

This is very troubling.

Ashy mining bee?

It's grotesque! We're currently trying to remove and recycle 7,200 plastic guards from the trees we planted on our land in Nidderdale 14 years ago.
At least they're locally-sourced trees, appropriate to the terrain and not planted in rigid grid formation.
You can't just bung them in and walk away!

It was. A bit quirky, but good fun 😁

As an aside, the chessmen were the inspiration for Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's animated children's character Noggin the Nog. We once went to a lecture given by Oliver and Peter at the British Museum. The highlight of the evening was the curators bringing these beautiful pieces out to show us!

I'm wondering how well wasps are faring in the UK generally. I hardly saw any this year, not even in early autumn when people often complain about them. We had a queen trying to make a nest in our garden shed in spring but she abandoned it when it was about the size of a walnut.

Some beautiful natural gems on our visit to Área Recreativa de Guadamía, in Asturias, yesterday . . . including a little flock of black redstarts and linnets 🤩

Just taking our new brushcutter up to North Yorkshire for a spot of soft rush bashing. Car's a bit crowded in the back 😁

Thanks for the clarification Ann👍

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #2,557,362!
Gosh, I'm a trailblazer . . . and at my advanced age too 🤩

It's very heartening to read this but worrying the new government is reluctant to commit to these schemes. I am a Labour supporter but I am seriously concerned about its commitment to environmental protection issues.

A tad twee, but I couldn't resist. Lovely to see after all the awful news about bird flu!

You just have to make sure it doesn't take over the house 🤩

Lovely sphagnum moss in the foreground, but I'm not sure which one 🤩

Spotted this striking looking fungus on a fallen oak in our local woods in West Yorkshire, UK. I think it's either golden jelly fungus (Tremella mesenterica) or golden ear fungus (Tremella aurantia). Can anyone enlighten me further?

Some wonderful achievements here 🤩