UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme

Author interview with Steven J Falk: A Photographic Guide to Flies of Britain & Ireland Over recent decades various ‘difficult’ insect groups have gradually been brought within reach of the non-specialist thanks to developments in field guides. Flies, however, have remained something of ...

A chance to learn more about production of this fabulous new guide to #FliesofBritainandIreland with Steven Falk 👏🪰😊@naturebureau.bsky.social

www.nhbs.com/blog/author-...

Just 3 days left to get your hands on a copy of our new guide to #FliesofBritainandIreland at the pre-pub price bit.ly/4dqQI8Z – delivery expected to us by 21 Feb 2026 @rdimond.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social

Hi Andrew, you would be welcome to borrow from parts of the PoMS 1km survey RA if relevant. Email us if you can’t find your 2025 copy!

Happy New Year from the PoMS team! Incase you missed our December newsletter, find it here including:
📊 updates on 2025 surveys
🌼 FIT Count projects (now is the perfect time to sign up for 2026)
🪰🐝🐞 links to a great series of past & upcoming #pollinator themed webinars!
mailchi.mp/39d2be14e1f2...

Can you identify UK bumblebees and/or butterflies to a species level in the field?

Or do you have strong botanical survey skills (equivalent to FISC Level 4 or higher) with the ability to recognise broad and priority habitats?

See great opportunity below & please share!

UK biodiversity continues to decline, 2025 bioindicators show Wallingford scientists contributed to the 2025 indicators with analysis of animal and plant trends.

UKBMS data feeds into UK government statistics to measure biodiversity. Each year, @jncc publish Biodiversity Indicators - giving a snapshot of how our biodiveristy is faring

buff.ly/Cw71ZAY

You can view the latest Biodiversity Indicators here - buff.ly/cyuIo2G

Is your back garden a pollinator hotspot? 🌸🐝

New research shows flower-rich gardens can be powerful refuges for urban pollinators. Join Emma Plant from @glasgow.ac.uk on 22 Apr 2026 for a FREE entoLIVE to learn more. 🌍 🧪

🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1964456916...

@royentsoc.bsky.social #pollinators

Interested in finding out about recording plants in bloom for the #NewYearPlantHunt? Join @bsbibotany.bsky.social for a webinar this evening ⬇️🌼

Wild Flower Chalk Grassland with Orchids copyright Matthew J Thomas/iStock

UK Biodiversity Indicators 2025 are now live jncc.gov.uk/our-work/uk-...

With contributions from nearly 100 organisations, they are useful tools for summarising & communicating broad trends 🧵

#TogetherForNature

Exciting NEW PhD just advertised, using @pomscheme.bsky.social data - full details here! ⬇️🐝🪰🐞

Good to have an opportunity to discuss pollinator monitoring and conservation in this context @jncc.bsky.social

Come and work with members of the @pomscheme.bsky.social team on this exciting NEW PhD opportunity! Full details below ⬇️🐝🪰🐞

Great to have featured @pomscheme.bsky.social FIT Counts in the Springline Project. How many pollinators can you spot in this wonderful mural depicting the wildlife and landscapes joining three South Oxfordshire villages?!

Mapping spatial and temporal patterns of pesticide risk to #pollinators and other #inverts across England - I’ve enjoyed working on this important new resource for research into past changes and future risks from @francescamancini.bsky.social and @ukceh.bsky.social 👏 🐝👇

Seen the programme for our #NPMS10 anniversary online event? Join for all or part of the day. Talks by
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
@plantlifeuk.bsky.social
@ukceh.bsky.social
@jncc.bsky.social
@nationaltrust.org.uk
@chilternsnl.bsky.social
plus talks from our amazing volunteers! ow.ly/xqqf50X4fEE

🧵1/4
☕️ Your morning coffee depends on pollinators more than you might think.

Every day, the world savours more than 2 billion cups of coffee. Yet this daily ritual relies on a hidden workforce: pollinators. Bees, butterflies and countless others ensure that coffee blossoms fulfil their potential.

Ashy Mining Bee, Andrena cineraria

Unexpected Ashy Mining Bee, Andrena cineraria, today.
#Bees #Hymenoptera #VC55

Pollinators need more space and 10% habitat is not enough says a new study just published in Science Pollinators such as wild bees, butterflies, and hoverflies are in trouble worldwide. A major new study, published in Science and led by Gabriella Bishop and other scientists at Wageningen Universit…

Pollinators such as wild #bees, #butterflies, and #hoverflies are in trouble worldwide. A major new study, published in Science, shows that the oft-quoted figure of 10% semi-natural habitat in farmland landscapes is far too little to safeguard pollinators

jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/09/26/p...

Great opportunity to present @pomscheme.bsky.social collaborative research with @sangerinstitute.bsky.social at #BGEconnects. DNA-based transformation will only be possible with continued national-scale sampling, curated archives, data infrastructure and collaboration with taxonomists.

Faded beauty. A few Adonis Blues still going on the Purbeck Ridge yesterday, also great to see the recovery of the food plant Horseshoe Vetch after the drought, which left them shrivelled. In just 3 weeks they are now green and vigorous. @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

Many bumblebee colonies are winding down. New queens are leaving the nest to hibernate, ready to start fresh colonies next spring. Late species like Bombus pascuorum can still be seen foraging into autumn.

#PollinatingLT

Promotional banner for the UKBMS 50th Anniversary Conference featuring the logos of Butterfly Conservation, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, BTO, and JNCC. The banner includes an image of a White Admiral butterfly on the right side.

Only a few tickets left for the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme 50th Anniversary Conference!

We're looking forward to celebrating 50 incredible years of butterfly monitoring and volunteer achievement. 🎉🦋

Book your free place 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uk-butterf...
#UKBMS50

The @pomscheme.bsky.social recording season ends for the year in one week (30 Sep)! Check the weather conditions where you are before spending 10 minutes watching flowers & insects.

If you have ivy flowers in your garden, they are a fantastic target flower right now!

ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts 🐝🧪

The sun is shining in South Oxfordshire, perfect weather for FIT Counts on the Ivy covering our hedgerows! Female Ivy bees busy collecting pollen, not many other insects today. FIT in 😉your last counts before the @pomscheme.bsky.social survey ends on 30 Sept 🐝

Well done to @whitmuir1.bsky.social for completing their fourth PoMS 1km square survey for 2025! It’s looking like a wet week ahead but still time to fit in final surveys before mid-September 🤞🐝

Hoverfly visiting a thistle flower

Target flowers for FIT Counts at the moment include heathers, Ivy, Buddleia & thistles, but if you don't have any of those nearby it's fine to use other flowers - see the FIT Count guides at ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts and give it a try over the bank holiday 👍

Chart showing the numbers of FIT Counts accumulating from April to September each year, with the line for 2025 set to reach a higher total than any previous year

We're on track for our highest ever total of FIT Counts this year 👏🎉 - a huge thank you to everyone taking part 🙏 And there's still a month to go! All counts up to the end of September will add to the data for this year and help us monitor changes in #pollinator numbers.

Screenshots of parts of the PoMS e-newsletter, with examples of charts and images of bees on Ivy

The latest PoMS e-news went out yesterday, with updates on FIT Counts in 2025; news of a new UK butterfly; research on plants for pollinators; PoMS local projects; & some great forthcoming events. If you missed it you can read it at mailchi.mp/e73193cb8054... & subscribe at ukpoms.org.uk/subscribe

‘Bee buffets’: the pollinator pathways turning drab alleys into insect havens Corridors of nectar-rich plants encourage pollination and brighten up city streets at the same time

I do love this story - pollinators pathways and more green corridors make a huge difference. So much going on to get #rebuggingtheplanet

www.theguardian.com/environment/...