Steve Ormerod

A stream runs through the landscape with trees.

A lake sandwiched by land.

A wooden pathway runs from the front of the photo to the back where there is equipment.

2/5 Wales
Plynlimon Catchments- Jade Hatton @ukceh.bsky.social ‬ bit.ly/Plynlimon
Llyn Brianne- @steveormerod.bsky.social at Cardiff University bit.ly/LlynBrianne
Cors Fochno- Ben Keane @york.ac.uk bit.ly/CorsFochno
#WorldWetlandsDay2026 #LTEs 🌏

Never had a Hawfinch - but hunting Sparrowhawks are regular.

Great footage.

Great Spot is regular. Green Woody is occasional in the garden: I often hear them.

My best garden bird was Little Egret. Only one, ever. And not during birdwatch

Just as I thought I’d only get one woodpecker sp in our #BigGardenBirdwatch…

29 birds of 17 spp

Announcing the second round of BES Fellows - British Ecological Society Meet our second round of Fellows of the British Ecological Society (FBES), a new cohort of ecologists making lasting impact on the discipline.

Delighted to see OnE's @steveormerod.bsky.social has been made a Fellow of the British Ecological Society @britishecologicalsociety.org
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/anno...

A dusting of snow for Christmas here in southern Brittany.

#NadoligLlawen #HappyChristmas

They’re very spectacular in their blue regalia

Remains of By-the-wind-sailors - Velella velella - washed up in millions on La Baule’s Atlantic beach. Like small Portuguese men o’ war, these hydroid colonies float on the world’s temperate oceans feeding on plankton

Who even knew they could be so abundant?

Stochastic event with v low frequency and a distribution highly biased against the Valleys.

But Merry Christmas :)

Steve Ormerod on Instagram: "These are remains of By-the-wind-sailors - Velella velella - washed up in their many millions on this Atlantic beach in southern Brittany (La Baule). These are cnidarians ... 2 likes, 0 comments - steveormerod on December 22, 2025: "These are remains of By-the-wind-sailors - Velella velella - washed up in their many millions on this Atlantic beach in southern Brittany (La ...

www.instagram.com/p/DSk4gfsiPm...

Evolution is the mother of sauce.

And ketchup.

Mottled Umber A variable species, with some strongly-banded individuals, others plain brownish with darker speckling. The females are completely wingless. Overwinter as an egg.Flight SeasonFlies from October into D...

Mottled Umber: one of the v latest moths of the year. Famous for having flightless females that use pheromones to lure males like the one in your pic.

butterfly-conservation.org/moths/mottle...

Cygnosaurus

#ModernDinosaurs

Final-year projects already underway with our School of Biosciences: i) using a bioreactor to investigate how global change processes affect algal lipids ii) effects of misconnected sewers and micro pollutants on a small urban stream

From seabirds to sea turtles: the fatal toll of plastic revealed A new study pinpoints the deadly thresholds of plastic ingestion for marine life.

And this is just the start as #plastic loadings into the world’s oceans will at least double in the next 1-3 decades www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Beaver wetlands create a buzz and a flutter for pollinators Our results show that beaver wetlands boost hoverfly richness/abundance, butterfly abundance and diversify foraging resources for pollinators while comparing favourably with human-created ponds for o...

#Beaver dams and pollinators. This Scottish study found greater hoverfly richness, hoverfly abundance and butterfly abundance in beaver wetlands than artificial ponds, but bees and moths were no different. Hoverflies were the major flower visitor in beaver wetlands doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Me too :)

I think they'll be around for a while - possible all winter? They're mostly at the northern end. There's a fairly vocal Teal lek also on some days.

V accommodating Little Egret today on #RoathPark Lake - allowing this iPhone pic.

One of at least six on the Lake just now

November Moths: Epirrita sp./spp.

‘Epirrita’ refers to the wavy markings resembling flow patterns on the surface of a river - according to Jacob Hübner who first named this moth (and many others).

I’ve posted a link to the paper on LinkedIn.

And I agree.

Here’s the on from @oceancare.bsky.social: www.oceancare.org/en/stories_a...

Appalling.

Oak Hook-tip the only moth in the trap last night.

The best year of the last 13 for this species: more caught than all other years combined

Natural - and probably climate-mediated - range expansion. Several other Eurasian herons also involved (Great White Egret, Cattle Egret and others to follow?)

Just checked BTO numbers - and the UK has had a 2725% increase since 1995

Clearly should be a No-regret, but there are other options...

Currently ~6 Little Egrets around Cardiff’s #RoathPark Lake - looking incongruously urban

Angle Shades from last night’s trap

Phlogophora meticulosa

Phlogophora: light bearing, and a throwback to when this moth and Small Angle Shades (with bright yellow spots) were in the same genus

meticulosa: fearful, timorous. From the posture or quivering pre-flight wings?

#teammoth #mothsmatter

Poplar Hawk-moth resting on a branch against a black background

Moths need darkness to thrive 🖤

But globally, light pollution is increasing by 10% a year, and these vital nocturnal pollinators need our help.

Find out how you can provide a haven for moths where you live by creating Moon Meadows 👉 butterfly-conservation.org/moon-meadows...

📷: Marian Coburn