William Bishop

Had a walk at Weston (Herts) today following a picture from @phil-wildlife.bsky.social in our flora group and saw the Giant Butterbur Petasites japonicus. Mentioned in Trevor James’s Flora but presumably a relict of cultivation. Last seen by me in 1987 in Glos. Very nice @bsbibotany.bsky.social

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I just signed a @theactionnetwork.bsky.social petition: Help Stop the Criminal Killing of Birds of Prey. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/he...

Eyed Ladybird on a gravestone yesterday. Very dangerous at this time of year, ‘Beware the Eyeds of March’. 😂.

Streamer. Very fresh looking individual on the fence. Early for here. Beautiful moth. ♥️. #TeamMoth.

Didn’t trap last night but spotted an inspector from the Ministry of Pullovers, Sweaters and Jumpers in the bathroom this morning. Tinea pellionella, Case-bearing Clothes Moth. #TeamMoth.

Eriopezia caesia, fungus covering a log.

Neodasyscypha cerina, fungus on a log.

Neodasyscypha cerina above with Mollisia cinerea (complex) Common Grey Disco below.

Bisporella sulfurina. Sulphur Disco. Fungus on log.

Trip to the woods a few days ago proved one’s disco days are never over 😉. All found under logs by my companions. They seem to be flourishing in this wet weather. #fungi #Panshangerpark.

11 of 4 last night. Five were Oak Beauty. Definitely the best moth around here at present #TeamMoth.

Just arrived in paperback!
Field Guide to the Grasshoppers and Allies of Great Britain and Ireland from @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social
Grab your copy here: tr.ee/PikfcmveM1
#newbookday #grasshoppers #crickets #earwigs #mantids #stickinsects

Sure there are better pics out there.

Apparently (weather app) it’s going to ran till next Saturday ☔️ 😖. I don’t remember lying when I was seventeen and where do you get gopher wood nowadays?

Spring Usher. A grey and black moth.

Spring Harbinger. A small light brown moth.

Only 2 moths last night, Spring Usher and Spring Harbinger. Might be a message there. ‘The Spring is sprung….’ #TeamMoth. If the endless rain stops more moths might start appearing here but not if it stays this wet.

Andricus sieboldi. The Barnacle Gall. Wasp gall on oak sapling. Bayfordbury, Herts today. Always near the base of the plant. #galls #galling.

I looked at dozens of scales today in a Pinetum and had a similar experience with lots of small dark mud or organic matter dots that brush off with a paint brush once dried. I did find some emerging black lumps, some with fissures developing, but very few over my sample.

Never had it at home but suspect I don’t have the right habitat nearby. Would love to get it in the garden though 🤞. I believe they like tungsten bulbs and in days of yore telephone boxes attracted them.

Bittern in reeds searching for fish in the water.

Bittern in reeds searching for fish in the water.

Bitter with fish in beak.

Bittern standing after eating fish against a Reed background. Fishers Green, Essex.

Sunday lunch. Check under reeds, catch your fish and then look extremely satisfied 😊. Bittern at Fishers Green, LVP at midday.

A nice Killdeer close by to make up for it. 🙂

A four-panel comic titled "how to get into nature". In panel 1, a person kneels in the woods, looking down at a red-backed salamander, and the text says "notice a living thing." In panel 2, the text says "notice some other things that live near it," and there's a starflower, springtail, ant, little wood satyr butterfly, and salamander on the leaf litter. In panel 3, covered in creatures, plants, and a colorful starburst, the text says "Notice the connections between them, discover the wider ecosystem, learn about its histories, and find yourself following links from bedrock to stratosphere, between biotic and abiotic, at scales both microbial and massive, until you’re hopelessly overwhelmed by the wonder of it all." In panel 4, the text says "Fall into a daze and let moss engulf you." The person from the first panel is still kneeling in the woods, looking happy as moss slowly engulfs them, and they're saying "This is for the best."

How to get into nature.

Spring Usher on brick wall.

Wogan avoided by a single moth, Spring Usher on the wall by the trap. #TeamMoth.

Diamond-back wasn’t exactly expected. But I see a couple of early Jan records on the website.

Additionally- Pale Brindled Beauty, Chestnut and an early Diamond-back Moth. 5 of 5. A far better haul than I had expected for my garden at this time of year. #TeamMoth.

First trap moths of the year tonight (so far). Ypsolopha ustella and an Acleris ferrugana/notana. I’ve never had a notana so I know which it will turn into. At least it’s keeping you know who away. #TeamMoth.

Mompha subbistrigella sitting on a window frame. A very small (5mm) moth, black with two white bands across its wings.

The first moth of 2026. Mompha subbistrigella. On the bedroom window. A remarkable common moth in my house. I assume they come in to hibernate but get woken up by the heating. #TeamMoth.

Common Snipe on left by a Jack Snipe on right having a snooze at Lemsford Springs NR Herts. Showing the different head stripe patterns.

Common Snipe on left by a Jack Snipe on right having a snooze at Lemsford Springs NR Herts. The Jack much smaller than its cousin.

Little and large at Lemsford Springs NR on Wednesday. Common Snipe (l) and Jack Snipe (r). Shows the difference in size and the head patterns of the two birds.

The beautiful Eastern Black Redstart at Sherringham. ♥️.

I think two garden nfy were potentially county firsts. Old World Webworm and Blastobasis vittata. It always depends what others submit of course.

My moth stats 2025 - 5915 lines of moth records submitted for Herts, totalling 18592 moths. Garden was 487 species, 54 nfg in year, garden total now 737. In the field moth surveys for Herts greatly assisted by @mothyblackburn.bsky.social and @rahtringbirder.bsky.social 🙏 #TeamMoth.

Probably one of the biggest laughs of my year was watching you go straight into that ditch 😂 🏊‍♀️ . Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas everyone 🎄🎅🏼. A festive looking Hemipteran. Corizus hyoscyami, Cinnamon Bug. Bramfield Wood, 19 Dec.

And to you too. Have a good Christmas. And heaps of moths in 2026.

Anyone on here know anything about Cockroaches? This rather beautiful thing, 20mm (body), was a free gift at the supermarket with my veg. Lovely pale green with a white side stripe. Obs is telling me it’s a Scarce Silver Lines moth 😂. #insect #cockroach.