CEDaR

We'd a busy 2wks with @niscifest.bsky.social:
🔎“Look Closer” with QUB, showing nature up close to 0-5yr olds
🌱Wildlife Walk to find signs of nature in the cold
🌳Woodland Restoration tour behind the scenes at the Folk Museum
✏️ Climate+ Co-Centre "Rights of Nature" asking if nature can have rights

For a taster of what's in the latest edition of our fantastic #BSBINews magazine, visit bsbi.org/learn/period.... Or become a member to read the whole thing! @ucddublin.bsky.social @uniofgalwaylib.bsky.social @ucclibrary.bsky.social @atu-ie.bsky.social #Irishplants #botany @cedar-ni.bsky.social

#Pollinators #CEDaR #BiologicalRecording #AllIrelandPollinatorPlan #HungryGap

CEDaR is a partner in the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, a shared plan of action to restore our pollinator populations to healthier levels.
📲Be sure to record your first spring flower sightings of the year at CEDaR Online Recording or using the iRecord app!

🐝🌼Early flowering plants are crucial for pollinators at this time to provide them with the nectar they need. Allowing space for wildflowers to grow is the best way to help the pollinators survive!

📍This happens in Ireland, Britain and certain other temperate latitude regions where there are cold, wet winters and late springs.

🥬 Short days and unsuitable soil conditions mean that there is a period at the start of the year where there are few flowering plants and very little produce is grown.

#WhatExactlyIs the hungry gap?

Join us this Saturday for @niscifest.bsky.social & take a behind the scenes look at conservation projects happening at the Ulster Folk Museum, from invasive species removal to woodland restoration.

See link for tickets: www.ulsterfolkmuseum.org/whats-on/beh...

Contrary to popular belief, they are not known to intentionally crawl into ears, their given name is thought to come from the shape of their unfolded wings, which resemble a human ear! 👂
#CommonEarwig #BiologicalRecording #CEDaR

Females prefer damp crevices for laying eggs, which they guard from predators. They even look after their hatched young in the early stages of development. ❤️

Common earwigs are omnivorous scavengers that eat aphids, spiders & other insects as well as leaves or fruit. 🕷️🌱

Their long, flat bodies are red-brown in colour with a pair of ‘pincers’ at the end of their abdomen (larger and more curved in males). They have 2 pairs of wings which are rarely used. 🪽

The common earwig is the most abundant & widespread of Ireland’s 3 earwig species, but very under-recorded. They are nocturnal insects, found in a variety of habitats. 🌙

#Speciesofthemonth is the common earwig!

Valentine’s Fact: Octopuses have three hearts! ❤️

#BiologicalRecording #CEDaR

Juveniles are particularly vulnerable too due to the weaker suction of their suckers, making it easier for large waves to transport them. 🌊

They are weak swimmers however and also become confused after their only breeding event, undergoing senescence where they may behave strangely such as moving to shallower areas without proper hiding places.

They can live at a wide range of ocean depths from 0-500m and are found all around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. 📏

Adults are reddish with a white ventral surface and measure up to 50cm in length, though they often hide their true size by curling their arms up, hiding the single row of suckers on each arm.

CEDaR recently received six records of strandings following Storm Chandra, these included records of the curled octopus (𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘢). 🐙

With Valentine’s Day approaching , let us introduce you to @lovedataweek.bsky.social ! 💝
A celebration of all things data, this year’s theme asks “Where’s the Data?”🌱
When you submit sightings, they travel a long way to help protect NI’s wildlife!
#LoveData26 #citizenscience #Conservation

CEDaR's Surveillance Officer worked with colleagues at the NIEA on their Habitat Regulations Reporting.

It reviews the conservation status of 32 species & 50 habitats across NI.

Read the overview report: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/sites/defaul...

#NationalHedgehogDay #Hedgehogs #BiologicalRecording #MammalRecording #CEDaR

Happy National Hedgehog Day 2026 🦔

If you are lucky enough to see a hedgehog, be sure to record your sighting and upload it to our NI Mammal Recording Project, available on our website or via the iRecord app! 📲

We accept camera trap footage! 📸

🌊These cases may then be washed ashore, recording these can help us map areas that are important for the species which lay them!

Don’t forget to record your sightings on our website or the iRecord app!

#BiologicalRecording #CEDaR #sharks #skates #elasmobranchs

🥚Mermaid’s purses are actually the egg cases laid by oviparous shark & skate species!

🦈Inside the purse, the embryo develops for up to 15 months depending on species before emerging & discarding its protective case.

#WhatExactlyIs

Have you ever walked along the beach & noticed a piece of seaweed that looks like a small pouch? Well, its not actually seaweed at all! 👛

Database update ❕

Our terrestrial & freshwater data team have recently surpassed 3 million records uploaded to our Recorder6 database! 🌱

Thank you to everyone who has submitted records to us and helped us achieve this milestone, here’s to the next 3 million! 🎉

⚠️Hazardous conditions can persist after a storm event, if you participate in recording efforts you are doing so at your own risk. Continue to check weather warnings, & please stay safe.