Harry Witts

This is becoming a pervasive issue, for example involving the sidelining of actual experts and the heaping of pressure on regulatory bodies to move forward with dubious (re)introductions. A quick ecology 101 for ‘conservation gurus’. Thread 🌍🦗🦋🪶🦬🧪1/

Don’t think the surveyor will exactly be Tied Up in Calidris canutuz…

Had a few sub-singing along the river in Colchester around the turn of the year, although that may have been to do with defending an ivy patch

Not that it’s a habitat with comparable area to arable land but the best places I know for MT are very urban parks in E London and Leeds

This is a Black Duck!

We’ve published our response to the "Lost Frogs report".

Read our statement here: https://www.arc-trust.org/lost-frogs-report-comment-from-amphibian-and-reptile-conservation-trust

YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts Cycles in arctic wildlife

Why are the cycles in numbers of young Brent geese, long-tailed skua and curlew sandpiper seen in Europe? youtu.be/wMO7d9svQRs?...

Just think zero native species sets a bad precedent, that gardens are apart from actual nature. Is your experiment being tested empirically against your average commercial planting? Would be a great study comparing branded pollinator planting, average planting and gardens considering life cycles

My point is that many orders of magnitude more individuals and species would be supported through their whole life cycles, rather than just for a few hours, by including native species in the planting. I’m not sure why that seems so out of the question?

I understand that plants like this may be of value if we’re in a drought or heatwave, if they’re proven to continue providing nectar, but if they’re isolated from native vegetation in the middle of a housing estate, how do you expect most insects to be able to find and use them?

Have your herbs been chosen to match the insect species moving north? I see a lot of cultivars on the list, can they definitely access the nectar?I think what’s a bigger danger is people doing something like this and thinking they’re doing enough for nature, when in fact it probably means little.

Many orders of magnitude greater

I’m not sure how much this would increase bioabundance? It might go part of the way to supporting a colony of common bumblebees and a few mobile butterflies for a few hours as they wander through the countryside, but the bioabundance supported by insects breeding in garden of native plants would be

Is paid to how the insects can complete their life cycles (the vast majority rely on native plants to do this), then this isn’t of much use to insect conservation.

The use of sand is great, especially in an area where open sand may have been more widespread in the past, but am I reading correctly that there are no native plants on that list? This might be a fleeting benefit in the lives of widespread, mobile, generalist pollinators but if no attention 1/2

We’ve published our latest statement on reintroductions, assisted colonisation and the importance of evidence-led conservation.
You can read our latest statement here ⬇️
https://www.arc-trust.org/News/ensuring-amphibian-and-reptile-releases-contribute-to-natures-recovery

A nice Christmas Eve in the Hull Valley; adult drake Smew at High Eske and 26 Russian Whitefronts flew south @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social

You’d imagine they’re returning birds that have found a reason to come back, if it was a factor in the previous habitat, wintering divers might be a bit more widespread site-wise? Otter activity might be something that increases detectability of carcasses?

KGV res in London seems to attract multiple divers per winter these days and something must be bringing them back! Just a hypothesis but crayfish presence there is obvious, always seems to be a few discarded carcasses around the water

GN Divers (and divers in general) now learning to exploit large numbers of invasive crayfish in inland reservoirs? Presume Graham has plenty?

Cheers Matt, have uploaded

I reckon I saw this at Box Hill the other week, how do you record if it’s not on the UKSI yet please?

Mega!

@lnashnature.bsky.social

Thanks very much!

@andymus.bsky.social Hi Andy, could Guanchia (Forficula) pubescens and Cybocephalus nipponicus be added to PSL please? Both have been discovered a couple of years ago but not sure if they’ve been written up yet/guess there’re not in UKSI. Found em with Tristan Bantock and Joss Carr at Olympic Park

Happily they were included in Princeton’s 50% off sale this spring that they do every year. 🤞they are next year too

Have seen this behaviour off Cornwall too!

Hi Tristan, I’ll send you an email

That’s an insane cover 😂 what’s the book like?? Is it at all scientific?