Jules Howard

It's a great list! Not quite as observable as most of these, but some tortoises throw caution to the wind and go for it in a very public way. Thinking of Hermann's tortoise, for example? And flying ant swarms are, I guess, pretty explosive too, if no-one has said that?

We're so excited about this year's #Bookspark books!

Here's Emma from our Books team to tell us about Choose Your Own Evolution by @juleshoward.bsky.social and @gordywright.bsky.social - one of 15 brilliant books included in the 2026 pack.

Find out more: https://bit.ly/4r4FfmI

Hello school librarians! Got a few spare copies of THE MARTIAN MUSEUM OF EARTH ANIMALS I'm happy to post out to schools for free. DM me if interested.

Day 1: Our first book in the Non-Fiction category is 'Choose Your Own Evolution' by @juleshoward.bsky.social & @gordywright.bsky.social - an innovative and highly engaging approach to the topic of evolution! @nosycrow.bsky.social
🎄🎁📚 #Spark12BooksofChristmas

Hey! Thanks Josh! Hope you're well!

British Audio Awards last night! So happy for the @nosycrow.bsky.social team who turned CHOOSE YOUR OWN EVOLUTION into a thing of audio beauty and were rewarded!

CYOE was one of only two titles in the whole show to be given a 'HIGHLY COMMENDED' - ours was for the Best Children's Book category.

Yay! We absolutely love this book and know that students will too!

Really wonderful to hear that Choose Your Own Evolution is part of #Bookspark this year!

The book was specially selected to be included in this really inspiring @booktrust.org.uk programme, which helps KS3 students share reading experiences.

more info: 👉 booktrust.org.uk/bookspark-authors

Thank you for this lovely, thoughtful review. Much appreciated!

Background image of the book cover of "Wonderdog" by Jules Howard. Overlaid text: Book Review - Wonderdog, by Jules Howard A personal pick from my bookshelf, for anyone interested in dogs and/or science.

A new post on my Substack - this time, a book recommendation from a dog researcher, but more importantly, a dog and science lover to all other dog or science lovers that may be on here.

everythingisdata.substack.com/p/book-revie...

Wonderdog, by @juleshoward.bsky.social

Big nod to @froglife.bsky.social who are among a few charities to really push for wetlands in urban areas. Give them a follow!

Have often written about my feeling that urban parts of London (and all cities) have the potential to become a lifeline for amphibians (just add a pond) so I was pleased that the universe manifested this frog at the top of Wembley Way. Happy, healthy and in good health. Put a skip (hop) in my step!

Congratulations Rob!

Slimy porcelain mushrooms on an old beech tree.

Porcelain mushrooms. Slimy.

MONEY (SPIDERS) MAKE THE WORLD GO AROUND. The dewdrops from this nice October mist we're having have brought out the little web-gardens of the money spider Lepthyphantes tenuis (mostly, l think).

Thousands. Ridiculously abundant. You probably past about a million on your commute today. Say hi!

MONEY (SPIDERS) MAKE THE WORLD GO AROUND. The dewdrops from this nice October mist we're having have brought out the little web-gardens of the money spider Lepthyphantes tenuis (mostly, l think).

Thousands. Ridiculously abundant. You probably past about a million on your commute today. Say hi!

Clever. I like it!

Instead of clubs paying gazillions of £££ for players they could buy some land & protect threatened species...

The pitch: standard annual IUCN Red List announcement day, but we apply the same rabid intensity normally reserved for transfer deadline day.

Greater noctule bats prey on and consume passerines in flight Despite billions of passerines seasonally migrating during the night at high altitudes, only three bat species have been found to consistently tap into this rich prey resource. However, it remains unk...

EXTREMELY COOL BAT STUFF: A study out in Science today found that the greater noctule bat, Europe's largest, hunts and catches *migrating birds* while in flight. In at least one case, a bat climbed to more than 1200 feet, then chased a robin downward FAST until it caught it near the ground.

What should I talk about at this, gang? Hullo birds, hullo sky? The history of eco-fascism? The joys of freelancing, har har har? The problems with nature writing (but bear in mind we've only got a couple of hours)? Coffee photography?

Sudden urge to pitch an event called 'STOP BEING A FANNY ABOUT INSECTS' to a major festival. 'Jules Howard and special guest tell the audience to stop being fannies about wasps and flies and bloody well just replant their front driveway spaces to make a home for earwigs'. Too much? Yes. Yes it is.

Extraordinarily numerous, right?

Good year for ladybirds.

*pulls ladybirds out of hair, teeth, armpits, nails, between toes, earholes... etc.*

Dead frog lying on back at the bottom of a pond. It looks like the painting 'Ophelia'.

'Fate of Ophelia' #frogs #taylorswift

I steered around it. Waited for it to slow. Towelled. Dried. Camera. Go!

Adult phenology chart for Nigma walckenaeri

Spot on, Jules. A nice adult male - they have very much an autumn breeding season. Please can you iRecord it via irecord.org.uk/enter-srs-re... to help monitor its expanding range!

Excellent. Have just added the record. What a fantastic little spider!

...oh, a first for me here in the East Midlands. Green meshweaver (Nigma walckenaeri) found on my bathroom floor...! Is this correct
@britishspiders.bsky.social?

Increasingly uncommon common toads: multidecadal, ongoing abundance decline of a widespread amphibian despite volunteer conservation action - Biodiversity and Conservation Wide ranging and abundant species, often termed common species, play critically important roles in ecosystem functioning. However, conservation practice usually focuses on rare and declining species, including monitoring their state, while population trends of common and widespread species are often logistically difficult to evaluate compared to rare habitat specialists. This is particularly the case for small nocturnal vertebrates such as common amphibians, where abundance data are typically absent across most of their range. Building on previous work, we used national scale volunteer-collected data across Switzerland and Britain to investigate population trends over four decades for Europe’s two most common amphibian species, common toads (Bufo bufo) and common frogs (Rana temporaria). We included an average of 86 populations per year with an average count of 87,900 toads and 74,000 frogs in Switzerland and 80 populations per year with an average count of 75,800 toads in Britain, resulting in a total count of nearly 5.5 million toads across the entire study period. Overall, toad abundance declined in all decades since 1973 in Switzerland (33% abundance reduction) and since 1985 in Great Britain (41% reduction), but there were significant regional recoveries in Britain since 2013. Common frog abundance trends in Switzerland varied and remained positive overall but population growth rate declined after the year 2000. The impacts of such large-scale and ongoing abundance loss of common species may affect the ecosystem services provided by these species and require effective conservation action that expands beyond protected areas.

Interesting research from @froglife.bsky.social (and partners) today! 40% decline in common toads in the UK in 40 yrs. On a positive note, regional recoveries are achievable. Bravo to all those citizen scientists whose data contributed. Research paper is at... bit.ly/uncommoncommontoads