Selbrigg Pond, North Norfolk, eastern England. A small shallow lake fed by woodland seepage & hence v. low nutrient concentrations. While many other lakes & ponds are murky due to the heat, Selbrigg is crystal clear & vibrant with life. Low nutrients = greater resilience to climate change & warming

Lots of wonderful Clouded Yellow butterflies in Sayer's Old Meadow, North Norfolk, eastern England last few days. Must have been a big influx. First time ever seen this butterfly close up - very thrilled!!! @bchighland.bsky.social

Lots of common centaury in meadow this year. A really important local plant that is rare in wider countryside. Prob also not in mixes?

Small Copper showing why Common Fleabane is an important flower in later summer. Sayer's Old Meadow, Norfolk, eastern England #wildflowerhour

Where is the UK's most important freshwater wetland? ANSWER: Upper Lough Erne system, Northern Ireland. A huge area of satellite shallow lakes varying in connectivity to main Lough Erne. An analogue for the Norfolk-Suffolk Broads pre-eutrophication. BUT: it is under decline. Do we want to save it?

Day 4 of surveying plants in shallow lakes of the Upper Lough Erne system, Northern Ireland, our 20th year! - the most impressive freshwater wilderness in the UK, but hugely under pressure from eutrophication. Thick swamps full of rare wetland plants still hanging on @bramblebotanist.bsky.social

Fine-leaved water-dropwort giving lots of opportunity for insects at a restored North Norfolk farm #pond #wildflowerhour

Huge crop circle in shape of a red deer this morning. Bodham, Norfolk, eastern England.

Have you ever tried walking 1/4 of a mile to survey a #pond in the middle of an oilseed rape field going against the grain? It only takes 4.3 days.

No need to seed: restoring former arable land to species‐rich grassland by mowing & natural regeneration over 18 years. Paper published today by myself, with my amazing 86 year old father & farmer Derek Sayer. A visit to the meadow is like stepping back through time. doi.org/10.1111/rec.70487

Coming back at you! We think it has v long lived seeds.

How do you cope with running a @norfolkponds.bsky.social @freshwaterbio.bsky.social #pond restoration training course in a heatwave in a super-heated metal & wood world war 1 village hall hut? Easy...you move it to the village church 200 m away. 10° C cooler & a wonderful welcoming atmosphere!

Sayer's Old Meadow is covered in wildflowers 21 yrs post-arable. The soil must have healed & every 2 paces there are oak or other tree saplings. If we did not mow it would rapidly be trees. So do we really have to plant trees to get forest on former farmland? Or just patience & trusting in nature?

No need to seed #meadows!!! Sayer's Old Meadow was an arable field bathed in chemicals until 2005. It was abandoned for 5 years & since then it has been mowed annually. No seeds/plants have ever been introduced to it. It is very species-rich. Ecological restoration is often best when we do less!!!

Help with this sedge at edges of a #ghostpingo #pond, Norfolk. Want to call Common Yellow Sedge (Carex viridula agg.) which have had before but no beak on fruits. Help!!! Needs a proper botanist!!! @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social @bramblebotanist.bsky.social @astridbiddle.bsky.social

A lake edge full of abandoned toilet brushes? Either that or a bed of Marestail Hippurus vulgaris? @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social @astridbiddle.bsky.social

Fun to show @norfolknats.bsky.social some restored ancient #ghostponds today at East Harling with the fab @timholtwilson.bsky.social. At least 40 wetland plants in this pond resurrected 20 months ago. Most successful form of ecological restoration known? @billsutherland.bsky.social #ghostpond

Rough weather might mean a night for eels? @greenleejw.bsky.social @themarshtit.bsky.social

Want to learn wetland botany as part of your MSc? In our @uclgeography.bsky.social MSc Aquatic Conservation, Ecology & Restoration MSc we teach a mega loved Aquatic Macrophytes field module in Dorset that takes us to ponds, saline lagoon, lakes & chalk streams

Come and do our amazingly popular @uclgeography.bsky.social MSc Aquatic Conservation, Ecology & Restoration. Now in its 24th year, the course famously underpins practical aquatic conservation & restoration with the very best science @tonyjuniper.bsky.social @craigbennett3.bsky.social

A four day fieldcourse to @kneppwilding.bsky.social as part of our @uclgeography.bsky.social MSc Aquatic Conservation, Ecology & Restoration & MSc Conservation Rewilding module. Beetles, eels (71 caught & recorded), birds, plants & mammals all closely studied in & around our "Wild Futures" camp!

Thrift on the cliffs close to a smugglers low, Weybourne, Norfolk #wildflowerhour

Marsh marigold patch edging a small North Norfolk coastal stream, eastern England. Locally known as Kingcups #wildflowerhour

A cuckoo flower floodplain meadow this morning to the sound of a #cuckoo. @floodplainmead.bsky.social

North Norfolk's magnificent chalk #reef, eastern England. Home to a billion creatures & hidden during all but the lowest of tides. To be treasured & protected

And they say #Norfolk is flat. In Stody village, North Norfolk (eastern England) there are rolling glacial hills reminiscent of Transylvania. At night dark beasts wander the grasslands hunting human prey. True wilderness