Chris Foster
@chrisfoster
The twit formerly known as hatbirder. Insects, birds, etc. Lecturer in ecology / entomology at University of Reading. See also @carabidaeuk.bsky.social.
My first Comfrey Ermine a few mins walk from home at the weekend, first for the garden briefly resting on our out of control sage this evening. What a splendid little animal.
Course looks great but I hope the AI graphic was inserted by EventBrite (it's not on your website)
I completed the survey since I do live in one of the relevant catchments. The thankyou page has more, featuring these lovely fin-nosed fish and mysterious animal rearing out of the water, Anaconda perhaps?
Presumably these just keep growing back so you don't need to buy another packet
Finally a nice temperature in the middle of the day. Now for some rain please 😫
Now with additional extraordinary, average air temperature for July running a whole 5 degrees above the 1991 - 2020 average for Reading
Shaping up to be the most extraordinary run of warm months as recorded on the @unirdg-met.bsky.social field station.
I thought we might become climate refugees in a decade or so but actually how about by Tuesday?
Excellent day out in the New Forest with @unirdgento.bsky.social students yesterday. Lots of nice finds including Golden-haired Longhorn (Leptura aurulenta), something of an old oak specialist.
Ugh (from the University of Reading Met observatory @unirdg-met.bsky.social )
Splendid evening walk from home yesterday turned up two Grasshopper Warblers reeling, roding Woodcock, juv. Tawny Owls and a Cuckoo on the night shift calling after dark.
Bit disappointed the butterfly is not named! May as well have a picture of a flower that says 'flower'. It's not very informative.
On a cheerier note at least one pair still in evidence...plus Crossbills in the larch at the top end and excellent prolonged views of a Goshawk tussling with Ravens.
Plenty of nice woodland left but it's for sure wholesale felling, not mere coppicing. Ash yes but also mature oak. Take the point that no woodland management at all would be equally bad for Willow Tit, but losing extensive areas of habitat on one go can't be good for such a small population.
Bit shocked by the heavy handed felling in parts of Combe Wood though! Once was a Willow Tit nest there 😢
What a gorgeous day it was yesterday for one of my favourite views 😁
Distractions while finally catching up with some winter pruning in the garden.
For local folk I'll be talking @carabidaeuk.bsky.social at Kintbury Wildlife Group tomorrow, 7:30pm 🪲https://kintburywildlife.co.uk/Current-programme.html. If I'm organised enough might have some specimens to look at...possibly live ones too!
Spot the birder who can't read or thinks their views or photographs outweigh bird welfare
It certainly is.. good thing about non-native introductions is I feel a little less guilty about posing them for selfies! Nonetheless the majority we found went back into overwintering sites, have retained some to try and breed 🤞
Specially for @kitenet.bsky.social here at last is a picture of me with ground beetle! More to come later to see which you like best 😆
Happy Burns Night! With thanks for Scotland and her fine culture, food and drink. Not my home country but I feel at home whenever we go 🏴🥃
A slow @rspb.bsky.social garden birdwatch. 3 Feral Pigeon (strictly speaking these were on the roof, not in the garden), 3 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Woodpigeon. Benny the cat may have seen something we missed but he'll never tell....
Starlings at Speen Moor, attracting plenty of admirers from nearby Newbury every evening.
