Liam Olds

Thanks for the kind words Deborah ☺️

I can’t recommend this course (& location) highly enough. A bargain.

🐝 Bee Identification Course – Kenfig NNR

2-day introduction to identifying UK wild bees using microscopes & field sessions in the dunes.

📅 13–14 June
💷 £75
👥 Limited

📧 Email liamoldsecology@gmail.com
for further info & booking.

Please share.

#bees #identification #training #Wales #Cymru

🦋 1 week left to Save the Small Blue at Cwm Tips!

Thanks to your support we’ve already funded scrub clearance to restore grassland habitat. Help us finish strong by supporting volunteer tools, school visits and guided walks.

🔗 www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-s...

Every share helps! 💚

From Coal to Nature: Glo i Natur’s Journey So Far When we launched Glo i Natur CIC in October 2025, we began with a simple belief: that coal spoil sites of South Wales are not scars on the landscape – they are sanctuaries.In just a few months, that b...

🌿 From Coal to Nature

Since launching in October we’ve been restoring habitat for the Small Blue at Cwm Tips, making wildlife discoveries on coal spoil sites and leading guided walks.

Read our short bilingual blog:
www.gloinatur.org/post/from-co...

Thanks to everyone supporting us so far 💚

Big thanks to Liam Olds of Glo i Natur - Coal to Nature - for a fascinating talk proving you don’t have to go diving or exploring remote mountains to find species new to science. Some have been found on heaps of old coal spoil in S Wales where nature has thrived creating islands of biodiversity!

The Pyrenean semi-slug Semilimax pyrenaicus - a pretty brown slug with dark spots carrying a small redundant shell on its back. Found in S Wales and the Pyrenees

Liam talking to a rapt audience about the amazing diversity of coal spoil tips across South Wales.

If you missed Liam’s talk, he’ll be leading an outdoor coal spoil walk for us at Parc Melin Mynach, Gorseinon, Swansea on Sunday May 31st. Please subscribe to our Eventbrite page to be notified when bookings open.
#CoaltoNature @gloinatur.bsky.social

The 1st #BeeFlyWatch record in England this year was on 25 February, and we now have the 1st in Scotland on 3 March (@ellenwilson.bsky.social) and in Wales on 4 March (@liamolds.bsky.social) - Ellen's bee-fly is the earliest ever recorded in Scotland, by almost two weeks bsky.app/profile/liam...

♂️ Violet Oil Beetle (Meloe violaceus) and ♂️ Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major) at Brynna Woods & Llanharan Marsh Nature Reserve today - both firsts of the year for me 😁

A fair few solitary bees and bumblebees around too, plus Brimstone butterflies. Spring is here!

Liam Olds, founder of Glo i Natur CIC, will be talking about these incredible sites this evening at St Hilary's Church Community Hall, Killay, Swansea. You're welcome to join us at 7.30pm

Coal Spoil - Nature's Surprise Legacy! Once seen as scars on the landscape, South Wales' coal spoil sites have become rich wildlife habitats yielding some incredible discoveries!

Final reminder of tonight's talk in #Swansea 🎤

Coal Spoil: Nature’s Surprise Legacy 🌿

Join Liam as he reveals the most surprising and exceptional wildlife found on South Wales’ former coal spoil sites.

🎟️ Book your place: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/coal-spoil...

We’d love to see you there 💚

First Violet Oil Beetles Meloe violaceus out today, Buckfastleigh, Devon

Abeilles, papillons, mille-pattes… Comment la nature a repris possession de cette immense mine de charbon abandonnée - Edition du soir Ouest-France - 24/02/2026 Délaissé depuis la fin des années 1980, le site qui fût l’une des plus grandes mines de charbon du Pays de Galles fait aujourd’hui le bonheur de la faune et de la flore. La...

📣 Featured in Ouest-France! 🇫🇷

Our work at Cwm Tips (Rhondda Cynon Taf) is highlighted in one of France’s biggest papers — showing how wildlife is reclaiming this former coal tip.

🌍 Post-industrial nature recovery matters.

🔗 www.ouest-france.fr/leditionduso...

#CoalToNature #CwmTips

Join us tomorrow for this special talk by entomologist and coal spoil nature champion Liam Olds!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 #DyddGŵylDewi Hapus / Happy #StDavidsDay! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Today we’re shining a light on some of the extraordinary species that make Wales so special - species either globally restricted to Wales, restricted to Wales within the UK, or proudly carrying Welsh connections in their names.

#Cymru #Wales #Wildlife

Cornwall Butterfly Conservation volunteers clearing Buddleia from around a mine engine house.

Before: Buddleia, Sallow and Bramble encroaching into sparsely vegetated, short grassland surrounding a mine engine house.

After: Buddleia, Sallow and Bramble have been cleared from around the engine house to expand the area of grassland.

Last Monday was Cornwall Butterfly Conservation's final work party of the winter. We were clearing Buddleia and scrub at Cook's Kitchen (South Crofty Mine) to restore habitat for Dingy Skipper. This active mine is currently the only confirmed site for Dingy Skipper within the Camborne-Redruth area.

It is indeed 😁

The localised wolf spider Alopecosa barbipes - or Easter Fox-spider - at Margam Mine yesterday. A rather typical species of coal spoil sites in South Wales.

@britishspiders.bsky.social

Saw my first butterflies (Brimstone) and bees of the year yesterday, including this male Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipes) at Margam Mine, near Bridgend.

🎤 Talk reminder!

Discover the surprising wildlife of South Wales’ coal spoil sites — from the “Maerdy Monster” to the Pyrenean Semi-slug, plus fungi, plants, birds & more.

🎟️ Book: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/coal-spoil...

#CoalToNature #NatureWalk #Swansea #Cymru #Wales #Nature #Wildlife

🦡 A special visitor caught on camera at one of Rhondda Cynon Taf’s coal tips 🦡

This fantastic footage of a #Badger was captured by our volunteer Catrin using a #cameratrap - a brilliant reminder of just how important these overlooked places are for #wildlife.

#Wales #RhonddaCynonTaf #Nature

Coal Spoil - Nature's Surprise Legacy! Once seen as scars on the landscape, South Wales' coal spoil sites have become rich wildlife habitats yielding some incredible discoveries!

Once seen as scars on the landscape, South Wales' coal spoil sites have become rich wildlife habitats yielding some incredible discoveries! Join us for a fascinating talk by entomologist Liam Olds who has been studying the wildlife of these sites for +10 years.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/coal-spoil...

Lovely to revisit National Museum Cardiff today (where I worked previously for 3 years) to run an advanced bumblebee identification workshop for @naturambyth.bsky.social @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social staff and volunteers. Can't wait for spring to arrive and start seeing bumblebees again 😊

Filmed through binoculars (excuse the quality!), this was today’s special sighting at #Pontycymer Lakes, Garw Valley 💙

Once part of Ffaldau Colliery, the lake is now a haven for #wildlife - including Kingfishers, now seen here almost daily this winter.

#CoalToNature #GarwValley #Nature #Kingfisher

They do stand out a fair bit, even though they're small 😁

Another unexpected find on today's walk near Blackmill, Bridgend, was this Ghost Slug (Selenochlamys ysbryda).

It's been raining here for weeks, and it's generally after a period of very wet weather that I find these most often.

Pleasantly surprised to spot this newly emerged male Black Oil Beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus) when walking near Blackmill, Bridgend, today.

I think this is my earliest Black Oil Beetle record!

You can tell he is newly emerged as his abdomen hasn't yet expanded to the typical oil beetle shape.

3 weeks since launching our 'Save the Small Blue at Cwm Tips' #Crowdfunder and we’ve raised £915 - nearly halfway! 💙

Thank you for your support 💚

If you would like to donate, visit: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-s...

#SaveTheSmallBlue #GloiNatur #CoaltoNature #Nature #Wales #Cymru #Wildlife

Phengaris teleius (Scarce Large Blue) in a French meadow. One of the 17 species in the European Grassland Butterfly Index. Photo: Martin Warren)

The latest European Grassland Butterfly Indicator is out. It shows that grassland butterflies have declined by 47% since 1991, indicating a huge loss of grassland biodiversity. The data come from 16,150 transects & 15,000 volunteers. We are calling for urgent action. www.bc-europe.eu/documents/69...

Nice one, thanks Sean 😊