Martyn Roper

A tiny pale grey baby harvestman wandering over some dark soil on a stone. To the top and bottom of the photo are numerous little round harvestman eggs, pale grey in colour.

Close-up of the baby harvestman which has short, pale translucent legs and a slightly darker body with faint grey markings. In the bottom left corner is a cluster of small, round pale eggs.

Close-up of the harvestman eggs which are pale and round. Within several of them you can clearly see the pair of dark eyes of the tiny baby harvestman inside waiting to hatch out. In several you can also just make out the legs wrapped around the body.

Cuteness overload: adorable baby harvestman, newly hatched, alongside a cluster of eggs - the eyes of the babies are clearly visible inside the unhatched eggs and you can just make out the legs. They were found under a stone in my local cemetery. #arachnids #harvestmen

Medieval tapestry depicting a group of men pointing up at a comet soaring brightly across the sky, with the Latin caption ‘Isti mirant stella’.

lēoht-bēamede, adj: (of a comet) having beams or rays of light. (LAY-o’ht-BAY-ahm-uh-duh / ˈleːɔxt-ˌbeːam-ə-də)
Image: Bayeux Tapestry (scene 32); France (Bayeux), second half of 11th century; Bayeux, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire Baron-Gérard.
#OldEnglish #WOTD

25th February-1st March Continuing mild conditions, albeit turning increasingly blustery at times, saw just about enough signs of early migration to keep momentum g...

www.portlandbirdobs.com/2026/03/25th-february-1st-march.html

Three different spider species found in my local churchyard yesterday. I think an Ozyptila species, Nigma walckenaeri and what I think is an Segestria florentina. #IRecord #Arachnids

A damp mooch this pm, finding Coccidula rufa (Red Marsh Ladybird), Rhyzobius chrysomeloides (Arboreal Ladybird),Scymnus interruptus (Red-flanked Ladybird) and Scymnus haemorrhoidalis (Red-rumped Ladybird) amongst others! #VC40Ladybirds #MicroLadybird

Two positives: one of the first days this year when the weather's nice enough to hang the washing out and there's a new migrant in - a Firecrest trapped at the Obs

Find out how this landowner is supporting nature Discover more about Reconnecting Bernwood, Otmoor and the Ray at: https://www.bbowt.org.uk/rbor

Meet Kim, one of our heroes across the Bernwood Otmoor Ray landscape, who is managing her land to restore nature and reconnect it to the wider countryside.

Find out more about our RBOR partnership project at bbowt.org.uk/rbor

A large number of bright red and black bugs clustered in groups on the ground amongst some dead leaves and pine needles. To the front and right is a single orange beetle, a 7 Spot Ladybird.

Spot the odd one out...
Some glorious sunshine this lunchtime so popped into Earlham Cemetery and was greeted with a mass of Firebugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus) and one out of place looking 7 Spot Ladybird.

Female Hedgehog Harvestman Nemastomella bacillifera, Billacombe, Plymouth last week - always good to see these 'punk rock' harvestmen

A splash of colour today in a Swindon park and gardens, in the form of these seven spot ladybirds. 🐞 I counted 57 in total, and that was without really looking for them. #ladybirds #IRecord

A mossy stump with a few dead leaves on it and a twig and a Beech mast at the front. Above and behind the Beech mast is a tiny Snow Flea sitting facing right on the pale green moss.

Close-up of the Snow Flea facing right on pale green moss. This one is a male with its short modified wings curving up and backwards. Its body is shiny dark brown with pale yellowish legs. The head has a pair of large eyes and a beak-like extension pointing downwards. The antennae are quite long and thread-like.

A male Snow Flea on a twig facing left, just disappearing into a sprig of green moss.

A female Snow Flea sitting upright on pale green moss. Her back is dark shiny brown while the underside of her abdomen is pale yellow. The end of her abdomen is extended into a pointed ovipositor. The long legs are pale yellowy. Her head has a beak-like extension pointing downwards.

Snow Fleas (Boreus hyemalis) active in the sunshine at Felbrigg yesterday. Great to share these lovely little insects with members of Norfolk Fungus Study Group on their foray.

A few other creatures recorded yesterday on my visit to the local churchyard. The crab spider was tiny and very active, continually moving over the gravestone it was on making photographing it a real challenge.

A couple of hours out yesterday looking for harvestmen produced the grand total of zero, but I did find a few other interesting things hiding away under logs and rocks.

Thank you Esmond, I just checked with the key I was using and it is indeed missing from it.

After all the rain lately great to see the first Black Oil Beetles Meloe proscarabaeus out on Bolberry Down, Devon yesterday - 11 seen in rough grassland along the coast path

Counted at least 30 seven spot lady birds yesterday in a local churchyard, along with one very tiny beetle which I think is some kind of flea beetle but not sure. #ladybirds #IRecord

I found this five legged Harvestman yesterday under a stone in a local town gardens. It was really tiny and was dwarfed by the woodlice it was sharing its home with. I have tried keying it out this morning with no luck. Any ideas anyone? #Harvestmen #Arachnids

Medieval manuscript image of a couple embracing who, while human on top, have legs and tails like dragons and the tails have human heads attached to the ends.

lufung, f.n: loving, action of loving. (LUH-vung / ˈlʌ-vʌŋ)
Image: Book of Hours; Flanders (Cambrai?), c. 1300-1310; Walters Art Museum, Ms. W.88, f. 139v.
#OldEnglish #WOTD

Gannet was so glad and so grateful to have met her soul mate. She’d waited a long time for a perfect match and knew in every fibre of her being this was it. She could tell because she was completely herself and knew she was overwhelmingly, beautifully and unconditionally loved.

#Valentine #Gannets #Love

Tree on a slope

Scots Pine with no name, or a name only known to other Scots Pine - El Arenal, Spain

Trees detect gravity using tiny structures within the cells of their roots and shoots called statoliths. These tell them which way is up, & perfectly reflected here

Photo: Alberto C F

Looking back over my photos from 2024 and I find this. I remember it well as I was out looking for damselflies at the time and remember feeling sorry for the poor thing. Fantastic spider though 🙂
#arachnids #spiders #Damselflies #unlucky

A white statue of Charles Darwin sitting crossed legged on a chair. On the image, there’s text saying ‘Happy 217th birthday Charles Darwin!’. A birthday hat with polka dots has been photoshopped on top of the statue’s head.

Guess who’s turning 217 today? It’s Charles Darwin! 🥳

Born in 1809, he transformed the way we understand the natural world. He developed the theory of evolution by natural selection in his 1859 best-seller, ‘On the Origins of Species’.

Send him your birthday wishes in the comments! 👇

Oh there’s a monkey on their back - they must be bugged that they can’t shift it…

(Malaise samples from @kneppwildlandfdn.bsky.social)

Thank you Meg 👍

A few photos of over wintering spiders found in the garden over the last few weeks. All spiders were found on the underside of either roof tiles or bricks or large stones and all at ground level. #Arachnids #spiders #IRecord

Weymouth: Just three moths this morning, an Acleris umbrana and 2 Early Moth, both species nfy.
Best from Woodsford this morning were 3 Woodlark, Goosander and Great White Egret, all seen whilst dodging the incessant spells of rain.

Thank you Tegwyn

Ancient yew in a churchyard

Yew at Stoke Gabriel Church, Devon

Believed to be 1,000 years old, & likely the original place of worship, & why the church was placed here

'Walk ye backward round about me
7 times round for all to see
Stumble not and then for certain
One true wish will come to thee'

A very shaky phone video of what I think is Nigma walckenaeri on ivy yesterday in my local churchyard.
#Arachnids #spiders #luckyme

A quick visit yesterday to the local churchyard in the town where I work produced four ladybird species.
Adonis ladybird, Harlequin ladybird, pine ladybird and seven spot ladybird. 🐞 #ladybirds #Happydays