Holly Blue butterfly feeding on forget-me-nots
Speckled Wood butterfly on forget-me-nots
Spring is springing! 🙌
More butterflies are beginning to make an appearance, with the first Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) and Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) of 2026 spotted on 25 February.
📷 Photos from archive: Nigel Ball, Anna Wheeler
Join us for the UK Butterfly Recorders Meeting!
This free event is perfect for butterfly enthusiasts, taking place online on Sat 28th March. Discover the 2025 UKBMS findings and enjoy insights from leading butterfly experts.
Reserve your free spot now!
butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/...
Butterfly Conservation's butterflies and moths to see in March: Red Admiral, Orange Underwing, Peacock, Oak Beauty, Brimstone, Dotted Border, Comma, Early Thorn, Small Tortoiseshell
Spring is on its way! Look out for these butterflies and moths in your gardens and local green spaces 🦋🌷
What have you seen recently?
March sees the return of bumblebee queens as they emerge from hibernation – here are some of the common species you can spot this month 👀
Have you spotted your first bumblebee of 2026?
🔎 Brush up on your bumblebee identification skills: https://ow.ly/af3U50Yi2iq
As well as the FIT Count survey, we run a more systematic survey using insect traps in a set of 1 km squares across the UK. If you live near one of the red squares on the map and are interested in taking part please contact us for more details ukpoms.org.uk/one-km-squar...
There's less than a month until the start of the 2026 FIT Count season on 1 April! The Flower-Insect Timed Count survey asks you to spend 10 minutes counting all insects that land on a patch of flowers, to help monitor abundance of #pollinators. 🪰🦋🌻🪲🐝 More info at ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts
A chance to learn more about production of this fabulous new guide to #FliesofBritainandIreland with Steven Falk 👏🪰😊@naturebureau.bsky.social
www.nhbs.com/blog/author-...
Just 3 days left to get your hands on a copy of our new guide to #FliesofBritainandIreland at the pre-pub price bit.ly/4dqQI8Z – delivery expected to us by 21 Feb 2026 @rdimond.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @gailashton.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social
Hi Andrew, you would be welcome to borrow from parts of the PoMS 1km survey RA if relevant. Email us if you can’t find your 2025 copy!
Happy New Year from the PoMS team! Incase you missed our December newsletter, find it here including:
📊 updates on 2025 surveys
🌼 FIT Count projects (now is the perfect time to sign up for 2026)
🪰🐝🐞 links to a great series of past & upcoming #pollinator themed webinars!
mailchi.mp/39d2be14e1f2...
Can you identify UK bumblebees and/or butterflies to a species level in the field?
Or do you have strong botanical survey skills (equivalent to FISC Level 4 or higher) with the ability to recognise broad and priority habitats?
See great opportunity below & please share!
UKBMS data feeds into UK government statistics to measure biodiversity. Each year, @jncc publish Biodiversity Indicators - giving a snapshot of how our biodiveristy is faring
buff.ly/Cw71ZAY
You can view the latest Biodiversity Indicators here - buff.ly/cyuIo2G
Is your back garden a pollinator hotspot? 🌸🐝
New research shows flower-rich gardens can be powerful refuges for urban pollinators. Join Emma Plant from @glasgow.ac.uk on 22 Apr 2026 for a FREE entoLIVE to learn more. 🌍 🧪
🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1964456916...
@royentsoc.bsky.social #pollinators
Interested in finding out about recording plants in bloom for the #NewYearPlantHunt? Join @bsbibotany.bsky.social for a webinar this evening ⬇️🌼
Wild Flower Chalk Grassland with Orchids copyright Matthew J Thomas/iStock
UK Biodiversity Indicators 2025 are now live jncc.gov.uk/our-work/uk-...
With contributions from nearly 100 organisations, they are useful tools for summarising & communicating broad trends 🧵
#TogetherForNature
Exciting NEW PhD just advertised, using @pomscheme.bsky.social data - full details here! ⬇️🐝🪰🐞
Good to have an opportunity to discuss pollinator monitoring and conservation in this context @jncc.bsky.social
Come and work with members of the @pomscheme.bsky.social team on this exciting NEW PhD opportunity! Full details below ⬇️🐝🪰🐞
Great to have featured @pomscheme.bsky.social FIT Counts in the Springline Project. How many pollinators can you spot in this wonderful mural depicting the wildlife and landscapes joining three South Oxfordshire villages?!
Mapping spatial and temporal patterns of pesticide risk to #pollinators and other #inverts across England - I’ve enjoyed working on this important new resource for research into past changes and future risks from @francescamancini.bsky.social and @ukceh.bsky.social 👏 🐝👇
Seen the programme for our #NPMS10 anniversary online event? Join for all or part of the day. Talks by
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
@plantlifeuk.bsky.social
@ukceh.bsky.social
@jncc.bsky.social
@nationaltrust.org.uk
@chilternsnl.bsky.social
plus talks from our amazing volunteers! ow.ly/xqqf50X4fEE
🧵1/4
☕️ Your morning coffee depends on pollinators more than you might think.
Every day, the world savours more than 2 billion cups of coffee. Yet this daily ritual relies on a hidden workforce: pollinators. Bees, butterflies and countless others ensure that coffee blossoms fulfil their potential.
Ashy Mining Bee, Andrena cineraria
Unexpected Ashy Mining Bee, Andrena cineraria, today.
#Bees #Hymenoptera #VC55
Pollinators such as wild #bees, #butterflies, and #hoverflies are in trouble worldwide. A major new study, published in Science, shows that the oft-quoted figure of 10% semi-natural habitat in farmland landscapes is far too little to safeguard pollinators
jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/09/26/p...
Great opportunity to present @pomscheme.bsky.social collaborative research with @sangerinstitute.bsky.social at #BGEconnects. DNA-based transformation will only be possible with continued national-scale sampling, curated archives, data infrastructure and collaboration with taxonomists.
Faded beauty. A few Adonis Blues still going on the Purbeck Ridge yesterday, also great to see the recovery of the food plant Horseshoe Vetch after the drought, which left them shrivelled. In just 3 weeks they are now green and vigorous. @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social
Many bumblebee colonies are winding down. New queens are leaving the nest to hibernate, ready to start fresh colonies next spring. Late species like Bombus pascuorum can still be seen foraging into autumn.
#PollinatingLT
Promotional banner for the UKBMS 50th Anniversary Conference featuring the logos of Butterfly Conservation, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, BTO, and JNCC. The banner includes an image of a White Admiral butterfly on the right side.
Only a few tickets left for the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme 50th Anniversary Conference!
We're looking forward to celebrating 50 incredible years of butterfly monitoring and volunteer achievement. 🎉🦋
Book your free place 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uk-butterf...
#UKBMS50
The @pomscheme.bsky.social recording season ends for the year in one week (30 Sep)! Check the weather conditions where you are before spending 10 minutes watching flowers & insects.
If you have ivy flowers in your garden, they are a fantastic target flower right now!
ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts 🐝🧪
