SW Portugal is cheap, civilised and quick to get to, bits of garrigue everywhere despite the tourism. Cabo de São Vicente nr Sagres is famous botanically. Cyprus is amazing in spring (but peaks early i.e. now), Akamas NP is stuffed with endemic flora.
Europe must learn from the disastrous behavior of American tech oligarchs.
They willingly traded away fundamental human rights and democracy in pursuit of deregulation, access, and tax cuts.
We cannot let billionaires dictate the future
A 30p note with Lee Anderson on it?
A Michael Gove tenner which comes with its own powdery residue?
Though it wasn't re-found during the THMCF survey, I'm sure Panagaeus crux-major will still be there somewhere.
Reminder that life in soil doesn't just _support_ #Biodiversity. It IS biodiversity
#Fungi #SoilHealth
www.discoverwildlife.com/plant-facts/...
...communal than is often recognised, though inequality increased over time as some tenants accrued greater shares of various common rights. Beyond the village, there was of course no democracy and extreme inequality was built into the system.
Not sure I entirely agree. While many tenants had obligations to the lord/lady of the manor, they also held rights to most of the necessities of life: grazing and fodder for their animals, domestic fuel, a share in the arable land of the village. At a village level, the local economy was much more..
Natural England bought the former raised mire after peat milling ceased, but only after it was cut down to the basal peat. It's a large NNR.
humberheadpeatlands.org.uk
Warping is the deliberate flooding of land with silt-laden water, which is held to deposit sediment then released. Historically, it was a widespread practice on the low land around the head of the Humber estuary, to raise ground levels and improve fertility.
But I thought Nige advertised gold bullion to people who smell of wee and bitterness on GB News.
This could only get more camp if Dickie Tice were to appear wearing cerise hotpants.
I visited a site in S Yorks today (Moorends) where Willow Tits were really common 10-15 years ago, seemingly ideal habitat, no sign at all.
cows lying in bracken
New Resource: Non-Chemical Bracken Management 🐄
This webinar from Innovative Farmers @thesoilassociation.bsky.social brought together farmers, researchers and advisors to launch a new learning network investigating managing bracken without chemicals. 🙅🧪
➡️ ow.ly/HgcK50YrK5r
📸Katharine Pinfold
FACTS:
Net Zero barely nudges your bill.
Fossil‑fuel wars send it through the roof.
So when Farage and his ilk slags off renewables while fanning conflict, remember who actually hikes your costs.
This small area supports a remarkably rich invertebrate fauna, all the more important because almost the entirety of the rainfed peat was removed to make grow-bags during the late C20th, an act of breath-taking environmental vandalism. cctorg.uk/inkle-moor/
Visited last remaining patch of lagg fen on the Thorne Peatlands today: originally the transition between the raised mass of rainfed peat and surrounding groundwater fed wetland. This narrow strip was cut for peat in medieval/early modern era but by a quirk of fate escaped 'warping' with silt.
As well as being the local Dipper hotspot, the banks of the Tees at Broken Scar (Darlington) support an interesting bulb flora. This includes Sand Leek, Field Garlic and, notably, numerous patches of Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem which are most obvious now, in early spring.
@teesbirds.bsky.social
Saltholme AM: 51 Avocet, Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Ruff, Great Egret, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff, Sand Martin, Tree Sparrow, Water Pipit.
@teesbirds.bsky.social
Christians have spent 2,000 years warning us about the Antichrist, then when he finally appears...
Thought this was a new Addams Family movie at first. They're all such weird looking f*ckers.
More Locke Park (Redcar) herons. Also Gadwall, Grey Wagtail & Blackcap today.
@teesbirds.bsky.social
@nybirdnews.bsky.social
They're also every bit as guilty as Iran of feeding conflict and instability. UAE has poured fuel on the fire in Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya. It's ironic that Reform UK hates refugees but UAE-sponsored conflicts drive so many people to flee their homelands.
The British far-right is essentially a foreign influence operation. If they're not backing Trump against UK & Europe or promoting Kremlin talking points they're love-bombing UAE, one of world's most repressive regimes - zero democracy, near bottom of press freedom index, stoking conflict far & wide.
New paper! Bird nests (Wood Warblers) are hubs of invertebrate biodiversity on forest floor, hosting more species/individuals than leaf litter. Probably due to heat & food detritus. Losing Wood Warblers = ecological networks lost. #ornithology
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Merlin on its regular perch on top of access chamber in middle of Marske coastal field, 14.45
@teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social
Summer plumage Red-necked Grebe close in off Bomb Hole, South Gare 13.30 @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social
We are laying out The Fenland Flora by Owen Mountford & Jon Graham - this landmark 1600-page 2-volume set is due for publication this Autumn. Pre-publication offer will start late Spring @bsbibotany.bsky.social @plantlifeuk.bsky.social
Watch this space for updates on progress
Trump hasn't noticed that the largest Kurdish group operating in Iran, PJAK, is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US. Even if the Kurds did precipitate the fall of the Iranian regime, Trump would f*ck them over as surely as he did twice in Syria.
Bran Sands lunchtime: Great Northern Diver in middle of estuary, 2 Red-throated further out, 4 Merganser, a few Eider & Guillemots but couldn't see any grebes. 19 Shags appeared to be fishing together. 40+ Bar-tailed Godwits flew into high-tide roost.
@teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social
