Phil Saunders
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beardybirder.bsky.social
Phil Saunders
@beardybirder.bsky.social
Professional bird botherer & bug chaser (not like that), based in Dorset. Freelance ecologist / leader for Wildlife Travel #LGBTQinSTEM. Mainly birds, inverts, & plants, with the occasional arty photo. All views my own.
A belated Xmas visit to my folks in Kent allowed for a brief foray to Dunge' today, taking in a fantastic mixed goose flock on Walland Marsh (containing 30+ Tundra Beans, 6 WF Geese, & 28 Bewick's Swans, amongst 5 other goose spp) & getting my customary festive Casp' fix on the #RSPB Reserve.
December 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Boxing Day saw our @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Cyprus group ascend the Akamas Peninsula, with highlights incl'g the 1st flowering Ophrys omegaifera subsp. israelitica of the season, a cranky Sun Spider, & a fabulously spiny female Drilus (False Firefly) beetle on the hunt for snails in Neo Chorio
December 26, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Phil Saunders
A feast of botanical treats from Christmas Day in Cyprus including intensely fragrant Narcissus tazetta, beautifully patterned Cyclamen persicum leaves and architectural seed heads of the endemic Onopordum cyprium…

Merry Christmas to all!

@wildlifetraveller.bsky.social
@beardybirder.bsky.social
December 25, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Merry Christmas from Cyprus! Our @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social festive group enjoyed a range of botanical treats as we explored the Latsi hillsides today, including carpets of the beautiful (& delicately scented) Narcissus tazetta & the very first few flowering Fan-lipped Orchids of the season.
December 25, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Phil Saunders
Botanical highlights from Day 2 of the @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Cyprus trip - tiny spikes of Autumn Grape-Hyacinth, the diminutive Narcissus deficiens, an early-flowering Crown Anemone and autumn flowering Ranunculus cyathaerus -all at Tombs of the Kings, Paphos.
@beardybirder.bsky.social
December 24, 2025 at 8:52 PM
If you go down to the woods today you could be in for a big surprise... Our @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Cyprus group were lucky to discover several wonderfully large & hairy European Tarantulas hiding beneath carefully tipped rocks in Peyia Forest this afternoon. Absolutely fabulous spiders.
December 24, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Christmas came early for our Cyprus @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social group in Peyia Forest today, as we encountered a wonderful array of flowering bulb species, including the tiny but statuesque Hyacinthella millingenii, the ephereal Colchicum pusillum, & the absolutely stunning Romulea tempskyana
December 24, 2025 at 7:40 PM
A wonderful day spent exploring some of my old haunts east of Pafos whilst co-leading the @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social group, taking in some great birds (incl'g Pallid Harrier, Long-legged Buzzard, & Spur-winged Lapwing), a diminutive Kotschy's Gecko, & the SW Cypriot endemic Aphrodite's Dandelion
December 23, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The 2nd full day of the @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Cyprus trip was a fab mix of culture & wildlife, taking in Agios Neophytos, Tomb of the Kings, & Kato Pafos Archeological Park, plus the glorious Narcissus deficiens, Crown Anemone, Cone-headed Grasshopper, & several sublime Red-throated Pipits
December 22, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Phil Saunders
Stormy weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of the group currently spending Christmas in Cyprus with @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social

Fascinating plants, birds, invertebrates and geology - something for everyone… Details of species in ALT

Great to be co-leading again with @beardybirder.bsky.social
December 21, 2025 at 8:17 PM
This is all manner of wonderful
'Tis the season for some festive science songs.

If you've ever wanted to hear someone sing about a dimunitive tyranosaur then now is your chance
December 21, 2025 at 3:22 PM
It's great to be back in (a currently rather soggy) Cyprus, co-leading the long-running @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social Christmas trip with @sarahlambert7.bsky.social - this morning's invert highlights along the quiet Latsi roadsides included Winter Pearl moth & several attractive spider species
December 21, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I finally agreed it was winter this morning and made my first visit of the season to Jerry's Point. The imm Velvet Scoter was still in residence (surprisingly my 1st in the harbour), as well as 5 apiece of BN Grebe & GN Diver @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @harbourbirds.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 12:06 PM
A fabulously furry December Moth (one of my favourite species) was new for the Upton garden trap this morning, alongside a single Tachystola, after what will almost certainly be its last outing in 2025 - it's been an absolutely fantastic suburban mothing year #TeamMoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social
December 12, 2025 at 8:54 AM
An expectedly quiet December wander around St Aldhelm's Head this morning, with little of note bar the continuing presence of a sizeable mixed finch flock in the Pier Bottom cover crop @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social
December 11, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Phil Saunders
Epic recovery report just received! ⚠️ A Turnstone I trapped using a homemade walk-in trap has been recaptured in the 🌍 world’s 🌎 northernmost continuously inhabited settlement. Ringed on 12 February 2024 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex 🇬🇧, it was re-trapped on 08 June 2025 in Alert, Nunavut… 🇨🇦 (🧵 1/2)
December 10, 2025 at 10:10 PM
An enjoyable few days surveying around Sandwich Bay (despite the rain) with 4 Snow Buntings @ Princes Beach, 6 Caspian Gulls (incl'g 4 different adults between Deal & Pegwell today & a hefty 1st winter seen across the weekend near Deal), & a smart adult YL Gull @ Pegwell @kentishplover.bsky.social
December 7, 2025 at 7:23 PM
I never thought I'd see Lesser Crested Tern in the UK, having missed the long-returning Elsie on the Farnes in my teens & the last UK record in Norfolk 20(!) yrs ago, so this morning's trip to the Exe Estuary with @moorebirdsbybike.bsky.social was much appreciated. I do love an "orange-billed" tern!
December 4, 2025 at 12:23 PM
A subad male Hen Harrier SW over the fields (my 1st grey bird on the patch) was the highlight of a typically wintry wander around St Aldhelm's Head this morning, plus single Redpoll & Bullfinch, & a sizeable flock of Chaffinch enjoying the new cover crop by the quarry @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Support your county bird club! Dorset Bird Club is a fantastic organisation that funds conservation initiatives, collates ornithological data from across the county, & provides a social & focal hub for local birders. If you're not one already, DBC have a fab new membership offer for the next... 1/n
December 1, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Reposted by Phil Saunders
Looking forward to the British & Irish Botanical Conference tomorrow, where I'll be manning the @wildlifetraveller.bsky.social exhibit, sharing exciting opportunities for natural history holidays with a strong botanical focus. Do come and say hello!

@bsbibotany.bsky.social
November 28, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Reposted by Phil Saunders
up early today, for our trip onto the San Lorenzo ridge

up here, it seems almost everything, at least amongst the birds, is a Santa Marta endemic, found on this isolated Colombian massif and nowhere else

#WildlifeTravelling in #Colombia
November 29, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Reposted by Phil Saunders
While birds and bats both developed adaptations for flight, the way they went about it is so fundamentally different it affects their possible ecological adaptation. Specifically, birds can easily shift to a walking lifestyle, bats can't. 🧪

Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 29, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Reposted by Phil Saunders
Four new species for Dorset (and a belated one for Britain) are among the highlights of the Dorset Moths Annual Report 2024. Free PDF downland from dorsetmoths.co.uk

#teammoth
@dorsetmoths.bsky.social
@dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social
@migrantmothuk.bsky.social
@savebutterflies.bsky.social
November 27, 2025 at 2:42 PM
This fantastically stripy-legged Harpactea hombergi, a species more commonly associated with a range of outdoor habitats, was wandering around the slightly less salubrious environs of my Upton bathtub just now #spiders
November 27, 2025 at 10:34 PM