Joseph Beale
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joebeale.bsky.social
Joseph Beale
@joebeale.bsky.social
480 followers 450 following 50 posts
Naturalist: surveys, guided walks, writing. Moths, butterflies, birds, dragonflies, soldierflies. SE London-based. Views my own etc. 🍉
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joebeale.bsky.social
With awful news (e.g. Planning Bill), I escape in nature. #Greenwich: Moth trap (12th) - Feathered Thorn + 2 Udea ferrugalis (at last a little for @migrantmothuk.bsky.social!). 3 Teal on Park lake briefly (Oct) - until fountain began; my 1st autumn Ashy Mining Bee (Sept) a sign of the climate times.
Autumn Ashy Mining Bee on ivy in late September - normally a species I see in spring/early summer One of three Teal, small migratory ducks, on the Park lake in mid October - until the fountain came on and scared them off Udea ferrugalis, a small migratory moth, attracted to light traps on 12th Nov during a warm southerly airflow Close up of a Feathered Thorn moth, a large autumnal species, on 12th November - showing the male's golden-orange feathery antennae
November 14, 2025 at 11:18 AM
joebeale.bsky.social
What a legend.
kojamf.bsky.social KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · Oct 5
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
October 5, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
rspb.bsky.social
Irreplaceable habitats are on the line. This is the reality if an unamended Part 3 of the Bill passes.

It must not.
theguardian.com The Guardian @theguardian.com · Jun 3
Revealed: 5,000 English nature sites at risk under Labour’s planning proposals
Revealed: 5,000 English nature sites at risk under Labour’s planning proposals
Exclusive: Planning bill includes mechanism for developers to ‘pay to pollute’ valuable ecosystems, experts warn * Ten top jewels at risk from the bill * ​New approach could help nature survive More than 5,000 of England’s most sensitive, rare and protected natural habitats are at high risk of being destroyed by development under Labour’s new planning bill, according to legal analysis of the legislation. The Guardian has examined the threat the bill poses to 5,251 areas known as nature’s “jewels in the crown”, as some of the country’s most respected wildlife charities call for a key part of the bill to be scrapped. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
June 3, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
dustygedge.bsky.social
Found me a lesser-spotted #woodpeckers nest in last week. 1st in 23 yr used to nest around here i#blackheath #greenwich #lewisham - why not anymore? Mix of joy/sadness This 1 is for @joebeale.bsky.social
youtu.be/W8zSOszVqCg
#birds #nature #wildlife #UrbanNature #urbanwildlife
My first Lesser-spotted woodpecker nest in 20 Years – in Italy! 🪵🔭🪶
YouTube video by Dusty Gedge
youtu.be
June 3, 2025 at 8:55 PM
joebeale.bsky.social
There's a fair chance of finding something interesting if you look at insects - like this Least Black Arches moth. Few Greenwich records, but it has increased nationally. Blackheath this a.m: a Yellow Wagtail paused on migration to catch insects amongst Dandelions. A benefit of less intense mowing!
Close up of a Least Black Arches moth - a small but attractive moth, finely patterned in black and white A Least Black Arches moth - a small but attractive moth, finely patterned with chevrons and wavy lines in black and white
May 2, 2025 at 4:58 PM
joebeale.bsky.social
Well here's #mothfaceFriday. A Centre-barred Sallow looking a bit socially uncomfortable.
A fluffy-faced Centre-barred Sallow moth with what appears to be a slightly alarmed look on its face.
May 2, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
dustygedge.bsky.social
A Wall on a Wall - had a #butterfly discovery a few days ago on #blackheath this video goes into detail about said butterfly and its population collapse in London +shout 4 g8 book link in reply#SE #england 4 @joebeale.bsky.social @garrypogson.bsky.social @katemidd.bsky.social
youtu.be/fIIDLeYczkw
Amazing Butterfly Discovery Right on the Wall!
YouTube video by Dusty Gedge
youtu.be
April 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
joebeale.bsky.social
Apparently #mothfaceFriday is a thing. Well here's one (Elephant Hawk) from Greenwich last summer.
April 4, 2025 at 6:13 PM
joebeale.bsky.social
The Dark-edged Bee-flies are back Ted. #Greenwich today.
A Bee-fly hovers as it sips nectar from a Celandine flower.
March 28, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
garrypogson.bsky.social
My first Comma and first Brimstone of 2025, about 10 yards apart, at Vanbrugh Pits, Greenwich thurs lunchtime. Several years now the same bramble patch has yielded my first comma of the year @joebeale.bsky.social @dustygedge.bsky.social
March 7, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
dustygedge.bsky.social
If you live in #lewisham #deptford #blackheath #greenwich or anywhere else #selondon a little video ad for a talk I will be doing locally on #nature #wildlife #birds #greenroofs and #greencities as a local #geezer @joebeale.bsky.social @dohertyta.bsky.social @katemidd.bsky.social
March 3, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
kentfieldclub.bsky.social
Old Park in Canterbury is a superb area of acid grassland with a flora including Harebell, Bedstraw (or Clove-scented) Broomrape & Mossy Stonecrop, & loads of Nightingales. The MoD owns it and has put it up for sale. Join the campaign to save this extraordinary site canterburyoldpark.org.uk
The pale blue flowers of Harebell, with grass in the foreground and branbles behind. A pink flowerhead of Bedstraw Broomrape, amongst grass. Creeping, red-green stems of Mossy Stonecrop, growing amongst stones and isolated grasses.
February 24, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
lnhs.bsky.social
So excited to see this in print🥳

Congratulations Leslie for a very comprehensive guide on London's butterfly species👏

From species distributions to conservation efforts, if you want to ID butterfly species or conserve them, then this is the guide for you🦋📖

www.naturebureau.co.uk/the-butterfl...
February 12, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
lnhs.bsky.social
Hello Bluesky! We've just joined and are looking forward to meeting likeminded societies and people!
The LNHS is a local natural history society concerned with recording the wildlife of London, covering a 20-mile radius from St. Paul's Cathedral. #UKWildlife #LondonWildlife
A lovely male tufted duck photographed at Hampstead Heath in January. It is floating in a greenish pond, and is mainly black with white on the side of his abdomen. His head is black with some purple irridescence, his beak is grey and his eye yellow. He is facing to the right.
February 9, 2025 at 5:06 PM
joebeale.bsky.social
Good news for Swanscombe SSSI's exceptional wildlife, and for the local community! Swanscombe - a site rich in natural wonders, from orchids to Nightingales - has been under threat for years from an ill-conceived theme park. Also nice to see my photo in use 🙂
community.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/b/rs...
Swanscombe Peninsula outcome showcases the power of your dedicated campaigning
“The RSPB is delighted that Swanscombe Peninsula has been saved for wildlife - it is an amazing Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), alive with birds, wildflowers
community.rspb.org.uk
January 23, 2025 at 12:34 PM
joebeale.bsky.social
Thanks very much to the Vanbrugh Volunteers who helped with a bit of habitat management in #Greenwich on Sunday. It's to maintain a dynamic mix of habitats of varying structure, openness, and stages of growth, to maximise the benefit to wildlife. We also cleared a fair bit of litter!
Volunteers managing some Gorse at Vanbrugh Pits, Greenwich, to start the process of regrowth, to maintain a dynamic mix of heights and ages of scrub. This allows wildflowers and grasses to grow in the temporary clearing before the Gorse grows back. Volunteers pushing the bramble line back to help maintain the rough grassland and create some sunny open spots for invertebrates at Vanbrugh Pits, Greenwich. A great bunch of people, those who were still there at the end of the volunteer session! Thanks to our volunteers we are keeping the habitat dynamic where possible, allowing a varied mix of vegetation types, open spaces, dense scrub and regrowth. This helps to maximise the value for invertebrates and to prevent the habitat becoming uniform. Small Copper butterfly is one of the many insects that benefits from habitat work at Vanbrugh Pits (this photo was taken not far away in a previous summer, and is for illustrative purposes here). They are small orange and black butterflies that are resident at Vanbrugh Pits. They lay eggs on Sheep's Sorrel, which grows amongst the Gorse stumps before it regrows. They feed at ragwort and other flowers, which also appreciate sunny clearings that result from the habitat work. We look forward to seeing them again in May.
January 22, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
kmfmnews.bsky.social
VIDEO: Buglife are among conservation groups welcoming news the company behind plans for a theme park on the Swanscombe peninsula has gone into liquidation #kmfmnews
January 21, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
rathergoodart.bsky.social
The Eric Ravilious Wood Engraving Postcard Collection (Selborne).
Six beautiful postcards featuring wood engravings produced by Eric Ravilious to illustrate an edition of his favourite book, ‘A Natural History of Selborne’.
www.rathergoodart.co.uk/product/eric...
#ericravilious #rathergoodart
Six wood engravings by Eric Ravilious, created for the book 'A Natural History of Selborne' by Gilbert White.
January 8, 2025 at 12:16 PM
joebeale.bsky.social
Some beautiful insects from 2024 in #Greenwich_Park. Brindled Green new to the Park, Ferdinandea cuprea hoverfly on a tree trunk also likely new for the site, Metalampra italica a small #moth also new here but spreading and frequent; larvae may eat fungi. Oak Hook-tip, a finely patterned species.
Brindled Green, a superbly camouflaged moth with greens, blacks, greys and some orange-pink. Ferdinandea cuprea, a large woodland hoverfly with a golden abdomen, that likes damaged wood with sap. Metalampra italica, a small ginger moth with straw-yellow lines and blotches. Oak Hook-tip, a perfect individual with orange, grey and black shading.
December 19, 2024 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
florencewilkinson.bsky.social
In the spirit of Christmas (and seeing as I’m new here) I thought I’d host a little #giveaway. For the chance to win* a signed copy of my book, Wild City, which came out in paperback this year:

1. Share this post
2. Comment with your favourite wild species that you’ve spotted in an urban setting!
December 17, 2024 at 9:40 AM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
Other work by the Ladybird artists
‘Gusty Twilight’
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Close-up, rather stylised picture of a barn owl in profile struggling to keep his perch as a gust of wind blows hard
December 15, 2024 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Joseph Beale
brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social
'E' is for.... Eider!

Eiders - by Lancaster artist and printmaker, John Hatton

I've been looking forward to 'E' so I can post this gorgeous linocut!

More of this artist's beautiful work, here: johnhattonart.co.uk

#AlphabetBirds #birdart #birds #art 🪶
Linocut or two Eider ducks in the sea, with seaweed
December 4, 2024 at 6:46 AM
joebeale.bsky.social
On Bluesky the group of people following is smaller than on X, but engagment here seems better. If you are following me here and I haven't reciprocated and you'd like me to, please let me know!
December 4, 2024 at 6:55 PM
joebeale.bsky.social
The last moth trap of the year last night, four species in very mild conditions included a December Moth and an Oak Rustic - seemingly 1st #Greenwich record. The reniform stigma is much more subtle and varied when seen under magnification than it appears at first glance. #teammoth
December 1, 2024 at 6:59 PM
joebeale.bsky.social
More 2024 moths and a #snipefly from #Greenwich. Light Brocade, Rhagio lineola first Greenwich record since 1943, Black Rustic and Feathered Thorn looking autumnal, and a gorgeous Acleris kochiella (c16mm); 1st Greenwich Park record. I love its raised scales resembling rough tree bark. #teammoth
Light Brocade moth showing its attractive grey, buff, black and rufous markings. A snipe fly with dark thorax and orange abdomen Rhagio lineola, not rare but still the first Greenwich record since the 1940s apparently. Attracted to light trap. Moth traps are useful not just for moth records! Autumn moths Black Rustic and Feathered Thorn resting on a dead leaf, as placed there by me. The Black Rustic would be better camouflaged amongst leaf litter with its shadows and different colours of decaying leaf, but the Feathered Thorn's yellow-brown colouration works fairly well here on this plain background. Elm Tortix Acleris kochiella is only around 15 to 18mm long, but to me it is beautiful with some scales raised to look like rough bark. Apparently new to Greenwich Park this year.
November 28, 2024 at 1:11 PM