Clare Rayner
@clareacrayner.bsky.social
Teacher, Mum, Apprentice Farmer. Very keen on native species plants 🌱 trees 🌳 and insects 🐞 Essex, UK
Very excited to report that an owl seems to have moved into the box we installed 3 years ago. Managed to get a better pic today of it peering out!
November 7, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Very excited to report that an owl seems to have moved into the box we installed 3 years ago. Managed to get a better pic today of it peering out!
Whatta bookshop! Loved visiting the Norfolk Children’s Book Centre @childrensbooks.bsky.social this morning, so many books and super helpful staff. Thank you for the tea and biscuits!
October 28, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Whatta bookshop! Loved visiting the Norfolk Children’s Book Centre @childrensbooks.bsky.social this morning, so many books and super helpful staff. Thank you for the tea and biscuits!
Quick orchard forage earlier resulted in this bounty, plus the added bonus of seeing a group of ladybirds hanging out in one of the damaged pears!
October 7, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Quick orchard forage earlier resulted in this bounty, plus the added bonus of seeing a group of ladybirds hanging out in one of the damaged pears!
Incredible rainbow over our meadow last night!
September 21, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Incredible rainbow over our meadow last night!
This is so amazing! We have something similar found on the farm where I live in N E Essex, it definitely feels like it was deliberately crafted around the fossil. It hasn’t been officially ID’ed as a hand axe but looks similar!
September 13, 2025 at 2:02 PM
This is so amazing! We have something similar found on the farm where I live in N E Essex, it definitely feels like it was deliberately crafted around the fossil. It hasn’t been officially ID’ed as a hand axe but looks similar!
Three of these chunky little moths hanging out on a glass door this evening! We have a rough grassy area nearby with lots of dock so guessing ideal habitat. #teammoth
August 26, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Three of these chunky little moths hanging out on a glass door this evening! We have a rough grassy area nearby with lots of dock so guessing ideal habitat. #teammoth
Tiny little clump of Common Centaury growing on a grassy ride between an old orchard and a 30yr old woodland. First I’ve seen here! #wildflowerhour
July 27, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Tiny little clump of Common Centaury growing on a grassy ride between an old orchard and a 30yr old woodland. First I’ve seen here! #wildflowerhour
Black horehound for this week’s #wildflowerhour challenge, growing beside a farm track here in N E Essex.
July 27, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Black horehound for this week’s #wildflowerhour challenge, growing beside a farm track here in N E Essex.
Beautiful Common Blue (I think?) spotted today in our meadow - not seen them in previous years! Absolutely stunning iridescent colour 😍.
July 22, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Beautiful Common Blue (I think?) spotted today in our meadow - not seen them in previous years! Absolutely stunning iridescent colour 😍.
Roman (?) items found by a detectorist on our field just north of the old Stane Street (now A120); coin and part of a brooch or clasp.
July 22, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Roman (?) items found by a detectorist on our field just north of the old Stane Street (now A120); coin and part of a brooch or clasp.
Finally heard my first turtle dove at the farm! Didn’t get to see it, as it was hidden inside this shrub/tree/scrub patch. Very exciting! #operationturtledove
July 13, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Finally heard my first turtle dove at the farm! Didn’t get to see it, as it was hidden inside this shrub/tree/scrub patch. Very exciting! #operationturtledove
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Definitely looks like it’s biodigester related! Are they made out of plastic? How many of them are used I wonder and how do they end up on beaches?
Definitely looks like it’s biodigester related! Are they made out of plastic? How many of them are used I wonder and how do they end up on beaches?
July 1, 2025 at 7:16 PM
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Definitely looks like it’s biodigester related! Are they made out of plastic? How many of them are used I wonder and how do they end up on beaches?
Definitely looks like it’s biodigester related! Are they made out of plastic? How many of them are used I wonder and how do they end up on beaches?
Spotted this weird item on a thistle this afternoon (actually several of them) and have now discovered a whole new world of beetle larvae which use their own poop as a shield against predators. So weird but cool.
June 20, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Spotted this weird item on a thistle this afternoon (actually several of them) and have now discovered a whole new world of beetle larvae which use their own poop as a shield against predators. So weird but cool.
Got a Bee Orchid! Found by my parents in their front lawn (left uncut) at the farm. 😀 @ukorchids.bsky.social
June 19, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Got a Bee Orchid! Found by my parents in their front lawn (left uncut) at the farm. 😀 @ukorchids.bsky.social
Saw these two beautiful orchids on a walk today in the Suffolk countryside. I am definitely not an orchid expert, can someone tell me what types they are? @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social
June 16, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Saw these two beautiful orchids on a walk today in the Suffolk countryside. I am definitely not an orchid expert, can someone tell me what types they are? @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukorchids.bsky.social
Meadow Brown and Comma butterflies nectaring on a patch of thistles. It was absolutely heaving with butterflies and bumblebees!
June 15, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Meadow Brown and Comma butterflies nectaring on a patch of thistles. It was absolutely heaving with butterflies and bumblebees!
Outside at dusk and spotted a white moth flying around in a dancing manner over a patch of long grass and docks. Then joined by a brown moth and they settled on a stem together. Apparently Ghost Moths! #teammoth
June 2, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Outside at dusk and spotted a white moth flying around in a dancing manner over a patch of long grass and docks. Then joined by a brown moth and they settled on a stem together. Apparently Ghost Moths! #teammoth
No orchids unfortunately for #wildflowerhour, but some others that I haven’t seen in this week’s locations before…meadow pea, cursed crowfoot and hedge woundwort.
June 1, 2025 at 7:17 PM
No orchids unfortunately for #wildflowerhour, but some others that I haven’t seen in this week’s locations before…meadow pea, cursed crowfoot and hedge woundwort.
Another day, another moth! This one is a Burnet Companion moth I think. Caterpillars feed on clover and birds foot trefoil of which we have a lot, so not a surprising find! #teammoth
June 1, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Another day, another moth! This one is a Burnet Companion moth I think. Caterpillars feed on clover and birds foot trefoil of which we have a lot, so not a surprising find! #teammoth
Beautiful Painted Lady basking in the ground when I went to put down the Turtledove supplementary seed this afternoon.
May 31, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Beautiful Painted Lady basking in the ground when I went to put down the Turtledove supplementary seed this afternoon.
Been excitedly waiting for the cinnabar moth caterpillars to hatch out of their eggs and today, we found them! 🥳
May 28, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Been excitedly waiting for the cinnabar moth caterpillars to hatch out of their eggs and today, we found them! 🥳
Carpet of Germander Speedwell flowering in an old and diverse garden lawn. #wildflowerhour
May 18, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Carpet of Germander Speedwell flowering in an old and diverse garden lawn. #wildflowerhour
Clump of red campion on the edge of a field ditch, NE Essex for #wildflowerhour
May 18, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Clump of red campion on the edge of a field ditch, NE Essex for #wildflowerhour