"Love at first sight"

#applenerd. I forgot Court Plat Pendu what with the immense quantities of other apples in the garden this year. They are always a disappointment anyway…. But not this year!! Remembered just in time and picked the last few still on the tree. Rich and delicious😍

A grumpy leafy Hallowe'en to you all!

A fabulous bee mimic from a wild bee orchid I found on sands and gravels in Wrexham county yesterday @ukorchids.bsky.social

Looks like Isoperla sp to me, here Isoperla grammatica emerged strongly on the river Dee 2 weeks ago. I am still finding some Isogenus, even today found 4, I was expecting them to have finished by now - new learning!

(No) Stonefly Diary: A walk in the woods, dry, dusty where bikes have ripped up new paths since Storm Darragh tore up and threw down trees on the fences. And here is magic, a much loved hat of gossamer threads spun by the finest spinner and hung with care in the morning shafts of sunlight.

Stonefly Diaries: The endgame is upon the Scarce Yellow Sally, most eggs are laid.
It's the turn of the Mayflies: Ephemera danica are dancing over the riverbank, 'Pale Watery' Baetis fuscatus hanging off the grasses.
Too many hot dry days for a Welsh May. @naturambyth.bsky.social #buglife

Isogenus nubecula stoneflies aren't so bad at Twister either, though a bit more laconic.

Imogen (Chester Zoo) & I (Buglife) set off for an evening Isogenus search w/ little hope yesterday and an uninspiring forecast, but found 24 in the trees. Knowing almost nothing about their adult behaviour means the most naive questions are as valid as any other🙃
@naturambyth.bsky.social #buglife

Stonefly diaries 2025: No Scarce Yellow Sally (Isogenus) stoneflies yesterday on the Ceiriog,but found a beautiful Violet Oil Beetle. last week I got 2 hours recording of 'Sally' drumming to meet mates + more great observations with Chester Zoo volunteers @naturambyth.bsky.social

Our first Isogenus nubecula stonefly of 2025 found on the banks of the Welsh Dee yesterday and the recording studio set up to record their 'drumming' call. (It worked really well btw) #Naturambyth #buglife

Wrexham's rarest animal, Isogenus nubecula, has emerged from the river waters for a brief 3-4 weeks as an adult stone fly. I've been tracking the emergence. Counting exuvia on bridges & searching for sightings along the banks of the Welsh River Dee @buglife @naturambyth.bsky.social

Naturalist Clare Boyes @pickeletto.bsky.social‬ and I went on a stonefly exuvia tour of bridges over the Severn S of Welshpool: result 2x Perlodes + an adult B.risi with an expected 0 sign of Isogenus nubecula! but lovely hours of chat as we waded and clambered the banks. #Buglife #NaturAmByth

It's been a good afternoon for staying inside dissecting out stonefly maxillae of exuviae and finishing this years Xmas Card design - Meanwhile outside climate change is hitting our valley with landslides, the river bursting it's banks and closing the main route in and out.

Looking North this morning, the dawn light from the east was reflected onto high cloud behind the lower snow clouds like a column of pink smoke