The Messy Ecologist
@themessyecologist.bsky.social
I’m campaigning for more messy spaces for nature, join our messy mission and let’s Rewild together by doing less- and letting nature do the rest!
PhD researcher - Rewilding with Beavers 🦫
Founder of the Wee Pond Project 🐸
PhD researcher - Rewilding with Beavers 🦫
Founder of the Wee Pond Project 🐸
Slugs munching your crops and flowers? Well don’t reach for the chemical sprays! Birds frogs toads beetles and hedgehogs all feed on slugs so encourage them instead 🐸🦔🪲🐦
July 2, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Slugs munching your crops and flowers? Well don’t reach for the chemical sprays! Birds frogs toads beetles and hedgehogs all feed on slugs so encourage them instead 🐸🦔🪲🐦
🌈Pride flag colour🌈:
💚Green: nettles 💚
Stinging nettles get a bad rep but they actually provide vital habitat and food for butterfly caterpillars in particular AND they even make great soup! 🌿🦋🐛
💚Green: nettles 💚
Stinging nettles get a bad rep but they actually provide vital habitat and food for butterfly caterpillars in particular AND they even make great soup! 🌿🦋🐛
July 1, 2025 at 8:23 PM
🌈Pride flag colour🌈:
💚Green: nettles 💚
Stinging nettles get a bad rep but they actually provide vital habitat and food for butterfly caterpillars in particular AND they even make great soup! 🌿🦋🐛
💚Green: nettles 💚
Stinging nettles get a bad rep but they actually provide vital habitat and food for butterfly caterpillars in particular AND they even make great soup! 🌿🦋🐛
Another wall flower showing ‘weeds’ can brighten up any area - even stone walls! Red valerian, great for attracting humming bird hawk moths
June 30, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Another wall flower showing ‘weeds’ can brighten up any area - even stone walls! Red valerian, great for attracting humming bird hawk moths
🌈Pride flag colour🌈:
💛Yellow dandelion💛
Often called weeds, dandelions are pioneering plants, growing in all sorts of locations often providing much needed colour to grey concrete paths. They are also great for pollinators 🐝🪰🦋
💛Yellow dandelion💛
Often called weeds, dandelions are pioneering plants, growing in all sorts of locations often providing much needed colour to grey concrete paths. They are also great for pollinators 🐝🪰🦋
June 27, 2025 at 4:24 PM
🌈Pride flag colour🌈:
💛Yellow dandelion💛
Often called weeds, dandelions are pioneering plants, growing in all sorts of locations often providing much needed colour to grey concrete paths. They are also great for pollinators 🐝🪰🦋
💛Yellow dandelion💛
Often called weeds, dandelions are pioneering plants, growing in all sorts of locations often providing much needed colour to grey concrete paths. They are also great for pollinators 🐝🪰🦋
The thistles are in bloom in our messy patch today and attracting plenty of attention from the local hoverflies! 💚🏴
June 25, 2025 at 10:31 AM
The thistles are in bloom in our messy patch today and attracting plenty of attention from the local hoverflies! 💚🏴
It’s World #Rainforest Day 🌳🌧️
Here in the UK we have temperate rainforests in each of the home nations! Home to over 500 species of mosses and lichens they support great biodiversity !
Here in the UK we have temperate rainforests in each of the home nations! Home to over 500 species of mosses and lichens they support great biodiversity !
June 22, 2025 at 4:39 PM
It’s World #Rainforest Day 🌳🌧️
Here in the UK we have temperate rainforests in each of the home nations! Home to over 500 species of mosses and lichens they support great biodiversity !
Here in the UK we have temperate rainforests in each of the home nations! Home to over 500 species of mosses and lichens they support great biodiversity !
😊Good news story:Tiree Twist moths thought to be extinct in England since 1952 and limited to the island of Tiree have been FOUND in Kent ! 💚
www.itv.com/news/meridia...
www.itv.com/news/meridia...
June 22, 2025 at 9:10 AM
😊Good news story:Tiree Twist moths thought to be extinct in England since 1952 and limited to the island of Tiree have been FOUND in Kent ! 💚
www.itv.com/news/meridia...
www.itv.com/news/meridia...
🧡Orange 🧡
🌈Pride month colour focus 🌈
Fox and cubs aka Orange Hawkweed is an invasive ‘weed’ common in UK gardens which can attract bees🐝 butterflies🦋 and hoverflies🪰 & other insects 🐞 introduced from
Southern Europe in 17th Century
🌈Pride month colour focus 🌈
Fox and cubs aka Orange Hawkweed is an invasive ‘weed’ common in UK gardens which can attract bees🐝 butterflies🦋 and hoverflies🪰 & other insects 🐞 introduced from
Southern Europe in 17th Century
June 21, 2025 at 7:20 PM
🧡Orange 🧡
🌈Pride month colour focus 🌈
Fox and cubs aka Orange Hawkweed is an invasive ‘weed’ common in UK gardens which can attract bees🐝 butterflies🦋 and hoverflies🪰 & other insects 🐞 introduced from
Southern Europe in 17th Century
🌈Pride month colour focus 🌈
Fox and cubs aka Orange Hawkweed is an invasive ‘weed’ common in UK gardens which can attract bees🐝 butterflies🦋 and hoverflies🪰 & other insects 🐞 introduced from
Southern Europe in 17th Century
What a great photo from
Andrew Kirby in Somerset of this wee swimming mole!
Andrew Kirby in Somerset of this wee swimming mole!
June 20, 2025 at 8:26 AM
What a great photo from
Andrew Kirby in Somerset of this wee swimming mole!
Andrew Kirby in Somerset of this wee swimming mole!
This week the messy patch in our garden has seen the cornflowers and poppies pop up! 🐝💚
June 18, 2025 at 4:46 PM
This week the messy patch in our garden has seen the cornflowers and poppies pop up! 🐝💚
June 13, 2025 at 4:51 PM
🌈Pride flag colour🌈:
❤️Red Poppies❤️
Did you know they don’t have nectar but rely on their vibrant red being great for attracting pollinators to their abundant pollen🐝
❤️Red Poppies❤️
Did you know they don’t have nectar but rely on their vibrant red being great for attracting pollinators to their abundant pollen🐝
June 11, 2025 at 6:41 AM
🌈Pride flag colour🌈:
❤️Red Poppies❤️
Did you know they don’t have nectar but rely on their vibrant red being great for attracting pollinators to their abundant pollen🐝
❤️Red Poppies❤️
Did you know they don’t have nectar but rely on their vibrant red being great for attracting pollinators to their abundant pollen🐝
It’s probably no surprise that I love spying pioneering plants emerging from concrete, far better than removing #mess with chemical sprays! what’s better the first or second photo?🌻😊🐝
June 7, 2025 at 9:10 AM
It’s probably no surprise that I love spying pioneering plants emerging from concrete, far better than removing #mess with chemical sprays! what’s better the first or second photo?🌻😊🐝
If you are a follower of our campaign to #MessUpBritain for nature, you might be interested in this newly published book by @trevorthebotanist.bsky.social Urban Plants, looks great! 🌻🌹🪻
June 6, 2025 at 6:09 PM
If you are a follower of our campaign to #MessUpBritain for nature, you might be interested in this newly published book by @trevorthebotanist.bsky.social Urban Plants, looks great! 🌻🌹🪻
Another of my aims to #MessUpBritain is to encourage the end of regular rural road verge cutting. In a biodiversity crisis can we afford to continue this obsession with Neat and tidy, even on rural roads? Let’s inc connectivity and help restore biodiversity 🌿🌹🦋🌻
June 6, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Another of my aims to #MessUpBritain is to encourage the end of regular rural road verge cutting. In a biodiversity crisis can we afford to continue this obsession with Neat and tidy, even on rural roads? Let’s inc connectivity and help restore biodiversity 🌿🌹🦋🌻
2/2 however plastics don’t biodegrade and cause serious microplastic pollution, we have made progress on plastic straws and other coffee chains have switch to paper so why not greggs ?
June 5, 2025 at 9:06 PM
2/2 however plastics don’t biodegrade and cause serious microplastic pollution, we have made progress on plastic straws and other coffee chains have switch to paper so why not greggs ?
As it’s #WorldEnvironmentDay I’m sharing my recent campaign calling on all coffee chains to switch from plastic to biodegradable cardboard coffee lids. All litter is bad but plastic doesn’t biodegrade and pollutes our messy spaces. Let’s make change together ♻️🥤☕️🧋
June 5, 2025 at 5:51 PM
As it’s #WorldEnvironmentDay I’m sharing my recent campaign calling on all coffee chains to switch from plastic to biodegradable cardboard coffee lids. All litter is bad but plastic doesn’t biodegrade and pollutes our messy spaces. Let’s make change together ♻️🥤☕️🧋
Messy spotlight : Moles (Talpa europaea for Latin buffs)
These little animals are remarkable- just look that those claws! They don’t feed on plants they in fact eat grubs which would damage plant roots and they aerate garden soils and improve drainage 👏😊
These little animals are remarkable- just look that those claws! They don’t feed on plants they in fact eat grubs which would damage plant roots and they aerate garden soils and improve drainage 👏😊
June 5, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Messy spotlight : Moles (Talpa europaea for Latin buffs)
These little animals are remarkable- just look that those claws! They don’t feed on plants they in fact eat grubs which would damage plant roots and they aerate garden soils and improve drainage 👏😊
These little animals are remarkable- just look that those claws! They don’t feed on plants they in fact eat grubs which would damage plant roots and they aerate garden soils and improve drainage 👏😊
Some great wee messy spaces left next to the mown grass in Nicolson Square garden in @edinburghcouncil.bsky.social
Showing we can have both recreational short and messy long grass! 🌿🌱 #MessingUpBritain #Mess #Nature
Showing we can have both recreational short and messy long grass! 🌿🌱 #MessingUpBritain #Mess #Nature
June 4, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Some great wee messy spaces left next to the mown grass in Nicolson Square garden in @edinburghcouncil.bsky.social
Showing we can have both recreational short and messy long grass! 🌿🌱 #MessingUpBritain #Mess #Nature
Showing we can have both recreational short and messy long grass! 🌿🌱 #MessingUpBritain #Mess #Nature
Consider #LetItBloomJune now that #NoMowMay has ended for another year, even a wee strip of messy grass is really helpful for nature 🌷🦔🪲🌿🐝🦋🌱
June 2, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Consider #LetItBloomJune now that #NoMowMay has ended for another year, even a wee strip of messy grass is really helpful for nature 🌷🦔🪲🌿🐝🦋🌱
Photo courtesy of @plantlifeuk.bsky.social if you can, consider leaving messy areas even after #nomowmay as many plants won’t have managed to bloom quite yet! I’m not ordering you to leave all your garden long but consider leaving some wee strips for nature 😊🐝🌿🪲🦋 #LetItBloomJune
June 1, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Photo courtesy of @plantlifeuk.bsky.social if you can, consider leaving messy areas even after #nomowmay as many plants won’t have managed to bloom quite yet! I’m not ordering you to leave all your garden long but consider leaving some wee strips for nature 😊🐝🌿🪲🦋 #LetItBloomJune
It’s the 1st of June, so how have your #NoMowMay projects been going? Remember if you don’t happen to have a garden you can enjoy local parks participating too! 🦔🐝🦋🌿🪻🪲
June 1, 2025 at 10:28 AM
It’s the 1st of June, so how have your #NoMowMay projects been going? Remember if you don’t happen to have a garden you can enjoy local parks participating too! 🦔🐝🦋🌿🪻🪲
A good example here in @anguscouncil.bsky.social of when road verges do get cut, making sure to leave the rest messy for nature 🌿🐝🪲🦋🌷🦔
May 31, 2025 at 8:19 PM
A good example here in @anguscouncil.bsky.social of when road verges do get cut, making sure to leave the rest messy for nature 🌿🐝🪲🦋🌷🦔
