The RSPB North Bucks Local Group are leading a field trip:
Location: Meet: Forestry Commission car park on South side of Hartwell—Stoke Goldington road. SP 811 509.
NB this is NOT the main visitor centre car park.
SALCEY FOREST, NORTHANTS
Wide rides are busy with flowers and insects, including white admiral, purple hairstreak and possible purple emperor butterflies. Easy walking.
Leader: Chris Coppock
All welcome
Time: 10 am to 1 pm
Price: Free
See the RSPB North Bucks Local Group website for more information
Modern farming has wiped out billions of insects and birds. Plans to restore them will only work with public pressure
Good science has always been at the heart of Butterfly Conservation. The data gathered by our world renowned recording schemes such as the United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS), Butterflies for the New Millennium (BNM) and the National Moth Recording Scheme (NMRS) underpins everything we do.
Blackbirds live longer in cities than in forests. But their telomeres, repetitive stretches of DNA at the ends of the chromosomes, show that these city birds have a much poorer health status than their rural cousins. These findings from a study in five European cities led by University of Groningen biologists were published in Biology Letters on 21 March.
March has been a busy month, with the Beast from the East bringing with it a flurry of birds to our gardens. It is now finally beginning to look like spring, and we’re starting to receive reports of nesting activity.
More than 120 species of wildflowers grow in arable habitats and together make up one of the most threatened groups of plants in the UK. Flowers such as pheasant’s-eye were once picked from cornfields south of London and sold in Covent Garden as ‘Moroccan red’. Many of our most beloved plants – such as 
In Britain approximately £1.7billion is spent every single year on trying to tackle the problem of invasive non-native species.
In Britain, we have more than 3,000 invasive non-native plant and animal species. That’s a big figure, and they have a big impact on our environment, causing damage to property and infrastructure, affecting ecosystems, harming wildlife habitats and out-competing some of our native species. It is worth remembering that only a very small proportion of non-native species become invasive and establish themselves. Plenty of pets, livestock and ornamental plants that are not native to this country are brought here and cause no damage.
Take a look to see the full results for the Big Garden Birdwatch 2018 
Dozens of species have seen their numbers decline, in some cases by two-thirds, because insects they feed on have disappeared
Use this link to view this month’s edition of the Northern Chilterns Chalk Living Landscape newsletter: 
Finches and tits have enjoyed a golden year, according to the results of this year’s RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch.
Birds are not just diverse, vivid and extraordinary. They can also save our souls – let’s protect them
Conservationists were left baffled when they discovered frog spawn up a tree, but the answer to the mystery lies in picky predators, not a new breed of tree frog.
The Flower-Insect Timed Count (FIT count) is a survey designed to collect data on the changes in numbers of flower visitng insects across the UK. It is one element of a wider set of studies for the National Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (PoMS), co-ordinated by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, in partnership with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation, University of Reading and many more.
Butterflies were once a common sight in Britain, but they are declining year after year. What is happening to our butterfly population and why does it matter, asks CLIVE HARRIS
The shortlist for the coveted Bird Photographer of the Year awards has been announced by Nature Photographers and the British Trust for Ornithology. Here we display a few of the entries in the running for the awards, which will be announced by Chris Packham in August at the annual Rutland Birdwatching Fair
Now is the time to go out and find Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. This year as well as trying to find nests, we want to monitor territories, so please send us information on any birds you find, see more at 
Entocast have released a podcast
A rare flutter-wing fly, Palloptera laetabilis, not seen in the UK for over 100 years has been found at Den of Airlie Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a woodland in Angus. This is also the first time this fly has ever been found in Scotland.The rare fly was presumed to be extinct, but was found during site condition monitoring surveys completed by Caledonian Conservation under contract to Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) in 2015. The discovery has since been confirmed and published by Steven Falk (the fly expert on the project team) in the most recent issue of Dipterists Digest.Den of Airlie SSSI is only the fifth site that this species has been recorded at in the UK, and the only one in Scotland. The other four sites are all located in England, with the last record being from Oxfordshire in 1907.Chris Cathrine, Director of Caledonian Conservation and project leader for the 2015 invertebrate site condition monitoring project said: “Finding a species last recorded over a century ago is very exciting. That this is also the first record for the species in Scotland makes this all the more special. We found a great number of rare species during our surveys across Scotland. While Palloptera laetabilis is undoubtedly the most exciting, we hope to publish records from all 25 sites, including the Isle of Rum, in the future.”The invertebrate records collected by Caledonian Conservation during these surveys (including Den of Airlie SSSI) are available on NBN Atlas at: https://registry.nbnatlas.org/public/show/dp4Learn more about SNH’s work in Scotland at: http://www.snh.gov.uk/Steven Falk’s paper on Palloptera laetabilis is available on the Caledonian Conservation publications page, or directly here.Steven Falk was contracted by Caledonian Conservation to complete surveys for this project through his previous role at Buglife – the Invertebrate Conservation Trust. For more information on Steven Falk’s work and photography, please visit: http://www.stevenfalk.co.uk/For more information about the Dipterists Digest visit: http://www.dipteristsforum.org.uk/sgb_dipterists_digest.phpPhoto: Female Palloptera laetabilis from Den of Airlie Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) © Steven Falk
The air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat all rely on biodiversity, but right now it is in crisis – because of us. What does this mean for our future and can we stop it?
In the UK, our most intensively farmed land is a wasteland for biodiversity.
In 2016 the Field Studies Council (FSC) was awarded a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop a project to address the lack of people able to identify and record difficult species groups, with a focus on the West Midlands and South East regions of England. We spent nearly a year consulting with a wide range of professionals and volunteers involved in the natural history sector and something become very clear: professionals and volunteers alike expressed their concerns that not enough young people were joining the ranks of biological recorders and it is widely recognised that a generational skills gap is developing in field and identification skills, largely due to changes in the way biology and ecology is taught at all levels of the education system.
What’s small, pink, and can be seen from space?
Butterfly Conservation Upper Thames Branch have published their 
Britain’s obsession with feeding the birds could be driving disease within avian populations, a new study suggests.
After a long winter, and especially after a snowed-in first week of March, I’m looking forward to some warmth. As it’ll be my first spring as county sawfly recorder, I thought I ought to work out which are the first species we should be on the look-out for. So I’ve spent a couple of evenings going through ‘Benson’ and ‘Quinlan & Gauld’ {note to self – I’ll need to do a blog post soon on the identification literature}, and tabulating the flight-period information contained therein. That is, in the identification keys where you get to a species, it gives details of range, status, larval food-plants and flight-period, e.g. under Cladius pectinicornis Benson gives ‘V-IX’ (i.e. May to September). It’s half a century out of date, likely to be affected by climate change, range spread and taxonomic revisions (I may well be missing some post-Benson spring species from this article), but it’s the best I’ve got access to. You have to start somewhere.
At the end of March Butterfly Conservation will launch an e-newsletter exploring the wide range of science that we are involved with. The e-newsletter will highlight and review recent scientific papers of interest on Lepidoptera, particularly those where we have collaborated using our data.
Sadly, the area is under threat from development of adjoining land which will inevitably lead to increased disturbance to all of the wildlife that makes the site its home. Helping to create a successful breeding colony of sand martins will not only benefit the birds and the overall biodiversity of the site, but it will help to secure this important site’s position as the premier nature reserve in Milton Keynes and protect it from further damage from human activity.
A blog about my wildlife friendly allotment with lots of pictures showing the changes through the year. I am also into naturalistic planting design.
From time to time you may encounter a bird with plumage that is rather different from that which would be typical for the species. Some of these abnormalities may result from abnormal feather growth or feather loss, while others may be a consequence of problems with pigmentation.
Having had difficulty sourcing carabid species images, especially for larvae; I decided Tony presented a great opportunity as a model. Images could then be used for ID, reference, diagrams, extension, and promotion. The latter is very important. From the start it has surprised and delighted me how people have engaged with “Tony”, in the office and online! I have had lots of questions, so it has furthered understanding and appreciation of carabids and beetles more widely. Also I have got some new beetley contacts too.
There are 25 species in Britain, but with queens looking different to males (and sometimes to workers), as well as different colour forms for most species, there can be a bewildering array of different-looking bees. When, later in the year, sun-bleached and worn bees are prevalent, identification can be very tricky indeed!
Serendipity plays a pretty important role in scientific advances; indeed, it was involved in the discovery of penicillin, microwaves and x-rays. And now, it seems a bunch of old moth scales can be added to that list.Scientists drilling cores from lake sediments in Germany – hoping to learn about
Almost one-fifth of Europe’s wood beetles are at risk of extinction due to a widespread decline in ancient trees, according to a new report which suggests their demise could have devastating knock-on effects for other species.
Dismal, empty and burnt to a crisp – these spaces are not for the benefit of the nation. We need to reclaim and rewild them
Some changes in the natural environment are predictable, like the perpetual cycle of night and day. But many events, such as variation in food availability, predator attack and human disturbance can’t be anticipated. Wild animals cope with these kinds of unpredictable events by making physiological adjustments, diverting resources towards immediate survival, and away from reproduction (Romero & Wingfield 2015). If an environment becomes too challenging, this process can lead to population decline (Zanette et al. 2011). Falling numbers are usually the first sign a population is in trouble, by which point it may be too late for conservationists to intervene. However, if we could measure physiological changes in wild animals more easily, they might act as an early warning system, enabling us to identify ‘at-risk’ populations before any decline takes place (Fefferman & Romero 2013). And this is where thermal imaging might offer a solution.
Small-headed Resin Bee, Heriades rubicola Peréz, is formally recorded as new to Britain following its mention by Falk & Lewington (2015) and based on two specimens, one from Dorset and one from London. Morphological characters are given and illustrated, to establish its identity and to distinguish it from other British bees. Notes are provided on bionomics, the circumstances of its arrival and its status in Britain.
Following successful training course programmes in 2010 to 2017, this list has been put together to give recorders from England and Wales a chance to start up or to improve their knowledge of moths and moth recording. Courses are aimed at total beginners in studying moths and also at recorders of more advanced ability. Whatever your skills, the courses will stretch your knowledge. If you have been on my courses in previous years, then you will be pleased to see courses on some new themes, or maybe you fancy a refresher? If people want a better look at the rarer species recorded on the course or to take photos of them then there will usually be time for this at the end of the course or just after the course has finished – just allow yourself a bit more time for this if you want at the end of the day.
Birds have a number of different types of courtship behaviours to attract mates such as songs, display and dances. Courtship behaviour can help birds distinguish between species to help them choose compatible mates and it can also reduce the aggression normally displayed when defending territory. Courtship rituals are also used to show strength and health and their ability to produce offspring.
It is early spring and my mini wildflower meadow looks much like the other lawns in this suburban neighbourhood: short grass!
Woodland management changes did for this butterfly as the woods were drained, rides narrowed and glades shaded. But now it is to be reintroduced
It’s early spring here in the Highlands. Despite the continuing flurries of snow, snowdrops have pushed their way out of the iron-hard soil and are waiting for those early rays of sunshine to allow them to open up into their classic nodding shape. I was thrilled to hear my first song thrush of the year this morning – he must know that spring is waiting around the corner and was warming up his fine voice. I love to walk around the garden at this time of year to see the first leaves breaking, the first flowers, and of course, the first bumblebees!
A unique stretch of land from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to Gamblingay in Cambridgeshire could become a tourist hotspot thanks to £1.6m of lottery funding.
A fungus previously unknown to world science has been discovered on land looked after by the National Trust. What was thought to be one species, Big Blue Pinkgill (Entoloma bloxamii), has been proven by mycologists at Kew Gardens to be at least four different species in a ground-breaking find.
Colour-ringing enabled Tómas Gunnarsson to follow the lives of pairs of Black-tailed Godwits nesting near his parents’ home in Iceland. In this world, that is ruled by timing and opportunity, the pairings, divorces and re-pairings could form the plot for a TV soap-opera. The studies turned into a fascinating Nature paper that was written up in The Telegraph newspaper. The two main characters were christened Gretar and Sigga by the journalist but they’re more commonly known as RY-RO and RO-RO.
Britain’s most important seahorse colony is under threat from plans to drill for oil.
It’s 11th January 2018 as I write this, sadly my last day of work for the Blooms for Bees project (though I will stay in touch with the project and continue to support Gemma and Judith in any way I can). One of the big winter jobs for Judith and I was analysing the data you all sent in. As verifier, I was interested in the number of 
NNBW takes place each year from 14-21 February, and after more than 19 years it is now an established part of the ornithological calendar.
Weather wise 2017 proved to be a mixed bag and started with a nice spring which caused many butterflies to emerge early, in fact some of the spring butterfly species emerged two weeks earlier than they had the year before. Unfortunately despite the year being one of the warmest on record the weather took a serious turn for the worst during late June when high winds hit the county and then unsettled conditions dominated as the storms battering the USA made their way across the Atlantic to us.
If you do a Google search for “Darwin bird” you will find endless references to the finches of the Galápagos Islands. But it took a long time for Charles Darwin to recognize their significance. When he collected them he did not even realize that they were related, considering some to be “grosbeaks,” others true finches, and others blackbirds. He even considered one warblerlike finch to be a kind of wren.
Chris Packham explores how wildlife thrives in suburban gardens over the four seasons.
A soggy mound amid the grass stopped me in my tracks. I had spent the best part of an hour searching the heathland reserve, eyes to the ground, before I chanced across it close to a clump of gorse. It was nothing much to look at, admittedly. After a winter of heavy downpours the dome-shaped structure covered with tiny snippets of vegetation had slumped so that it resembled a spadeful of old lawn clippings. Yet beneath the bedraggled thatch was buried treasure: an exceptionally rare colony of narrow-headed ants (
Where do Wrens find their winter food? It helps to know what they eat, how and where they find it! The Wren, (Troglodytes, troglodytes), when it can it feeds upon invertebrate prey such as insects,…