Justin Walker
Field ornithologist, amateur entomologist, Norfolk heteroptera recorder; enjoys the company of trees, picks litter, runs.
- Sorry @specsaversuk.bsky.social, @cloudflare.social strikes again!
- Quite a few flowering Brambles in Thetford at the weekend. I'd be very happy to have more blackberries but I fear that, while pollination might not be a problem, ripening any fruit might well be.
- A pencil thick young Grass Snake in the garden this afternoon, presumably quite active given it hit 20°C in Thetford today.
- Just one Willow Warbler among 25 Chiffchaffs ringed at @btobirds.bsky.social #NunneryLakes yesterday. Sadly, now an uncommon species here outside of Thetford and King’s Forests. What are we doing to our world?
- This isn’t a test! The #ClimateEmergency is already impacting the lives of millions globally and unless necessary change is immediately made the situation will threaten life on Earth.
- Norfolk naturalists, please look out for nymphs and adults of the non-native Southern Green Shieldbug ~ Nezara viridula. With this being the second county record it would be useful to know more about their spread. Please add records via iRecord, or DM me. www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/...
- These have gotta be Nezara viridula (Southern Green Shieldbug) surely? In my Norfolk garden, very few county records to date @britishbugs.bsky.social
- I wasn't entirely sure if these are dog toys or stress relief for their owners. Apparently, much like reality, Elon was quite unpopular.
- Google plans to bulldoze a wildlife haven in Essex – home to rare species – for a data centre. Sign the petition now to help save it before it’s gone forever 🐝🦋 you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...
- Reposted by Justin WalkerThe good weather is back, let's celebrate with some FIT-counts! 🌞 🐝 🪲 🪰 🦋 These ten-minute counts are vital for tracking pollinators and can be done anywhere—garden, park, or on your transect Find out more ⬇️ ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts @pomscheme.bsky.social
- In West Suffolk Hospital at Bury St. Edmunds waiting for surgery to fix my disfigured left hand. Last bird seen was a confiding male Blackbird collecting food in the grounds.
- Tawny Wave and a male Fox Moth were the best from my Thetford Actinic yesterday. Elephant Hawk-moths and Buff-tip are always nice to see.
- Reposted by Justin Walker@vc40orthops.bsky.social and I are pleased to announce the publication today of the “Micro ladybirds of Britain and Ireland”, in collaboration with the FSC: www.field-studies-council.org/shop/publica...
- It's a real privilege to curate the data collected by the thousands of skilled volunteer surveyors that are used for these analyses. Sadly, for some common and once abundant species, the trends keep heading in the same downwards direction!
- Falling finch numbers, fading farmland birds, declining Dippers and vanishing Cuckoo calls in England are worrying findings from the 2024 Breeding Bird Survey report out now! Read the report ➡️ www.bto.org/bbs-results @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology
- A couple of bugs from the Stansted Estate in West Sussex. The plant bug Dicyphus globulifer, second West Sussex record according to iRecord, no records on the NBN Atlas; and Spear Thistle Lacebug Tingis cardui, also not frequently recorded in the VC, but a species I often find in Norfolk.
- Back in Norfolk now but nice to have found two nationally scarce beetles yesterday, on the Stansted Estate in West Sussex; the fungus weevil Platystomos albinus and the false blister beetle Oedemera femoralis. Both species being new for the 10 km square according to the NBN Atlas.
- This morning was about butterflies. No Woodlark on my @btobirds.bsky.social Heathlands Bird Survey at Oxenbourne Down in @southdownsnp.bsky.social, but it was fantastic to see Duke of Burgandy for the first time as well as Dingy and Grizzled Skippers and Small Heath. @savebutterflies.bsky.social
- Reposted by Justin Walker🌿 Celebrate the magic of migration at #Migfest2025! Talks, guided walks, bird ringing demos, and more await at Spurn, East Yorkshire. Tickets are on sale now 🎟️ Don't miss it: bit.ly/3T5Q9Ks
- These bee boxes were installed on Monday and already have eleven tubes blocked up. Potential occupants were investigating the options as I was lining up the boxes before drilling holes in the wall. #instantimpact for #pollinators!
- Nice to be back in Hampshire for the weekend. Here's a view from Butser Hill in the @southdownsnp.bsky.social looking towards the south coast and the Isle of Wight.
- Naturalised non-natives I know, but Mandarin Ducks are smart looking birds. At @btobirds.bsky.social Nunnery Lakes this evening.
- Sad to find a discarded plastic bag full of water and numerous invertebrates at a popular duck-feeding spot on the Hampshire coast last month. This male Pachygnatha clercki spider and a few small Carabid beetles survived but many others didn't. What are we doing to this world!
- The nationally scarce darkling beetle Helops caeruleus from Hampshire last month. A very nice insect to stumble across.
