Mandy Forde
Avid wildlife recorder.
Proudly manage my 11 acres for wildlife.
Joint VCR for BSBI VC52.
Co-ordinator of RSPB Anglesey Chough Count.
Owner of Cerrig Cottages, holiday rentals on the Isle of Anglesey - discount for followers🙂
- Reposted by Mandy FordeA cold start in the early morning at Menai Bridge today where 3 members of #Anglesey Flora Group carried out the #NYPH We found 47 species, up on the 34 we found on the same route last year. @bsbibotany.bsky.social @bsbicymru.bsky.social
- A ray of sunshine in an otherwise barren winter landscape #Wildflowerhour
- Odd one out The garden #Chough gang have been infiltrated by a Herring Gull
- Fascinating little jaw bone in an #Owl pellet found this afternoon
- Just dissected the pellet. Here's photos of the bones & teeth.
- Forgot to copy in @skull-bloke.bsky.social
- Meet the meadow munchers 🐑 This year we have a larger flock of Texel cross ewes, who will hopefully help keep the grass in control ready for next year's wildflowers to thrive. The only downside is that they eat the young Cow Parsley & Wild Carrot plants.
- Now I know why the garden birds are hiding this morning, female Sparrowhawk on the garden fence. Very pleased to manage some photos through a rain drenched window @angbirdnews.bsky.social
- Common stork's-bill, Erodium cicutarium still managing to flower on a bitterly cold November day. The plant contains saponins which are toxic to fish and amphibians, but are apparently beneficial for several human health conditions. #Wildflowerhour
- Thought I'd have a go at #TheWinter10 for this week's #Wildflowerhour Absolutely amazed to find not just 10 but a whopping 25 species in flower in my meadow today
- Thought this was Moth eggs at first glance, but now convinced it's #Sllmemould Can anyone help with an id please? I thought possibly Physarum cinereum.
- A grey drizzly day brightened by 3 Whooper Swans amongst 300+ Lapwings in the field opposite my house #Anglesey @birdsinwales.bsky.social @angbirdnews.bsky.social
- Hare's-foot clover, Bugloss and Yarrow still flowering in my meadow today. #Wildflowerhour
- The incredibly dainty Thyme-leaved Speedwell, it always makes me think of Faeries 🧚 #Wildflowerhour
- Mid October but White Campion is still flowering on the edge of the meadow this week #Wildflowerhour
- Reposted by Mandy FordeGreat to read this short article about the Cors Ddyga Glossy Ibises. Written by naturalist Nigel Brown and illustrated with a truly stunning image by @jmjbirding.bsky.social apple.news/AsgfWVGZMQu6...
- Haven't seen a Green Sheildbug all year, until I spotted this one on Bramble earlier this week #Wildwebswednesday
- I know I've said it before but I definitely need a longer fence 😲 It's getting to peak garden #Chough numbers now and it's only early October. I'm guessing the daily count might top 70 this Winter. Photos taken with my phone about 2 foot from the fence line. #Anglesey #WildWebsWednesday
- Fantastic Barn Owl image captured by Collin at Curlew Cottage last week as it flew over our wildflower meadow right past cottage door With 85 species of birds recorded on site on the farm & 3 fantastic RSPB reserves nearby we're an ideal base for #birdwatching holidays #Anglesey #naturephotography
- A quick look just now in the Willow tree by my pond revealed three species. Lackey moth eggs, a beautiful Herald moth and a gall presumably created by a moth or a fly. #Wildwebswednesday #TeamMoth
- Rock Samphire on a survey with @angleseyfloragroup.bsky.social this week in Rhoscolyn #Wildflowerhour Just realised it's edible, so will have to try some next time I see it.
- Reposted by Mandy FordeWith several sites in Wales hosting multiple Grey Phalaropes over the weekend, 2025 is now the best year this century, with 112. #BirdingWales The best-ever year will take some beating, however. 227 were seen from The Smalls lighthouse alone in just 12 days, during 18-29 September 1960.
- We're not done yet and it's already the best autumn for Grey Phalaropes in #Wales since 2008. And oodles of Curlew Sandpipers too. Catch up on recent sightings from around #NorthWales in the weekly @northwaleslive.bsky.social BirdNotes column. #BirdingWales www.birdnotes.wales/blog/ocean-g...
- Could I get id help with this #Lichen please. Growing on rock at the edge of a beach #Anglesey @britishlichensociety.org.uk
- Fantastic thanks Caz
- Small Copper #butterfly struggling to keep upright in the gusty wind just now #WildWebsWednesday #Anglesey
- It was a difficult choice for #FavouritePlant but I'll never forget how squeakingly excited I was when I spotted my first ever Sundew at Cors Bodeilio #Anglesey in June. #Wildflowerhour @angleseyfloragroup.bsky.social
- It's an insectivorous plant that grows on boggy heaths.
- Reposted by Mandy Forde‘Hares are the only game species in England and Wales that can be shot all year round. It has been reported that the UK brown hare population could have fallen by more than 80% in the past 100 years.’ petition.parliament.uk/petitions/72...
- It's our pleasure to announce that the inaugural winner of the Wainwright Prize Book of the Year is... Raising Hare, @chloedalton.bsky.social (@canongate.co.uk) #WainwrightPrize #StoriesThatConnect
- First #fungi have appeared in the meadow. Every year I say I'm going to try eating them, but always chicken out. Young Parasols with a few days to go before they're fully open.
- Be careful what you wish for.....after the delight of finding Fennel growing wild a few years ago I collected some seeds and grew two plants. Now I've got an absolute forest of them, 6ft giants taking over my garden 😯 They are beautiful though. #Seedheads #Wildflowerhour
- A selection of #Seedheads seen this week on #Anglesey Wild Carrot, Musk-mallow, Selfheal, Evening Primrose, Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil, Yellow Iris & Wild Teasel #Wildflowerhour
- Really difficult to get a photo in the 52mph winds today but this is Tutsan, a member of St John's-wort family, with almost fully ripened #Fruits #Wildflowerhour
- I suspected these two might pair up when they were perched close together on the garden fence a fortnight ago. Here they are this morning allopreening to enforce their bond. #Chough #Anglesey @rspbcymru.bsky.social
- Too desperate to get a photo before it flew off so no time to get anything for scale. But this fly in the garden last night was HUGE. Think it's Tabanus sudeticus, Dark Giant Horsefly, the heaviest fly in Europe apparently. #flies #Diptera
