Katty Baird
Moths, spiders, other small things. Entomologist. Ecologist at Forest Research. Author of Meetings with Moths.
Based in East Lothian, Scotland. Often outdoors.
- TISSUE! Triphosa dubitata. The first of this season's adults have arrived in underground in Scotland. A moth I still get excited about each and every time I find one 😀 It was hanging out with "a wisdom" of Old Lady. Also very lovely. #HibernatingHeralds #MothsMatter
- What an impressive insect! Urocerus gigas, Giant Woodwasp, a species I've long wanted to see and it didn't disappoint. Four females ovipositing on a logpile today, Berwickshire.
- 135 Rannoch Brindled Beauty on a fencepost-focused hike in Glen Prosen last weekend with @markcubitt.bsky.social About 100 more than we've recorded in the previous few years! 🧡🤍🖤 #MothsMatter #TeamMoth
- Enjoyed a quick poke around some magnificent old oaks this morning. Was rewarded by a single smart Phosphuga atrata. Hope to be back in search of some woody specialists soon. And moths, obvs. #DalkeithCountryPark
- No anemones for me today, but I have finally remembered to post for #WildflowerHour! Primrose and Scurvy Grass blooming plentifully on some glorious Berwickshire coastline this afternoon.
- m.youtube.com/watch?v=4mi2... To mark #IWD25 National Museums Scotland have produced this video of me and @ashwhiffin.bsky.social talking about insects, moths, recording and museums and the legacy of Alice Blanche Balfour (1850-1936). #MothsMatter @savebutterflies.bsky.social
- 2 Oak Beauty in local woods yesterday - at least doubling the number ever recorded in E.Lothian. Also 📷 of Yellow Horned, Twin Spotted Quaker, Clouded Drab & Engrailed. Oak B is exciting by its rarity here, but a fresh Engrailed is hard to beat. #MothsMatter
- A morning hanging around some veteran oak and beech in neglected parkland habitat, #EastLothian Lots of broken limbs, burrs, excrescences and decay. Vapourer eggs, Phosphuga atrata, Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. Segestria senoculata - just a few of the things discovered.
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- The fungus from a week ago has grown!😲 #HibernatingHeralds
- Long overdue outing with @markcubitt.bsky.social checking up on his local #HibernatingHeralds and soaking up some misty winter tree vibes. Highlight = TWO (yes, 2!) Tissue - mega rare moth in Scotland this year. But mainly it was just good to be outside, in the toe-numbing dreichness. #MothsMatter
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- #HibernatingHerald find of the day! In a Scottish copper mine. This is the first time I've seen a Herald engulfed in a candyfloss like beard of a fungi. Very different to the usual entomopathenogenic fungi we see on moths in caves. Anyone know what it might be? #fungi #mycelia #insect #cave #moth
- Reposted by Katty BairdWe're hiring! Could you help create a resilient future for the Botanical Society, working across our teams to support staff and volunteers? Apply to become our first ever Administration Officer: bsbi.org/vacancies/ad... Not applying yourself? Then please help us spread the word! Deadline: 2nd March
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- Dancing over duckweed at dusk! #WorldWetlandDay Small China-mark (Cataclysta lemnata) is a moth with aquatic larvae. I saw my first last year, at Bawsinch SWT Edinburgh. We had close-up views in light traps in the morning, but even better was watching them doing their thing at dusk 🤍 #MothsMatter
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- Agree. Mark and Roy's book, The Larger Moths of Scotland highly recommended 👌 🦋🐛 #TeamMoth
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- For #BlueBugs Monday it has to be the lovely Clifden Nonpareil. I'm lucky this big, furry, flappy moth has taken up residence in nearby woods. Those wings! Memories of sharing these blue (&grey &black) beauties with good friends brings a smile to my face. 100% joy! 😊 💙 🦋 #MothsMatter #MothMonday
- Reposted by Katty BairdFinal wrap-up webinar for the UK_Treescapes project 'TreE PlaNat': Creating woodland through natural processes 🌳🌳 Monday 20th January 2025 at 12.30-2pm. Click events.teams.microsoft.com/event/b36709... to sign up. Further info, blogs, webinars, factsheets @ www.naturalcolonisation.co.uk
- Reposted by Katty BairdCalling researchers of tree-dwelling European mammals (bats, dormice, squirrels..). Let's collaborate! Planning a workshop at Eur Mammal Congress on forest management, #wildfires and interventions (veteranisation, boxes etc) for future paper and actions. www.ecm9.com Pls share. 🌍🌳🦇🐿🐭 #conservation
- Looking forward to sharing some mothy adventures in a talk to Yorkshire BC branch later this month. Expect HH, plus lots of photos to remind us of warmer times of year! Free, online & all welcome. Check out the other upcoming talks too 🦋 #MothsMatter #TeamMoth www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/meetings-w...
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- New spider book!🕷 @rlewington2.bsky.social has produced this beautiful guide to some of our UK species. A while ago I provided 'models' of cave-dwelling sps. V. happy to get a copy of the finished book as thanks😊 Buy it. And make 2025 the year you get into spiders! @britishspiders.bsky.social
- Herald, Scoliopteryx libatrix, overwintering in a Scottish cave. A widespread moth that can be discovered throughout the winter, whatever the weather. All you need is a torch 🔦and a dark place. #HibernatingHeralds #MothsMatter #MothMonday
- I've been researching the work of Alice Balfour (1850-1936) but there are other women with impressive lepidopteran legacies at National Museums Scotland. Dorothy Jackson (1892-1973) began her ento career young & on moths. She left AMAZING records & paintings! A research idea for '25?🤞#MothsMatter
- I'd recommend this read! I wasn't sure if I'd like it - not my 'usual' fare - but it was really good and the characters have stayed with me more than a year (or 2) on. =Impressive for my ageing brain!!
- Ento collections are a really useful resource for current research & conservation AND give a glimpse into insects (&entomologists) of the past. Endlessly fascinating! Here is some of what FR has been up to recently, curating all their specimens 👇 👏
- Some of today's fun in highland Perthshire: ❄ Hair ice (I found some at last!) 🏔 lots of searching rock crevices... 🦋 ...eventually a single Herald in a small tunnel. 📚 Meetings with Moths on sale
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- Trawling photos for an upcoming talk, I 'rediscovered' this Herald from Feb 2023. During 8 years of the #HibernatingHerald survey I have seen (& counted) 12,000+ Heralds. This the only one patterned differently. (See photo of 'normal' moth to compare) #MothMonday #MothsMatter #TeamMoth
- Reposted by Katty BairdAll welcome at Butterfly Conservation’s free online UK Moth Recorders' Meeting (Saturday 25 January 2025 on Zoom). Reserve your place now bit.ly/3Z2MOzc There’s a fab line-up of speakers: bit.ly/3Z2MxfE #TeamMoth please repost to spread the word!
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- For #InsectWeek24 I was part of a panel event at National Museums Scotland, celebrating women in entomology. Bringing together science, history & art; moths & moth recording, past & present - recording available here!👇 youtu.be/xgpV3Sn0uNI?... @savebutterflies.bsky.social @ashwhiffin.bsky.social
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- The #HibernatingHerald season continues, collecting annual counts from sites across SE Scotland. Today a lengthy lunch break to treat a lucky friend to a spot of culvert crawling. 19 Heralds counted and then coffee and chat in the sunshine. Perfect. #MothsMatter
- Beautiful moth; fantastic museum resource; brilliant entomologists - hopefully Kentish Glory populations can be helped to recover 🦋
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- An after-dark woodland stroll with a torch is worth it at any time of year. 🔦 Last night on some #EastLothian Sycamores: 🤍mating Winter Moths 🐞hibernating Orange Ladybirds 🕷hunting Drapetisca socialis. Plus harvestmen, woodlice, earwig, slugs, snails, flies, owl... Try it!
- Reposted by Katty BairdEnter the British Lichen Society's photo competition! The categories this year are: 'Close encounters' and 'Lichenscapes'. Two free entries per person. Full details: britishlichensociety.org.uk/the-society/...
- Thank you @ashwhiffin.bsky.social 💚 & love this photo of me and @markcubitt.bsky.social doing some moth nerding together 🤓 Happy days!
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