Absolutely delighted to have a family of Spotted Flycatchers in our meadow and surrounding scrub. They are absolutely stunning little birds and sadly one of the most rapidly declining species. I've gone from seeing them fairly frequently to hardly at all within 4 or 5 years.

Shocking scenes in Grasmere... Verges and hedgerows sprayed with weedkiller, obliterating almost all life and even leaving mature hedge plants struggling to survive. No wonder insects are vanishing. What a great advert for the Lake District National Park. This. Is. Ecocide.

For this week's #wildflowerhour #ByTHeSea, I give you Yarrow Broomrape, Orobanche purpurea growing by the sea in NW Cumbria. This delightful, very rare species is a parasite, with the host being Yarrow (also in the photo). Records map shows just how rare it is nationally!

This week while surveying in the central #LakeDistrict, I found an Umbellifer growing in a little mire. It turns out to be the first modern and confirmed record of Whorled Caraway (Carum verticillatum) in Cumbria. It only occurs on a handful of sites in England #wildflowerhour

I was really quite worried that my local small population of Yellow Looestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris) had disappeared, as I hadn't seen it for a couple of years. Went rummaging around in the tall riparian vegetation today and delighted to say here it is! ☺️

Species-rich rush pasture cattle grazing... About 50% pulse grazed to prevent a litter/thatch buildup, but retaining a good amount of tussocky vegetation for invertebrates etc. #GrazingEcology #RushPasture

The delightful Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) is now in full flower across damp species-rich grasslands, meadows and rush pastures. It is a great plant for invertebrates. #WildflowerHour

There is no greater job than carrying out farm botanical surveys. Time and time again I end up unexpectedly stumbling across rare habitats and plant species which I, and often no-one else had any idea were there. Here's a few from today's surveys 😍 #LakeDistrict #Ecology

Wow!

Tufted Vetch is a firm favourite of Bumblebees #wildflowerhour

Grass of Parnassus Parnassia palustris No words needed really 😍 #LakeDistrict #Flora

How fab are Sphagnum mosses?

A rather remarkable summer... May had an average high here of 17.4c June - August averaging just 17.2c It's the coldest summer I have recorded back to 2010, and that includes the infamous 2012. Still a few days left yet, but still... 🌧️🥶

Swallows and House Martins revelling in our newly dug farm pond, with the richly wooded slopes of Wild Haweswater in the background. Pure late summer joy.

Grass of Parnasus or the Bog Star is Cumbria’s county flower and is all over the hills at the moment. One of the joys of bogs alongside the equally beautifully named Devils bit Scabious which we use to call the liquorice allsorts flower as it resembles one of the sweets

4 years ago this Bracken was shoulder high with a knee deep litter layer. 4 years of cattle and fell pony grazing, and you can now easily walk through it and a grass understory has even re-established. You can see here how cattle break up and trample the Bracken.

Confused Eyebright. Euphrasia confusa. Short-grazed turf on the Cumbria-Northumberland border

Unbelievable...😮 One week into our Skiddaw Forest fundraiser and we're over half way towards the £1.25m goal – thanks to you! (1/3) #SkiddawForest @wildlifetrusts