Aurora borealis and a nightingale, Norfolk, 10th May 2024

A brilliant evening botanising session to Twll Ddu above Cwm Idwal. Finally located some Tufted Saxifrage in the boulder field (new for me!), though well past flowering. Mossy Saxifrage, Globeflower, Purple Saxifrage, Beech and Oak ferns and plenty more. Such an atmospheric site!

Stunning rare noctilucent clouds above London moments ago...

Black Mountain Moth! What a beauty. Chilling out on the pink granite boulders of the Cairngorm plateau at over 1100m. Brilliant to find the species after extensive searching over the rocky terrain. Prolita sexpunctella and Phiaris schulziana nearby. W/Billy Dykes Jade Phillips

Just listen to that! 😄🎶🗻 What a wonderful, melodic song echoing out across the rugged landscape of our highest mountain plateau. Truly stunning to hear Snow Buntings singing away. Gutted not to have my #PlantPotParabolic with me though!!! Billy Dykes Jade Phillips

What. A. Day. in the hills taking in some of the UK's rarest arctic-alpine plants! Extra points to anyone who can correctly guess the micro moth resting on my camera that really made my day...

The enigmatic mountain moth Kessleria saxifragae from the high slopes of a remote glen in the Cairngorms. We found these adults on Yellow Mountain Saxifrage at 750m, just out of reach of grazing deer. What a moth, what a foodplant and what a habitat!

A new insect for Scotland?! 🪳 A visiting ecologist to Tireragan, Mull, recently found a rare type of juniper shield bug, thought extinct in the UK in 1925. This is believed to be the first record in the UK since then, and the first ever in Scotland. Bug📸 Sam Newton #Northwoods

One of those unforgettable moth missions: Billy found Kessleria! What a find, nectaring on its main foodplant, Yellow Mountain Saxifrage, at 800m on some crags. The enigmatic little micro moth known as Kessleria saxifragae, or the ‘Highland Ermel’ - what a beauty!!! #MothMonday

'Summer' on #stkilda has so far been cold and damp.... although when the cloud does lift, the island looks as colourful as ever!

When you realise #ShiftingBaseline syndrome is already occurring in your own lifetime 😞 I’ve not seen an adult Garden Tiger in 2 years, and remember catches of 300+ moths in ONE NIGHT whilst living on Ynys Enlli. So wonderful to see yesterday. 📉⬇️90% in abundance since 1960s

A second visit was needed to find #HighlandSaxifrage in the #Cairngorms - first visit thwarted by classic Scottish frozen sunshine in June (it snowed!) We'd actually just given up on botanising for the day - you always find it when you least expect it! Ben Porter Billy Dykes

"This piece of wood is a time-traveller." To celebrate #BogDay 2024, Ewan Craig tells us about a rare treasure he found while surveying a blanket bog high up on RSPB Scotland's Abernethy Reserve. bit.ly/time-travellin… #BogDay2024

A stunningly marked Oak Fern Gymnocarpium dryopteris. Ballochbuie Forest, Aberdeenshire. BSBI: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland British Pteridological Society

2024 UK - Get in there! The Ghost #Orchid (Epipogium aphyllum) is one of our rarest species, and one that doesn’t need an introduction. After 30 years of searching I’m beyond delighted to have chanced upon one European Orchids & Wildflowers Mariposa Nature Tours BSBI: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland #wildflowerhour

One week on, this donated kid's bike has been fully refurbished & is already bringing joy to a young RBKares guest! So if you've got an unwanted bike gathering dust, bring it in & we'll help give it a new life. More info on fullcycle.org.uk/charity-scheme. #Community #AffordableTravel

Some very nice Arctic Alpine plant species up high on the cliffs of Nólsoy, Faroe Islands. 🤩 1. Nólsoy cliff 2. Roseroot 3. Iceland Purslane 4. Starry Saxifrage #arcticalpines #Faroes #Nólsoy

Amazing tranquillity in Village Bay today, thanks to the big yellow ball in the sky 🟡! Feels like #summer has finally arrived on #StKilda, never mind that it's 5th September! 😅 Is a third day in row too much to ask for? 🤔

Throwback to a beautiful late July evening on a mountain top in the eastern Cairngorms with Ben Porter Jade Phillips and shed loads of Scotch Burnets