I’m doing jury service & today I became the first person ever in England (I think!) to swear a legal oath on a river. With my fingers dipped in water taken from the Roding I stated my juror’s oath as follows: “I swear by the River Roding, from her source in Molehill Green to her

Got a couple of reports in the last few days of relatively good numbers of second brood Wall Brown in their Cambs strongholds in the Fens. Happy to know that some species might be bucking the trend of this dire year.

Love this. PV covering a supermarket carpark in the south of France

Final species of the year to appear. A few Brown Hairstreaks sightings being reported at Bobbits Lane & Belstead Meadows along the brook, & Piper's Vale in Ipswich. Biggest count 2 & all female. First seen in 2015 (unofficial introduction?) but seems small, stable populations.

Today Nigel Farage MP said he was mislead by Andrew Tate on the identity of the recent murder 1) A sitting MP should not rely on a famous vile misogynistic thug for their information 2) An MPs job is to fact check 3) No British MP should cosy up to Andrew Tate RT if you agree.

theconversation.com/new-solar-farm…

Bats clinging to a sunny wall at 10 30 am in the south of France. What's going on? Fiona Mathews

Very worth a listen: "Social #Justice, #Conservation and #Complexity with Professor EJ Milner-Gulland" at buzzsprout.com/2135393/155568…

What’s happened to all the butterflies? – podcast theguardian.com/science/audio/…

A first for us. A Queen of Spain Fritillary at Martlesham Wilds NR., Suffolk. I believe it's the only one to have been seen in England this year. Butterfly Conservation 🦋 BC Suffolk Branch UK Butterflies

A single, but beautiful fresh male of Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus, heideblauwtje) today on South Veluwe (NL). Probably second generation, we have them each year, but in low numbers.

'W' is for White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album) 🦋 This small butterfly can be tricky to spot as it flies around the tops of trees, particularly Elms. It occasionally comes down to nectar on flowers, especially privet and bramble. 📷: Bob Eade, Gilles San Martin

🚨New tour alert! 🚨 We're delighted to announce a brand new tour for 2025! Spring Wildflowers of the Picos de Europa will take guests into northern Spain's botanical wonderland at the height of the spring flowering season. (1/3) mariposanature.com/tours/botanica…

A plea to sign a petition asking government to ban pesticide use in urban greenspaces: youtu.be/2UGSE9Uglwo?si… PAN UK #banurbanpesticides

Willow Emerald Damselfly. Logan's Meadow LNR, Cambridge. Friends of Logan's Meadow British Dragonfly Society

Adonis Blue reported from Fleam Dyke, Cambs. First one ever reported from here and the first in Cambs away from the Devils Dyke colony. (📸 E Pollard, file)

I have some time on my hands so I've taken to republishing my blog posts on Medium. These will be mainly ecology/conservation related, from Southeast Asia 15-20 years ago. If you're interested take a look here medium.com/me/stories/pub…

Read “Up the creek“ on Medium: medium.com/@ehbpollard/up…