#LyeValley nearly time for Elephant Hawkmoth caterpillars to finish eating willow-herbs (having achieved remarkable large size, thick as a finger ) & go to ground to pupate. Here both a green & darker form seen. Stunning fake eyes!

If you are interested in birds to be seen in the #LyeValley area, Tom Bedford has another 50 copies of his bird report available to purchase. The link is on the Friends of Lye Valley website, but see if this works : outofthebluesky.co/?p=5881

I think some seed-heads can be pretty. Here in #LyeValley #fen we are onto collecting the seed of Parsley Water-dropwort Oenanthe lachenalii, a species rare in Oxon. After white flowers, the fruits develop an attractively red-maroon colour , before turning brown & ready to drop

Working in #LyeValley #fen we were really pleased to see two sets of children from the local primary school on a field trip here, aiming to search for minibeasts. Hope they found plenty, we find picking seed heads always gives lots, like Ladybirds & Common Green Shieldbugs here

I do love a weird weevil..

In #LyeValley #fen we celebrated our first toadstool of the year - a gorgeous fresh little Blackening Waxcap Hygrocybe conica (starts a red/orange jewel and then blackens later). Right next to this very strange object which is an egg cocoon of a Wasp Spider, laiden with dew..

Sept is the time to check for #LyeValley #fen's smallest denizens; tiny Whorl snails, just over 1mm full grown. Searching the fen surface & waterlogged moss, we reckon we have here 1 Common Whorl snail Vertigo pygmaea & two Marsh Whorl snails Vertigo antivertigo. dinky beasts!

Last weekend scything & raking this ancient calc seepage wet bank in Old Marston, Oxford was delighted to see three Small Coppers still on the wing enjoying the last flowers of abundant Devil's-bit Scabious there. Never before noticed how well camouflaged the wing undersides are

#LyeValley #fen #SSSI has a privately owned south section which Friends of Lye Valley manage by arrangement. We are just starting the autumn scything, raking, willow pollarding & seed collecting. Helmets are sensible as golf balls may fly overhead from the nearby golf course!

It's starting to feel very autumnal in the Valley, with early morning mist and the leaves starting to change colour... #OxfordshireFens

Incredibly important. BNG baseline assessments are mostly on plants. Invertebrates are ignored. This research finds that invert diversity does not necessarily correlate with plant diversity. Full surveys of invert taxa plus plants needed to avoid inaccurate biodiv. assessment

Lovely to see this over Lye Valley #ponds

Lye Valley fen is the inspiration for a festival of #fen #peat and its special plants. See eventbrite.co.uk/e/102879183306… for tickets & this poster for fun things going on Sat 19th Oct. in the valley & at the local Bullingdon Community Centre. Come & get creative with natural materials!

Waste not want not... One of our volunteers with one of many handfuls of Willow seedlings dug out of the fen this week. They're destined for another #OxfordshireFens site needing a hedge. 😊

This is so interesting. I knew about the ultraviolet and seeing nectar guides on petals, but i had no idea that bumblebees cannot see red!

Peat formed in a wetland over 1000s of years is an amazing & precious record of climate change & human activities nearby. Very pleased to again welcome staff & students from Oxford Brookes Uni to the #LyeValley #fen in Oxford to learn coring techniques & find out our site history