First Large Red Damselfly of the year in my Exmoor garden today.

I have no idea what this is so I shall call it the Pretty One - unless anyone can tell me what it is?. Dipterists Forum Royal Entomological Society Dr Erica McAlister

Lazy birding from the upstairs window. It’s good to have Nightjar audible from the house this year.

Another brown morph Pied Flycatcher male in Horner Wood NNR, Exmoor, today. He looks quite dark under the shade of the trees but was the same colour as his mate & very different from a “normal” male who was also around the box.PiedFly.Net BTO bto_somerset1 Somerset Birds

Has anyone seen chicks predated and the hole blocked like this? One brood was completely removed, the others dead with one missing and one with a head injury. Sessile Oak woodland, Exmoor, UK. PiedFly.Net BTO RSPB

Two young Peregrines fitted with colour rings at a protected site in Derbyshire. Huge thanks to all concerned. Didn’t expect to catch you a flat fly Denise Wawman Just imagine hitching a ride aboard a 190 mph falcon!? Derbyshire Ornithological Society (DOS)

Golden Oriole (oriolus oriolus) as an urban Peregrine prey. Never seen one before in this area. Ed Drewitt #AntwerpPeregrines

I doubt that there is gold at the end of this rainbow, but I am happy that there are Tawny Owls to the left and Nightjars on the right.

The youngest brood on The Quantocks today. The Pied Flycatchers are having a bad year here and on Exmoor. They started late, had small clutches and lost a lot of chicks. BTO bto_somerset1 Somerset Birds Quantock Hills National Landscape

Fly of the day, the Hippoboscid, Ornithomya avicularia, from a Barn Owl. I hope that the other fly I saw is still in my hair. BTO Dipterists Forum Dr Erica McAlister Royal Entomological Society

Wittenham Clumps on the longest day of the year. Paul Nash's ‘Landscape of the Summer Solstice’, 1943, National Gallery of Victoria.

VeryBritishProblems Anything stored at a parent's home will still be there years or decades later UNLESS it's become valuable in the meantime, e.g. vinyl, old books, art, in which case they will have thrown it out. Absolutely invariable rule. I'm surprised Newton didn't have it on his list.

Time to share that we believe to have detected transovarial transmission of USUV->important for the establishment of endemicity? Amazing collaboration between Vector-Borne RADAR APHA ZSL Science UK Health Security Agency biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

The paper: Inzani E, Kelley L, Thomas R, Boogert NJ. 2024. Early-life diet does not affect preference for fish in herring gulls (Larus argentatus). peerj.com/articles/17565 With the biggest thanks to Laura Kelley Rob Thomas Neeltje Boogert and Impressions of Nature

Celebrate Dragonfly and Damselfly Week by reading the Genome Note of the Large Red Damselfly!  Here's the link to learn more about this species, written by Liam Crowley & Denise Wawman (Denise Wawman) Oxford Biology   wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/9-367… British Dragonfly Society Wellcome Sanger Institute

The weather seems very autumnal and the birds seem to think so too. I’ve just caught a large mixed flock with Chiffchaff and this juvenile Treecreeper amongst the usual suspects in the garden.

While most of us are seeing very few insects this year, there is clearly no shortage of flat/louse flies (Hippoboscidae) on the birds of Skye this year. Thanks to. JJ. BTO Buglife Dipterists Forum Royal Entomological Society

Does anyone know what the likely carrying capacity of a greenhouse is in toads per square metre? The current resident is very fat but not having much impact on the slug population. Froglife Bob Flowerdew

Sunset. Not sure which photo I prefer. With the farm gate or without?

I think that this large hoverfly seen on Exmoor this afternoon is Volucella inanis, but happy to be corrected. Dipterists Forum Dr Erica McAlister