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AgrimonySpikes

@agrimonyspikes.bsky.social
729 followers 693 following 573 posts

🇮🇪 Im not a bot. I like wildflowers, nature, biodiversity, habitats, birds, habitat restoration and creation in Ireland, UK, and EU and laws on same. Also current affairs. Joined Bluesky 9th Nov 2024. Eat your crusts.

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Gavin Sheridan @gavinsblog.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Ok Bluesky it's rare I ask for help. But this time I need huge help from the #osint community and #speirgorm #speirghorm, and everyone who follows me. I have a goal to raise up to €100,000 for a long time friend and colleague who is going to leave us.
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
A sad sign that habitats and their species mix may change soon due to climate change despite best efforts to conserve them. I'm wondering should my neutral grassland conservation aspirations change to a drier grassland mix. Late season DBS have struggled in spots.
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Blue on blue. Common Blue butterfly on Devils bit scabious. #wildflowerhour #DaisyFamily
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BirdGuides @birdguides.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Ring Ouzel is on the verge of extinction as a breeding species in Ireland, according to a recently published paper:
f.mtr.cool
Ring Ouzel on the verge of extinction in Ireland
A dedicated survey in 2021 produced only a handful of confirmed breeding records of Ring Ouzel in Ireland, leaving the species facing imminent extinction there.
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The Species Recovery Trust @speciesrecovery.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Bringing back Dorset's long-lost Starved Wood-sedge (Carex depauperata)!
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Another installment of the 'native woodlands don't burn' debunking. Birch and oak are made of wood, and if they're dry enough (like in a drought) then they'll burn. And if they're on peat, they'll burn all the more. Just to reiterate, this is a fen. A famously wet habitat. On fire.
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The Species Recovery Trust @speciesrecovery.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Want a copy? Head to our online shop at www.speciesrecoverytrust.org.uk/product-page... 🙌📚
speciesrecoverytrust.org.uk
A Field Guide to Grasses, Sedges and Rushes | SpeciesRecoveryTrust
An essential guide to identifiying all the common grasses, sedges and rushes in the UK. With over 72 pages of colour photos, habitat guides and straightforward field descrptions, this book has remaine...
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The Species Recovery Trust @speciesrecovery.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Looking to improve your grass ID? 🌿 Here's a thread you might be interested in... ⤵️
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Butterfly Conservation @savebutterflies.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
3 days until #BigButterflyCount 2026 lifts off! 🦋 The Gatekeeper took third in last year's count with 236,425 sightings. Despite a slight increase from 2024, this butterfly has seen a 22% decline since the count began. With over 80% of UK butterfly species in decline, every single sighting counts.
A Gatekeeper butterfly with orange and brown wings rests on a fern. Text reads, "3 Days to Go." Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count logo at the bottom. Photography credit: Mark Searle.
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The Species Recovery Trust @speciesrecovery.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Exciting news for Field Cow-wheat in Wiltshire! Here’s Dom to tell you more… @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social
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Elaine McGoff @elainemcgoff.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
🎯 Our poor beleaguered waters 'The data tell the story:they’re filthy with pollution, clogged with man-made barriers & wrecked by State-funded drainage schemes that channel them, pour herbicides along them & cut vegetation that otherwise offers much-needed shade' www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
irishtimes.com
Wild salmon are on the verge of extinction. There is not one fish to spare
What happened on the river Glyde in June is not a local incident. It is a national emergency
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Ashley @wicklowaxes.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Long eared owl hunting rabbit, Wicklow
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BEC Consultants @bececology.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Sadly, crayfish plague (Aphanomyces astaci) has now been recorded from the Camac River, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin. A reminder from Minister O'Sullivan that we should all check, clean and dry equipment and PPE before and after entering a waterbody. #NatureConservation www.npws.ie/news/ministe...
npws.ie
Minister O’Sullivan urges people using rivers and lakes to ‘Check, Clean and Dry’ boats and fishing equipment to protect wildlife | National Parks & Wildlife Service
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
A disgrace. Nets used first time to prevent nesting Sand martin Regular development: Conceal it until we're found out. Protect the habitat for a season. Once their gone we'll destroy it permanently so they won't come back. Get dark ecologist to sign off! www.greystonesguide.ie/a-line-is-dr...
greystonesguide.ie
The Greystones Guide | A Line Is Drawn For North Beach Sand Martins
Planned repair works halted for environmental assessment…
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Plantlife @plantlifeuk.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
We helped save 5% of Scotland’s population of Aspen Bristle Moss. 🌿 This tiny, endangered moss grows only on Aspen trees and survives at just three sites. When one key tree fell, the moss it carried would have died without action. 🧵1/3
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Responsive web design rules! Its going to be great when AI has a go at it. @josefoshea.bsky.social
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Common birds foot trefoil is doing really well in the urban front garden this year and the white tailed bumblebees love it.
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Dean Mac Cú Uladh @dmac00.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Platanthera bifolia, Selaginella selaginoides and Pedicularis sylvatica subsp. hibernica and Pinguicula vulgaris from the Cooley Mountains, Co. Louth (H31) I suspect there are many lesser butterfly-orchids on upland wet heath and blanket bogs lurking out there!
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
A decent showing of hay rattle again this year. Plenty of bumblebee energy drinks to go around in the North wexford wildflower meadow.
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Good numbers of painted lady butterflies in the wildflower meadow today. I saw only one all season last year. Red clover seemed to be the nectaring flower of choice. And there was plenty on offer in the meadow.
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Donna Rainey @donnarainey4.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
I was really happy to see & capture this lovely courtship of these Cryptic wood white #butterflies on a roadside verge.
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BSBI Ireland @bsbiireland.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Marsh Violet (Viola palustris) looking immensely cute on shaded rocks beneath Powerscourt Waterfall, Co #Wicklow. It likes acidic conditions, so often seen growing with mosses like Sphagnum or Polytrichum commune, as here. #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social
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Orla @somebogwitch.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Thrift on Achill with the Atlantic wind #wildflowerhour
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Common knapweed on the verge #Wildflowerhour #wildflowershow
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Martine🦋Brennan🍄 @martinebrennan.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
I started my #2026OrchidHunt with a new species for me: Bird's-nest orchid, in S Tipperary. It taps into tree roots for nutrients. With thanks to finder, John F. #wildflowerhour @ukorchids.bsky.social
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Birds foot trefoil (the lesser) #wildflowershow #wildflowerhour
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Common Carder bumblebee cleaning its long tongue after a drink from hay rattle
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
A beefy Oak eggar moth caterpillar. Likes to feed on brambles.
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
A fasciated red clover doing its thing for the #wildflowerhour #carrotsandpeas challenge on my no mow verge outside my house.
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
And we're off! Hay rattle begins to bloom again in the garden wildflower border.
Hay rattle
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
For 7 days, a pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker kept a close eye on this Willow Tit nest. The male GSW took 3 minutes to destroy it. The clutch of 9 eggs were left by the GSW and abandoned by the Willow Tits. It’s touch and go if the WTs have a last nesting attempt this season…
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Philip🦎EcotrakNI @ecotrakni.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
At Peatlands Park, Co Armagh, this afternoon - Common Lizard on the boardwalk, Green Hairstreak butterfly and Bog Bean in flower. @argroupsuk.bsky.social #ukwildlife #HSI #butterflies #lizard #commonlizard #zootoca #northernireland #nature
A young Common Lizard on the boardwalk at Peatlands Park, Co Armagh, 7 May 2026Green Hairstreak butterfly in the heather at Peatlands Park, Co Armagh, 7 May 2026Bog Bean flower, Peatlands Park, Co Armagh, 7 May 2026
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Irish Peatland Conservation Council @peatlandconserve.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Irish bogs host three types of carnivorous sundews; the Round‑leaved Sundew, Intermediate Sundew and Long‑leaved Sundew. These plants use sticky tentacles to trap and digest insects, gaining vital nutrients missing from nutrient‑poor peatlands. Photos: Long-leaved Sundew and Round-leaved Sundew.
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Declan Murphy @wicklownature.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Lovely Green Hairstreak in County Wicklow today. A total of 5, feeding on bilberry bushes near the Wicklow Gap. The green is amazing in the sunshine!
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Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) @bbs-birds.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
(3/) Tree Sparrow is a species that has declined markedly across England in recent years. It declined by 54% 2019-2024. It can now be quite a challenging species to find across the country, apart from in areas where it is locally common.
A Tree Sparrow is shown. It has a brown body, a chestnut brown cap with black dots on its cheeks. It has a white neck collar. The BBS logo is top right, which features a Goldfinch.
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
A sedge, I think green ribbed sedge. #wildflowerhour
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Delicate pignut coming into flower, with Sweet vernal grass, Plantain and Bugle #wildflowerhour
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Mandy Forde @mandyforde.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Breeding pairs of #Chough are now back at their nest sites but a few youngsters are still visiting my garden Unlucky in love Red#N2 a 3 year old male & a 1 year old female Green#B3 who I affectionately refer to as Squeaky B #Anglesey @cofnod.org.uk @birdsinwales.bsky.social @rspbcymru.bsky.social
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Save Our Bride Otters @saveourbrideotters.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
The Otter Survey of Ireland 2023-24 is available here to view for those who are interested. www.npws.ie/sites/defaul...
npws.ie
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
A vibrant yellow pimpernel for #wildflowerhour
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
A stand of Bugle with a white Bluebell in the background in the meadow this spring #wildflowerhour
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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
It is a form of denial to claim certain drivers of ecosystem degradation are not important eg many claimed sand dredging impacts on Lough Neagh are far less important than nutrient inflows But this paper shows just how damaging these dredging operations are www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Sand dredging is associated with benthic habitat alteration and chronic turbidity with profound ecological consequences likely for the UK and Ireland's largest freshwater lake
Sand and gravel extraction from aquatic ecosystems is a known driver of freshwater habitat degradation, sediment disturbance, and turbidity. Lough Nea…
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martinswarren.bsky.social @martinswarren.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
More shocking results on UK Butterfly decline. an amazing dataset covering 50 years gives us a unique insight to the fate of these invaluable indicators
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cianoceallaigh.bsky.social @cianoceallaigh.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
A battle between juniper and the invasive entire-leaved cotoneaster (suspect) in an area of fixed dune along the west coast of Ireland. Clearly occupying the same niche
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Primula vulgaris Primrose in normal yellow, pink and purple colours. Maybe nearby black currants stain them 😉. A nice bouquet composition none the less #wildflowerhour
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Good Friday grass Luzula campestris Field wood-rush among the barren strawberries #wildflowerhour
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Viv K @vivkeene.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
4am start and it was ICY!! Off to Wilts and Hants for a bit of bird questing. Stone Curlews first (without last wks heat haze), then Great Bustards displaying (which they weren't doing last week). Success on both counts. Fabulous. Also Corn Buntings, Red Kites, Grey Partridge, Skylarks #UKBirding
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AgrimonySpikes @agrimonyspikes.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
A tired but immaculate looking peacock butterfly trapped in the house - brought to the garden. Hope it makes it.
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Manx Peat Partnership @manxpeat.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
After some heavy lifting we've started to install wool rolls from Sustainable Rope 🐏 These are 100% wool rolls which we are trialling to see how they work compared with the coir rolls we've used so far🤔 We hope they work well, as it would be great to use local wool to help restore our #peatlands 😀
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
New research shows that farming adapted to wetter soils could benefit bird communities Sites contained 3X more birds than drained grasslands Story: www.cam.ac.uk/research/new... Paper: doi.org/10.1002/2688... Read on for a summary… @clr-cambridge.bsky.social @aer-ese-bes.bsky.social
doi.org
Typha‐based paludiculture offers potential for greater bird species abundance and diversity than drained agricultural grassland
Re-wetting drained peat for Typha paludiculture provides a productive, low-emission land use that can support diverse bird communities. Across 28 sites in the Netherlands, breeding bird abundance in ...
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