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Andy Symes

@andysymes.bsky.social
690 followers 215 following 335 posts

Up the hill past 694 At the stone wall make a left.

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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A good 8hrs exercise on Blakeney Point y'day - all the action was further north but managed Pied Fly, 5 Redstarts, S-e Owl, a sprinkling of Robins and Song Thrushes and the first few Redwings of autumn. A bat over the sea first thing was a surprise (Nathusius's Pip on probability) #UKBirding
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A completely unexpected and absolutely pristine Gold Spot was new for the garden last night (Royston VC29) #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
What do people think - not a 100% classic setup but maybe the odd bird in East Anglia on Tues? #UKBirding
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Beautiful Plume pursued by small shadow dragons - dramatic scenes on my kitchen wall last night #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Finally got my long-awaited Ni Moth on Thursday night, hiding round the side of the actinic trap with the Ni lure on. Very nice indeed. Campion, Dark Spectacle and O. semirubella less exciting but always a pleasure! Royston, VC29 #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Show your moth-er you care with this limited edition gold-plated Box-tree Moth #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
A surreal experience watching the antics of these entertaining and endearing European Hamsters in a Vienna cemetery on a hot early August weekend. Scarce Swallowtail, Red Squirrel and Spotted Sulphur were also noted in between the palaces and beer gardens.
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Summer of the Heliothis/Helicoverpa: Marbled Clover, Bordered Straw and Scarce Bordered Straw from the garden over the last few weeks. But where's my Eastern Bordered?! #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Recent mothy bits from the Royston garden: potential VC29 first Cydia interscindana, plus Cydia amplana, Tawny-barred Angle, Silky Wainscot, Delicates, Cosmopterix pulchrimella, Ypsolopha alpella, Anania perlucidalis, Palpita vitrealis and Vestal
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Some nice moths from north Herts on 13th August: Antler Moth, Lunar Yellow Underwing, Barred Rivulet, August Thorn, Mompha miscella, Parectopa ononidis, Agonopterix kaekeritziana and Argyresthia semitestacella #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Two recent crazy nights trapping with cheap LEDs and homemade traps on chalk grassland in North Herts: 3 Aug >>1,000 Small Mottled Willow 13 Aug c150 Delicate British records for both? A crazy summer, or the new normal? Answers on a postcard (that's covered in Small Mottled Willows) #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Visited Stotfold, Beds Green-flowered Helleborines only to find whole colony (and significant area of woodland floor) in the process of being trashed by dumping of waste soil from a nearby development. Work now stopped til Mon when I'll have to try to speak with council... @ukorchids.bsky.social
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Glorious colours at Cranwich Camp on Saturday with Norfolk Flora Group and @norfolknats.bsky.social: Long-headed Poppy and Viper's Bugloss, Biting Stonecrop, Kidney Vetch and Pyramidal Orchids.
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Tawny Wave, Oblique Striped, Small Blue and Small Heath at Cranwich Camp on Saturday with Norfolk Flora Group and @norfolknats.bsky.social #TeamMoth @norfolkbutterflies.bsky.social
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
A profusion of peas at Cranwich Camp on Saturday with Norfolk Flora Group and @norfolknats.bsky.social: Bur Medick, Rough Clover, Sand Lucerne and Purple Milk-vetch
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Breckland rarities at Cranwich Camp on Saturday with Norfolk Flora Group and @norfolknats.bsky.social: Proliferous Pink, Spanish Catchfly, Purple-stem Cat's-tail and Sand Catchfly
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Clearwings from the garden over the last month: Lunar Hornet, Red-belted, Orange-tailed and Currant. Six-belted and Red-tipped have also dropped by but didn't want to stop for photos! Royston, Cambs VC29 #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
New for garden moths over the weekend included Small Marbled, Larch Pug, Schoenobius gigantella and Anania perlucidalis (Royston, Cambs VC29) #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Crested Cow-wheat, Sulphur Clover and Pyramidal Orchids decorating some Cambridgeshire road verges yesterday
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Four-spotted, Aethes hartmanniana and Nemophora fasciella in south Cambs today, and Grapholita pallifrontana from 23/05. I've been bumping into hartmanniana and fasciella in lots of places recently, belying their supposedly scarce status - worth looking out for both of these at the moment #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Horehound Longhorn, White-letter Hairstreak, Rose Chafer and Beautiful Demoiselle during periodic bright spells of weather on surveys in south London this week
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Purple Milk-vetch, Lizard Orchid, Bastard-toadflax and Bee Orchid from Therfield Heath today #WildflowerHour
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Perennial Flax, Knapweed Broomrape, Chalk Fragrant-orchid and Wild Candytuft all looking splendid at Therfield Heath, Herts today #WildflowerHour
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Long-held ambition fulfilled on a dreamy day up Cwm Idwal, Eryri on 18th May, with Snowdon Lily, Tufted Saxifrage and views to die for.
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Red Squirrel, Razorbill, Lanceolate Spleenwort and Small Adder's-tongue from Anglesey, May 2026.
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Wild Cotoneaster, Nottingham Catchfly, Hoary Rock-rose and grazing gang taking a break - Great Orme, May 2026
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Field Fleawort ssp maritima, Spotted Rock-rose and Pale Dog-violet from the flower-rich Anglesey coast last month.
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
A selection of Pugsley's Marsh-orchids to delight and confuse, from a lush Anglesey bog on 16th May
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
A few Fly Orchids still in reasonable condition in Hertfordshire yesterday
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Thisanotia chrysonuchella, Apotomis turbidana, Phtheochroa sodaliana and Oxyptilus distans from the Brecks on Saturday #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Red-necked Footman, Rosy Marbled, Clouded Buff and Cream-spot Tigers from the Brecks on Saturday #TeamMoth
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Small Alison, Grey Carpet, Leafy Spurge and Sickle Medick from the Brecks on Sunday
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
A magnificent trip of 13 Dotterel on the dizzying heights of the south Cambridgeshire uplands on Sunday evening #UKBirding
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Petty Whin from Mitcham Common, and Goldilocks Buttercup with Bluebells from Threecorner Wood @ldnwildlifetrust.bsky.social, late for #WildflowerHour
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
The only gull on the lake, the Ross's Gull made for a surreal sight as it paddled past at close range at Thurrock Thameside Nature Park, Essex yesterday #UKBirding
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Dukes, Grizz 'n' Liz from Chapel Bank @ldnwildlifetrust.bsky.social on Tuesday
Duke of BurgundyDuke of BurgundyGrizzled SkipperCommon Lizard
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Do I know anyone brave/mad enough to look at hawkweeds? It would be great to put a name to this blotchy beauty seen y'day on chalk at Hutchinson's Bank, Surrey/London, but I'm not sure if that's possible from these pics. @bramblebotanist.bsky.social is this something you can help with?
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Furry potatoes doing their thing yesterday. It was lovely to be able to help some visitors, including families with young kids, to see their first Water Voles.
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Bits from out and about this week - Sedge Warbler, Roe Deer and some slightly awkward Dotterels. Oilseed rape seems to have undergone a step change this year in its ability to self-seed absolutely everywhere - I expect this isn't a good thing, but it does add some nice colour to a photo.
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
A nice bimble on Therfield Heath in the late afternoon sun - box-fresh Brown Argus maybe Herts' first of the year, Small Coppers always a pleasure, and the earliest county record by a week of the localised Small Purple-barred moth. And just now, at home, Swiiiiiiiift!!! @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Just a cheeky nudge for this request to help me get some Lloydia (Gagea) love next month, thanks in advance!
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Unexpected excitement on the way to the pub today while visiting friends in Bristol - a single pristine Green-winged Orchid on an unmown patch of modified grassland lawn in urban Easton. No records on the map and otherwise not even a Cowslip there! #WildflowerHour
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Wheatear and hare from a pre-work stroll on Therfield Heath today
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Try not to faint with awe and wonder but if I've understood 'narrow scarious margins to bracts' correctly these might be the only known Dwarf Mouse-ears in Cambs VC29, poking out of the side of a manhole cover where they were first spotted ten years ago
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Rue-leaved Saxifrage, just because it's one of my favourites and I look forward to seeing where it pops up every year. This year this tiny spring gem has chosen the top of a low wall on my street #WildflowerHour
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Bit of an odd one. First record of a single Pasqueflower at a south Cambs grassland today. Within sight of 60,000 plants just over the border in Herts, but not a species that seems inclined to spread by seed. Also a weirdly tall, sturdy plant. Answers on a postcard! @bsbibotany.bsky.social
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Bit of an odd one. First record of a single Pasqueflower at a south Cambs grassland today. Within sight of 60,000 plants just over the border in Herts, but not a species that seems inclined to spread by seed. Also a weirdly tall, sturdy plant. Answers on a postcard! @bsbibotany.bsky.social
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Hello botanists of Bluesky, I will be in north Wales next month and would like to look for the legendary Snowdon Lily. I've found various grid refs but it's a bit unclear which would require serious mountaineering! Would anyone be kind enough to help via a private message? @bsbibotany.bsky.social
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
A big step up in moths with 73 of 20 last night (plus Emperors to lure and Jersey Tiger caterpillars). Chamomile Shark was the standout, a new moth for me. Also a very fine Mullein (2nd record of an adult), Silver Y, Least Black Arches (Royston VC29)... #TeamMoth
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the moth trap! Chamomile Shark!MulleinSilver YLeast Black Arches
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Andy Symes @andysymes.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Yesterday was a nice day to be an Emperor Moth, other than the inconvenience of being lured to my garden under false pretenses! Royston, Cambs VC29 #TeamMoth
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