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John

@astrapian.bsky.social
76 followers 143 following 61 posts

Amateur naturalist. Conservationist. Socialist. Suffolk-based.

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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
A lovely little fly in my overflowing moth traps in East Suffolk last night - Trupanea amoena, which seems to have only about a dozen UK records...
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
After avoiding likely released ones at Ipswich and Ringstead, I finally cracked and went to see the Queen of Spain Fritillaries at East Tilbury today. Though possibly released, I hope they're locally bred from migrants earlier this year... @bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Market Weston Fen was a lush haven of flowers this week, given months of drought in Suffolk. Highlights included Marsh Fragrant Orchid, Grass of Parnassus, Fine-leaved Water-dropwort, & Pink Water-Speedwell... @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social @suffolk-nats1929.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
A trip to the Brecks this week included finding my first Common Gromwell at Market Weston Fen. As usual, I checked for any leaf mines or caterpillars and was delighted to find this Gromwell Ermine caterpillar... @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social @suffolk-nats1929.bsky.social
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
I was lucky yesterday in East Suffolk to watch this Lime Hawkmoth caterpillar trying to get away from a parasitic wasp (Callajoppa cirrogaster) that is laying eggs in it
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
A day down in Essex with @ipswichbirder.bsky.social yesterday produced a few cracking invertebrates which haven't yet made their way to Suffolk much, or at all... details on photos
Fiery Clearwing (Pyropteron chrysidiformis) - it is hard to know the true picture for this species, but it seems to be expanding from Thames corridor strongholds. This individual was just ~30 miles from SuffolkCow-wheat Shieldbug (Adomerus biguttatus) - just one Essex/Suffolk border record from MorleyRambur's Pied Shieldbug (Tritomegas sexmaculatus) - not far from south Suffolk now, and surely arriving soonWhite-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) - just edges into South Suffolk, but abundant where we saw it in South Essex
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
This smart fly, Orellia falcata, appears to be uncommon in Suffolk (I'm unsure as iRecord is down), amd was new for me. Its larvae feed on Goat's-beard (Tragopon pratensis) which it can be seen hanging onto in the photo... @teamdiptera.bsky.social
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
A nice female-type Red-veined Darter at East Lane, Bawdsey, Suffolk this morning @britishdragonflies.bsky.social @dragonflydamselfly.bsky.social
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
A Pyracantha in my East Suffolk garden is pumping out nectar, attracting many hoverflies and this new species for me - Long-horned General (Stratiomys longicornis), an uncommon species of upper saltmarsh and grazing marshes in the South East @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
One Small Mottled Willow made it as fas as Horsey Corner, Norfolk, last night @migrantmothuk.bsky.social
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Spuleria flavicaput, new for me from Horsey Corner last night - one of many moths with a common food plant (Hawthorn for this one) yet a strangely local distribution... Is this a new location for Norfolk @jameslowenwild.bsky.social ? Can't quite tell from norfolkmoths...
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
@mothiduk.bsky.social Is this possibly Epinotia tetraquetana (facing left) and E. immundana (facing right)? I'm trapping new Suffolk sites and not familiar with the species yet!
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
This highlights the hidden mental burdens conservationists carry. The weight of loss every day - when the best I can often aim for is to slow the rate of loss - is heavy. To be honest, it is not the small wins that sustain me, but the moral duty to do what is right: news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-...
news.mongabay.com
A profession built on hope, strained by loss
Earlier this month, Jeremy Hance’s “‘An epidemic of suffering’: Why are conservationists breaking down?” and the follow-up commentary “Emotional and psychological stresses beleaguer conservation profe...
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
I love stumbling upon a new gall - Sunday's surprise from my garden was my first Lasioptera rubi (Raspberry Gall Midge) gall, on a raspberry cane.
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
www.thepoke.com/2026/02/27/t...
thepoke.com
This fabulous takedown of Matt Goodwin after his defeat to the ‘woke Greens’ is a supremely satisfying watch
Spare a thought – only kidding! – for Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin, who despite all the huffing and puffing by Nigel Farage suffered by-election defeat at the hands of the Green Party’s Hannah Spencer. It...
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The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 22/01/2026
Help us make hope normal again. Join the Green Party now.
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
It’s time for soft secession
How blue states can use their economic clout to stand up to Trump’s agenda—starting with California.
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Over 50 years old, and I've just made my first ever donation to a political party because we really need HOPE in these dark times... @zackpolanski.bsky.social @greenparty.org.uk
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TheBossRoss 🧶 @thebossross.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
"If you go back a million minutes, get to the start of 2023. If you go back a billion minutes, you get to the Roman Empire. That's the scale of inequality we're living with." Zack Polanski Such a brilliant illustration.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 10/11/2025
Trump: "Nobody knows what magnets are."
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Some superb fungi in East Suffolk in the last couple of weeks. For starters, here is my first Piggyback Rosegill (Volvariella surrecta) - a species which feeds on decaying Clouded Funnel (Clitocybe nebularis)
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Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Joining is easy! join.greenparty.org.uk
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Delighted to add Radford's Flame Shoulder to my garden list in East Suffolk last night, arriving with an influx of Udea ferrugalis @migrantmothuk.bsky.social
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
@migrantmothuk.bsky.social Crimson Speckled recorded by a friend at Bowers Marsh, South Essex today
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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Ooop!
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 29/08/2025
Science: Trump supporters are assholes.
psypost.org
Trump supporters report higher levels of psychopathy, manipulativeness, callousness, and narcissism
Support for Donald Trump is linked to darker personality traits, including increased psychopathy and decreased empathy, new research finds. The study also connects conservative political beliefs to lo...
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
@migrantmothuk.bsky.social A stunning, presumably home-grown, Striped Hawkmoth in my moth trap near Woodbridge on Wednesday night
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
The Onion gets better and better... theonion.com/ghislaine-ma...
theonion.com
Ghislaine Maxwell Can’t Help But Notice Interview Room Covered In Plastic Sheeting
TALLAHASSEE, FL—Perplexed that the Department of Justice had chosen a setting with such strange decor to ask her about Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators, Ghislaine Maxwell confirmed Thursday that she ...
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
theonion.com/peter-thiel-...
theonion.com
Peter Thiel Shows Trump How To Sort Spreadsheet Of Americans By Ethnicity
WASHINGTON—Stressing that it would be simplest to troubleshoot now during the onboarding process for his company’s surveillance technology, Palantir founder Peter Thiel reportedly spent Tuesday mornin...
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Very clever flip!
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Again to the point. Inside federal law enforcement ICE has always had a terrible rep. Place for people who can't get jobs at the more legit/disciplined federal policing agencies. High zeal to beat people up, low competence. Will get vastly worse hiring vast numbers under time pressure.
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
I'm no fan of the Iranian regime, but this does well at exposing the current western hypocrisy: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The warmongers were wrong about Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Now watch them make the same mistake about Iran | Owen Jones
Israel is the main source of terror and instability in the Middle East. But the west continually turns away from this reality, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 09/05/2025
Every book published in the United States is sent to the Library of Congress. Also, if you are under 16 you cannot use the reading room or order books.
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
The same people who went apoplectic when asked to wear a mask to *protect people* in a pandemic eagerly wear one to *kidnap people* in Gestapo cosplay.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Surprisingly no one wants to buy a please blow me up or at least smear poop on me nazimobile
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
“Elmo is open to full-time or freelance roles.”
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John @astrapian.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
We can’t just be against Trump. It’s time for a bold, progressive populism | Robert Reich
A populist – anti-establishment – revolution was inevitable. But it didn’t have to be a tyrannical one
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Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
The savvy will scoff, but I am completely serious about this. Congressional Dems should introduce a constitutional amendment to limit the pardon power and force votes on it whenever they can. Dem presidential wannabes should endorse the idea. Blue states should signal support.
offmessage.net
Rein In Trump's Pardon Power
Before it's too late... And presidential immunity, while we're at it.... Take it to Congress, to states, even to the streets.
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David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
… Oh that’s cold
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Liz (or Lizzie) Kim 김혜성 💫 @lizzielizliz.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
An elderly holocaust survivor confronts ICE and Tom Homan. His bravery after what he has experienced and endured shows his incredible indomitable spirit even the Nazis couldn’t crush. #MomSky
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Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
This moment in our country's history is depressing, but it's also illuminating. We're finding out, in real time, whom among those in power will hedge their bets, trade complicity for personal preservation, and retreat into cowardice in the hopes they'll be spared. And we will remember their names.
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