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Brigit Strawbridge

@brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social
13.4K followers 2.1K following 4.2K posts

Wildlife gardening.. love insects, plants, birds, fungi, grass snakes, trees, moths, rivers, caterpillars & all things wild, especially solitary bees, bumblebees... and Dippers! Art. Poetry. Cornwall Author 'Dancing with Bees - a Journey Back to Nature'

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Another clip of the Dipper I've seen this week on the little stream that runs through our village. Taken through some railings, but if you look carefully you can see he's been ringed! Hopefully (if I get better footage) this means someone can tell me exactly where he/she came from @cbwps.org.uk
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Ever since we moved to Cornwall, Dippers have been living and breeding on the stream near our house. I watched them daily and fell for them hook, line and sinker. Their disappearance last winter left me feeling quite bereft.... But LOOK who I spotted earlier this week!!! #overjoyed #happy
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Mondays are ‘Nature Studies’ with my granddaughter, Arrietty… Today we learned that Wrens weigh no more than a £1 coin… that their eggs measure just 1.5cm in length… that they are the most common breeding bird in the UK… and that... 1/2
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Wrens in Briar Rose - by wildlife artist, Laura Andrew @lauraandrew.bsky.social More of this artist's gorgeous work, here: www.lauraandrew.com
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
My (home ed) granddaughter comes to me on Mondays for 'Nature Studies'. She's been coming since last September, and keeps a nature journal to draw and write about whatever we choose to focus on that day. Tomorrow we're going to see if we can spot - or hear - a Wren! Watch this space...
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
'Water Guardians' explores the incredible benefits #beavers bring to ecosystems and climate resilience, while navigating the bureaucracy and challenges that still shape their progress Free screening + Q&A this Weds eve in Newquay. Maybe see you there? Tickets 👇 www.eventbrite.com/e/free-water...
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Some of the plants still producing flowers in our garden... Mostly being enjoyed by Common Carder bumblebees and Hummingbird Hawk moths, but a few hoverflies and wasps, too.
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Tastiest apple ever! From a box of free apples in Sheffield... but what a surprise when Rob bit into it to see such red coloured flesh Could be Bloody Ploughman, or perhaps Kissabel? We've saved the seeds so maybe one day we'll have a harvest of our own 🍎
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Bake day! Sourdough loaf, focaccia & crackers Loaf recipe from Elaine Boddy's brilliant book The Sourdough Bible. Flour 2/3 white + 1/3 wholewheat from Cotswold Flour Focaccia used Elaine's recipe but added an olive oil & tomato puree paste to the top before baking Cracker recipe below...
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Another clip of the stunning pale common buzzard I posted yesterday I wondered briefly if it could be a rough-legged buzzard, but this brilliant video from @btobirds.bsky.social explains the differences, and ours doesn't have the 'dark belly patch'. BTO video: www.bto.org/learn/skills...
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Please can anyone confirm which bird of prey this is? Guessing perhaps a juvenile buzzard, but very pale... #birds
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Just a few of at least 100 Common Carder bumblebees (Bombus pascuorum) I saw this afternoon in our garden, including some still collecting pollen. This species is one of the last to remain active, before their mated queens go into hibernation when the temperatures drop…
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Yesterday was Watercolour Journalling class, and we painted berries... hips, haws, and sloes. I find it hard to work out what colours to mix to get different reds, greens etc., so always need help from our tutor with that. Yesterday I started writing down the ones that work so I won't forget...
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
It's lovely to see the splash of pink flowers this late in the year, usually growing in ditches and other damp areas... but the bit I love most is the creamy-white, four-lobed stigma saying "here I am!" as it pokes out very noticeably from the centre of each flower. Isn't it beautiful? 💕 2/2
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum), also known as Great Hairy Willowherb, Apple-pie, Cherry-pie, Currant-dumpling and Custard-cups! The word 'great' refers to the plant's size and 'hirsutum (hairy)' to its stems and leaves which are covered in fine, soft, glandular hairs. 1/2
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Devil's-bit Scabious... with and without Ivy bee, for #wildflowerhour 💜
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I spent a happy half hour watching this handsome Common Darter dragonfly patrolling our pond today. He came back to this same spot after each patrol, so was easy to film. There was a female laying eggs, with another attached male, too. Thank goodness for all the recent rain and the nice full pond!
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
For the last few years a lone male Tawny Owl has been calling in the woods across the road, but right now there are two males… AND a female!!! Made my year! 🦉🦉🦉
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Caryopteris is a fabulous late summer flowering plant.... and bees LOVE it! N.B. Female Ivy #bees (in video) collect pollen to provision their underground nests almost exclusively from flowering Ivy, but also forage on other late flowering plants for nectar... especially when Ivy is late to flower
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Ever wondered how people count large numbers of #birds? I've just signed up for @btobirds.bsky.social's free online training so I can learn how to count flocks... AND how to put these skills to use in the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) Choose from 3 dates next week, here: www.bto.org/our-work/tra...
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A miniature garden on a fallen twig 💚
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Insects photobombing !
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Thank you @norwichbirder.bsky.social for helping me ID the pinkish shieldbug. In case anyone's interested I now know the speckling suggests newly emerged adult insect, still soft-bodied & pale because outer shell has not yet hardened or darkened. Fully darkened adult on right. Rhopalus subrufus
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
A gathering of dock bugs (I’m on a bit of a ‘bug’ roll today) You can’t tell from the video, but there were at least a dozen of them… adults and larvae at different stages of their lives. Five minutes later, they’d completely dispersed. I’d love to know what gatherings like this are all about…
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Please can anyone tell me which species of shieldbug this one is? Found in our garden hanging out with a bunch of Dock Bugs #bugs
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
A very handsome Forest Bug, or Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes) #bugs
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Don't you just love seedheads?
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Please can anyone tell me the name of this adorable little bug? Spotted on Ivy in the woods, and looking for all the world like a tiny piece of loofah, but with legs!
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I spent a happy half hour watching (actually stalking) this GORGEOUS Small Copper butterfly yesterday afternoon... the first I've seen in our garden this summer. Photobombed by a teensy solitary bee whilst nectaring on the Rudbekia. Hoping this will be the first of many more!
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Clatteringshaws Loch, Galloway Forest Park - by Wiltshire based painter of landscapes and buildings, Bob Rudd More of this artist's fabulous work, here: bobrudd.com
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
All the Colours, Portscatho - oil on board, by artist and author, Jenny Aitken More of this artist's light-filled seascapes, here: jennyaitken.co.uk
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
'My Garden Moths, Poplar Hawkmoth' - by Somerset based artist and printmaker, Julia Manning More of this artist's wonderful artwork, here: juliamanning.co.uk/artworks/ #mothsmatter #moths #art
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Murmuration - linocut by Perthshire artist and printmaker, Babs Pease. So much going on. I loved this one enough to buy a print and never tire of looking at it 🤎 💙 More of this artist's stunning artwork, here: babspeasedesign.com #art #birds #hares #nature #murmuration
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Blown away by the skill of printmaker, Joshua Miles, whose reduction linocuts are absolutely stunning! More here: joshuamiles.art/scottish-pri...
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Rain at last! But nowhere near enough to refill our wildlife pond, unless….
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Fleabane and Water mint looking glorious - and impossible to miss - on the coast path just above Lansallos Beach, Cornwall #wildflowerhour
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Seriously delicious basil pesto…made with toasted pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts.
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Lunch! Toasted home-baked sourdough, rubbed with a little elephant garlic and piled with tomatoes, cucumber and basil from the allotment. As fresh as it gets!
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I've haven't managed to go to my Watercolour Nature Journal class for a few months, but I went this week, and we did butterflies! Two were from an old collection, but the white ones on Buddleia were from life. #butterflies
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Similar but different! This is a male Early bumblebee... with yellow stripe on abdomen, and less red at tip of tail
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
A beautiful male Red-tailed bumblebee foraging on our Chocolate Cosmos. I wonder if he's enjoying it as much as I would, if I were a bee feasting on a flower which smells of chocolate!
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Yesterday, I went paddle boarding for the first time. On the river Fowey. I’m not at all comfortable on (or in) water, so it was pretty scary to start with… but it was SO much fun and I’m completely hooked now!
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Excited to find a wildflower I’ve not seen before, on my walk yesterday! I think it might be Hylotelephium telephium - commonly known as live-forever, witch’s moneybags, and frog’s-stomach? Apparently very tolerant of dry conditions… @sylvatica2024.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I just made a cute little sourdough loaf for Airbnb guests! It weighs. 460g Is that large enough for breakfast for two people, for two days? There’s granola, yogurt and soft fruit, too… OR… shall I bake larger loaves so guests can also make sandwiches, if they want to?
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I LOVE them, Rob! As it happens I only ever see them here on the moor, so a completely different experience to watching them wading. They roost in the same area each year, and look glorious in the early morning night...
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I found Hummingbird Hawkmoth caterpillars on the Lady's Bedstraw in our mini-meadow last summer, using a UV torch, as recommended by John! Photo taken the following day...
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
A Painted Lady enjoying the Knapweed in our mini wildlife Meadow. Such a stunning butterfly… the patterns on the undersides of their wings reminds me of stained glass windows
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Just adding finishing touches to our B&B before the first guests arrive tomorrow. We're running out of wall space in our cottage, so have hung this gorgeous print 'Autumn Flight' - by Yorkshire printmaker @hestercoxprint.bsky.social - above the bed More of Hester's artwork here: www.hestercox.com
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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Ooh.... I might just add some poems by John Clare!
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