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David Smith

@davidsmithartist.bsky.social
181 followers 203 following 343 posts

Visual artist with an interest in wildlife (especially solitary bees), ecology and growing food. Based in beautiful West Dorset, near the Jurassic Coast.

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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Does anybody really need another golf course? action.rspb.org.uk/page/166270/...
action.rspb.org.uk
Save Coul Links!
Your voice could help save this precious habitat from a new threat of development.
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Ian Denton @iand777.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Natural England forced to admit 'Every White-tailed Eagle death in Dorset linked to rat poison' raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/08/01/n...
raptorpersecutionuk.org
Natural England forced to admit ‘Every White-tailed Eagle death in Dorset linked to rat poison’
Last week, the independent group Wildlife Poisoning Research UK (WPRUK) issued a press release confirming the poisoning of more White-tailed Eagles in Dorset, following the high profile poisoning o…
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
At first I read that as thirty Weasels!
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
So sorry to hear you're laid up. Hope it heals real quick and strong.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
This cause is important - please consider signing: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Stop importing invasive species!
Invasive non-native species are one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. Now, one of the world's most invasive species, the Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) has arrived in Europe and s...
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Chris Packham @chrisgpackham.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
No , Natural England aren't looking to kill all the Dartmoor ponies , as disingenuous politicians across the political divide would have you believe . A lot of hysteria about this news story over the past few days – well and truly debunked here . . . www.dartmoornature.org.uk/post/ponies-...
dartmoornature.org.uk
Ponies, Dartmoor and fake news
There’s been a deluge of misinformation recently about ponies on Dartmoor. Dartmoor Nature Alliance’s Tony Whitehead looks at the origins and potential impacts of the current “pony campaigning". He st...
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Can't say I've ever seen one of these before! I think it may be the nymph of a Red Bug, Deraeocoris ruber. It's rather splendid.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
I'm determined not to kill creatures just to satisfy my curiosity, so sometimes I'll have to settle to not knowing yet.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
This little bee is only about 7mm long. I guess it's probably Andrena minutula, Common Mini-miner Bee, but I'll probably struggle for a few hours, looking at all the photos, trying to confirm or deny that guess before I give up and accept I don't have enough information.
Tiny bee on inflorescence of Ground Elder. She has a mass of white pollen on her hind leg.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Some kind of plant bug in the garden the other day. Deraeocoris flavilinea perhaps? It's rather splendid whatever it is.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Lesser Stag Beetle, Dorcus parallelipipedus, in the garden yesterday.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
I'm struggling with all this www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
England’s poorest areas face deepest cuts to green space under planning law changes, report finds
Exclusive: New loopholes for developers will exacerbate extreme disparities across country, charity coalition warns
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Really lucky to capture these tiny Yellow-faced Bees mating. It was so quick it was over by the time the camera focused. There are lots about this year, hanging about the bee hotels and especially the new post I drilled up this year. I think they might be Hylaeus confusus. Any thoughts anyone?
Yellow-faced Bees mating on white  Ground Elder flowers
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Finally managed to get a shot of an Ashy Mining Bee, Andrena cineraria, in the garden yesterday.
Black and white bee hanging under a white inflorescence.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
We're hoping the other box might be taken by the pair that spent quite a lot of time looking in it last year, and we have put up a third box to increase options for them. There are Coal Tit nestlings in the camera box, and the Carrion Crows in our neighbours' fledged today. It's all go round here.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
The fight to keep the Sparrows from using the boxes was worth it (I've made a deal with them that I'll make some boxes for them next year!)
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
The Swifts have returned! Last year we were delighted that these two Swifts fledged in one of the nest boxes we put up 5 years before. Today, their parents returned and have taken up residence again.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Interesting find on my walk this afternoon: an Oil Beetle.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
That should of course read Nomada signata
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Saw this fabulous Broad -banded Nomad Bee, Nomads signata, in the garden today. I saw one couple of years ago and got some photos just before I went in a solitary bee ID course so was able to get expert confirmation. It's a pretty scarce bee in the UK so I'm honoured to share it's territory.
Yellow, black and orange Nomad Bee resting on a green leaf.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Makes him sound like the people's hero!
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
It's been really windy and chill, so not many of the smaller bees were about even when the sun was shining, but this Grey-patched Mining Bee, Andrena nitida, was up to the task of pollinating the apples along with a couple more of her kin.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
I've been seeing something out of the corner of my eye for some time now, but the other day we found out what it was. This little mouse realised we weren't a threat and came to check out the soil round a plum tree we had just planted, while we sat and watched just a few feet away.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
More evidence, if you were to need any, that Starmer's New Tory Zionist Party don't have a socialist policy within a million miles of them! When is this world going to realise we need a complete overhaul of our political systems. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Next week’s disability cuts will make people destitute – and you might not understand how bad they are until it’s too late | Frances Ryan
If new claimants don’t meet strict criteria, they’ll lose half of the health element of universal credit. Don’t ignore that: in life’s lottery, that could easily be you, says Guardian columnist France...
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Claire Laila Dines @freedomtodoubt.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Bottom trawling is so damaging to marine life nothing but a total ban on this fishing practice is sufficient & in the feebly-governed UK, incl Scotland, we can at least ban this plague of life in our waters in ALL MPAs! UKGov's plan to ban practice in *parts* of 41 MPAs is nowhere near enough!
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
This Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius, has been doing the lion's share of pollination on this patch of broad beans. It's great to see them around the garden in increased numbers this Spring. Usually, our broad beans mostly get pollinated by B. terrestris and B. hortorum.
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Miles King @milesking.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
what a good idea.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
One of today's star visitors to a magic patch of dandelions was this male Andrena haemorrhoa, Orange-tailed Mining Bee.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
A beautiful visitor to the garden today despite the strong, cold wind: Andrena nitida, Grey-patched Mining Bee, I think.
Black bee with orange thorax feeding on yellow dandelion flower
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Yesterday was warm enough to have lunch outside. Fresh-picked salad of mixed lettuces, mustards, mizuna, dandelion, chervil, endive and radicchio, with homemade sauerkraut and fermented cucumbers and local Blue Vinny cheese, topped with flowers and herbs.
Salad in a radially blue-striped bowl on a great sun-dappled background
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Also yesterday, I managed to capture these Dark-edged Bee-flies, Bombylius major, mating.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Yesterday, this beauty was the first bee of the year to need help getting out of the polytunnel. I think she is an Orange-legged Furrow Bee, Halictus rubicundus.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
First Garden Bumblebee, Bombus hortorum, I've seen in the garden this year. Earlier than usual I think and collecting pollen.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
The first young slowworm I've seen this year sunning itself on the path. Previously I've seen a few very small ones when disturbing some leaves.
Young male Slowworm in a reverse S shape on a brown brick path in the sunshine. The Slowworm is silvery-copper coloured with a vestige on its head of the black line it has when very young. It's head rests in the dried remains of an Evening Primrose flower head.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
I've been away, so it was nice to catch up with some neighbours in the garden like this stunning parasitoid wasp. I'm guessing at Ichneumon stramentor, but I'm happy to be corrected or confirmed in that ID.
Yellow and black solitary wasp on a flat wooden surface.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Good luck!
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Protect the Wild @protectthewild.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
So so close to 100,000 signatures to end the Guga hunt! Please keep signing: petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE...
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
I would sign, but 38degrees continues to tell me my session has expired each time I submit (saying I don't want to have their incessant emails)
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Here's what the larva looked like when it was free of the host
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
I picked up this caterpillar in the garden to move out to a safe spot, and suddenly a white larva emerged from it! My guess is it's a parasitic fly larva. Anyone help with ID of the host or parasite?
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Beautiful 22-spot Ladybird, Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata, looking so bright and pristine in the sun today.
Yellow beetle with black spots on green background
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
First Early Bumblebee, Bombus pratorum, I've seen this year. She kept going back to that space down the side of the bee bricks presumably because it had warmed up in the sunshine, but it meant she had to keep ridding herself of cobwebs.
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Led By Donkeys @ledbydonkeys.org · 18/02/2026
These two women are suing Andrew Tate, alleging he raped them. Here they visit the social media companies that created Tate. Please share. *one voice altered to disguise identity
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
They give me so much joy. We have a big rookery at the end of the street, who are often joined by masses of Jackdaws (many a disused chimney has a resident Jackdaw couple) and the Carrion Crows are building in the Christmas tree next door.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
A Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, patrolled the garden regularly today visiting every Lungwort in flower, drinking deep and long, gathering masses of pollen. #WildlifeFriendlyGarden
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George McGavin @georgemcgavin.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Quite so.....we need to do the right thing now or we will be home a mere blip on the fossil record...actually, that is the norm....
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Protect the Wild @protectthewild.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
When the evidence is this blatant and it’s still not enough, trail hunting has to end. Support Northants Hunt Sabs.
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Buds are bursting
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
The last two apples from our crop. They kept well considering all ripened so early. We almost got through to February without having to buy any, and we still have frozen and dehydrated to use. I'm so grateful we have space to grow organic fruit. #GrowYourOwnFruit #RealFood
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David Smith @davidsmithartist.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
But the Government won't act on any of this: www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Biodiversity collapse threatens UK security, intelligence chiefs warn
Ecosystem destruction will increase food shortages, disorder and mass migration, with effects already being felt
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