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Reposted by Chris

UK Environmental Change Network @ukecn.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

This new blog post explains vital long-term studies of European #mountain top #vegetation that is revealing subtle but significant shifts towards plants associated with warmer conditions. UKCEH contributes because it has operated an ECN #long-term #research site there since 1999. 👇

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Setting up a @pomscheme.bsky.social 1km square survey. Nearly always more difficult to find the perfect weather day for pollinator surveys in northern Scotland! At least the heather is blooming for the #FITCounts

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Reposted by Chris

UK Environmental Change Network @ukecn.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

ECN was involved in an international study on the responses of European plants to climate warming. We contributed data collected at our high altitude Cairngorms ECN site run by @ukceh.bsky.social: ecn.ac.uk/news/europea... #ClimateChange #monitoring #research #ecosystems #LTER @ukri.org

An ECN scientist from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology surveying the mountain-top vegetation at our ECN long-term research and monitoring site in the Cairngorms, Scotland. Photo ©UKCEH

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Data from our long-monitored Cairngorm mountain summits contributed to a major study which found that Europe’s plant life is shifting, but not in the same way everywhere. Whilst all plant communities show a ‘climatic debt’, mountains are most vulnerable, losing species that have nowhere else to go

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

A post #StormAmy site visit showed that our precipitation collection funnel (for chemical analysis of rainfall) had been toppled by the 108 mph winds, but otherwise most equipment survived unscathed. First time this has happened since @ukecn.bsky.social long-term monitoring began here 25 years ago.

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

A windy night in the #Cairngorms with our @ukecn.bsky.social weather station located at 700 m recording a gust of 106 mph and sustained winds of 75 mph as #StormAmy rolled through. That’s our highest recorded gust since Dec 2011, 14 years ago!

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

A second remote Birdweather PUC set up at our @ukecn.bsky.social long term monitoring site in the Cairngorms. I like the #BWPUC as it provides realtime #bioacoustic data whilst reducing data storage and post-processing requirements. It also makes outreach and stakeholder engagement easy!

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Reposted by Chris

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) @ukceh.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

As @royentsoc.bsky.social #InsectWeek begins, we’re excited to share the latest @pomscheme.bsky.social annual report 🐝🪰🪲 Explore this year’s findings and help us welcome The RHS as a new PoMS partner! 👏🏼 Planting a variety of flowers and creating diverse habitats is key for pollinators 🌼 🧵🧪 1/

Front cover of UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme Annual Report 2024, including image of Variable Nomad Bee, Nomada zonata
© Steven Falk and logos of UKCEH, JNCC and PoMS

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Phenomenal last day of the spring holiday in #Aberdeenshire, with incredible views of a pod of 6 Orca (inc a juvenile) hunting seals a few hundred meters off the coast at Peterhead. At one point the unfortunate seal was launched about 7m skyward! #Orca #Peterhead #Bririshwildlife

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Reposted by Chris

UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme @pomscheme.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

The new FIT Count season is nearly here 🎉🎆👏 From 1st April onwards, when weather is good, enjoy spending 10 minutes counting the insects that visit flowers - wherever you can find flowers, and as often as you wish, to help monitor #pollinators. Full details on our website ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts

Poster: Ten steps to carry out a FIT Count
1. A FIT Count requires 10–15 minutes to enjoy watching and counting insects!
2. Take part on any day with good weather from 1 April to 30 September.
3. "Good weather" is dry, and with temperature at least 13°C in sunny conditions, or at least 15°C when cloudy.
4. Choose just one type of flower as your target flower – use a FIT Count target flower if you can, or choose any other flower as the target.
5. Mark out a 50 × 50 cm patch containing your target.
6. Count how many individual target flowers are in your patch.
7. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and count all insects that touch (land or are already sitting) the target flowers.
8. Identify the insects into their broad groups (bumblebees, hoverflies etc.) – any that you don't recognise should be counted as "other insects".
9. Answer some simple habitat and weather questions.
10. Don't forget to send in your results via our FIT Count app or website recording form (even if your result is zero insects!).

Full details on the POMS website and FIT Count app.

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

I love fieldwork at this time of year. Another day in the #Cairngorns for @ukecn.bsky.social and the light was again a delight. This time calm clear air allowed exceptional views to Ben Nevis some 50 miles to the West, whilst ice/frost covered #lochinsh and the trees down in #strathspey

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

Islands and #seabirds instead of mountains were the focus of today’s #ecology surveys. Same fantastic winter light though! Amazing what uninhabited places exist just a short boat ride #Edinburgh

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

More fantastic light over a soggy looking #inshmarshes in the #Cairngorms whilst coming off the hill again today. It would all be so much more enjoyable without nearly 20 kg of tools and weather station on my back though! All for the love of #science 😅

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

For all my years working in the #Cairngorms, I haven’t often come off the hill in the gloaming. I must say the light this evening was beautiful. A lovely November day collecting long-term environmental data.

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Chris @fife-chris.bsky.social · 06/10/2024

Yesterday I saw my first wild UK #beaver. 🤩 The joy of that encounter for me, just 10 mins from home, with added whoops of joy from my daughter, was pure magic. That’s 1 of my 2 wild UK must sees completed. Just an orca to go! #britishwildlife #Fife #nature #lifegoals

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