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Hannah Breach

@hannahbreach.bsky.social
259 followers 150 following 445 posts

Naturalist. Norfolk. Mostly wandering about looking at invertebrates with Kevin Radley (in which case all photos his) or observing the creatures in my garden.

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Reposted by Hannah Breach
Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Gene-editing a single species of butterfly to resist pesticides is #solutionism at its worst: ARIA's "moonshot" programme is truly detached from the reality of #PlanetaryBoundaries and the #NatureCrisis www.theguardian.com/environment/...
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Sadly there was a climate & nature shaped hole at the heart of Burnham’s speech. Nothing on the benefits of nature restoration & same old words on a “pragmatic” approach to N Sea drilling. There’s nothing pragmatic about pouring fuel on a scorching earth - he should rule out Rosebank & Jackdaw now
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Managed to follow one of the 2nd-brood Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) larvae we have been observing feeding on Hemlock (Conium maculatum) through to pupation. The pupa now 'just' has 8-10 months ahead to avoid predation plus natural and man-made disasters! #swallowtail #britannicus
brown from of a Swallowtail (Papilio machaon britannicus) pupa
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Ivy-leaved Toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis) on the steps of St. Michael's church, Beccles. #wildflowerhour
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Mr and Mrs Trellis @thenorfolkcoast.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The varying state of berries as the drought continues...
Bright red, spherical Holly berries on a green stem with green leaves are shown in the image. The varying state of berries as the drought continues is very marked between different plants.Sadly, the shrivelled, dessicated dark berries shown on a brown, prickly stem in this image, should have been juicy, plump, luscious Blackberries but there has not been any rain to help the bramble fruit. The varying state of berries as the drought continues is very marked between different plants.
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Don't we all know it!! Chatbots - "Research found they wasted time, caused stress and delayed problem solving for more than half of users" Don't we all know it!! www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Stop relying on AI chatbots for customer care, UK banks and energy firms told
Citizens Advice says providers of essential services such as energy, banking, phone and internet should guarantee the ‘right to talk to a human’
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A surprising find whilst rummaging in the fridge salad drawer; this Small White pupa had been attached to the plastic drawer for an indeterminate time so I was very happy to see it emerge successfully today. I found it on 20th Aug and it was (obviously) removed from the fridge that day! #smallwhite
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Just had this sent in as a record of Little Snipefly (Chrysopilus asiliformis) - which is absolutely correct if you look closely and ignore the Marbled White! (📷 by Ian Joseph)
A photo of a Marbled White butterfly, with a Little Snipefly sitting on its wing. The snipefly is much much smaller than the butterfly!
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
4 of the 14 5th & 4th instar Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) larvae on a single, and rather mildewy, Hemlock (Conium maculatum) plant. Go figure! #swallowtail #norfolkbutterflies
4 large green and black caterpillars on the stems and seed heads of an umbellifer
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A very fetching Reed Dagger (Simyra albovenosa) larva, seen yesterday in the Ant Valley. #reeddagger #teammoth
Hairy caterpillar head down on a leaf
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
TG42Birder🇵🇸 @tg42birder.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
As our burning of fossil fuels rapidly warms the planet, insects are disappearing & this is impacting birds, pollinators & food webs. The decline is global, in protected & non-protected areas, & in remote areas totally free from pesticide. 😮😮😮 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Two (of the many!) reasons why good numbers of the adult butterflies doesn't mean there'll be high numbers the following year; Spiked Shieldbugs and Hornets. We witnessed a Hornet fly off with the other half of this cat. Both seen in the Ant Valley last week. #swallowtail
fresh remains of a 5th instar Swallowtail larva left behind by a Hornet (Vespa crabro). The Hornet returned after a few minutes for the rest. Spiked Shieldbug (Picromerus bidens) feeding on a 5th instar Swallowtail larva.
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
A False Ladybird (Endomychus coccineus) looking very conspicuous on an Alder. Seen today whilst clearing scrub in the Broads with other volunteers. #beetle
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
Lloyd Davies @lloyd9632.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Two nicely camouflaged spiders from the sand dunes at Studland, Dorset this week. Attulus saltator and Psammitis sabulosa.
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
James Emerson @norwichbirder.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This morning's walk into work was livened up when I noticed a Common Sandpiper along the river edge at Wensum Park, and I also managed to find a new aphid species, Yellow Buttercup Aphid (Tubaphis ranunculina) on the underside of a Creeping Buttercup leaf. #NorwichAphids
Underside of part of a Creeping Buttercup leaf, with a small yellow aphid present near the centre of the picture.A close-up photo of a small yellow aphid with long antennae.A close-up photo of a small yellow aphid with long antennae, showing the siphunculi with flanges at the end.
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Good to come across this pair of Wall Browns (Lasiommata megera) yesterday in the Yare Valley. Compared to last year at the same site numbers seem down this year. #wall #norfolkbutterflies
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Interesting to see more 2nd generation Swallowtails (Papilio machaon) feeding on Hemlock (Conium maculatum) 'regrowth' at another site. Seen today in the Ant Valley. #swallowtail
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The rain brought these Arion ater agg. out to play. We've seen higher than usual numbers of these slugs this year at a couple of places we visit in the Ant Valley. #molluscs
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
John Walters @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Our largest moth the Death's Head Hawk most obvious when compared as a pupa to Convovulus & Hummingbird Hawks. The Convovulus pupa has a 'jug handle' extension where its 10 cm long tongue develops. The DHH lacks this as it has a very short tongue used to suck honey from honeybee comb.
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Good progress for the Swallowtail larvae on Angelica at one of the sites we've been observing them. Checked on the ones at Ranworth- all have disappeared, not a single cat left! #norfolkbutterflies
Swallowtail Papilio machaon 5th larva on flowering stem of an Angelica sylvestris, with more umbels and another larva in the background
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
UK Butterflies @ukbutterflies.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Another foodplant first! This time, of Holly Blue using Kidney Vetch as a larval foodplant, with an egg followed through to final instar larva by Maggie Zebroski. This is, I believe, the first record of the use of Kidney Vetch, not just for the UK, but for the whole of Europe! Well done Maggie!
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
Mr and Mrs Trellis @thenorfolkcoast.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The unique former Arena Essex Raceway is a wildlife haven, home to hundreds of species of invertebrates - but under threat from a proposed Google data centre campus. Help save it for wildlife for the future... you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Save Arena Essex- Tell Google to search elsewhere!
  Wedged between the Mar Dyke Valley and Lakeside Retail Park, the former Arena Essex Raceway is not your usual wildlife haven. Where once stock cars and speedway bikes lined up to cross the fini...
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Figwort Weevil (Cionus scrophulariae) larva and its handiwork on plants growing around the garden pond. #beetle
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
Guardian Environment @environment.theguardian.com · 26/08/2026
Call to ban marmot hunting in France as campaigners say they are ‘killed for fun’
theguardian.com
Call to ban marmot hunting in France as campaigners say they are ‘killed for fun’
Protests and petitions planned amid growing concerns over impact of climate crisis on numbers of Alpine rodent
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
A return trip to the Ant Valley found the Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) larvae we spotted last week feeding on Angelica sylvestris are progressing well. We counted 55 larvae on 11 plants! #angelica #swallowtail
3rd instar Swallowtail larva preparing to moult. It is on the well eaten (small) leaf of an Angelica
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
John Walters @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Great to catch up with my favourite insect the Heath Potter Wasp Eumenes coarctatus in S Devon today. Looks like plenty of females are busy building pots as up to 6 wasps at the quarry - probably about 20 using it currently. Tracked one to its nesting site & returned later to see the finished pot.
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Jeremy Bartlett @jeremybartlett.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘I love it. It’s hope’: the mysterious self-willed wildflower meadow that seeded itself
Farmer Derek Sayer let a boggy field run wild and just one annual hay-cut has led to remarkable biodiversity
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
UK Butterflies @ukbutterflies.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Well done Naomi Addleton on finding a Holly Blue larva feeding on Erica cinerea (Bell Heather) in the New Forest. This is the first record of the use of this foodplant in the UK. Just look how pink the larva is - perfectly matching the plant! And a Lasius ant to boot!
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Musk Beetle (Aromia moschata) and ?Ectemnius lapidarius sharing an Angelica sylvestris flower head. Any corrections on the wasp id are welcome! #angelica
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
More Swallowtails using an alternative host plant. A small number of larvae, of various instars, were seen today in the Yare Valley feeding on (regrowth) Hemlock. #swallowtail #norfolkbutterflies
2nd instar Swallowtail larva on a Hemlock leaf5th instar Swallowtail larva on a (past its best!) Hemlock plant.
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Two beautiful and very distinctive micros seen this week; Agapeta hamana (Garden Straw) at home and a Nymphula nitidulata (Beautiful China-mark) seen today along the River Yare. #moths
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
Rob Stephens @tillingtonchum.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Here’s a bee we’ve not seen before. A male Epeolus variegatus (or maybe E. cruciger) seen here on Common Fleabane near Blakeney. A cleptoparasite of a number of Colletes species. Quite a striking little chap. #bees #UKwildlife
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Jacob Wood @jacob-wood.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Great rock pooling this week in South Devon, some very rare nudibranch species seen this week #marinelife #nudibranch
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
Rob Edmunds @vc28nature.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Coleophora nutantella feeding on Bladder Campion seeds in the Norfolk Brecks today #norfolkmoths
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
It’s time we sorted out the press. Constant misinformation to protect their donors and fossil fuels is destroying lives and our planet. The Government must step up and stop being cowardly.
Sorry Zack Polanski this long hot summer is not the apocalypse - it's like a gloriously long holiday in France
..with village green cricket thrown in good measure
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Sad to see so many of the Milk-parsleys at Ranworth Broad have been trashed. Not entirely sure how. The narrow boardwalk can be very busy at peak times just before the boat trips, perhaps overhanging plants get broken off by people as they hurry past. #milkparsley #wildflower
Milk-parsley with many of the flowering stems snapped back and broken.
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Saw more 2nd generation Swallowtail cats & eggs on Angelica sylvestris today than in all years put together. The first few in the Ant Valley & then at Ranworth, where they were v numerous. 1 plant had over 24 eggs/cats on. Sadly the majority are doomed; not enough food to support them #swallowtail
3rd Instar Swallowtail in umbel of Angelica
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I've had Hornets, a Blue Tit and this evening a Southern Hawker fly into my work room recently, this Cochylidia implicitana (Chamomile Straw) is certainly the most inconspicuous visitor! There is usually lots of, one of its food plants, Mayweed in the garden but not this year. #norfolkmoths
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Haven't seen a Garden Tiger (Arctia caja) imago for so long I don't remember when the last time was! Good to see this one at Strumpshaw today. #teammoth
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Reposted by Hannah Breach
Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
We must end the Inglorious 12th. The 12th of August is the start of the shooting season on the innocent red grouse, although many other species are slaughtered to create space for them. Is this the kind of society we want to live in, where innocent animals are killed for 'sport'?
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Ian Senior @ians4ad.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Snap!
Moon shadows eclipse
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Lior Steinberg @steinberg.nu · 04/08/2026
A little bit of green can make a big change. Observe the contrast on the same street. The asphalt road registered 33 degrees Celsius, while the newly installed semi-hardened parking lots showed a considerably lower temperature of 21 degrees Celsius. 📸 Gina Kranendonk, Rotterdam 🇳🇱
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
An Agapeta zoegana that came in through a window. Being a Common Knapweed feeder it should do okay in our garden; Knapweed is one of the few plants that is coping with the drought. #norfolkmoths
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Staying on the ovum theme; a developing Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) egg and two newly hatched larvae. Seen today in the Ant Valley. #swallowtail
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
In a neat little follow on from last post: watched a Brown Argus (Aricia agestis) investigating geranium leaves in the garden this lunchtime. Freshly laid, minute egg of a Brown Argus. #brownargus
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
A Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) egg that I watched being laid last week. The Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) was beginning to dry out but clearly was preferable to the female who had dismissed a nearby much greener, lusher plant! #commonblue
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Jeremy Bartlett @jeremybartlett.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Are you worried about this too? 38d.gs/feka
38d.gs
Stop these monster data centres before they wreck our neighbourhoods!
Are you worried about this too?
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Guardian Environment @environment.theguardian.com · 03/08/2026
Scottish seabird hunt cancelled for first time in 400 years
theguardian.com
Scottish seabird hunt cancelled for first time in 400 years
NatureScot refuses licence for hunt on Hebridean island of Sula Sgeir in which up to 2,000 gannet chicks are killed
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Mr and Mrs Trellis @thenorfolkcoast.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Norfolk River Wensum campaigners fear waterway is 'fading'. The waterway is one of only about 250 chalk rivers in the world - unique ecosystems often described as the UK's equivalent of the Amazon rainforest... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Norfolk River Wensum campaigners fear waterway is 'fading'
A campaigner says it has "declined pretty much in every way you could imagine".
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Hannah Breach @hannahbreach.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Our third Musk beetle (Aromia moschata) of the year seen yesterday near Barton Turf. Spectacular creatures, I never tire of seeing them! This one was on Angelica sylvestris. Some years we don't see any then others there's a run of them! #beetle #norfolkwildlife
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