iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Passenger to Actinic at Coverack, Lizard last night with @josscarr.bsky.social . Joss’s Photo @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Very exciting to kick this up at Colne Point, Essex on Saturday, just moments after remarking how I didn’t think I’d recognise a grasshopper new to Britain. Sphingonotus caerulans, the second British, and likely first natural record. Found with @graemelyons.bsky.social and @josscarr.bsky.social

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Red-backed Shrike just west of steps at Sea Palling maps.app.goo.gl/ZfEDYCCay8H3... @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social

maps.app.goo.gl

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Been waiting patiently for that bubbling trill to snap me out of a daydream at some point and it finally did!! Bee-eater a very satisfying find tick

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WildDartmoor @tonydartmoor.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

This is a deeply disappointing U-turn by the Government, driven by misinformation and conspiracy theories about "pony culls" that were never on the table. Removing ponies from stocking calculations doesn't remove the need to manage grazing on Dartmoor. www.gov.uk/government/n...

gov.uk

Government secures the future of Dartmoor’s iconic ponies

New measures will protect Dartmoor ponies and support those who keep them on the moor.

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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

If people want to keep farming livestock in climate change England, they're going to need to factor in more trees, shrubs and wood pasture. It's amazing how many upland and lowland grazing pastures have virtually no shade at all.

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Lukas Large @lukaslarge.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

The scale of bad behaviour by dog owners is insane. Only around 5% actually treat nature with respect: "Most (always: 85%; always or occasionally: 95%) dogs were walked off the lead even when signs were present requesting that dogs were kept on a lead." link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.com

Unleashed: walking dogs off the lead greatly increases habitat disturbance in UK lowland heathlands - Urban Ecosystems

Human population growth is associated with increased disturbance to wildlife. This effect is particularly acute in urban and periurban areas, where the area of effective disturbance extends beyond tha...

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Malcolm Tait @malcolmtait.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Natural England failing to protect valuable sites. Our report for @wildjustice.bsky.social shows that nearly 2/3 of sites waiting to be designated as SSSIs were under threat from development. One site in Thurrock will be directly destroyed. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

England wildlife watchdog ‘has stopped designating special sites for protection’

Exclusive: Report finds Natural England has created no new SSSIs, which protect areas from development, since 2023

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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

This is becoming a pervasive issue, for example involving the sidelining of actual experts and the heaping of pressure on regulatory bodies to move forward with dubious (re)introductions. A quick ecology 101 for ‘conservation gurus’. Thread 🌍🦗🦋🪶🦬🧪1/

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Amphibian and Reptile Conservation @arc-trust.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

We’ve published our response to the "Lost Frogs report". Read our statement here: www.arc-trust.org/lost-frogs-report…

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William (Bill) Sutherland @billsutherland.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Why are the cycles in numbers of young Brent geese, long-tailed skua and curlew sandpiper seen in Europe? youtu.be/wMO7d9svQRs?...

youtu.be

Cycles in arctic wildlife

YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts

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Amphibian and Reptile Conservation @arc-trust.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

We’ve published our latest statement on reintroductions, assisted colonisation and the importance of evidence-led conservation. You can read our latest statement here ⬇️ www.arc-trust.org/News/ensuring-amp…

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

A nice Christmas Eve in the Hull Valley; adult drake Smew at High Eske and 26 Russian Whitefronts flew south @birdguides.bsky.social @rarebirder.bsky.social

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

@andymus.bsky.social Hi Andy, could Guanchia (Forficula) pubescens and Cybocephalus nipponicus be added to PSL please? Both have been discovered a couple of years ago but not sure if they’ve been written up yet/guess there’re not in UKSI. Found em with Tristan Bantock and Joss Carr at Olympic Park

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

'An urban rewilding group is seeking the public’s views on the potential return of white storks to London as part of a project to see if the birds could make a home in the capital.' Survey link here: app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/brighton/t...

theguardian.com

Rewilding group to assess possible return of white storks to London

Citizen Zoo to map habitats in the capital and consult boroughs and the public about reintroduction of the birds

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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

The current position of Natural England is that (re)introduction of White Storks should not be supported. Evidence for their historical presence here is sketchy and it is difficult to rule out historical remains as not pertaining to regular vagrancy. Cultural evidence is weak at best #UKbirding 1/2

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

@britishbugs.bsky.social Hi Tristan, what’s this shieldbug nymph please? Swept a few from a ruderal site in Essex. I’m wondering about both Peribalus strictus and Neottiglossa pusilla

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

@britishbugs.bsky.social Hi Tristan, can Stictopleurus punctatonervosus have an unbanded connexivum like this please?

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

The other week saw me locate Attulus distinguendus at West Thurrock at the second time of asking - I watched it hunting from the tops of rocks protruding from ash for half an hour while I played it England’s first test victory

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Netted Pug found my Hackney trap last night, probably dispersing from the chalk around Hertford, more than ten miles away @wlangdon12.bsky.social #teammoth

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Aleix Palahí i Torres (he/they) @aleixpalahi.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

1/6) New paper out in Molecular Ecology! We uncover the intriguing biogeographic history behind the Holarctic disjunct distributions in Vanessa butterflies. @phylomigrationlab.bsky.social #biogeography #insectmigration #butterflymigration #butterflies #evolution shorturl.at/UFrrU

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

This species is very common in Bialowieza, Poland. The males fly around like madmen like Emperors do back home but finally cold weather and sun yesterday allowed me to see one stationary! @richardkbroughton.bsky.social

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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Lifelong ambition realised when I *finally* saw Wolves. And my camera was in my backpack. Record shots, but the views beforehand were crippling as three adults walked through the forest at ~50 m distance. One stopped to stare at me & @hwitts.bsky.social for a good 5 seconds. #Białowieża Nat. Park.

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Dorset Cream Wave back in Hackney for another year! Two months earlier than my first record last year #TeamMoth

Dorset Cream Wave freshly emerged 03/04/25 after being trapped at the same location June-September 2024 indicates local breeding, the first time this has been suspected in Britain.

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Spent days unsuccessfully checking early-flowering blossom in Hackney trying to find Osmia cornuta but instead find one cowering on the pavement in a rainstorm! Very happy to have finally connected with this new colonist

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yvonnecouch.bsky.social @yvonnecouch.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

On 6 March Jon Leysell found Oxycarenus lavaterae in Lime Trees in Shoeburyness, Essex TQ92838660 (the 3rd UK and 1st Essex record). I took these photos on 8 March.

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William (Bill) Sutherland @billsutherland.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

New paper in Conservation Evidence Journal: Sampling of red grouse carcasses in Britain indicates no progress during an intended five-year voluntary transition from lead to non-lead shotgun ammunition conservationevidencejournal.com/reference/pd...

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Jack Bamber @jackantbam.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

⏰New Research ⏰ We quantified the direct impact of diversionary feeding on capercaillie productivity. We show an increase in the proportion of hen with a brood in DF sites (37% -> 85%) and, as a result, a 131% increase in chicks per hen. Read more here: www.researchgate.net/publication/... 1/7

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Black-throated and Great Northern Divers on south basin, also Scaup, Little Gull and 3 BN Grebe. KGV Res @birdguides.bsky.social

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

It’s not a Levant Blackneck but very happy to have my first ever Small Mottled Willow to my Clapton, London trap overnight @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

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Andrew Warren @andybugguy.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

ICYMI- "Fatal Attraction: Argiope Spiders Lure Male Hemileuca Moth Prey with the Promise of Sex" Here are the results of 5 summers of research on this fascinating topic: www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/15...

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Canvasback east of Layer Breton until flew east over Layer de la Haye c.3pm. Also 6 Black-necked Grebe at Billets Farm screen and one more west of LDH. Abberton. @birdguides.bsky.social

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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Paper just out by Spanish conservation biologists voicing similar concerns conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🌍🌐 not #rewilding

Extract from a paper arguing that reintroduction of European Bison to Spain is not ecologically or biogeographically justifed.

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Harry Witts @hwitts.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Wrinkled Webcap Cortinarius lividoochraceus, I believe, from a couple of visits to Epping Forest recently, one of the few fungi fruiting in dry conditions

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