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Jonathan Hutchins

@jvphutchins.bsky.social
62 followers 55 following 181 posts

Ludensian but now Stokie, via Sheffield, Cambridge, Hailsham, Penzance, Guildford and Bournemouth. Librarian. Classical music, birds, plants, insects, eventing, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, ‘Veronica Mars’. 276 BOU, 1,062 PSL.

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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Scuffed up a dodgy couple of lifers this evening in the Stafford edgelands: Malus sylvestris outside the MedEquip depot, and Symphoricarpos orbiculatus alongside an abandoned road. Maybe the apple isn’t glabrous enough, but I’m ‘avin it, unless wiser heads out there think otherwise?
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Hairy Shieldbug - the Autumn Edit
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Fizztastic weekend fence judging at Cornbury House Horse Trials in deepest Oxfordshire. Very classy event, excellent attention to detail, best packed lunches ever, some top riders competing. Unexpected bonus collateral a lifer: Clouded Yellow, landing on the short turf briefly then flitting past us
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
All dressaged out after Thursday at Burghley Horse Trials - and still another day of the dressage phase to go. Live on the big screen, live in the arena, then back to our accommodation to watch it all over again on the excellent burghley.tv…🙄
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Slumped on the garden recliner on a cloudy warm Friday afternoon, eyes closed after listening to Haydn’s B flat string quartet op.50 no.1 through the headphones, in a state of heady bliss (idleness + magical music + the day’s first glass of wine) When Suddenly - a tickling upon my knee #teammoth
A Very Hairy Caterpillar Which long black hairs belong to the Vapourer moth caterpillar and which to my unlovely knee?
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Taking a break from my fictional feisty young Californian blondes (Veronica Mars, Buffy Summers) to binge ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Scott Pilgrim’ - and, well…. I wish I liked them more…. Comments in ALT
One of the greatest TV series of all time? Hmm… There’s some fine acting - Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul and Dean Norris top my list - but somehow it doesn’t really engage me. The basic premise - mild-mannered high-school chemistry teacher decides to make money to cover his bills and cancer treatment (to ensure his family is financially secure) by plunging into the illegal drug trade and manufacturing methamphetamine - is daring enough, but within its own terms some of the incidents are more plausible than others: I don’t ‘believe’ Walt killing Mike, for example. Pacing - often a bit slow for my taste (but then after ‘Veronica Mars’ most shows seem slow). Characters - R.J.Mitte’s character is wasted, there is so much more that could be done with the son with cerebral palsy. Unlike some other series with separate season arcs, ‘BB’ is a continuous narrative throughout all five seasons - though Gustavo’s death at the end of s4 brings a definite pause. I’m half way through s5, and so far Lydia Rodarte Quayle is easily the standout character of the final season - a brilliant edgy contradictory character in the hands of Scottish actor Laura Fraser, and a welcome relief from all the testosterone. 8/10.‘This one guy’… Appealing weakly to the adolescent in me, ‘Scott Pilgrim’ nevertheless falls short in conviction. Like much art these days it’s a multimedia creation, and I’ve dutifully absorbed all the comic books (thanks to the wonderful Internet Archive), the feature film, and currently the anime series. Likes? The concept (slacker hero must defeat his new date’s seven evil exes to be her boyfriend), the Toronto setting, the cast of characters including the other members of his band Sex-Bob-Omb, the vegan gags. And the clever visual style chosen for the movie - hats off to Edgar Wright. Dislikes? Well nothing so strong as dislikes, but some elements just don’t work for me. As an object of our hero’s obsession, Ramona Flowers ranges from only somewhat stirred (comic books) to downright chilly (the movie): despite her great hair I’d have dumped her at some point. The high-school girl he was seeing looks too old in the movie - not objectively, but by comparison with the barely pubescent scrap in the comics and anime. It’ll do, though. The movie was a lot of fun, neither too long nor too short at 112 minutes, and I was delighted to see the early scenes were almost a frame-by-frame re-creation of the comic book. Finally thanks to Anna Kendrick, whose presence in the movie (as Scott’s sister Stacey, a minor character) drew me in to all this nonsense in the first place. 6/10.
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
A few other bits and pieces from my five-hour trudge under the merciless sun round lower Apedale and the Knutton edgelands. Tentative IDs, please correct! The Common Fleabane’s specially for you @sj84turner.bsky.social !
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Water-boatman somewhat out of context. For full story see ALT text
So I’m sat in the Volvo, a/c on, pondering my next move, when there’s a CRACK and something hits the hood sorry bonnet and bounces into the scuttle. Hm, shall I investigate? Suddenly it flutters up out of the scuttle, bounces again on the front of the bonnet, pawkles waving madly, and drops to the ground. From that brief glimpse it’s obviously a water-boatman and sure enough I’m soon gazing at Notonecta obliqua. Evidently mistook my glossy black vehicle for a river, or something
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Volucella inanis on Tansy, a belated lifer
A wasp-mimicking hoverfly on yellow-orangey Tansy flowers
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Unexpected bonus on WeBS count @btobirds.bsky.social at Silverdale CP this a.m. in the shape of two Common Terns arriving calling from W 0952, flew around lake and attempted to fish then left >SE 0956. Only my second record here @staffsbirdnews.bsky.social
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
A proper full day’s cross country fence-judging at the remarkably revamped Bradwall Manor Horse Trials: 290+ competitors across 3 classes with a smattering of stars (including Oli Townend), start 9:30, finish about 7:15. A long while since I’ve entered a time starting 19 on the scoresheet! #eventing
Showjumping arena early doorsBackstageFilming through the water. It’s clouded over by nowThe BE100 course as designed by Andrew Heffernan
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Delightfully unkempt lower Apedale in the evening sun - with, in the background, a ‘big box’ looking as intrusive unnatural and inexpressive an artefact as the monolith in ‘2001’
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Just an hour’s evening stroll round a not particularly special* local spot, but nice to see ‘lots’ of nature: masses of Tufted Vetch, Meadow Vetchling everywhere, in any sunny spot Small Skippers, Ringlets and Meadow Browns flitting about. Plus Field Scabious, Zigzag Clover, Wild Carrot
RingletZigzag CloverWild Carrot and my veiny, elderly handField Scabious (I think)
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
New Zealand Pigmyweed on a small pond on Apedale Country Park, Staffs #InvasivePlants #Wildflowerhour
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Sawfly (Tenthredo sp) on Wild Carrot, Burleyfields, Staffordshire #PollinatorPals #wildflowerhour
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Chimney Sweepers and Yellow Shells fluttering up in the field enlivening the routine dog walk this grey warm June afternoon
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Today’s top oddity - Red-hot Poker on the edge of a field at least a quarter of a mile from any garden!
Can you see what it is yet?
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Today’s top highlight - Wasp Beetle Clytus arietis, a longhorn and new to me! On comfrey at the yard
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Rubbish photos but the teeniest #tinyplants I’ve seen lately: Wall Speedwell Veronica arvensis with my favourite ballpoint for scale #wildflowerhour
Wall Speedwell Wall Speedwell Wall Speedwell and a Hazlewoods pen
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Different perspectives on ‘good’ records; Small-flowered Crane’s-bill was my standout Plant Of The Day, being a lifer and all. However it was the Great Lettuce which set excited little coloured text alerts jingling when I entered it on the @bsbibotany.bsky.social app, being apparently new for SJ75!
Geranium pusillum the Small-flowered Crane’s-bill Great LettuceMaroon stem and midribs surely confirm that I haven’t made an embarrassing mistake and misidentified Prickly Lettuce…
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Meanwhile life goes on 2…
Cantharis rusticaA click beetle Athous haemorrhoidalis (wonder how it got that name)Larva of the Dun-bar moth. Can’t remember what tree it fell out of but doesn’t signify as it’s polyphytophagous
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Meanwhile life goes on …
Helophilus pendulus, a hoverflySwollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilisSixteen-spot Ladybirds on a dead Oak leafOedemera lurida, Swollen-thighs’ cousin
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
My new favourite circular walk on the south side of Crewe. But this is ‘rescue naturespotting’: all the white on the map east of the railway, between Weston Road to the north and Weston Lane to the south, will soon be covered in housing, commercial units, ‘big box logistics’ and the like.
OS 2.5 inch map of area S of Crewe, with circular walk marked in blueUnder the A500. Taylor Wimpey fencing on the leftA500 crosses the railway. Wooden skirting boards demarcate an access road to, well, nowhere at present. Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat singing just out of shot to the right. But not for much longer, fellas.Skeleton of a new Marks & Spencer superstore, I believe.
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Froghoppers and fence-hoppers: it’s been that sort of a weekend! More, possibly, later
Saturday, outskirts of Crewe: much taken with this amazing-looking insect! Reduced to looking it up with ObsID I was surprised to learn it was a froghopper - it’s so big! Cercopis vulnerata - the unimaginatively-named Red-and-Black Froghopper Back at Eland Lodge on Sunday, cross-country fence-judging for the Cotswold Cup qualifier, an unaffiliated event. At the water, 13AB or 14AB depending on the class. Arrived 08:00, first horse 09:35, last 18:35, home for 20:30. A long day!
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Vetches outside Crewe yesterday #carrotsandpeas #wildflowerhour
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Canis lupus familiaris var.”Ruby”. Synonyms: Roo-roo, Snurgles, The Damned Dog etc. Easily identified by ‘pogoing’ behaviour prior to food, walkies. Obligate kibblevore. Distribution: only known from one location in N.Staffs
Black Labrador looking noble and mysterious thanks to clever filter Black Labrador in garden Black Labrador in garden Naughty black Labrador on sofa!
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
‘Feta, Feta and Blame Me’ is apparently a well-known wildflower book, according to the closed captions on a YouTube video I’m watching 😂
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
The Law of Negative Effort in operation: stuck at the yard for an hour or so this afternoon, mooching about bored in a place I know like the back of my hand and - bingo! Two lifers, how’ve I missed them before? Oh and a soaring Hobby, year tick. Less purposeful naturespotting, more idle mooching!
Procumbent Pearlwort, Sagina procumbensThe teeny-tiniest Speedwell you ever did see: Wall Speedwell, Veronica arvensus
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Library team awayday at Yarnfield conference centre, formerly a Post Office/BT training centre and late 60s gem. Highlight apart from my wife’s yummy chocolate cake was a striking and photogenic water tower
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
A few more mini-beasts from Newcastle Cemetery the other day
Cucumber spider, Araniella sp.Birch ShieldbugCyclosa conica: a bit blurry but the unique upturned knobbly tip of the abdomen can be seenLimonia nubeculosa, a cranefly. “The three dark bands on the front femora are diagnostic” it says here, so I hope I’ve got that right
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
It’s hot in the village, hot in the village tonight….
Cepaea nemoralis - Brown-lipped SnailAgelastica alni - Alder Leaf Beetle
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Bulbous buttercup in hospital grounds Stafford #buttercupchallenge #wildflowerhour
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Put last year’s bee hotel out the other day as an afterthought and not sure it was a good idea. Never seen anything like this. I think Osmia bicornis is in the mix but there’s a bigger sp with orange abdomen and smaller black ones with stripy purply-iridescent abdomens. Bees defeat me, let me go
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
A free Sunday, lovely weather, what to do? Why, prowl a municipal cemetery looking for ladybirds, of course! No luck with Eyed, though. Thanks @sj84turner.bsky.social for the gen!
Cream Spot LadybirdOrange LadybirdLarch LadybirdHarlequin Ladybird f.spectabilis
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Toshiyuki Tanaka the Japanese Olympic rider and Jefferson JRA going clear at the water on the 3 star cross-country at Kelsall Hill. Makes it look easy #eventing #crosscountry #itskelsallhill
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Zara Tindall and Classicals Euro Star showjumping at Kelsall Hill on Saturday. Not quite perfect - jumping clear but with 0.8 time faults #eventing #showjumping #itskelsallhill
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Filling haynets at 06:30, surprised to hear Grasshopper Warbler starting to reel vigorously from nearby hedge. Yard tick! - my first here in 13 years
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Hanchurch Woods was a bust this evening despite the lovely weather: found only 1 (Garden Warbler) of my 4 target bird year-ticks. Two Dark-edged Bee-flies (not pictured, flighty beasts) and a False Puffball (my first and hitherto only slime mould) were some compensation
False Puffball Reticularia lycoperdon on fallen branch, with size 8 Ariat boot for scaleFalse Puffball Reticularia lycoperdon on fallen branch
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
More golden loveliness from the (other) hospital grounds this lunchtime: American Winter-cress and Bulbous Buttercup
American Winter-cress Barbarea vernaAmerican Winter-cress Barbarea vernaBulbous Buttercup Ranunculus bulbousBulbous Buttercup Ranunculus bulbous
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Sunken lane next to the hospital offered lots of insects basking on leaves out of the wind this lunchtime. Nomada sp. and host Andrena scotica, at least four species of hoverflies, and three Speckled Woods whirling furiously round including this battered specimen
Nomad beeChocolate Mining Bee Andrena scoticaDasysyrphus albostriatusSpeckled Wood
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Very pleased to make it to 1,000 species on PSL, onward and upward! And nice that no.1000 is the handsome hoverfly Epistrophe eligans @panspecieslisting.bsky.social
Female Epistrophe eligans, a stripy hoverfly
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Belated #WoodlandPlants for #wildflowerhour: Wood Anemone and Wood-sorrel both from Staffs Wildlife Trust reserves @staffswildlife.bsky.social
Wood Anemone at George’s Hayes SWTWood-sorrel at Loynton Moss SWT
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
A good afternoon session from Alsager Mill to Lower Foxley and back. Five year ticks included Wheatears (7), Yellow Wagtail and Willow Warbler. Unexpected Wood Anemones, ubiquitous Greater Stitchwort, and only my second Orange-tailed Mining Bee. Female Dung Flies everywhere on Dandelions.
Male Wheatear in fieldWood anemones at the edge of a field Female Orange-tailed Mining Bee Andrena haemorrhoa (I think)Female Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
After work visit to George’s Hayes SWT for the wild daffodils and others on a pleasant grey April evening @staffswildlife.bsky.social
“Short, small-flowered plants … with pale yellow, often twisted tepals and narrow, deeper yellow, trumpet-shaped coronas may be the only truly native daffodils in Britain” (BSBI Plant Atlas)Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrageWood anemone Oregon-grape
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Finally seen my first ever Otter!! At Leighton Moss, swanning around in the midst of the water off Lilian’s Hide. That’s two new mammals for me this year already and not even trying
Leighton Moss from the SkytowerLeighton Moss from the SkytowerYours truly with telescope atop the Skytower at Leighton Moss
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Belated Christmas gift from my wife which arrived yesterday. A phenomenal and comprehensive achievement, thank you @graemelyons.bsky.social! Recommended to naturalists of any stripe or hue
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Picked up usual range of freebies and other bits at the Staffs Invertebrates day 😀
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Quick twitch to Westport for the Scoter before heading off to Meir for the inverts bash… Joined the Friends of Lyme Brook and gawped at teeny tiny mayfly larvae and freshwater shrimps
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
We go again. Eristalis tenax today on dandelion
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Jonathan Hutchins @jvphutchins.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Starling murmuration over Silverdale this afternoon #staffsbirdnews
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