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Steve

@kingsdowner.bsky.social
260 followers 209 following 339 posts

Enjoying the nature and history of east Kent, after a lifetime of spreadsheets. "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be"

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Us too, but we chatted to an interesting group of German reenacted, hung-over from exertions at Battle over weekend. Choughs ever-present.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
A surprising discovery today - you can now explore the very northern tip of Dover Castle, which has some rich chalk banks. And which was where Prince Louis made his camp during the 1216 siege.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Just been there today, and loved the new presentation of the tunnels, and the access onto the northern tip of the earthworks.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Volunteers at work. @walmerian.bsky.social
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Dogwood is generally seen as a curse by conservation managers, but it's having a second flowering season, so it will be tolerated this year ##wildflowerhour
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
This female has just laid one sac so far, so looks healthier. Others had produced up to 8 secs.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
A large number of Wasp Spider egg cases, cleverly sited with Water Mint (camoflage) and Hard Rush (protection). Occasional sightings of exhausted females.
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NatureBureau @naturebureau.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The Fenland Flora by Owen Mountford & Jon Graham (with 300 photos & over 1000 maps). This 1400-page, 2-volume set has now gone to print. Pre-pub offer ends 31 Oct 2026 -visit naturebureau.co.uk/bookshop now & SAVE £25 on published price @bsbibotany.bsky.social @plantlife.bsky.social
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It seems to have been a good year for Barren Brome but these Beggarticks have made up for it.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Nodding bur-marigold Bidens cernua seeding in profusion in an East Kent fen. Lots of cleaning to do before I go to another site - no wonder bur-marigolds are called beggarticks @bsbibotany.bsky.social
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Odd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Well, happy Charles Darwin is “very poorly today & very stupid & hate[s] everybody & everything” to all who celebrate, because he wrote those words in a letter to his friend (and author of Principles of Geology) Charles Lyell 161 years ago today
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
as a satire on so-called late stage capitalism how could one beat investors pouring a trillion into a company offering to wipe out humankind
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Good to see a willing White Bryony flowering vigorously this week. #wildflowerhour
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A few migrant birds visible during the volunteer session at Hawkshill this morning, including 3 GSW and 4 Jays flying south. Chiffchaffs calling from the hedges. #BigKentBirdMigrationDay #kentbirding
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"I'll stand on your foot until you give me some crumbs" #birdstare
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A quick blog-post in praise of Manchester, by a southerner. kingsdownkent.blogspot.com/2026/09/man-...
kingsdownkent.blogspot.com
Man U 0-5 Chelsea, and canals
A family visit took me to Wigan, Leigh and Manchester, and it was great. I've been dabbling in ditches and obsessing over canals recently s...
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pmamtraveller.bsky.social @pmamtraveller.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Art by Jonatan Maldonado
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The spectacular hips of Sweet-briar. On a coal tip in East Kent, just spared from development. #wildflowerhour
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Moth Mullein on a coal mine spoil heap. "Rare and decreasing" per Hanbury & Marshall 1899, now thriving on industrial relics. #wildflowerhour
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I think we should be told.
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Daniel Moser @dmoser.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
Map showing Lower Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Always good to see a Road Closed sign... for roadside finds. Here, 60m of Common Purslane, by far the most I've seen.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
The marvellous seed pods of Narrow-leaved Everlasting Pea #wildflowerhour
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
A fine description of this summer's drought: rxbirdwalks.wordpress.com "The palette comprises the full Windsor & Newton range of browns from Naples Yellow to Yellow Ochre, through Raw & Burnt Sienna and “Raw Umberto” then Van Dyck brown, Indian Red, Copper, Rust, Rose Madder even…"
rxbirdwalks.wordpress.com
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Deadly Nightshade flourishing by Dover Castle.... aka "Naughty-man's Cherries" in Buckinghamshire according to plant-lore.com #wildflowerhour #commonnames
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Yarrow - or "Nose-bleed Plant" according to plant-lore.com, c/f "Saigne-nez" in French #wildflowerhour #commonnames
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
PS they stink too.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Us too - it makes a difference. If they are a bit long, that keeps the bricks cool too.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Never happier than when pottering around in the water. Today's lesson - comparing Water-milfoil with Hornwort. (Spiked and Rigid)
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
#DaisyFamily member Common Ragwort is valuable for pollinators when all around is dessicated (while umbellifer Wild Parsnip hosts smaller insects) #wildflowerhour
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Good to see Loose Women's Morris, and Wolf's Head & Vixen at Broadstairs Folk Festival.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Bittersweet var. marinum and Common Toadflax somehow surviving on the burning shingle #ByTheSea #Wildflowerhour
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
A few little things flowering in the dried-up mire of Burnham Beeches, including a tiny flower of Marsh Pennywort. Thanks to the Chiltern group for the meeting.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Visiting Buckinghamshire - out early for a quick survey, moving around in the shade, and back by 11am. The phone & app survived.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Marvellous display of chalk grassland species at Sands Wood LNR/LWS, and by the Wycombe Wanderers car park. Clustered Bellflower in abundance @bsbibotany.bsky.social
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
A record shot of one minute's rain, so we can remember what it looked like. And a bouquet of Purple Loosestrife and Common Fleabane for #wildflowerhour @kentfieldclub.bsky.social
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
There's only 9 records of Venus's Looking-glass in the UK so far this year, one of which was at Ranscombe. That sounds like a serious decline.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Haven't seen Venus Looking-glass for some years now, and that was a good area for it.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
#stillflowering in a dried-up pond in mid-Kent, Narrow-leaved Water-plantain #wildflowerhour
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Our resident blackbird has just started his evensong (9-25) and woke me up this morning at 4am with a short session. A much quieter song than the full-throated opera before the family fledged.
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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Really enjoying the increasingly probable prospect of Trump having to present the World Cup trophy to Spain. Odds he tantrums out?
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Greater Bladderwort is abundant in some East Kent dykes at the moment #wildflowerhour
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
On this anniversary day, I remember the album Spirit of '76. Perhaps one of the most self-indulgent double albums of the '70s and that's saying something. But some good stuff in there in places, with enough cynicism that remains valid now. youtube.com/watch?v=KpwK...
youtube.com
America The Beautiful/The Times They Are A Changin'
YouTube video by Spirit - Topic
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
No problem so far, to my knowledge. We first saw them here (in Deal) in 2017, and they are spreading fast around the Kent coast.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The fire bugs are invading the allotment! At least three instars on show here.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
An extraordinary horse paddock nearby - short turf with marvellous plants, including hundreds of Basil Thyme. Whatever the graziers are doing, it's working well. #wildflowerhour
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
I found a blog recently by a chap who admitted throwing the seeds onto the A2. Very attractive, and seedlings still come up. Don't think anyone has admitted to planting the Giant Hogweed in the central reservation nearby.
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christhebarker @christhebarker.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Ok so SOMEBODY convinced me to make this and it took me absolutely ages when I was supposed to be doing something else so enjoy it! sgtp.lovable.app
sgtp.lovable.app
Lovable App
Who is still alive on the Sgt Pepper album cover?
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
So good to see more insects on the wing, after last night's rain. These seemed to be attracted to the curry plant.
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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Just getting ready to sit in a shaded nook in the garden... laptop, drink, snacks, chair all set out. And then discovered that the blackbirds have fledged and are not happy with my presence. Back into the house.
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