iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Join us tomorrow for talks and informal chats about wildlife in the Cynon Valley and help shape the next phase of the 'Our Cwm Cynon' project. ⬇️

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

📋 Please take 2 minutes to complete our survey: forms.gle/97Y4Hy1vfyK6... Your responses will help us demonstrate local interest and shape activities if funding is secured. Please share with anyone in the Ogmore Valley who may be interested! #OgmoreValley #Wildlife #Conservation #GloiNatur

forms.gle

Have Your Say: Wildlife & Heritage in the Ogmore Valley

Help us shape a potential new wildlife & heritage project in the Ogmore Valley Glo i Natur CIC is developing a potential project centred around Ogmore Washeries (Ogmore Vale) and Wyndham/Western Colli...

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

🦇 Possible activities include bat walks, reptile & amphibian surveys, moth trapping, wildlife walks, family activities, conservation volunteering, school sessions and exploring local mining heritage. What would you like to see? Your views could help shape the project.

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

🌿 Help shape a new wildlife & heritage project in the Ogmore Valley! @gloinatur.bsky.social are exploring a potential project at Ogmore Washeries and Wyndham/Western Colliery, bringing wildlife, coal-mining heritage and community activities together. We’d love to hear from local people! 👇

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

The Gaer Hill Fort BioBlitz is taking place this Saturday in Newport. There'll be guided wildlife walks led by some of Wales' leading naturalists, plus plenty of family activities....and it's all FREE!!! Do join us if you can and help us to record as many species as we can at this historic site.

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Join me on guided pollinator walks at Margam Country Park tomorrow (Wed 5th August) ⬇️

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Glo i Natur CIC @gloinatur.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

🌸🐝 Buzzing Through Margam: A Pollinator Walk Join Glo i Natur CIC for a guided walk through Margam Country Park to discover the fascinating world of pollinators. 📅 5th Aug 🕙 10–12 | 🕐 1–3 🎟️ Free (booking essential) 🔗 www.trybooking.com/uk/GMMH #Pollinators #GloiNatur #Margam #NeathPortTalbot

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Sorry for the late reply Lisa. My initial gut feeling is Bombus pascuorum - they are especially pale in Scotland.

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Glo i Natur CIC @gloinatur.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Then join us on Sat 8 Aug (10am–4pm) for a day of FREE wildlife activities! 🦎 Guided walks 🦋 Moth reveal 🔍 Nature treasure hunts 🪵 Willow weaving, bug hunting & crafts 🌿 Wildlife stalls ☕ Free refreshments 📍 Gaer Hill Fort, Newport (via Wells Close, NP20 3LJ) 🧵⬇️

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Glo i Natur CIC @gloinatur.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

🌿🦇🐞 Join us for the Gaer Hill Fort BioBlitz! The BioBlitz begins on Friday evening with a guided bat walk led by local bat expert Peter Wilton-Jones. 🦇 Friday 7th August 🕣 8:45pm–10:30pm 🎟️ Free, but booking essential 📍 Gaer Hill Fort, Newport 🔗 www.trybooking.com/uk/GTIH 🧵⬇️

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Glo i Natur CIC @gloinatur.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Our programme includes events in Aberdare, Loughor, Margam, Newport, Neath, Gower, Blaenavon, Port Talbot, Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen and more, with activities suitable for beginners, wildlife enthusiasts and families alike. We'd love to see you there!

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Bumblebee Conservation Trust @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

New BeeWalk data shows that extreme temperatures can cause bumblebee colonies to decline and populations to shrink the following spring. With more intense heatwaves on the horizon, some of our most cherished species could be pushed to the brink. Read more: ow.ly/JMNs50ZqHir

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

That's fantastic Clare ☺️ I always think of bird's-foot-trefoils as 'super plants' - beneficial for so many insects. Lovely to have Sharp-tail bees visiting it!

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Join @valelnp.bsky.social and myself at Aberthaw Nature Reserve this Friday (24th July) as we search for the darkling beetle Helops caeruleus - a rare species in Wales. 🎟️ Free: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lost-and-f...

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

They're certainly a good gateway in. Hopefully you'll conquer your arachnophobia in time

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Thanks very much 😊 There is a more recent 2024 record from Kenfig on iRecord, but still lovely to find them in good numbers and in new areas also.

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

On Thursday, Christian and I were at Kenfig NNR showcasing the rare invertebrates that are qualifying features of the SSSI to colleagues from NRW. Highlights included the jumping spider Phlegra fasciata and numerous White-spotted False Widows (Steatoda albomaculata), including spiderlings.

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Probably just sun-bleached. I'd agree with Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

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South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre @sewbrec.org.uk · 14/07/2026

FREE Habitat courses! Interested in learning how to identify and record different types of habitats? Join SEWBReC & @rctcouncil.bsky.social Ecology team at Pant Marsh #Pontyclun and Dare Valley Country Park #Aberdare this summer. Booking essential, email info@sewbrec.org.uk to secure a space.

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Join me this Wednesday for a sand dune invertebrate training day ⬇️

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

That looks good for Nomada flavopicta. Certainly uncommon in SE Wales.

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Probably pascuorum - I've seen some rather pale males over the years that looked close to humilis/muscorum. Never know though.

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Wales Nature Week is almost upon us! Join me at Pembrey Country Park on Thursday 9th July for two FREE guided insect walks as part of 'Gone Wild' - a day of nature celebrations 🐝🦋 #WalesNatureWeek #Carmarthenshire #Nature #Wildlife #Events #Pembrey #GoneWild #Llanelli

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Pantaloon Bees! Rained off on today's survey at Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve, but worth getting drenched to see lots of Pantaloon Bees (Dasypoda hirtipes) nesting in the sand 😀 One of my (many) favourite British bees 💚

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Join me this Wednesday for a hands-on training day into meadow invertebrates ⬇️

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

As am I tbh! With these more frequent heat waves, perhaps they'll start to suffer.

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Found another 'Bee City' at Castlemartin Range, Pembrokeshire. No activity but plenty of evidence of the Golden-fringed Mason Bees nesting in the discarded brass ammunition casings. Casings supporting bee larvae have a leaf mastic (chewed plant material) plug. Added a few extra casings too ☺️

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

It really is isn't it 😀

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Today was my first visit to the 'Bee City' at Castlemartin Range, Pembrokeshire, since April. This extraordinary population of Golden-ringed Mason Bee (Osmia aurulenta) nest in empty ammunition casings - an incredible adaptation to living on an activity military site!

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Cofnod Local Environmental Records Centre @cofnod.org.uk · 17/06/2026

Great trip with NRW & @naturambyth.bsky.social to look for rare fen inverts at Cors Geirch NNR. Idiocera sexguttata (Cranefly), Ground Beetle Chlaenius tristis (only UK site), Attulus caricis. @graemelyons.bsky.social @liamolds.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @britishspiders.bsky.social

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Thanks. Last record was only 2024 though, but nice to get some additional records.

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Glo i Natur CIC @gloinatur.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

🦋 #Clearwing #Moth #Training – this Friday! Learn how to identify and survey for the Six-belted Clearwing, a day-flying moth associated with flower-rich grasslands and coal spoil habitats. 📅 Fri 19 June 📍 Blaenserchan Valley LNR, #Pontypool, #Torfaen 🎟️ Free 🔗 www.eventbrite.com/e/moth-phero...

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

She was a stunner tbf! The male didn't look too dissimilar from other Steatoda males. You'll have to join us when we go looking for it at Merthyr Mawr.

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Chuffed to see the damsel bug Himacerus boops at Kenfig Burrows today - a species that I've encountered only a couple of occasions in 11 years of recording bugs. This species appears (to me) to be genuinely scarce in the UK, and certainly rare within the context of Wales.

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Back at Kenfig Burrows today with Christian Owen, searching for some of the reserve's rarest invertebrates for NRW. We managed to find 3 target species, including the false widow spider Steatoda albomaculata. We found two individuals — a male and female (in the photo). @britishspiders.bsky.social

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Fancy brushing up on your pollinator ID? Join us at Singleton Park, Swansea, today 👇

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Glo i Natur CIC @gloinatur.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

🌿🕷️ A record turnout for today's Fenland Wonders walk at Pant-y-Sais Fen! The sun finally appeared and so did some incredible wildlife. Highlights included large numbers of the rare reed beetle Plateumaris bracata — we recorded more individuals today than have ever been recorded in Wales before! 🤯

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Tegwyn @arachnoteg.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Visit to a garden centre I haven't looked around in before produced two Marpissa muscosa and a Holocnemus pluchei. I know not many records in my VC41 for either. Went to check but the BAS ATLAS has an 'elasticsearch' error. @britishspiders.bsky.social @cofnod.org.uk @sewbrec.org.uk

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Liam Olds @liamolds.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Good to see you Joey! Thanks for coming along 😀

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Joey Pickard @bootlegbryos.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Cracking walk today at Pant y Sais fen led by Liam, Sparrow & Carys from @gloinatur.bsky.social , even managed to see the Fen Raft Spider in full nursery mode protecting its eggs. Hopefully the first of many peatland specialist inverts for me this summer!

A fen raft spider protecting its egg sack. The spider is facing to the right of the photo

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South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre @sewbrec.org.uk · 12/06/2026

Like to learn about recording habitats? Join us and @rctcouncil.bsky.social at Dare Valley Park on 25th June for FREE training on identifying grassland and heathland habitats and how to record them. Booking is essential, please email info@sewbrec.org.uk to secure a space.

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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Good news! Ministers have finally given green light to new #NaturalHistory GCSE. We’ve campaigned so long for this! Big hats off to tireless advocate Mary Colwell 🙌 Now our young people will have a chance to get to know & love the natural world, to feel awe & wonder, & gain skills to protect it 🌷🌳🦡

theguardian.com

Natural history GCSE to teach teenagers to plant wildflower-friendly gardens

Long-awaited course to examine human effects on natural world and explore everyday ways to aid biodiversity

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Glo i Natur CIC @gloinatur.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

🔍🦋 Learn to survey for the Six-belted Clearwing at Blaenserchan Valley LNR, Pontypool! 📅 19 June 🎟️ Free Discover how to identify this fascinating day-flying moth, its coal spoil habitat, and how pheromone lures can be used to find it. Further info & booking at www.eventbrite.com/e/moth-phero...

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South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre @sewbrec.org.uk · 12/06/2026

#RecordOfTheWeek today is a gorgeous Golden-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii) in Cefn Golau Cemetery during a Glo i Natur BioBlitz. It's Love Your Burial Grounds Week, an annual celebration of nature & history from @caringforgodsacre.bsky.social Photo © Liam Olds #ChurchesCountOnNature

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