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Rebecca Cheape

@rebeccacheape97.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.8K following 18 posts

MSc Applied Ecology | Botany, Islands, Rivers, Birds & Inverts 🪶 | Ecology & Conservation / C permit BTO 🐦 🏔 UK 📍https://www.benporterwildlife.co.uk/blog. substack.com/@rebeccacheape?r=7mrlt…

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Reposted by Rebecca Cheape
Woodland Trust Scotland @wtscotsocial.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
🌺 Invasive Rhododendron ponticum is choking Scotland’s native woodlands & costing taxpayers millions. 🌱 But it’s still sold in garden centres & used as rootstock. ☣️ We want a ban. Send pics to scottishcampaigns@woodlandtrust.org.uk if you see it on sale. 🙏 #MairTreesPlease #INNSweek #BePlantWise
A table showing that R ponticum is highly damaging to the environment and still available to buy in the UK. It sits alongside an image of a R ponticum label in a garden centre. Credit WTML.
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Rebecca Cheape @rebeccacheape97.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
@britishdragonflies.bsky.social Nymph survey at some local ponds and scrapes! 🌀
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The Riverfly Partnership @riverflies.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Love the slow-motion videos of dancing mayflies in this.
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Ross Mackenzie @rossmackenzie.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Good to see the guillemot stacks filling up on a sunny Sunday morning at Sumburgh Head #Shetland #superseabirdsunday
Guillemot stackGuillemot colonyGuillemot colony White water in West Voe of Sumburgh
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Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Top plant hunter & #BSBICountyRecorder @trisnorton.bsky.social found Opposite-leaved Pondweed in the River Ems catchment: first find in the area since 1887! More about the plant: plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9... Tristan tells the full story: bsbi.org/about/news/l... @theriverstrust.bsky.social
A green aquatic plant with opposite leaves, surrounded by water and a few floating petals of another aquatic plant, Water-crowfoot
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Joanie McNaughton @joaniemcnaughton.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
I've been looking out for the Alder (Alnus glutinosa) female flower for a few weeks, and found fully open at Prestongrange Mining Museum on Sunday. A joyful sight. Next up will be Larch (Larix decidua) flowering. @bsbiscotland.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @edinburghnats.bsky.social
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BirdGuides @birdguides.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
A series of remarkable photographs have documented Great Crested Grebes preying on Common Chiffchaffs in Spain:
bit.ly
Great Crested Grebes prey on Common Chiffchaffs in Spain
A rare case of Great Crested Grebes preying on Common Chiffchaffs in Spain has provided fresh insight into the opportunistic feeding behaviour of this waterbird species.
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Jim Lennon @alcatorda17.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Puffins from the Shiant Isles are having a tough winter of it with an almost unprecedented 'wreck' on European coasts.
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
61% of Scots favour reintroducing lynx, a figure that's constantly growing, and is roughly the same in rural and urban communities. Now the challenge is to build acceptance among those opposed, like farmers, gamekeepers, and deer stalkers. Ireland next!! www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Lynx could return to Scotland – but can rewilders win over wary Highlanders?
With most Scots supportive of reintroducing the wild cat, charities are focusing on those whose jobs could be affected
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BSBI Scotland @bsbiscotland.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
**BREAKING NEWS** - Marsh Clubmoss refound in Dunbartonshire, at a site where it was last recorded in 1854! Being more-or-less evergreen, clubmosses make great botanical targets all year round. With that in mind, I set out to hunt for Marsh Clubmoss near Inveraran on the shore of Loch Lomond 🧵
Marsh Clubmoss (Lycopodiella inundata) shoots creeping across a wet, bare substrate. The shoots are bottle-brush like, bright yellow-green with narrow, untoothed leaves sticking out from the main stem.A series of Marsh Clubmoss shoots criss-crossing the flush, looking like a group of yellow-green centipedes running across the muddy ground
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UKCEHseabirds @ukcehseabirds.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
The 2025 #seabird breeding results are in from the Isle of May: Razorbills fledged 0.63 chicks per pair - right on the long-term average. Even better: 91.2% survival, well above the long-term average of 83.9% Strong productivity + excellent survival = a really encouraging year for #Razorbills. 💚
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Journal of Avian Biology @avianbiology.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
New paper: Most birds use day–night cycles to time activity - but how do Arctic birds cope with nonstop summer light? Male snow buntings keep a daily rhythm year-round, though it weakens during spring migration as flights are scheduled more flexibly ➡️ vist.ly/4rfdw #ornithology #birds 🪶
Snow bunting. Photo: Mael Perroud.Fig. 4 from the article: Change in duration of the active and inactive phase of the snow bunting's diel activity rhythm across the annual cycle. Fig. 5 from the article: Proportion of snow bunting flights initiated during the different activity phases. (a) The proportion of all longest (≥ 7.72 h, squares) and shorter (< 7.72 h, triangles) flights initiated during phases of the diel activity rhythm. (b) The proportion of longest flights initiated during phases of the diel activity rhythm. (c) The proportion of shorter flights initiated during phases of the diel activity rhythm.
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Science News @scinews.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Writing is thinking "On the value of human-generated scientific writing in the age of large-language models." www.nature.com/articles/s44...
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BSBI Scotland @bsbiscotland.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
It's not every day you find a new native species for Scotland! Day 22 of my botanical #adventcalendar is Shiny Glasswort - a nationally rare plant never recorded in Scotland before Growing in a salt pan on the Forth Estuary - branching pattern, colour and flower size the ID clues #wildflowerhour
A sea of samphire! Shiny Glasswort (Salicornia emerici) growing in a salt pan on the Inner Forth Estuary at Skinflats RSPB reserve. Plants are a mix of colours, from pinkish-red to yellowish-green depending on age, with an orangey-brown tint present on many plants suggestive of this species. The branching is regular and tree-like, with low-down branches a similar length to high up branches, and the terminal spike - whilst elongated - is not very long. The riot of colour in the salt pan disappears at the edge, where silt-covered rushes and Common Saltmarsh-grass (Puccinellia maritima) turn the palette grey. Beyond, the sea defence embankment shows pale buff, with a narrow strip of blue sky behind/A close-up of Shiny Glasswort, taken down a x15 hand lens. This shows the three flowers of this plant, reduced and flattened against and embedded in the stem in a triangle shape. The central flower is slightly bigger than the two laterals, but not by much - indicating the plant is one of the tetraploid species. The hyaline margins of the segments and flowers are stained reddish-pink, and the segments themselves are brownish in colour and flat or only very slightly concave. The segments represent the rudiments of leaves in opposite pairs, fused to create collars (segments) around the stem.The distribution map for Shiny Glasswort, taken from the online Plant Atlas 2020: https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.7mm548
Distribution dots (at 10km square resolution) are scattered around the coast of England, Wales and south-west Ireland, in a very disjunct distribution, with the nearest dots to Scotland located in Northumberland. The location of the new discovery, on the Inner Forth Estuary, is shown by a red circle.
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BSBI Scotland @bsbiscotland.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
One to keep a sharp eye out for whenever you're in north-west Scotland. Distinguishing Narrow-leaved Marsh-orchid from the hybrids that often accompany this and other members of the genus can be a whole extra challenge though!
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David Steel @steelyseabirder.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Two interesting recoveries of Puffins ringed on the Isle of May and reported from the Faroe islands in the last week. The blog has the story: isleofmaynnr.wordpress.com
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Steffen Oppel @steffopp.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
GREAT NEWS in #conservation: the government of New Zealand has announced that they will include feral cats in their PredatorFree 2050 strategy, aiming to benefit #seabirds and landbirds across NZ by removing feral cats:
buff.ly
Feral cats to be added to Predator Free 2050
The Government is delivering on its campaign promise to add feral cats to the Predator Free 2050 target species list to protect our precious native wildlife, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says.
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Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
Hey seabird folks - have you ever thought "*ANOTHER* talk about <species X>?!" So did we. So we reviewed 3000 conference abstracts to see which species get the spotlight. Huge work from @ingridpollet.bsky.social with me and @seabirdsentinel.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Perspective
Who gets the spotlight? Disparities in seabird research attention at scientific conferences
Ingrid L. Pollet a b
Alexander L. Bond b c
Jennifer L. Lavers b c d
Highlights
• Decade-long review of >2,950 seabird conference abstracts.
• Over 30% of seabird species are rarely or never featured at scientific conferences
• Several seabirds listed as Critically Endangered have received little or no attention.
• 16 seabird species are over-represented in conferences.
• Southern Hemisphere seabirds require greater research attention.
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Kirsty Franklin @kirstyfranklin.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Very cool new #seabird paper showing no difference in breeding success between healthy and black-eyed gannets, but a worrying overall decline in productivity following the #avianflu outbreak. 🦠🐣 Read the paper here 👉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #seabirds #ornithology
A breeding pair of Gannets on the Bass Rock with their chick. One of the adults clearly has a black eye, an indicator of past exposure to highly pathogenic avian influenza, while the other is normal/healthy.
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Scott Reid @scottinscilly.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Still my favourite strand line discovery to date - a female Phronima sedentaria (‘monster in a barrel’) - Isles of Scilly, October 2023! An amphipod crustacean, she parasitises salps, devouring them from the inside, forming a vessel to raise her young 👽 #MarineLife 🦑 #ukwildlife
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Rebecca Cheape @rebeccacheape97.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Great to find flowering Water Lobelia in a Scottish West Coast loch. A very rare species to find let alone during its flowering period. A really nice species to find! 🌿 #bsbi #aquaticplants #botany
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Dave Goulson @davegoulson.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
No more Beewashing please! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees. Pls RT if you agree. youtu.be/fiBYBmlKSYU
youtu.be
No More Beewashing! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees.
YouTube video by Dave Goulson
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Scottish Seabird Centre @seabirdcentre.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Boat guide, Sophie, captured this fantastic moment on the Isle of May last week - a razorbill chick being fed a (rather large!) fish🐟 Right now is the best time to see seabird chicks, with razorbills, guillemots, gannets & more all feeding their young regularly🍽️ 📷©️S Wilson
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Rebecca Cheape @rebeccacheape97.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Had an amazing time on Eilean Nan Ròn last week as part of the BTO Seabird Grant 🌊 It was a great learning experience. Many Storm Petrels were ringed, Gull chicks and some other nice species. I can’t wait for more Island ringing in future 😊@btobirds.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social
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UKCEHseabirds @ukcehseabirds.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
New #UKCEH dataset published on how breeding seabirds spend their time and energy. These data will help us to model the potential impacts of any changes in seabird behaviour in response to new offshore windfarms catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/07...
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Oxford Biology @biology.ox.ac.uk · 03/07/2025
New study reveals albatrosses make distinct flight hops that are almost exclusively seen when following a vessel It could help manage bycatch risk for 'hidden' fisheries 👇 bit.ly/3G86yuN @mcem-oxford.bsky.social w/ @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social @marescience.bsky.social in @jappliedecology.bsky.social
bit.ly
Albatrosses make distinct flight hops when following fishing vessels
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Calf of Man Bird Observatory @calfofmanbirdobs.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
🦆 Eider Update! 🐣 The Bird Team have been busy over the past 2 months monitoring our breeding Eiders. They’ve been mapping nests, recording clutch size and catching the females as part of a long-term project. So far this season they’ve found 76 nests, predominantly in bracken and heather… 1/4
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Rebecca Cheape @rebeccacheape97.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Lovely to find lots of Transparent Burnet moths on cliff edges amongst Wild Thyme and other wildflowers in the Kintyre Peninsula whilst out doing fieldwork! ☺️ Such lovely moths!
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Neus Figueras (she/her) @neusfigueras.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Beach season open! 🐠💦 This is an encounter I had with a young cormorant last summer, I think I spent 3 days talking about it 😁. Impatient for what I will discover this year! I'll upload it all to minka-sdg.org #cormorant #birds #nature #wildlife #beach #birdlovers #birding #seabirds #ocean #explore
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Ed Betteridge @edjbetteridge.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Breeding Eiders are starting to pick up on the Calf of Man now with females starting to lay across the island. Slowly getting my eye in to this rather cryptic species #ukbirding
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Calf of Man Bird Observatory @calfofmanbirdobs.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Yesterday’s ‘star bird’ was this control Spotted Flycatcher, which had been ringed in Norway 🐦🇳🇴An amazing record!! #ukbirding #ManxNature
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Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Found my 5th pipefish today (#speciesaday no. 581 is Snake Pipefish). A quick blog celebrating these 5 species here... analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/04/pipe...
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Damian Money @damianmoney.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
The Svalbard ringed Purple Sandpiper at Redcar yesterday, now in its 11th year. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social @waderquest.bsky.social @northyorksbirds.bsky.social
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Dr Will Leo Hawkes @willleohawkes.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Now this is exciting. Antonin and his team have just published a study showing that the number of migrating hoverflies through Czechia are positively correlated with the numbers of birds! Suggests that the birds are using the flies as fuel on migration. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
Screenshot of the paper front page.
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Mark Jessopp @gannetguy.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
Interested in seal diet, population size and haul out behaviour in Ireland? Funded PhD position at University College Cork. www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacanc... Application deadline 31st Jan.
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Rebecca Cheape @rebeccacheape97.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
Tysties aka The Black Guillemot in Oban, West Coast of Scotland ☺️ One of my favourite Seabirds. #Seabirdsunday #Blackguillemot
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BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Please report all sightings of dead birds for possible testing for Avian Influenza. 📌In England, Wales & Scotland: www.gov.uk/guidance/rep... 📌In Northern Ireland: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/services/dae... 📌In Republic of Ireland: aviancheck.apps.services.agriculture.gov.ie/report #Ornithology #UKBirding
Image of a deceased Oystercatcher alongside the wording: Please report sightings of dead birds.
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BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
1/ Great news! 🎉BTO, JNCC and RSPB are making decades of Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data freely available for everyone in the conservation and research community. This includes over 7 million records! 📝 Find out more ⬇️ or read the paper➡️ bit.ly/_BBSData #Ornithology #UKBirding
Image of a Redstart alongside the wording: Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data now freely available. This includes over 7 million records! BTO, JNCC and RSPB logo bottom left. BBS logo top middle.
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Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Delighted that my #PhD #research at University of Stirling @stir.ac.uk features in this uplifting @theguardian.com article! Wonderful recognition of 30+ years of restoration action for montane willows across Scotland, spotlighting Ben Lawers @n-t-s.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘It absolutely took off’: five UK biodiversity success stories
From new butterfly habitats in the Cotswolds to arctic willow planting in the Scottish Highlands, there are increasing numbers of places where humans are giving nature a helping hand to re-establish i...
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Rebecca Cheape @rebeccacheape97.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
The fluffiest European Storm Petrel Chick being weighed a few months ago in September on Nolsoy, Faroe Islands. 😍 #Seabirdsunday #StormPetrel #Seabirds
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BirdGuides @birdguides.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
Exit polls With the recent news that redpolls are to be lumped into a single species, David Campbell reflects on these charming birds and the joy the rarer forms bring:
bit.ly
David Campbell: exit polls
With the recent news that redpolls are to be lumped into a single species, David Campbell reflects on these charming birds and the joy the rarer forms bring.
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North East Scotland Mammal Network @nesmammals.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
NE Scotland is vitally important for Mountain Hares - it's why we chose it as our logo! After a wild weekend, the weather looks quieter this week ahead - ideal for some surveying! Choose casual transects or dedicated square surveys: mammal.org.uk/current-rese... #mammals @btobirds.bsky.social
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Stu Bearhop @stubearhop.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
PhD Opportunity!! Come work with us (University of Exeter, RSPB & BTO) Diagnosing population decline in insectivorous birds. Inkd.in/eG58dQxs Contact me for more details (s.bearhop@exeter.ac.uk). Please Share @britishbirds.bsky.social @ibisjournal.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social
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Johan Lind @johanlind.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Wisdom's still alive, she's back at her breeding grounds! This season she'll turn at least 74 years old. 🎉🎊💃
screenshot of wisdom news
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Ramblers Scotland @ramblersscotland.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
🌨️ Crunching through snow, wrapped up against the elements & feeling confident in your skills... Walking Scotland's hills in winter can be 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠, but it's vital to be prepared!🏔️ Here's our vice-president @snoweider.bsky.social's advice for fun winter days out: www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking-h...
Lucy smiling in a blue jacket and black trousers with a white snowy backdropA rainbow in front of snowy distant hillsA group of young walkers in the snow, with hills and blue
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British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) @bou.org.uk · 04/12/2024
Decades of artificial nests towards African penguin conservation—Have they made a difference? | besjournals.onlineli... | Ecological Solutions and Evidence | #ornithology #seabirds 🪶
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Ben Porter @bardseyben.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Fluff ball update! Our last two Storm-petrel chicks in the nest boxes on Nólsoy (Faroe Islands) are SO CLOSE to fledging now. Here's some pics from Jens-kjeld on 28th November. Will they fledge this week?? Fledglings have been seen on Christmas Day before in the Faroes! #TeamPetrel #PetrelPhD
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Lucy Wallace - arranwildwalks.com @snoweider.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Two tree legends of Arran. These two are my real-life heroes. 💚🌳😍 www.heraldscotland.com/news/2476659...
heraldscotland.com
'Guerrilla' gardeners who planted trees in secret helping to save rare species
Henry Murdo and Margo McLellan have been sharing knowledge of tree growing and planting with National Trust for Scotland to help save rare Arran…
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Benjamin Fallow 💚 @benjaminfallow.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
‘I hope people will see my artwork and remember to protect nature!‘ Hi Bluesky 👋🦋 This is Benji and his mum Nish. We hope we can find our friends old and new 🥰 If you see this, we’d be so grateful if you’d like to share and say hello so we can find you 🙏 (All artwork by Benji, admin by Nish ☺️)
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Rebecca Cheape @rebeccacheape97.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
One very cute Frog on a comfy carpet of Reindeer moss 🌿 🐸
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