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Tim Worfolk

@timworfolk.bsky.social
921 followers 559 following 621 posts

Bird illustration, insect photography, getting more local (Topsham, Devon) every year. My photos are here www.flickr.com/photos/141833872@N05…

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Reposted by Tim Worfolk
John Walters @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I will be giving an introduction to the aquatic wildlife around Buckfastleigh including Dippers, Lampreys and Kingfishers at this free event. Moor Imagination Centre, Chapel Street, Buckfastleigh TQ11 0AB on Saturday 10 October 2026 at 11 am
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Hi Mark, looks like it to me, a distinctive combination of the eyes I think. I'm no expert but I've found this twice in our Topsham garden. It's obviously not restricted to caves and probably not as rare as the maps show.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Found this running around on the pavement, thought it looked interesting so took some photos. I believe it's a female Variable Cockroach, a non-native sp. that seems to be spreading in Britain.
Variable Cockroach (Planuncus tingitanus s.l.) female. 13/9/2026 Topsham, Devon.
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Reposted by Tim Worfolk
John Walters @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Looking forward to giving a talk on Westcountry Wildlife to the Mid Devon Natural History Society at Tiverton on 24th September 2026 non members welcome www.mdw.org.uk
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Fantastic. Looking forward to them getting to Devon!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Maybe easier in the field than in the hand? Experienced birders don't usually have a problem: structure, plumage, behaviour, call are all good clues.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Southern Oak Bush Cricket new for garden. I've been expecting this sp. for a while now so nice to get in on the list. #orthoptera
Southern Oak Bush Cricket male (Meconema meridionale)
7 September 2026 Topsham, Devon.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I sympathise re gulling into the sun, jealous about the results though Steve!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
A real beast of a fly and one that until today had somehow eluded me in the UK. Thanks to @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social for the location info. Hornet Robberfly (Asilus crabroniformis) @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social #Diptera
Hornet Robber Fly female (Asilus crabroniformis) on dung. 27 August 2026 Bicton Common, Devon.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
A visit to the local bee/wasp bank produced the latest unexpected addition to the Topsham list: a lovely Heath Potter Wasp (Eumenes coarctatus). A female collecting from a hedge bank and pot-building just 2 metres away. #hymenoptera @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social @melcoate.bsky.social
Heath Potter Wasp female (Eumenes coarctatus) collecting building material from a sandy Devon bank. Topsham, Devon, 25 August 2026.Heath Potter Wasp female (Eumenes coarctatus) collecting building material from a sandy Devon bank. Topsham, Devon, 25 August 2026.Heath Potter Wasp female (Eumenes coarctatus) building nest. Topsham, Devon, 25 August 2026.Nest of Heath Potter Wasp (Eumenes coarctatus), entrance to one 'pot' visible on left, a second nest partially hidden, the female apparently constructing a third. Topsham, Devon, 25 August 2026.
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Reposted by Tim Worfolk
Portland Bird Observatory @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Also, some better photos of the Verge Cricket Eumodicogryllus bordigalensis caught last night by Nigel Jones and Mark Edgeller whilst they were moth-trapping at Freshwater Bay
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Yeah and I think I lost any wanderlust early in life: moved house just twice in the last 40 years!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Looking forward to more of this. Complete contrast to my 'map' though: we moved around the country so much when I was a lad I sometimes wondered if we were in a witness protection scheme!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I can't remember the last time I saw so little water at Topsham BGM. Four Spoonbills, Seven Cattle Egrets and over 60 Little Egrets: the new normal or will this become the good old days?
Bowling Green Marsh RSPB reserve Topsham, Devon. Water very low with a few cattle, geese, spoonbills and herons.Four Spoonbills an two Little Egrets RSPB Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon.Part of a flock of over 60 Little Egrets RSPB Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon.Moulting adult Cattle Egret RSPB Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon.
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Reposted by Tim Worfolk
Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Here's the full story of what we believe to be the start of the colonisation of yet another new orthopteran to the British Isles.
analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com
Team cricket - how we found a cricket new to the British Isles
This following italicised sections were written by Matt Phelps, who first heard this unusual cricket...  I strolled over to Sussex Wildlif...
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Ha! That would have been my second guess!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Teal?
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Can't beat proper field sketches and these are wonderful!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Bystock DWT Reserve this morning. Most of the best stuff on the ragwort as usual. No Hornet Robberfly but nice to find a Heath Potter Wasp. Names etc. in Alt Texts #DevonWildlifeTrust
Ceriagrion tenellum (Small Red Damselfly) female
22 July 2026 Bystock NR, DevonEctophasia crassipennis male (Tachinidae)
22 July 2026 Bystock NR, DevonEumenes coarctatus female (Heath Potter Wasp) Vespidae
22 July 2026 Bystock NR, DevonZygaena cf. trifolii (Five-spot Burnet) Zygaenidae
Impossible to rule out Z. lonicerae from appearance
22 July 2026 Bystock NR, Devon
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Reposted by Tim Worfolk
John Walters @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Blue Ground Beetle eating a Tree Slug. Once caught it injects digestive juices into the slug turning it into 'slug soup' then sucks up its insides. Dartmoor, Devon. I will be talking about the conservation of this amazing beetle at Coombeshead Farm Devon next weekend keepitwild.uk/if-not-now-w...
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Day out by train Topsham to Okehampton looking for shade in woods along East Okement River. Lovely walk and found a few good flies: Conops flavipes new for me; Megamerina dolium I've only ever seen once before: 16 years ago. Names in ALT Texts #diptera @dipteristsforum.bsky.social
Conops flavipes (Conopidae) female
16 July 2026 Okehampton, Devon.Machimus atricapillus (Asilidae) male
16 July 2026 Okehampton, Devon.Dexiosoma caninum  (Tachinidae) male
16 July 2026 Okehampton, Devon.Megamerina dolium (Megamerinidae) female
16 July 2026 Okehampton, Devon.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Just found another of the nationally scarce hoverfly Myolepta dubia. About 50 m away from and 2 yrs after the 1st Devon record. #diptera #hoverfly
Myolepta dubia female (Syrphidae) 10 July 2026 Topsham, Devon
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Just found another, this time in the garden. I'm beginning to think they're following me. . .
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Mediterranean Spotted Chafer (Oxythyrea funesta). This is my fourth record from Topsham: 2019, 2020 (two) all in our garden. Found this about 1km away near Bowling Green Marsh. I think no other Devon records of this increasingly widespread sp. but possibly now established around here? #coleoptera
Oxythyrea funesta (Mediterranean Spotted Chafer) on a wild carrot umbel. 5 July 2026 Topsham, Devon.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
I found this spectacular Musk Beetle in a bit of scrub near a new housing development. The larvae develop in willows and the upper Exe Estuary area seems the best place to find this sp. in Devon. #coleoptera
Musk Beetle Aromia moschata (Cerambycidae)
4 July 2026 Topsham, Devon.
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Reposted by Tim Worfolk
Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
This is exactly why we have Pride. Because a few years ago this would have just been a hateful fringe figure - but this is where our politics is heading with a Government that kertows. We will resist. And bring hope (*and* electing progressive politicians.) We will win. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
Tommy Robinson - it's about seducing women and cutting off their dicks and breasts. It's not a protest. It's industrial scale child mutilation, chemical castration. Take your queer agenda and fuck right off mate, you weirdo.
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Reposted by Tim Worfolk
Willem Huiskamp @willemh.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
It's worth stressing that the *magnitude* by which some of these records are being broken is nothing short of astonishing
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Reposted by Tim Worfolk
Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
When trans people are under attack, "don't be political" is not an option. And we'll never be silent when a Labour Government are making life impossibly hard for trans people. We see you. And we stand with you. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
News from the local Wasp Bank: Beewolves very active now also two new spp. for the site: Orange-horned Nomad Bee (Nomada fulvicornis) and White-spotted Digger Wasp (Harpactus tumidus). This tiny spot just gets better and better! Details in ALT Texts. #hymenoptera
Bee Wolf male (Philanthus triangulum)
28 June 2026 Topsham, Devon.Orange-horned Nomad Bee female (Nomada fulvicornis)
28 June 2026 Topsham, Devon.White-spotted Digger Wasp (Harpactus tumidus)
28 June 2026 Topsham, Devon."Wasp Bank" Topsham, Devon. The end of a Devon hedge bank cut off to provide access to a new housing development. The area of exposed sand on the bank is about 7m by 3m. At least 20 species of hymenoptera are nesting in or using this bank.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Certainly beautiful and great photos!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Thanks for the ID James, rather spoils the title of my post though! 😠
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Good day for moths it seems. Names etc in ALT Texts though any ID help with first would be much appreciated. #teammoth
Coleophora sp.? on Lime tree Tilia sp.
26 June 2026 Topsham, Devon.Small Dusty Wave (Idaea seriata) on a notice board.
26 June 2026 Topsham, Devon.Four-spotted Footman caterpillar (Lithosia quadra) on Cherry Prunus sp.
26 June 2026 Topsham, Devon.Lime Hawk-moth caterpillar (Mimas tiliae), found on path, moved to safety.
26 June 2026 Topsham, Devon.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
35C forecast in Topsham this week so it's decided we go camping in South Devon. About 5 degrees cooler near the coast so not a bad idea. Pond campsite at Beeson held a few Brown-eyed Hawkers so everybody happy. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social
Green-eyed (Norfolk) Hawker male 23 June 2026 Beeson, Devon.
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Reposted by Tim Worfolk
John Walters @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
I will be at Longmarsh, Totnes, Devon TQ9 5UH with Georgi Gilpin looking at moths and caterpillars this Sunday 21 June 2026 at 9.30 am. Free event with art materials available for producing your own 'moth art'.
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Reposted by Tim Worfolk
WildDartmoor @tonydartmoor.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Fake news is putting Dartmoor’s ponies at risk. New deep dive by me into the current furore around Dartmoor's ponies. www.dartmoornature.org.uk/post/ponies-...
dartmoornature.org.uk
Ponies, Dartmoor and fake news
There’s been a deluge of misinformation recently about ponies on Dartmoor. Dartmoor Nature Alliance’s Tony Whitehead looks at the origins and potential impacts of the current “pony campaigning". He st...
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Little activity until sun came out then very busy. Didn't realise how much I had until checking photos later.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
More a wasp bank than a bee bank: a 3m section of exposed Devon hedge bank with a marvellous diversity of hymenopteran life. Just a small selection here, names in ALT texts. Topsham, Devon. @melcoate.bsky.social #hymenoptera
Agenioideus cinctellus (Pompilidae) female. 8 June 2026 Topsham, Devon.Myrmosa atra (Mutiliidae) male. 8 June 2026 Topsham, Devon.Ammophila sabulosa (Sphecidae) female. 8 June 2026 Topsham, Devon.Cerceris arenaria (Crabronidae) male. 8 June 2026 Topsham, Devon.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
It's not like it's a rare food plant: Alexanders is fairly ubiquitous around here!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Thanks Richard; the more I learn about it, the more surprised I am that I haven't seen it before!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
From 2025 Devon Moth Group Annual Report: Aethes beatricella 1 record Aethes deaurana 5 records
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
To me your moth looks more like deaurana than beatricella: particularly the shape of the hind bar and the richer golden background colour. Having said that, I'd only heard of the thing this morning so can't claim any expertise!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Thanks Martin, I see there are a few very similar species. Out of my area of (slight) expertise!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Thanks Paul, I'll pop it on iRecord.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Moth ID help please. I suspect this may be Aethes deaurana, rare immigrant but may be becoming established? any thoughts? 5/6/2026 Topsham, Devon. #TeamMoth
Possible Aethes deaurana 5/6/2026 Topsham, Devon.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Puts me in mind of a jet exhaust, well they can move a bit!
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Have you seen what the young ones look like?
Issus coleoptratus nymph
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Yesterday morning I found this tiny beauty on a gate while walking through Topsham. It looked smart and I didn't recognise it. Turned out to be a new one for me and apparently rare in Devon: Chrysoclista linneella - Lime Flame. #Lepidoptera #teammoth
Chrysoclista linneella (Lime Flame) a tiny orange and black moth with silver spots. Found on a gate 3/6/2026 Topsham, Devon.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Not sure the last time, probably April 1997 Hong Kong. I do remember the first though: June 1987 Cliffe, Kent. Not on My Devon list though.
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Tim Worfolk @timworfolk.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
A new species for me and appears to be another county first: Agrilus biguttatus (Buprestidae). No records for south west on NBN and no Devon records in Martin Luff's 2021 list. Topsham, Devon. #Coleoptera
Agrilus biguttatus (Buprestidae). Sometimes known as Two-spotted Oak Borer. A jewel beetle with a pair of distinctive white spots on the elytra plus white spots on the sides of the abdomen. 20/5/2026 Topsham, Devon.
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John Walters @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
If you are interested in learning to identify the UKs ground beetles there are free guides to download on my website johnwalters.co.uk/publications...
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