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David Coles

@wild-dave.bsky.social
506 followers 886 following 135 posts

Retired power station engineer. Love all things wild, volunteering and relaxing outside . Always looking for a ground beetle and currently helping to build a new garden at Shugborough Hall. Only 100,000 plants to put in. Recording wildlife wherever I go.

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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Spotted my first Brown Argus at @staffswildlife.bsky.social headquarters the other week. What a cracker!
A Brown Argus butterfly on Devil's bit scabious.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Ah, Ok thanks.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Might this be Stelis phaeoptera? Spotted at Wolseley on Sunday it was investigating various holes in some wood. @lisawilliams30.bsky.social
A dark solitary bee sat on some wood.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
My first Volucella zonaria of the year and in my garden as well. 😁
A large hornet mimicking hoverfly on a leaf. It is Volucella zonaria.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Not one I've seen but looks correct, looking at NBN you're near to the NW edge of their range.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
The Wool Carder bees seem to have taken a fancy to the Purple Toadflax this year.
A female wool Carder bee nectaring on a Purple Toadflax.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Never had a Blueberry bush before but soon I'm going to have a few to eat from it. How exciting! 😲
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Just seen the first Wool Carder in the garden so worth keeping an eye out for now.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Fabulous! Always great to see something new.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Yes , it certainly looks like it. 👍
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Nice surprise visitor in the garden. The Wasp beetle - Clytus arietis.
A longhorn beetle sat on a leaf. It is Clytus arietis also known as the wasp beetle.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
A lovely fresh Green Drake Mayfly in our garden and then the metallic green click beetle Ctenicera pectinicornis when doing a butterfly transect this afternoon.
A green drake Mayfly in a leaf in a garden. A metallic green click beetle - Ctenicera pectinicornis on my hand.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Yep, nicer than seeing where they normally are which is in cow pats or on sheep poo.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
There are 5 species and could be S.lunatum or S.scarabaeoides as they're very similar. So hard to be sure.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
This is Cantharis nigricans 🙂.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
What a fantastic guide, thanks for your hard work!
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Reposted by David Coles
Vanna Bartlett @vannabartlett.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
After months of work my Norfolk Pseudoscorpion guide for @norfolknats.bsky.social is now on the website free to see/download. Covers 20 species recorded in Norfolk so hopefully useful for other areas of UK. norfolknaturalists.org.uk/wp/wp-conten...
Dendrochernes cyrneus, a large pseudoscorpion with robust shiny, blackish claws on a piece of tree bark.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Lovely little find at Shugborough Hall in a new garden we're building. Thanasimus formicarius also known as the Ant beetle, another species to add to the list there. We've planted many plants there in the past year and this spring the area is alive with insects compared to this time last year.
A colourful Thanasimus formicarius beetle sitting on a hand.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Looks like it, they love plants in the borage family such as Green Alkanet and Comfrey.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Fab, yes that is the most likely though others do appear in gardens.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Great to spot Male Hairy footed flower bee trying to woo a female yesterday.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Lots of Bees and Hovers out today in Staffordshire.
Hoverfly on flowersMyopa species fly on leaf.Dark edged bee fly on dry leafSolitary bee on leaf
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
I'm pretty sure it's a Staphylinidae, Rove beetle, but couldn't say which one.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
With the introduction of Beavers in the UK finding evidence of them adds another bit of joy to going for a walk.
A photo of a tree that has been felled by a beaver. Showing the point where they have gnawed through the trunk.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
My first Tiger eye pansy grown from seed.
A photo of a Tiger eye Pansy with a single bloom.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Were these all planted in the green? I guess they must have been.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Almost certainly Quedius curtipennis/ fuliginosus . But I'm afraid it's a dissection job assuming male. But nice either way. 🙂.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
First day of good weather this year and ticked off 4 species of Bumblebee .
Red tailed Bumblebee on heatherEarly bumblebee on heatherTree bumblebee on heatherBuff tailed Bumblebee on heather
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
As the days start to get longer at the start of the year I begin to do some local log turning. I think every single Cychrus caraboides I've seen has been beneath a log like this.
A Cychrus caraboides beetle in its hibernaculum beneath a log.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
A great leaf miner to show people on walks as they seem to be ubiquitous near me plus you can be certain of what it is.
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Reposted by David Coles
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust @staffswildlife.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
At just 3mm long the riverwood riffle beetle is BIG news for environmentalists in Staffordshire. Why? Because it hasn't been recorded here for more than 150 years! Our incredibly knowledgeable volunteer David Coles discovered on his moth trap sheet late one summer evening.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
I don't think there are many people that can be described as a worse human being than Trump. He is disgusting.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
I've seen them near me occasionally I believe they're known as Rouen ducks.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Seems Regatta have made a breakthrough in imaging. It turns out bacteria look just like insects.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
Fab and though not quite so local this story appeared just a couple of days later. With Graeme being a Staffordshire lad. www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...
bbc.co.uk
Wolf spider rediscovered on Isle of Wight after 40 years - CBBC Newsround
It was a race against time to find the spider with the team only having four hours to search for it before they had to leave.
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Reposted by David Coles
Elizabeth Stokoe @lizstokoe.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
"it is striking how many of the key players we have looked into — the people who have gone out of their way to put up hundreds of flags — seem anything but ordinary." manchestermill.co.uk/the-men-who-...
manchestermill.co.uk
The men who raised the flags
Nigel Farage says this summer’s movement was led by ‘ordinary people’ expressing their patriotism. That’s not what we found
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
Do you mean they happened to meet at that spot for something as they first met in London from everything I've read.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Whilst I don't think individuals are stripped of power a law compelling public officials to tell thd trutin is being introduced. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Hillsborough Law will include duty of candour on public officials
The proposed law would force public bodies to co-operate with investigations into major disasters.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
That be an interesting slide...Aaaaah.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Failed with his mucking about with the US government so he trying to affect another. It feels like he's an anarchist and doesn't care about the rule of law.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
We can make Cherry scones now you've got those!
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
Two new species for me this weekend. Didea fasciata and Necrodes littoralis. 😁
A hoverfly of the species Didea fasciata sat on a brown leaf in bright sunshine. Abeetle of the species Necrodes littoralis being held in a hand.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
I didn't get a photo but pretty sure I'd not seen it before. Certainly looks like your ID.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
This Carabus problematicus didn't seem to like me. Biting into my finger and vomiting on me at the same time.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
From last night my best arrival at the light trap this year Macronychus quadrituberculatus. Not recorded in Staffordshire since 1867. @colsocbi.bsky.social
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Yet again Trump performs for his supporters. He doesn't care whether the stats are up or down for crime he is doing this so they think he is a president of action whether its needed or not. Performance after performance
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Reposted by David Coles
FungiJoJofromCanada @fungijojo.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
How true is this, naturalists and mushroom hunters - the sloths of the natural world! Mushroom month is fast approaching and I haven't had much luck in my area this Summer. What a wonderful world we live in ❤️
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
0.22m 🤯 I struggle with beetles around 2mm. Loving the feathery wing adaptation which I've just looked up.
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Looks like someone has a crenulated bum. Nitidulidae?
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David Coles @wild-dave.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Even a car park can look nice in the right light.
A wide angle photo of an almost car park surrounded by trees with a colourful orange and blue sky above it.
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