Author | Lightnews

Dominic Collins

@dominiccollins.bsky.social

450 followers 540 following 1.7K posts

Voluntary bird and butterfly surveyor for BTO, Staffs WT, RSPB, BC (WCBS). Patch-watcher. Moth-er. Green Party, Hope not Hate & Liberty member. Re-awoken political animal. Reader and bibliophile. Poet manque. Cat lover. Endon, Staffordshire.

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Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 2d

My local patch walk. I do most of my birding, butterflying, mothing and Brown Hare-watching within these precious confines. One day - who knows - I may write 'The Natural History of Endon' in the form of an imaginary and one-sided correspondence with the Endonian Society.

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Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 6h

Maybe I should've disguised the word 'carpet' too. 😁

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Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 6h

Thanks Tom! It's a really nicely marked one 👌

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 7h

Yeah 😁 - I hardly ever run it on its own (there's usually a trap outside beneath it) so it was a useful & successful experiment. One J@#!¥♧R Carpet too.

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Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 8h

Thanks - it's a fine specimen isn't it?

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 8h

Yeah - same here. And I could've faced it, but decided erroneously that it was too dank and cold.

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 8h

😁 Well, I more-or-less did too.

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 9h

#TeamMoth

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 9h

I think it was @claretaz.bsky.social who made my wonder why I wasn't trapping last night. Anyway, by that point (10-ish) I was too inert to do anything more than activate the actinic angle-poise lamp that shines out onto the back garden. Within an hour, this tiny effort earned me a Mottled Umber.

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Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 10h

Good news indeed! But no - I tend to trudge through the small Snipey marsh in my wellies and count what I flush up. As the wintering population builds and the temperature gets colder I'll do it once a week to minimise disturbance to the birds.

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 10h

Absolutely. The bottom of our shallow valley is prone to flooding in winter, bringing in plenty of wildfowl - mostly Teal, Wigeon and Mandarin Ducks, but occasionally something else besides. Certain areas are just beginning to get soggy; recorded my first Jack Snipe of the season yesterday.

Reposted by Dominic Collins

Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 20h

You may have seen quite a bit of news from Caerphilly today.

But how much have you seen about the Reform candidate’s relationship with Nathan Gill?? Anything? Nothing?

Watch & read @johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social on the trail of ‘Moscow Gold’

bsky.app/profile/then...

THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 21h

"It's democracy, but not as we know it"
Nerve Reform UK correspondent
@johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social
went to Caerphilly on byelection day. Where *was* candidate Llŷr Powell, ex-colleague of Russian puppet Nathan Gill? And what did Plaid Cymru's Lindsay Whittle say?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq83...

Film made by John Lubbock & Daisy Steinhardt

YouTube video by Lyn Cat Irv

www.youtube.com

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Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 21h

@staffsbirdnews.bsky.social

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 21h

Out along the valley this afternoon. Gloomily quiet for the most part, but the winter marsh is water-logging nicely and I duly found my first Jack Snipes (2) of the season together with 13 Common. Elsewhere c120 Fieldfare and 50 Redwing were gathered in field boundary treetops. 🪶

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Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 1d

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

These iconic corals are nearly extinct due to heatwaves: can they be saved?

Florida’s primary reef-building corals have been declared ‘functionally extinct’ — prompting a shift in conservation strategies.

www.nature.com

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 1d

I've seen males this year, but yes - not the female sadly.

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 1d

Ha! Yes! I was 90% sure what they were but double-checked before reaching a conclusion.

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 1d

That's fantastic David, and excellently written-up too. I wouldn't have anything like that species count (I haven't yet counted up but it's all in Birdtrack) but then don't have quite that splendour of habitat to go at. I just love the door-to-door walking involved. Constant small discoveries too!

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Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 1d

Recently discovered on the driveway wall - a growth of Vapourer eggs. Would have loved to watch these being pumped out by the female, but wasn't even aware she was there. #TeamMoth

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Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 1d

A great idea this, if the Church can be persuaded 🙏

you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/he...

Help save nature by rewilding the Church’s massive landholdings!

We need to rewild 30% of the planet to restore nature & protect our wildlife, but Britain is falling behind. So I've signed this new petition calling on one of our biggest landowners - the Church ...

you.38degrees.org.uk

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 1d

BBC News - Newborn giant otters add to world's largest romp in New Forest - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Newborn giant otters add to world's largest romp in New Forest

The three baby otters pass their health checks at New Forest Wildlife Park.

www.bbc.co.uk

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 2d

😄

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 2d

😄 Thought you'd like it.

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 2d

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Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 2d

😆

Dominic Collins @dominiccollins.bsky.social · 2d

😄 Bit of a mystery where they're coming from, as there doesn't appear to be much Juniper round these here parts. As UKMoths suggests - they're "possibly ... adapting to other garden conifers."