Lydia Massiah
@lydiamassiah.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.5K following 1.2K posts
Writer, wanderer, wonderer, always curious to learn more. Knows a smattering about much, but not much about anything. Worried about biodiversity loss. What's happening is one big horror story.
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lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Footage from October 2015 - 10yrs ago! The male otters look enormous. Best bit is towards the end in daylight with a female & young one.
youtu.be/eMhrYyIqWqE?...
Otters - October 2015
YouTube video by GreeneWild
youtu.be
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Only see one once in Pembrokeshire, but we had a camera trap set up on the Mendips, on the River Axe/Yeo. We picked up masses of great otter footage, plus mink, water rails, green woodpeckers (ants must make them thirsty 😄). Camera was in a rare patch of riverbank cover so everything used it.
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
I'd only seen the little Asian short-clawed ones before, so I was very under-appreciative of European otters size. The South American Giant ones must be amazing to see up close!
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Until you pick one up (& I hasten to add I've only done that to a dead one) you don't appreciate how BIG & powerful UK otters are! They weigh as much as my(small) collie dogs but are obviously much stronger. UK zoos tend to have the Asian short-clawed otters which are ⅓-¼ the size of Eurasian ones.
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Your talk looks very much my thing but alas, a bit far to go. Good luck with it!
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Ah yes, Maxwell the famous naturalist, who set up a basking shark fishery on the island of Soay that killed 1000s of sharks & wiped out the local population - so much so they still haven't recovered from being hunted.
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Fascinating, thank you. Sections in H is for Hawk explore this very interesting topic too. I've also always been suspicious of D H Lawrence's attitude to animals & what it reveals about his instincts in pieces like Reflections on the Death of a Porcupine - compared to the poem Snake.
Reposted by Lydia Massiah
rsmythfreelance.bsky.social
Today I am mostly thinking about the popular inter-war literary genre 'animal stories written by fascists'. Join me.
Title page of a collection of animal stories by Henry Williamson: TARKA THE OTTER, SALAR THE SALMON, THE EPIC OF BROCK THE BADGER, CHAKCHEK THE PEREGRINE.
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Nature's colour combinations are superb!
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Delightful aren't they? I love finding them at this time of year though they're often tiny - & sunshine is bleaching the tops paler atm
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
There are different types of Amanita in a small space of this beech wood. The Blusher (Amanita rubescens) is clearest when it blushes, but they can be just brown & white so I'm guessing all of these are Blushers. Some are huge! There are also Fly Agarics (more Aminita types). #MushroomMonday
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Amethyst Deceiver on a fallen beech leaf. The beauty in our woods right now💜🤎
#MushroomMonday
Purple gilled small mushroom lying on a coppery orange beech leaf
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
They such bright fungi - really eye-catching 🍄
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Beautiful Fly Agarics in vast numbers on Exmoor today. This birch grove led us astray as we wandered from one scarlet patch to another through the birch trees until we had lost the path. A peaceful, enchanted-feeling place.
Three red fungi with white spots in woodland A large red fungus with white spots & a smaller one
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
I'm not used to seeing waxcaps in woods but Horner Wood on Exmoor had amazing fungi today. These Parrot Waxcaps were a treat!
Bright green little fungi
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Summer's over but my pots haven't got the memo. The one with white cosmos, vanilla-scented nemesia, magenta geraniums, trailing bacopa & a deep purple aeonium is at it's best ever! Except the cosmos, all the plants survived last winter outside! The other pot has purple salvia, verbena & petunia 💜🤍🩷💚
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
A cherry dining table sounds beautiful 😍
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
They're such amazing pieces of furniture - so rewarding. You're doing a great job.
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
What a transformation! Well done!
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
They're both very sweet dogs
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Buddy and Poppy ready for their walk. The pillow wasn't originally for them but they're enjoying the extra comfort 😄
Two red and white collies in the back of a car, one sitting, one lying down
Reposted by Lydia Massiah
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
This could be a long and rambling thread. Be patient with me.

I bought an old mahogany bureau on Ebay. I didn't really want a bureau as we're meant to be downsizing, but it was a beautiful piece & obviously very old. Google lens suggests the brass chased handles are Queen Anne. That's 1702-1714 😯
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
Thank you. It makes me love the bureau even more!
lydiamassiah.bsky.social
How strange 🤔 Like the Glastonbury Thorn (which is twice flowering). You'll have to give these Anemones a special local name - and perhaps religious significance 😄