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Tim Blackburn

@mothyblackburn.bsky.social

3.8K followers 550 following 6.5K posts

Professor of Invasion Biology at UCL. Amateur father, birder, moth-er. Mainly post wildlife photos, occasionally science and politics. Author of The Jewel Box, winner of the ZSL Clarivate Award for Communicating Zoology.

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Environmental science 63%

Geography 16%

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 13h

Wasn't going to but then it was a lovely warm day here and I'm away for a few nights so decided what the hell.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 16h

Just 10:6 in the Camden moth trap on this misty October morning, but a couple of Rush Veneer hinting that interest is not over for the year... #TeamMoth

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 1d

Always amazes me how stuff hides in the Blakeney Point Plantation. About 6 trees.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 1d

And now I see your previous reply! It's an especially pretty one.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 1d

A very well-marked Chestnut maybe?

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 1d

Sophie Ecclestone's bowling figures vs Sri Lanka are currently 6-3-5-4. The rest of the team have managed 24-2-114-1. Just ridiculous.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 1d

Surprised it’s not called On the Moneys though.

Reposted by Tim M. Blackburn, Hans Henrik Bruun, Richard D. Gregory , and 1 more Tim M. Blackburn, Hans Henrik Bruun, Richard D. Gregory, Guy Pe’er

martinswarren.bsky.social @martinswarren.bsky.social · 1d

The new European Butterfly Red List is published today, with worrying findings. Over 1/4 (28%) of Europe’s 442 species are threatened with extinction or are close to being so. The situation is far worse for our 148 endemic species, 40% are now threatened or nearly so www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?...

Front cover of the European Butterfly Red List, showing Polyommatus humedasae. The report can be downloaded at https://www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?name=red-list-butterflies-2025

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 2d

Not too much excitement in the @rbgkew.bsky.social moth trap this afternoon, but there was at least one NFY for me in this rather late Southern Wainscot. #TeamMoth

Reposted by Tim M. Blackburn

Auke Hoekstra @aukehoekstra.bsky.social · 2d

And now Chinese EVs are cheaper in the showroom (and MUCH cheaper to drive) than combustion engines.

Nobody will want to buy combustion engines in 2030, but these knuckle draggers want to lead the EU industry towards total annihilation by sticking their head in the sand.

Bah.

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 2d

As if them eating moths wasn't bad enough...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Greater noctule bats prey on and consume passerines in flight

Despite billions of passerines seasonally migrating during the night at high altitudes, only three bat species have been found to consistently tap into this rich prey resource. However, it remains unk...

www.science.org

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 4d

Bempton Cliffs apparently. Might turn north…

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 4d

Ah. It's not getting any commoner it seems.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 4d

Sorry! (Not sorry 😈)

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 4d

Good numbers, Liz. (At least no wasps here.)

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 4d

Moth numbers down to just 11:8 in the Camden trap overnight, but one NFY with just my second ever Dusky-lemon Sallow. A scarce species locally it seems - the Herts & Middx website only has one record from 2024, the one I caught on 6th October. #TeamMoth

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 5d

It was a total pain to subdue. It may find itself chopped now for my troubles!

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 5d

Thoughts?!

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 5d

Large Ranunculus?

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 5d

Ah yes, thanks for reminding me. Especially as my chances of getting back into the lab this year are slim.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks! There's certainly no shortage of Plane trees near me. Also I suspect Uncertain just from previous relative numbers, but it's in the fridge...

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 5d

A few moths flying in London overnight, with 17:11 in the Camden trap this morning. Acleris sparsana was NFY, and the 700th species I've photographed this year (699 adults, 1 caterpillar). Also late Uncertain/Rustic and Phyllonorycter platani (opinions welcome on both). #TeamMoth

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 6d

Got to save some good material for the next book.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 6d

👏

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 6d

Lovely - and a different bird to the one we had on the Point a few days ago.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 6d

A few more lab idents from today. The Oegoconia is a male quadripuncta, and becomes my 700th moth species this year. The very worn Noctuid is a male Clancy's, and the sandy one a Flounced Rustic, as ObsId, @photography-aj.bsky.social and @sj84turner.bsky.social all got right. #TeamMoth

A male Oegoconia quadripuncta moth, according to its genitals.

My best guess at this tatty moth was a Pale Mottled Willow, but the highly distinctive genitalia nailed it as male Clancy's Rustic.

A sandy-coloured female Flounced Rustic moth. I did think a late Tawny Shears could be in the running, but Flounced it is.

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 6d

A day in the moth lab, and the results are in. This Phyllonorycter from my friend's Highgate garden in September appears to be male blancardella, as I suspected given all her apple trees. A lifer, if no one dissents... #TeamMoth

Male genitalia of P. blancardella - to quote Chris Lewis's British Lepidoptera site, "has a narrow R costa with a long apical spine (spine 2/5 length of costa - upper oval) and a very short L costa with a long spine (spine 2x length of costa - lower oval)."

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 6d

Looks good to me - that silvery dot in the corner of the kidney (here's the one I caught in Camden in 2023).

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 7d

That looks amazing.

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 7d

I hadn’t thought that optimistically!