Moira O'Donnell
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naturelark.bsky.social
Moira O'Donnell
@naturelark.bsky.social
Fae Dundee 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 but now in South London. Choral singing, botany, butterflies, birds, wee beasties, cups of tea, G&T. Larking about in nature. Ooh look, there's a thing... 🤔
#WildflowerHour
I've brought all my posts from X with me.
https://linktr.ee/naturelark
Pinned
Is it a swan? Is it an angel? I think it's a swangel.
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
We are ready 🎶
The soloists are ready 🎤
The wine and mince pies are ready 🍷🥧
Are you ready to come and join us on Saturday for a celebration of Saint Nicholas? If so, get your tickets using the link below!
www.cbcplatform.org/dbpage.php?p...
December 5, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
Carl Linnaeus's beloved pet raccoon, Sjupp, was a gift from the King of Sweden, and regularly stole snacks from Linnaeus's students. This drawing is thought to be Sjupp. (LM/PF/ALS/1) #EYAPets
December 3, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
Help us unlock the Plants of the Past, by supporting volunteers to digitise decades of paper records & inform C21st science!
@biggive.bsky.social
From #GivingTuesday to 9 Dec, we have £10K in matched funds to unlock: every donation, however small, will be doubled:
donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...
Unlocking the Plants of the Past – Big Give
Decades of botanical observations of our vital wild plants are trapped in paper records and archives - through the efforts …
donate.biggive.org
December 2, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Three reasons to love Common Tamarisk-moss, Thuidium tamariscinum:

1. It's gorgeous ✔️
2. It's got a great name ✔️
3. It's easy to identify ✔️✔️✔️

I was delighted to see lots of it in woodland at the Devil's Punchbowl at the weekend.

#BonkersForBryophytes
December 2, 2025 at 11:41 AM
The evil looking black "bootlace" rhizomorphs of Honey Fungus, under the bark of a deceased tree at the Devil's Punchbowl. All very sinister. 👀
#FungiFriday 🍄📷
December 1, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I think this is Smoky Bracket, Bjerkandera adusta, on dead wood at the Devil's Punchbowl in Surrey. #MushroomMonday
#FungiFriends 🍄📷
December 1, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Some very striking blue-tinged Crimped Gill, Plicatura crispa, on dead wood at the Devil's Punchbowl in Surrey. #MushroomMonday #FungiFriends 🍄📷
December 1, 2025 at 8:09 AM
I liked the way that Amber and Nikita were dressed as a Spindle Berry this weekend on #Strictly
November 30, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
We had a wonderful time catching up with friends old and new, huge thanks to you Louise and your amazing team for organising such a fantastic event!!!
Lovely to catch up with these two botanical superstars at yesterday's #BIBConf25!
@naturelark.bsky.social (on left) and @botanybeck.bsky.social, the driving force behind @wildflowerhour.bsky.social!
Looking good, #wildflowerhour ladies!
November 30, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
It’s Sunday & it’s 8pm, so it must be time for the best hour of the week, yes it’s #wildflowerhour 🥳 Please share the wild & naturalised blooms you’ve spotted across Britain & Ireland in the last week and did you manage to find #thewinter10 😀
Greater periwinkle, daisy, stitchwort and dandelion, wildflower flower finds on walks around Northumberland this week for #WildflowerHour
November 30, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Still a teeny wee bit of colour on the Bell Heather, Erica cinerea, at the Devil's Punchbowl today. #WildflowerHour
November 30, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
Black Friday all a bit much yesterday? Try my @theguardian.com country diary antidote, for something a little different...

#countrydiary #naturewriting #BlackFriday
Country diary: My Black Friday? A night-time skulk in the woods | Nic Wilson
Purwell Ninesprings, Hertfordshire: A chilly evening spent interpreting rustles and admiring the silhouetted trees – now that’s what I call a bargain
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Sulphur Tuft, Hypholoma fasciculare, on a log in High Broom Wood. I was very pleased with the spore print. @highbroom.bsky.social #FungiFriday #FungiFriends 🍄📷
November 28, 2025 at 10:18 AM
What a stunning bird! We were delighted to watch two Green Woodpeckers foraging in one of the meadows at Bethlem Royal Hospital the other day.
❤️🖤💚💛
November 25, 2025 at 10:58 AM
I haven't been able to do much proper fungi hunting so far this year, so it was nice to spot this Twig Parachute, Marasmiellus ramealis (on a dead Bramble stem) while we were walking through the grounds of Bethlem Royal Hospital yesterday. 📷 🍄
#MushroomMonday #FungiFriends #TwigOfTheDay
November 24, 2025 at 7:42 AM
I was super pleased to find the Lesser Calamint, Clinopodium nepata, still in flower at Lesnes Abbey (LB Bexley) on Tuesday. I thought I had missed it for this year. It has a delicious minty aroma. #WildflowerHour
November 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
It’s Sunday & it’s 8pm so it must be time for #wildflowerhour! 🎉Have you spotted any wild or naturalised plants in bloom across Britain & Ireland in the last week? Please share your pics if you have and did you find #thewinter10?
Still plenty in bloom here in central Scotland for #wildflowerhour - Wild Radish in an arable field, Jersey Cudweed in paving and Sweet Alison making a bid for freedom from a nearby planter.
The Cudweed is a recent coloniser, and seems to be spreading from Grangemouth along the Forth & Clyde Canal
November 23, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Butcher's Broom, Ruscus aculeatus, in the vast grounds of Bethlem Royal Hospital. Always a delight to see. I tried to interest Mr O'D in cladodes, which I find fascinating, but he wasn't really paying attention. 🤷‍♀️ #WildflowerHour
November 23, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
Powderpuff bracket, Postia ptychogaster.
November 22, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
The amazing Purplepore Bracket (Trichaptum abietinum). Nondescript from above, astonishingly violet from below. On fallen pine a couple of weeks ago. November 2025. Surrey. #fungi #FungiFriends 💜
November 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
Reposted by Moira O'Donnell
Curious about lichens?

Lichens of Britain & Ireland is a beautifully illustrated beginner’s guide to 200 species you can identify with just a magnifying lens.

Available to pre-order now!
November 19, 2025 at 9:23 PM
I spent a delightful few minutes in the company of a flock of these adorable wee Bumbarrels at Lesnes Abbey Woods yesterday. I am also pleased to discover that another old name for Long-tailed Tits is Mumruffin.
November 19, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I meant to delete this test post, but since I forgot to, here is an explanation of what it is!

"Leaping from Wood Wharf’s waters, the piece serves as a striking reminder of the millions of tonnes of plastic waste swimming in the Atlantic & Pacific oceans."

group.canarywharf.com/press-releas...
November 19, 2025 at 10:51 AM