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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · 22h

Were there obvious highlights?

Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · 22h

Looks good, Alan. Are these records with the SRS?

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · 1d

'Tis the season to be silly - again @thesun.co.uk, @express.co.uk among others.
Last year's quotes, this year's new misinformation: these still extremely rare animals are now thriving in a few restored wetlands but are NOT 'in our homes' #responsiblejournalism @patrickbarkham.bsky.social #Dolomedes

Image of headlines from The Sun, Daily Express and Time Out showing Dolomedes (Raft spider) species and misleading headlines

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Sep 15

@britishspiders.bsky.social

Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Sep 15

Been here a while - but fairly quiet, like too many of us!

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Sep 14

Many congratulation, Chris!

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Aug 6

Thanks, Richard. We did suss the tiny Tibellus but then I forgot!

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Aug 5

Nooo, I can't stand tension.....

Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Aug 5

More tiny finds from @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social Redgrave & Lopham Fen: Five-striped Spider Thantaus striatus recorded here for the first time since 1957 and the Nationally Rare and Endangered Jumping spider Attulus [Calositticus] caricis. Photos: Anna Maka. @britishspiders.bsky.social

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Reposted by Helen Smith

Wil J. Heeney @theponker.bsky.social · Aug 5

Not even half 9 and I've mapped about 30 clusters of webs, each with at least 4 webs in each cluster. It's going to be a slow day at this rate @britishspiders.bsky.social

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Aug 5

Intensive stuff - must be peak second brood! All Water Soldier ditches?

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Aug 1

A real glitter ball of a spider @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social Redgrave & Lopham Fen today - maxing at just 3mm long, the minute Ray Spider Theridiosoma gemmosum has silvery plates of guanine shining through its cuticle. Photos Anna Maka. @britishspiders.bsky.social

Ray Spider Theridiosoma gemmosum showing its almost spherical abdomen with plates of silvery guanine showing through the cuticle.

A different pattern variant of Ray Spider Theridiosoma gemmosum with more dark pigmentation between areas of silvery guanine on the abdomen.

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Jul 29

Trickster - sub-adult Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Jul 29

A great team out today @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social Carlton Marshes, surveying the still expanding range of the Fen Raft Spider population established there in 2011/12 - and meeting a few other fun species too! @britishspiders.bsky.social

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Reposted by Helen Smith

💗💙🤝 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚 🤝💙💗 @bevilacquapalesky.bsky.social · Jun 19

Please share this like lives hang in the balance because they do.

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Jun 11

It's the egg-laying season @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social Redgrave & Lopham Fen - three female Fen Raft Spiders Dolomedes plantarius holding their precious egg sacs... and a male hanging around waiting for new opportunities. @britishspiders.bsky.social

Unbanded mum Fen Raft Spider with egg sac

Males Fen Raft Spider with Otter spider Pirata piscatorius retreat below

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Jun 5

Synema globosum, AKA Napoleon's Hat Spider. A rare import to GB but on the list of potential future colonists, showing its 'muscle' at the wonderful Perchtoldsdorfer Heide reserve, on the outskirts of Vienna. @britishspiders.bsky.social

Synema globosum consuming a bee many times it size.

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Jun 5

Yes, I especially love their webs. Steve Lane recorded it locally from Blo'Norton Fen four years ago so it was expected here, though not in the greenhouse! Did you Middle Harling record get to the SRS?

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Jun 5

An unexpected and familiar friend among the many treasures @worldwildlife.org Marchegg on the R. March/Morava. Thanks to @jubalbarca.bsky.social for inheriting the spider-spotting eyes!

Raft spider Dolomedes species, likely the globally Vulnerable D. plantarius

The beautiful blue flower of Clematis integrifolia

White Stork's bill-clacking display in this unique tree-nesting colony. Image thanks to James Baillie.

White-tailed Eagle - from one of c. 90 pairs in Austria including 7 in the Marchegg area. Image thanks to James Baillie.

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Jun 5

A new species for the greenhouse (and wider patch), Zilla diodia hanging out at the hub of in her fine orbweb and continuing the species' rapid expansion in East Anglia @norfolknats.bsky.social @britishspiders.bsky.social

adult female Zilla diodia at the hub of her web

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Reposted by Helen Smith

Meghan Bartels @meghanbartels.bsky.social · Apr 18

"On Wednesday, just days before her wedding, 25-year-old Hassouna was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit her home in northern Gaza. Ten members of her family, including her pregnant sister, were also killed." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

‘If I die, I want a loud death’: Gaza photojournalist killed by Israeli airstrike

Fatima Hassouna, who had been documenting war in Gaza for 18 months and was subject of new documentary, killed along with 10 members of her family

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Helen Smith

Aurora @auroracalliope.bsky.social · Apr 19

Please share. Data must be preserved.

Henrik Schönemann @lavaeolus.bsky.social · Apr 18

Crying some tears of joy and of released pressure/stress:
One of the large repositories in Germany started safeguarding datasets from #NOAA, officially.
www.linkedin.com/posts/gloeck...

pangaea.de

This is the culmination of weeks of work 💖
#SafeguardingResearch @safeguardingdata.bsky.social

PANGAEA is actively working to rescue data from the United States. With… | Frank Oliver Glöckner | 11 comments

PANGAEA is actively working to rescue data from the United States. With the recent announcement that numerous datasets - such as those from NOAA - are scheduled for decommissioning in May, PANGAEA has...

www.linkedin.com

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Reposted by Helen Smith

bogtrotter2024.bsky.social @bogtrotter2024.bsky.social · Apr 18

"However, there is a nervousness around how these reviews will be implemented and that ‘streamling’ regulations becomes code for dumping environmental protections."

inews.co.uk/news/inside-...

Inside Defra cuts, as 600 jobs face axe and nature sites 'left unchecked for a decade'

Environmental groups say Defra is already struggling to fulfil its legal duties

inews.co.uk

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Reposted by Helen Smith

Nic Wilson @nicwilson.bsky.social · Apr 14

Planning to buy plants over #Easter? Check out the #PeatFree Nurseries List for over 140 #UK growers who don't destroy precious carbon-capturing #peatland habitat by using #peat to grow their plants. Pls let me know if your favourite #nursery isn't listed. Pls repost & let your friends know. Ta 🙏🌱💚

Peat Free Nurseries List

The response to the Peat Free Nurseries List has been incredible. It’s fantastic to see such interest in sourcing peat-free plants. Thousands of people have accessed the list which now includ…

nicwilson.co.uk

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Helen Smith @waveneycott.bsky.social · Apr 18

The best of 'lawn' grasses, Good Friday Grass (AKA Field Wood-rush Luzula campestris), is right on queue this year. #wildflowerhour

The flowers of Field Wood-rush Luzula campestris

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