Chequertree
@chequertree.bsky.social
Environment, food, farming, gardening, sometimes with a Kentish slant. Side interest in astroturfing & computational propaganda.
Still seeing these beauties in the garden every day, after a late start (presumably due to poor overwintering) they've had a good year again.
October 12, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Still seeing these beauties in the garden every day, after a late start (presumably due to poor overwintering) they've had a good year again.
Had a lovely surprise this afternoon, found the rather rare Deptford Pink growing by a roadside on Romney Marsh.
October 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Had a lovely surprise this afternoon, found the rather rare Deptford Pink growing by a roadside on Romney Marsh.
A late Wall appeared briefly in the garden this morning.
October 5, 2025 at 9:01 AM
A late Wall appeared briefly in the garden this morning.
The unusual 'white' wilding Apple tree in the village is fruiting well this year. Rather thick skin & somewhat bland flavour so it might originate from a discarded Golden Delicious or Granny Smith core. Interesting enough for me to try top working a piece onto one of my own trees this Winter.
September 5, 2025 at 8:42 PM
The unusual 'white' wilding Apple tree in the village is fruiting well this year. Rather thick skin & somewhat bland flavour so it might originate from a discarded Golden Delicious or Granny Smith core. Interesting enough for me to try top working a piece onto one of my own trees this Winter.
A very pretty farmland bird mix down by the river this year, let's hope it works!
August 12, 2025 at 8:38 PM
A very pretty farmland bird mix down by the river this year, let's hope it works!
Finally caught up with some stunning Wasp Spiders in the village this evening. By all accounts they're having a much better season locally after a good few years where numbers have been fairly low.
August 12, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Finally caught up with some stunning Wasp Spiders in the village this evening. By all accounts they're having a much better season locally after a good few years where numbers have been fairly low.
Southern Water, I hate you, & I hate the parasitic international 'investment' funds who own you & profit from the disgusting mess you've made of this tiny little river which I love. Pic shows a filthy East Stour River, Kent, several miles downstream of sewage release. Discharging 4 hrs & counting.
July 23, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Southern Water, I hate you, & I hate the parasitic international 'investment' funds who own you & profit from the disgusting mess you've made of this tiny little river which I love. Pic shows a filthy East Stour River, Kent, several miles downstream of sewage release. Discharging 4 hrs & counting.
Reposted by Chequertree
Just rescued this Large Tortoishell from my garage window, surrounded by spiderwebs! VC15 @savebutterflies.bsky.social
July 16, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Just rescued this Large Tortoishell from my garage window, surrounded by spiderwebs! VC15 @savebutterflies.bsky.social
Reposted by Chequertree
Four of the spectacular moth lifers that I saw among 160+ species in a Kent wood on Friday night with @mammalmark.bsky.social @dartfordtrapper.bsky.social @ruckingemoths.bsky.social & co. Light Crimson Underwing, Rose Plume, Olive Crescent & Bisigna procerella (Beautiful Silver-mark) #teammoth
July 7, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Four of the spectacular moth lifers that I saw among 160+ species in a Kent wood on Friday night with @mammalmark.bsky.social @dartfordtrapper.bsky.social @ruckingemoths.bsky.social & co. Light Crimson Underwing, Rose Plume, Olive Crescent & Bisigna procerella (Beautiful Silver-mark) #teammoth
A Sussex Emerald was a very nice surprise in the garden moth trap last night. High overnight temperatures encouraging dispersal maybe? Probably 7 or 8 miles from the nearest colony I know of, overnight minimum was a bonkers 20.8C here.
July 1, 2025 at 11:02 AM
A Sussex Emerald was a very nice surprise in the garden moth trap last night. High overnight temperatures encouraging dispersal maybe? Probably 7 or 8 miles from the nearest colony I know of, overnight minimum was a bonkers 20.8C here.
It's an exceptional year for Apricots here with fruit set bordering on the ridiculous, and to have them ready to eat before June is out is incredible.
June 28, 2025 at 8:01 PM
It's an exceptional year for Apricots here with fruit set bordering on the ridiculous, and to have them ready to eat before June is out is incredible.
After an exceptionally dry year these Sticklebacks are hanging on in the last bit of water in this dried up woodland stream in Orlestone Forest. With more very high temperatures forecast and no rain on the horizon their days are numbered.
June 28, 2025 at 8:41 AM
After an exceptionally dry year these Sticklebacks are hanging on in the last bit of water in this dried up woodland stream in Orlestone Forest. With more very high temperatures forecast and no rain on the horizon their days are numbered.
Looks like the Orchids are having a poor year on this nice patch of grassland along the railway in the village, I assume the dry Spring meant many shrivelled, but Marbled White and Small Skipper are having a good year. Also v pleased to find Fairy Flax here for the first time.
June 15, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Looks like the Orchids are having a poor year on this nice patch of grassland along the railway in the village, I assume the dry Spring meant many shrivelled, but Marbled White and Small Skipper are having a good year. Also v pleased to find Fairy Flax here for the first time.
A particularly lovely patch of Columbine in Eggringe Wood, Kent today.
June 12, 2025 at 4:17 PM
A particularly lovely patch of Columbine in Eggringe Wood, Kent today.
Reposted by Chequertree
Arable land has been flattened by history of ploughing. In restoring such sites it is important to introduce variation. Here I look at butterfly banks and enthuse over the experimental testing. youtu.be/5kgAXVFo610?...
Habitat flattening: the often ignored component of conservation management and restoration
YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts
youtu.be
June 9, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Arable land has been flattened by history of ploughing. In restoring such sites it is important to introduce variation. Here I look at butterfly banks and enthuse over the experimental testing. youtu.be/5kgAXVFo610?...
My first Emperor Dragonfly of the year last week at Waterbrook, Ashford.
May 25, 2025 at 7:24 AM
My first Emperor Dragonfly of the year last week at Waterbrook, Ashford.
Every parish has an Ivy dickhead.
May 20, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Every parish has an Ivy dickhead.
Weird parasitic Dodder plants snaking their way through a Kentish meadow.
May 19, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Weird parasitic Dodder plants snaking their way through a Kentish meadow.
Peacock on a field boundary Chequertree at Bridgefield, Ashford today. A reminder that this site was ancient woodland until at least the 1940s before being flattened for agriculture by 1960. Now being repurposed again as a new build housing estate.
May 12, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Peacock on a field boundary Chequertree at Bridgefield, Ashford today. A reminder that this site was ancient woodland until at least the 1940s before being flattened for agriculture by 1960. Now being repurposed again as a new build housing estate.
Reposted by Chequertree
Dead wood is known to be important in forests. The RSPB are carrying out experiments as part of the Cairngorm Connect project to creat deadwood at scale with remarkable consequences.
youtu.be/4VFhv3RUrys
youtu.be/4VFhv3RUrys
Role of disturbance in forests need disturbance: lessons creating deadwood
YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts
youtu.be
May 8, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Dead wood is known to be important in forests. The RSPB are carrying out experiments as part of the Cairngorm Connect project to creat deadwood at scale with remarkable consequences.
youtu.be/4VFhv3RUrys
youtu.be/4VFhv3RUrys
A nice looking Lackey caterpillar in Woodchurch yesterday evening.
May 7, 2025 at 12:15 PM
A nice looking Lackey caterpillar in Woodchurch yesterday evening.
First Poplar Hawkmoth I've seen this Spring, lovely! Also I've never noticed before how much the tufts on Frosted Green moths look like little cat ears :-)
May 2, 2025 at 1:27 PM
First Poplar Hawkmoth I've seen this Spring, lovely! Also I've never noticed before how much the tufts on Frosted Green moths look like little cat ears :-)
What hope have our rivers got? Huge pile of stinking poultry litter/manure, 25m long, 4m wide and 2m high, just 3 or 4 metres from the water's edge along the East Stour River, Kent and another even larger pile set further back. The field is usually underwater for several months of the year.
May 2, 2025 at 7:50 AM
What hope have our rivers got? Huge pile of stinking poultry litter/manure, 25m long, 4m wide and 2m high, just 3 or 4 metres from the water's edge along the East Stour River, Kent and another even larger pile set further back. The field is usually underwater for several months of the year.
Pleased to find a new monad for the lovely White Sedge (Carex canescens), a very rare plant in Kent. As is usual in these parts it's growing in a peaty woodland pool.
April 30, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Pleased to find a new monad for the lovely White Sedge (Carex canescens), a very rare plant in Kent. As is usual in these parts it's growing in a peaty woodland pool.
Extraordinary markings on this Purple Thorn make me think of of intricate inlays on fancy furniture.
April 13, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Extraordinary markings on this Purple Thorn make me think of of intricate inlays on fancy furniture.