Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve
@rowantnnr.bsky.social
Friends of Aston Rowant NNR sharing sightings and activities on and around the reserve. Tag us to share the news!
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Wonderful to hear Tom Bindoff awarded a BEM! Such a great volunteer for Aston Rowant NNR @rowantnnr.bsky.social
Tom Bindoff from Watlington, a specialist in accessible gates and stiles for public footpaths, receives the BEM for services to outdoor accessibility to nature. Composer and pianist Max Richter, who lives near Great Tew in north Oxfordshire, is appointed a CBE.
December 30, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Wonderful to hear Tom Bindoff awarded a BEM! Such a great volunteer for Aston Rowant NNR @rowantnnr.bsky.social
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Chilterns beechwoods, stunning just now, before the beautiful autumn colour leaves all are blown to the ground. Then they are are nice to kick through as you walk through the woods & great for #fungi of course Aston Rowant NNR @chilternsnl.bsky.social @rowantnnr.bsky.social
November 4, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Chilterns beechwoods, stunning just now, before the beautiful autumn colour leaves all are blown to the ground. Then they are are nice to kick through as you walk through the woods & great for #fungi of course Aston Rowant NNR @chilternsnl.bsky.social @rowantnnr.bsky.social
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Grassland #fungi time Excellent finds at Aston Rowant NNR included earthtongues, yellow spindles, beige coral, parrot waxcaps & the rare tiny brown toadstools called Fanvaults -the Hodophilus (Camarophyllopsis) species (last 2) some of which smell of mothballs! #fungifriends @rowantnnr.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Grassland #fungi time Excellent finds at Aston Rowant NNR included earthtongues, yellow spindles, beige coral, parrot waxcaps & the rare tiny brown toadstools called Fanvaults -the Hodophilus (Camarophyllopsis) species (last 2) some of which smell of mothballs! #fungifriends @rowantnnr.bsky.social
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A big mystery of autumn. Why are certain #fungi fruiting bodies spectacular colours? Yes a lot are white buff /brown, but bright yellow, red, green, blue -just why? L -Parrot waxcaps here from @rowantnnr.bsky.social. Green (look hard) & yellow, go pink later. R- Orange cup Melastiza cornubiensis
November 12, 2025 at 7:38 AM
A big mystery of autumn. Why are certain #fungi fruiting bodies spectacular colours? Yes a lot are white buff /brown, but bright yellow, red, green, blue -just why? L -Parrot waxcaps here from @rowantnnr.bsky.social. Green (look hard) & yellow, go pink later. R- Orange cup Melastiza cornubiensis
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Trying to help Juniper regeneration at Aston Rowant NNR chalk grassland on the Chilterns. Collecting Juniper berries to de-flesh & sow in scrapes & planting out a 3 yr old rooted cutting. Protection needed from rabbits, sheep and deer grazing for any young plants! @rowantnnr.bsky.social
December 20, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Trying to help Juniper regeneration at Aston Rowant NNR chalk grassland on the Chilterns. Collecting Juniper berries to de-flesh & sow in scrapes & planting out a 3 yr old rooted cutting. Protection needed from rabbits, sheep and deer grazing for any young plants! @rowantnnr.bsky.social
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Devil's bolete Rubroboletus satanas up in root zone of beeches at Aston Rowant NNR on the Chilterns. Nearby also Rooting Bolete Caloboletus radicans (yellow pores) and Lurid Bolete Suillellus luridus with Rockrose slow blueing with the first, faster with others #fungifriends @rowantnnr.bsky.social
September 23, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Devil's bolete Rubroboletus satanas up in root zone of beeches at Aston Rowant NNR on the Chilterns. Nearby also Rooting Bolete Caloboletus radicans (yellow pores) and Lurid Bolete Suillellus luridus with Rockrose slow blueing with the first, faster with others #fungifriends @rowantnnr.bsky.social
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Amazing in this drought in the south that fungi are somehow sourcing enough water from rain showers to fruit. Aston Rowant NNR on Chilterns shows spectacular growths of Giant polypore Meripilus giganteus at the base of several dead beech trees @rowantnnr.bsky.social
@fungiflowers.bsky.social
@fungiflowers.bsky.social
August 11, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Amazing in this drought in the south that fungi are somehow sourcing enough water from rain showers to fruit. Aston Rowant NNR on Chilterns shows spectacular growths of Giant polypore Meripilus giganteus at the base of several dead beech trees @rowantnnr.bsky.social
@fungiflowers.bsky.social
@fungiflowers.bsky.social
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It's a male Chalkhill Bue butterfly but is the flower a gentian or a Clustered Bellflower I'm trying to turn it into... #pollinatorpals @wildflowerhour.bsky.social r. #WildflowerID @rowantnnr.bsky.social
August 10, 2025 at 7:57 PM
It's a male Chalkhill Bue butterfly but is the flower a gentian or a Clustered Bellflower I'm trying to turn it into... #pollinatorpals @wildflowerhour.bsky.social r. #WildflowerID @rowantnnr.bsky.social
The #Chalk downland @rowantnnr.bsky.social now enters its purple phase: clustered bellflower, hare bell and sways of scabious!
August 10, 2025 at 11:45 AM
The #Chalk downland @rowantnnr.bsky.social now enters its purple phase: clustered bellflower, hare bell and sways of scabious!
Our annual count of Broad-leaved Cudweed @rowantnnr.bsky.social under sunshine this year! Huge thanks to Oxfordshire Flora Group & @judywebb.bsky.social for joining us - the numbers are looking promising for this important species in our #arable plots - @rbgkew.bsky.social @plantlifeuk.bsky.social
July 29, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Our annual count of Broad-leaved Cudweed @rowantnnr.bsky.social under sunshine this year! Huge thanks to Oxfordshire Flora Group & @judywebb.bsky.social for joining us - the numbers are looking promising for this important species in our #arable plots - @rbgkew.bsky.social @plantlifeuk.bsky.social
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Chalkhill Blue. Aston Rowant NNR 25/7/25
@rowantnnr.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
@rowantnnr.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
July 29, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Chalkhill Blue. Aston Rowant NNR 25/7/25
@rowantnnr.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
@rowantnnr.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
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Silver-spotted Skipper beginning to emerge at Aston Rowant NNR. Six counted 25/7/25.
@rowantnnr.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
@rowantnnr.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
July 26, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Silver-spotted Skipper beginning to emerge at Aston Rowant NNR. Six counted 25/7/25.
@rowantnnr.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
@rowantnnr.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
Unbelievable blue of the Adonis @rowantnnr.bsky.social 🦋
Stunning male second brood Adonis Blue. Aston Rowant NNR 25/7/25
@rowantnnr.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
@rowantnnr.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
July 26, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Unbelievable blue of the Adonis @rowantnnr.bsky.social 🦋
A cooler weather for our surveyors on their transect this week: Ringlet, Chalkhill Blue & Small Heath aplenty @rowantnnr.bsky.social
July 24, 2025 at 11:28 AM
A cooler weather for our surveyors on their transect this week: Ringlet, Chalkhill Blue & Small Heath aplenty @rowantnnr.bsky.social
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Great! found 8 Narrow-lipped Helleborines in flower at Aston Rowant #NNR in beechwood on chalk over last weeks - first time seen on site since 2016! Combo of two wet years followed by hot & dry yr? @rowantnnr.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @chilternsnl.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social
July 19, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Great! found 8 Narrow-lipped Helleborines in flower at Aston Rowant #NNR in beechwood on chalk over last weeks - first time seen on site since 2016! Combo of two wet years followed by hot & dry yr? @rowantnnr.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social @chilternsnl.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social
Such a better #summer for our #butterflies! The downland @rowantnnr.bsky.social is heaving with lots of species including gatekeepers and peacocks 🦋 #pollinators
July 15, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Such a better #summer for our #butterflies! The downland @rowantnnr.bsky.social is heaving with lots of species including gatekeepers and peacocks 🦋 #pollinators
An interesting find @rowantnnr.bsky.social 🌸🌸🌸
Odd, weird even, but it is all biodiversity. These strange green'granules' growing on very short chalk grassland turf are surely galls of the mite Aceria ononidis on Rest harrow Ononis repens at Aston Rowant #NNR. A normal ungalled shoot just visible. @rowantnnr.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social
July 9, 2025 at 11:51 AM
An interesting find @rowantnnr.bsky.social 🌸🌸🌸
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Enjoyable mothing at Aston Rowant NNR last night with @marcbotham.bsky.social A keen easterly wind limited the catch, but saw some really nice stuff that I don’t normally see incl Dingy White Plume, Reddish Light Arches, Brown Scallop, Large Nutmeg, Shaded & Satyr Pugs & Aethes tesserana. #teammoth
June 12, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Enjoyable mothing at Aston Rowant NNR last night with @marcbotham.bsky.social A keen easterly wind limited the catch, but saw some really nice stuff that I don’t normally see incl Dingy White Plume, Reddish Light Arches, Brown Scallop, Large Nutmeg, Shaded & Satyr Pugs & Aethes tesserana. #teammoth
A peaceful end to a rather busy week @rowantnnr.bsky.social - Red kites calling all around - #conservation #grazing 🐑
July 4, 2025 at 5:23 PM
A peaceful end to a rather busy week @rowantnnr.bsky.social - Red kites calling all around - #conservation #grazing 🐑
A beautiful sunken way @rowantnnr.bsky.social - an interesting historic feature, now stuffed with #chalkgrassland #flowers & #butterflies 🌸🦋
June 30, 2025 at 5:17 PM
A beautiful sunken way @rowantnnr.bsky.social - an interesting historic feature, now stuffed with #chalkgrassland #flowers & #butterflies 🌸🦋
What a stunner! A fantastic Privet hawk #moth found whilst a recent #volunteer group was working on some fence repairs @rowantnnr.bsky.social
June 27, 2025 at 5:26 PM
What a stunner! A fantastic Privet hawk #moth found whilst a recent #volunteer group was working on some fence repairs @rowantnnr.bsky.social
Swathes of flowers @rowantnnr.bsky.social under the sunshine this week, including one of our favourites - Squinancywort. Here it can be found carpeting the tops of Yellow meadow ant hills #wildflower #NNR
June 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Swathes of flowers @rowantnnr.bsky.social under the sunshine this week, including one of our favourites - Squinancywort. Here it can be found carpeting the tops of Yellow meadow ant hills #wildflower #NNR
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Small-flowered Sweet-briar, Rosa micrantha, on chalk grassland. Aston Rowant NNR, South Oxfordshire. #wildflowerhour. Not #urbanplants but very close to the M40!
June 15, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Small-flowered Sweet-briar, Rosa micrantha, on chalk grassland. Aston Rowant NNR, South Oxfordshire. #wildflowerhour. Not #urbanplants but very close to the M40!
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Spectacular swathes of Common Valerian & Dropwort at #AstonRowant #NNR. Two of my favourite flowers & Dropwort always characteristic of old #grassland in my experience. When does Dropwort ever colonise any new areas today? The Valerian scent was beautiful. @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflower
June 16, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Spectacular swathes of Common Valerian & Dropwort at #AstonRowant #NNR. Two of my favourite flowers & Dropwort always characteristic of old #grassland in my experience. When does Dropwort ever colonise any new areas today? The Valerian scent was beautiful. @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflower