Nick Mott

#WorldRiversDay Headwater & tributary streams make up >80% of the total channel length of river networks. These #Small_Streams are the key to the health, conservation & restoration of our main rivers @WildlifeTrusts @StaffsWildlife @PondRiverStream @RRC @BiodiversityEA

Brook Lampreys (Lampetra planeri) spawning at a site in the Lower River Shannon catchment this week. This is the smallest of the three Irish lamprey species and is the first to spawn. This is the first spawning activity I have recorded this year. Most people do not even know that lampreys are present in rivers, as they live hidden in sediments for most of their lives, only to appear for a few days in the spring to spawn and then perish. Lampreys are living fossils that arose c. 350 million years ago. They are an important part of the biodiversity and ecology of a healthy river. All three Irish lamprey species are listed under Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive. However, their numbers are in decline due to impacts from factors such as river engineering works, declining water quality, and habitat loss. Although considered to be a resident species, they do undertake local migrations in rivers between nursery areas and spawning areas, and even small weirs can block these movements and fragment their habitats.

The male Silver Colonel is a stunning soldierfly of fens & marshes (this one seen at @BBOWT's Rack Marsh, nr Newbury, but you need to get the angle just right to capture its silver-haired abdomen. Look out for it April-June. #BestFlyBook bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @DipteristsForum

Becoming beaver ready! Yesterday, we released guidance in collaboration with @WildlifeTrusts, setting out the support and funding needed in England to ensure farmers, landowners and beavers can thrive together. Read more, and find the guidance here👇 tinyurl.com/4uwh6dt2

Brachythops flavens A fairly distinctive sawfly species the larvae are known to feed on sedges in wetland habitats. The specimen was swept from lake shore edge in Sheskinmore Nature Reserve, Co Donegal (02.vii.2025) appears to be the first record for Donegal.

Fallen trees are the magic ingredient that transforms shallow #ChalkStreams as most don’t have sufficient energy to move gravel🧐large Woody Debris🪾increases scouring creating deep pools which Trout❤️ @Blacky_Himself @Chairman_WTT @NickMott7

@RussellB1ggs @Blacky_Himself @Chairman_WTT Magnificent!

@Dynamic_Rivers @reelrivers Well said!

30 large wood examples across multiple naturalisation schemes in the UK. All have dramatically improved local system form and functioning and NONE have moved downstream to create a flood risk issue despite not being terthered by cable and stakes. Don't engineer - mimic nature!

In meeting national goals for Nature’s recovery, it is hard to think of a quicker or cheaper way to do it than via the assistance of Beavers. theguardian.com/environment/20…

Migratory freshwater fish are in steep decline due to pressures along their paths, including dams, altered flows, habitat degradation, pollution and unsustainable fishing. Restoring rivers and habitats cannot wait. Read the #CMSFreshwaterFishes report: cms.int/publication/gl…

Sorry, timber log weirs are not natural nor do they replicate natural processes... they replicate ecosystem disconnecting & damaging weirs. Leaky, brashy, beaver analogue, structures do work brilliantly though. Like these... x.com/i/status/16313… #BrashIsBest

A remarkable find at Kingley Vale NNR 🍄 The blue-based earthtongue has been recorded in the UK for the first time and only the second time in Europe! Discovered by amateur #fungi enthusiast, Liz Frost. Read more in our latest blog: 👉 naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2026/03/26/a-r… 📸: Liz Frost

Beavers dig canals as they rely on water for protection, and these channels let them travel further into the landscape, acting as quick escape routes from predators. They can also float heavy branches through canals, saving energy and accessing food up to 100 metres away. 1/6

🚀 Incredible movement alert! Our @PulsarWild sponsored CTT-tagged Jack Snipe has just completed an astonishing journey reaching Belgium from Staffordshire in just 7 hours 9 minutes! 🇬🇧➡️🇧🇪 That’s an average speed of 30+ mph for one of our most elusive and secretive species. 🤯

Why do photographers get down and dirty?

Yesterday, we were thrilled to release a pair of beavers into @ForestryLS's Loch Morlich. This is an exciting step in establishing a wild population in the Spey catchment, under licence from @NatureScot, realising the vision set out in Scotland’s Beaver Strategy. 1/4

@juliet_turner6 @PhilipPullman !

Into the field with @naturalengland team to see how a Protected Site Strategy is recovering one of England’s most natural & cleanest rivers: the Coquet in Northumberland. Met with brilliant farmers & other partners working to restore dynamic natural processes across the catchment

Not always what they seem - Criorhina ranunculi a bumblebee mimic hoverfly & Conops vesicularis a hornet mimic robberfly - both seen in March in Berkshire. Find out more in our NEW guide to #FliesofBritainandIreland bit.ly/4dqQI8Z @BBOWT @DipteristsForum @StevenFalk1

@juliet_turner6 PS not all of them are tiny. This is Chalcis sispes (Britain's biggest) which attacks the larvae of Stratiomys soliderflies. Mostly in coastal grazing marsh but I seem to recall we got one from Cothill Fen for @darwintreelife DNA sequencing (see p93 of the fly book).