Kirsty Brannan

Friends - the seasons are changing and I’m migrating to vanellus26.bsky.social. It would be lovely to connect with you over there. 🦋

@emmahamer2 That does look good for Toothwort, which is also in the Orobanche family. Lovely find!

I got very excited today when I thought I had found my first ever Orobanche. But looking it up in Keeble Martin, it might have been toothwort- Lathria squamaria? Can any botanists help? #wildflowerhour

First Dark-edged bee-flies of the year at a local wood this morning. Brimstone, Comma and Peacock butterflies on the wing. #BeeFlyWatch

Good turn out at FG Live event to launch the Agriwellbeing Alliance today @lammashow with @TheCrownEstate @TheNAAC @AgriiUK @MatesInMind @HarperAdamsUni @d_christianrose and @FCNcharity 👏🏼👏🏼💛

The best New Year lights. A touch of #AuroraBorealis this evening, Warwickshire.

@DefraGovUK closes the main Capital Grants scheme to new applications, apparently without giving the 6-week notice promised. It leaves many who applied to the scheme months ago waiting until ‘early 2025’ for more info. Bad news for the environment. defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/27/an-…

@ChrisHewis So sorry, Chris.

In the top 10 of rubbish jobs, planning your Mum's funeral is right up there. 🥲

Completing the last of some woodland plant transects today, but kept getting distracted by fungi. Like these stunning Amethyst deceivers. #MushroomMonday

@DittishamFarm @EnvAgency I would agree - it’s no replacement for walking the land (especially when it’s raining). There are situations when that level of local knowledge isn’t easily available though. Tools like this can help target further investigation and evidence support for interventions.

@Vanellus26 @EnvAgency I don't think farmers need a map to tell them that on their own land? I certainly know all pinch points to be kept clear to force the run-off the way I want it, down to a dead end!

Pleased to hear that the @EnvAgency ALERT tool is now available via farmingadviceservice.org.uk/csf/tools A useful mapping tool to spot out potential runoff pathways and areas vulnerable to soil erosion.

Forget Norway, Finland etc, clearly we should be marketing north Oxfordshire as THE tourist destination for seeing the #NorthernLights. #Aurora

Another scale busting map! September rainfall for the UK. Huge variation but parts of southern England seeing over three & a half times their average rainfall. Incredibly Bedfordshire & Oxfordshire saw their wettest month (of any month) in at least 188 years.

Selection of #StillFlowering plants from this morning’s dog walk for #WildflowerHour - Red clover, Autumn hawkbit, Yarrow, White clover, Common ragwort, Spindle, Ivy, White campion, White dead-nettle, Red campion & Hogweed.

Male Box-tree moth showing off his iridescence whilst looking for a dry spot amongst the long grass this morning. Accidentally introduced to Europe from east Asia on imported plants around 2007, and spread into and across the UK since then.

@LinesMartin Slight correction suggestion - ‘In 2023, about 1,200 farmers in England applied for *Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship,* but fewer than 600 had agreements taken forward.’ (The older Higher Level Stewardship scheme closed for new applicants c2013.) @FarmersWeekly @PhilipCaseFW

It's frustrating to see progress held back by delays in the new environmental schemes. 🌱 Farmers are ready to deliver for nature and food security, but without the support, we can’t get moving. 🚜 We need this funding now more than ever! 🌍🌾 fwi.co.uk/business/payme…

@BritishSpiders Fantastic - thank you so much!

@Vanellus26 Yes, a crab spider. It's difficult to see any detail but the dark colour, legs included, suggests it's most probably Xysticus acerbus - srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal.php/p/S…

Going through inverts swept from grassland in Hampshire in July - anyone fancy naming this large, dark (crab?) spider? @BritishSpiders

@GhostlyVision Only if it had been hitchhiking.

@Vanellus26 @BritishSpiders projectnoah.org/spottings/3330… Perhaps this?

Bit of light cloud and a slight camera wobble, but a lovely pass from @Space_Station just now. @NightCapApp

@legless2007 🧡

I’ve survived our anniversary alone, again. Ultreia, I suppose. #grief #widow