Andy Musgrove

A revised version of the very well-illustrated key to spiny-winged flies in family Heleomyzidae has been made available by the authors: Duncan Sivell, Alan Stubbs and Ian Andrews Download it from the Heleomyzid Recording Scheme page on DF website here: dipterists.org.uk/heleomyzid-s... - open access

If you enjoyed this #NUTCRACKER please consider donating to the local Lifeboat. Big twitches in small villages can be fractious with local residents. Let's make a positive contribution to the community to help ease any tensions. www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding... #rarebirdsuk @birdguides.bsky.social

An excellent job opportunity for an experienced entomologist The #DarwinTreeofLife project, based at @nhm-london.bsky.social are seeking someone with good identification skills to join this fantastic project @royentsoc.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social jobs.nhm.ac.uk/internal/Job...

Stunning, spiny-winged Gymnomus caesius males are out there holding territory on logs in woodland now...beautiful flies and very approachable! #heleomyzidae #spinywingedflies #allerthorpecommon @ynuorg.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Leucistic Eurasian Wigeon flew west past Holme-next-the-Sea last weekend. Surely it will be found in a flock somewhere soon. Have you seen it? #NorfolkBirding

The commonest aphid I've been seeing on birch is the Silver Birch Aphid, Euceraphis betulae. They are quite skittish and often run off along the leaf stem when disturbed, but the immature ones are also very well camouflaged at this time of year (have a close look to see how many are present!)

🚨 The new Red List for Britain’s dragonflies is here! The 2026 review draws on 1.3 million+ records collected over 20 years. 8 species are now classed as Endangered, twice as many as in 2008. 📖 Read the full review & share: buff.ly/muwGa3Z

Something for Norfolk-based naturalists to keep a look out for this autumn. So far there is just a single county record (from New Buckenham Common)

Catching up with some Norfolk highlights from last week including the (non - ruled out on sonogram) promising-looking 'Eastern' Yellow Wagtail, splendid weevil off Sea Beet Lixus scabricollis and a rust on Sea Campion at Cley with PSL maestros @graemelyons.bsky.social and @andymus.bsky.social

We've got some great opportunities to join us at BTO! Discover more and apply for our jobs and voluntary roles online at www.bto.org/jobs #Ornithology

Phyllonorycter medicaginella (Medick Leaf-miner) - New for Norfolk. Mines found on Sand Lucerne (Medicago × varia) in the Brecks and bred out. (J. Symonds, 05/10/26) #norfolkmoths norfolkmoths.co.uk/micros.php?b...

Job Alert! 🔉 We're looking for two part-time Field Surveyors for the Winter survey season from November - March to conduct wintering bird surveys. To discover more and apply visit ➡️ www.bto.org/jobs 📍 Survey areas: Yorkshire Dales & the Fens. 📝 Deadline for applications: Sunday 18 October 2026.

Nice bit of green stuff down Essex way

Are there any Bristletail experts out there to advise on whether this is Trigoniophthalmus alternatus (Cave Bristletail). Seen in south Devon (& I've read now that it's a hot-spot nationally for the species). Looks good to us but expert help would be welcomed. @linnetincley.bsky.social #bristletail

Trying the new mobile LED trap out in Cley last night. It works! 15/11 including 2 Mallow, Feathered Thorn, Black Rustic, Green-brindled Crescent, Sallow etc. Never had the Mallow in Shrewsbury. #teammoth

Really useful pics Dave, thanks

Do you have nature records in notebooks that you never look at and wonder what to do with? I've transcribed 10,000 records from the 1960-70s from a Welsh ornithological legend into @birdtrack.bsky.social and @cofnod.org.uk. And it was fascinating... #BirdingWales www.cofnod.org.uk/news/natural...

Always stay alert… Walking past some ivy on a southeast London street. My subconscious discerns a micromoth fizzing. Turns out to be Clepsis dumicolana. Turns out there are a dozen. Relatively recent, ivy-feeding colonist. And new for me.

Thanks to @andymus.bsky.social and @ajcann.bsky.social, have joined the IKEA moth-trap club. With an added gizmo: a light sensor switch for ~£5. Will see what it captures tomorrow morning!

Should you wish to indulge your love of beetles (and why wouldn’t you) this brilliant and scholarly website will certainly help. It’s a work of art by a human. www.rosspiper.net/2020/01/10/s...

We're looking for our next Editor of BTO News! Find out more about the role and apply here➡️ www.bto.org/jobs 😀 📅 Full time, Permanent. 📝 £38,710.00 per annum. 📍 Thetford, Norfolk (Hybrid). Deadline for applications: 30 September 2026. #Ornithology

If you have Snapdragons in the garden or nearby, it is worth checking them for the attractively-marked bug Dicyphus escalerae. There are few Norfolk records, but I found it in my garden a few years ago and in my in-laws garden this week, so presumably it is being overlooked elsewhere.

Species 8,705: Felicola subrostratus (Cat Biting Louse). Helpful having a vet around the house to contribute to the @panspecieslisting.bsky.social. This species was brought to me in a pot full of cat hair. And it can stay in there.

Best catch yet from the new LED trap, pulling in 125 moths of 30 species in the back garden. Clay Triple-lines and Dark Spinach were both new for garden!

Question: I'm thinking of splashing out and getting a Swarovski ST balance, and was wondering if anyone has been using one and can offer some advice, pros/cons. Any situations where it can't replace a high-end scope and tripod (I have a Kowa TSN 99a) - seawatching? Also, straight or angled? Thanks.

Superb find by Harry and co! Here's the Blue-winged Gropper (Oedipoda caerulescens) that @ecology-digest.bsky.social and I found in Kent in 2022 for comparison/info.

Very exciting to kick this up at Colne Point, Essex on Saturday, just moments after remarking how I didn’t think I’d recognise a grasshopper new to Britain. Sphingonotus caerulans, the second British, and likely first natural record. Found with @graemelyons.bsky.social and @josscarr.bsky.social

Would also appreciate opinions on mine from a farm track/ex arable margin 200m from buildings near Colchester please!

Now with sound file. I think this is House Cricket (Acheta domestica) but any confirmation/correction welcome - thanks

Update, I think these were House Crickets. Don't seem to be able to add a sound file to BlueSky though.

Unrecognised crickets calling at site near Ipswich tonight. I suspect they'll prove to be Verge Crickets although not immediately sure they sound quite right. Disappearing into cracks in concrete pad tho which fits the bill, and from glimpses seem superficially right. Bit more research required tmrw

Thanks for the inspiration Andy! ajcarthropoda.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-mo...

Solar eclipse totality was a fascinating event. The phone image is very different to that experienced, where the moon suddenly appeared haloed by a thinner ring of fire. Can see why an intense and even religious experience for people seeing this without any warning. Well worth the effort!

Eye of Sauron spotted over Spain just now.

Western Channel and northern Biscay: 500 C Dolphin, 3 Bn Dolphin, 1 ?Fin? Whale, 500 Great Shear, 40 Cory's, 2 Sooty, 1000 Manx, 2 Bonxie, 1 Sunfish, tuna, inevitable sunburn etc. Very pleasant day.

Portsmouth, about to set sail for Biscay, bring on them whales and petrels!

Even after 20 years, the garden moth trap keeps throwing up new species. Waved Black last week and Cydia amplana last night.

We have just hit 500 followers, thanks to all of you. Please spread the word and keep the posts coming.

Job opportunity: Irish Bird Atlas Project Manager BirdWatch Ireland is seeking an enthusiastic and self-motivated individual to lead organisation of the upcoming Bird Atlas 2027-31 across the Republic of Ireland. Closing date 11th Sept. Find out more: birdwatchireland.ie/get-involved...

Re my previous post, I don't need to return to see the adult. I stuck the larvae with its ball of vegetation in a jam jar, and hey presto!

Following the sad news about Bill Oddie, here's our own little tribute from BUBO Listing bubo.org/bill-oddie.h.... RIP Bill.

Here's the full story of what we believe to be the start of the colonisation of yet another new orthopteran to the British Isles.

A search for 𝐸𝑟𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑝ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑖 led me to its British stronghold in Oxfordshire, where I soon found it at Hartslock NR. This high-quality chalk grassland was also the site of my 4,000th species in the British Isles, a day shy of five months after my 3,000th and a couple of days before my 17th birthday.

Sadly there were no takers over the weekend for the freebie Macmillan Guide, so if anyone would like this copy of a still brilliant little guide, ping us a DM or message me here & we can sort it from there. It has a slight rip on the back cover, which I'll sellotape up for free too 😉

Great idea. One of the most inspiring books when I was young, then I was lucky enough to get to know Keith in person, then later to employ Alan's daughter! Any young birders need this book.

Definitely oblitella. It has various colour forms.

Garden moth-trap last night contained this pyralid. Looks to be a few vaguely similar options - ObsIdentify seems keen on Ancylosis oblitella, which looks feasible? Anyone feel confident enough to say? Might have to try giving it the chop.

Rambur's Pied Shieldbug (Tritomegas sexmaculata), nymphs on Black Horehound at Manningtree this afternoon, perhaps the most northerly record so far? Also, a Hudsonian Godwit (not pictured), a long-overdue world tick for me - will have to visit again at low tide though, to see a bit more activity!