Botanist, mycologist, cyclist and gardener based in Norwich, UK. Wildlife, especially insects and other invertebrates. Author of Jeremy Bartlett's "Let It Grow" blog, https://www.jeremybartlett.co.uk. Sorry, unable to read or send direct messages.
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Another day, yet ANOTHER stupid, pointless announcement on immigration from this stupid pointless government. Today: you are a student - we're going to write you a stern letter about how you better not be thinking of staying! Insanity. Racist, cowardly, insanity. #r4today
I meant to add that we usually have dry weather too (although showery at the moment).
Sorry to hear your trip is cancelled. I can recommend Norfolk & Suffolk if you want to visit somewhere with lots of quiet roads (albeit not as spectacular as Scotland).
The body of evidence showing that when centrist parties adopt the priorities and talking points of the far right, they torpedo themselves is vast and powerful. Yet Keir Starmer's Labour Party seems determined to ignore it. A few examples in 🧵: theconversation.com/how-should-l...
Well Britain definitely doesn't need Starmer.
Labour doubling down on migrants is so self defeating. The country won’t get better because migrants aren’t the problem, and they’ll still get voted out. Chasing the far right is a fool’s errand. Fixing the country for everyone is the only real solution.
Cross-party MPs publish ‘ready to go’ blueprint for electoral reform commission “We believe the government has a responsibility to urgently address the use of [FPTP] for general elections…” #FPTP #ProportionalRepresentation #getPRdone www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/09...
A solo cycle ride for me yesterday but not entirely alone as the day was bookended by friendly cats and there was a reception committee of sheep at Carleton Forehoe. Lunch at lovely Hackford. 39 miles, 10 churches, searched for pseuds and found them in 5 of the churchyards.
Farage is absolutely awful but Starmer is helping his vile anti-immigrant hatred, so is to blame too. A decent leader would make a case for immigration.
Chlorociboria aeruginascens. Always nice to see the Green Elfcups appear. Thank you, rain. 🍄📷 #FungiFriends #MushroomMonday
Either what he says is true and he's an utter twat, or what he says is a load of lies and he's an utter twat.
Britain has been multicultural for the last 2000 years. That's why we have the Roman alphabet, a Middle East religion, Arabic numerals, a Syrian patron saint, an aristocracy with French ancestry and a German royal family.
Yet another capitulation to Reform, when all the evidence shows that following the far right agenda is a disaster for centrist parties. Politics 101, which Starmer has once again entirely failed to grasp.
1 September 2025 is the day Labour went FULL REFORM. They're dead as a party. The next few years will be spent on twitching and rigor mortis, but they're done. Today was the finale. Astonishing. Who could have dared predict it when they swept to power with a massive majority just over a year ago?
Starmer peaked at the General Election and has gone very rapidly downhill. I keep thinking he's reached the bottom but nearly every day he proves me wrong.
🤣🤣🤣 It’s funny because it’s true.
"Few have made it easier for Reform to fill the void than Starmer, who could have hardly done more if he had subletted Downing Street out to Farage and washed the towels." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Ecballium elaterium Pepinillo del diablo Squirting cucumber
HISTORY IS BEING MADE TODAY Today, the largest civilian flotilla ever assembled has set sail from Spain, carrying hope and humanitarian aid to Gaza. People from 44 nations, united on dozens of boats, are defying the blockade with solidarity and courage. (From #GlobalSumudFlotilla on IG & Twitter)
Pushing up the Daisies and the wonder of rain. This is the Daisy Earthstar, Geastrum floriforme, in my local cemetery. It is hygroscopic, the rays curl up and cover the spore sack in dry weather; after the recent little bit of rain I got to see one unfurled. #FungiFriends
A Carswell-free would be a good thing.
Possibly the finest specimen of Pseudoboletus parasiticus - Parasitic Bolete I have ever found. What an absolute beauty. Growing from Scleroderma citrinum - Common Earthball. 🍄📷 #FungiFriends #MushroomMonday
I do the same with Oenanthe and Oenathera. I think I've mastered Eryngium and Erigeron.
Peak rail fares have been scrapped on ScotRail trains, meaning passengers will no longer pay higher prices for travelling during busy weekday rush hours. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Say it again, and again, and again. They are not "illegal immigrants". -seeking asylum is legal and has been since 1951. This legally trumps all arguments of “but they arrived by illegal means”. That’s just a fact. That’s why you don’t see asylum seekers arrested & charged. Our MSM must do better.
Tides are indeed changing, as Farage (enabled by the BBC and right-wing newspapers) are whipping up hatred of migrants. Starmer encourages this by repeating their hatred instead of emphasising how we actually need migration. He is leading Britain into fascism and a Reform government.
We were cycle touring in the west of Scotland and decided to abandon because of heavy rain. We got to Mallaig, where the guard ignored the rule on maximum number of bikes and allowed lots of soaked cyclists to get on the train. It was a sensible act of pure kindness, much appreciated.
I wouldn’t have thought many Labour MPs came into politics to strip the rights of torture survivors to be reunited with the spouses & children. They need to take a long hard look in the mirror & ask whether Starmer, Cooper & Reeves are really the leadership their careers should be remembered with.
Latest BSBI Scotland blog post: botsocscot.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/p...
UK politicians and media have stirred up so much hatred. Time to say: NO. Time to reclaim British values of fairness, tolerance and compassion
The doorstep milk thief, 1966 Artist: Ronald Lampitt
Golden Dock, Rumex maritimus. A new plant for me. At Dickleburgh Moor, Norfolk, today. wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/D/Do... #WildFlowerHour
Water Chickweed, Stellaria aquatica. Dickleburgh Moor, Norfolk, today. #WildFlowerHour
Between tarmac & pasture, a wall-top blooms with Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Harebell, ferns and fine grasses. A narrow ribbon of biodiversity squeezed between two low-diversity landscapes. #WildflowerHour #Biodiversity #Cumbria forktail.co.uk/2025/08/27/a...
Nymphs of Hairy Shieldbug, Dolycoris baccarum. Dickleburgh Moor today. www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/... #Shieldbugs #Hemiptera #UKWildlife
Typo: it's Tyrrel's Wood. www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woo...
Some lovely fresh Oak Brackets, Pseudoinonotus dryadeus, in Tyrrel's Wood, Norfolk today. www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/2021/10/01/o... #Fungi #FungiFriends
Blackening Brittlegills, Russula nigricans. Tyrrell's Wood, Norfolk, today. Still very dry and haunted by the ghosts of fungi that appeared after rain several weeks ago, many aged and dried beyond identification. #Fungi #FungiFriends
Nodding Bur-Marigold, Bidens cernua var. radiata. Masses of it, infected with powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii, at Dickleburgh Moor, Norfolk, today. www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/2019/09/24/n... #WildFlowerHour #Fungi #FungiFriends
“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” - Nelson Mandela
Myriostoma coliforme, the saltshaker earthstar (or pepper pot). A beautiful observation from Zoutelande in the Netherlands for #FunDive. 🍄🧂🇳🇱
Driftwood - the treasure lining our beaches. Understand the importance of driftwood to some of our rarest invertebrates, and why we really should leave it on the beach... www.buglife.org.uk/blog/driftwo...
Vast areas of peatland destroyed since peat ban announced exactly 3 years ago... www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/vast-ar...
Good to see so many Palestinian flags at la Vuelta.
A simple test of humanity. Do you support Palestine and their right to exist?
www.buglife.org.uk/campaigns/sa... The former Arena Essex Raceway is a unique mosaic of brownfield features, calcareous grassland, flowery Thames Terrace Grassland, bare ground, scrub and young woodland, earning it Local Wildlife Site status. Now under threat. Please read & sign the petition.
Good God, Starmer's at it again. We're seeing people attacked and racially abused in the streets, businesses being vandalised and graffitied, and all he can think to do is keep beating the "!!! FEAR IMMIGRANTS !!!" drum louder and louder and louder. He is the enemy now as much as the Tories were.
Todays word of the day: FARAGE
Starmer had one shot to fix the country. Rejoin S/M, implement P/R, + press & social media reg => ultimately bring us down from the frenzied radicalisation & echo chambers. He's fucked up on all of it. He probably will be ousted.
...and I fear this authoritarian government will try to remove charity status from any organisation which dares to criticise their support for mass murderers of children "You’ve got to know you’re on the wrong side of history when Save The Children is criticising you" via @dailypolitik.bsky.social
FGS #R4Today re a potential withdrawal from the #ECHR, the level of debate is poor. This is not about immigration. It protects ALL UK cits from those in power, whoever they are. This is a campaign by bad actors to Take Back Control from Us so they can do what they please. Fear them!! #Butterflies
They call it progress. A card like Estonia. Digital ID for migrants, then workers, then you. Efficiency is the mask. Control is the aim. Freedom doesn’t come with a barcode. It comes with trust, solidarity, and a country that believes in its people.
More idiotic advice to become more like Reform to stop Reform It won't work There needs to be a strong alternative narrative, but don't expect Starmer & Co to provide it This government is dead in the water www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
I have! I've tried a bottle hoverfly lagoon but I think ours are addicted to tea. Hoverfly Lagoons share.google/AEvukQEY9ejH...
True, although I feel much the same about Homo sapiens.
Norfolk is lovely, though too full of Tories of the Tory, Reform and Labour variety.
Fascinating to watch hoverfly larvae (rat-tailed maggots) in our compost bucket (tea dregs that haven't gone to the compost heap yet). The rear end has a telescopic breathing siphon which acts like a snorkel, allowing the larva to breathe air while submerged. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat-tai...
Sand batteries are literally just silos of sand that retain heat exceptionally well -- so well that they can be tied to heat exchange systems to serve as proxy *electrical* batteries. Finland's new model can store enough power (100 MWh) to heat an entire town for a week. newatlas.com/energy/large...
This is how we do it; joined up thinking & land restoration, in community ownership - bigger & better for people & wildlife. Lovely positive stuff from Paul Evans for @environment.theguardian.com Country Diary.
It must be a sad moment. I've had my allotment for 25 years. It's on sandy soil so easy to work but hard to keep watered. There's so much more to it than fruit & veg. Wildlife, wild flowers ("weeds"), good neighbours, fresh air, exercise. But one day I will have to give it up...
I love licorice and have to resist the urge to eat them.
New report shows that bees choose to visit flowers to meet specific nutritional requirements, and those requirements change over the bees' life-cycle. Another reason to keep/plant a wide diversity of native, pesticide-free flowering plants to support pollinators. 🧪 🌍 🌱 🐝 tinyurl.com/3fj2wkst
"So let’s call this for what it is. Britain isn’t being destroyed by migrants or minorities. It’s being destroyed by people too stubborn to see they are marching to somebody else’s drum. A drum we heard in 1933."
www.farminguk.com/news/-dead-m...
Today marks the 95th anniversary of the evacuation of St Kilda. You can listen to this podcast with Roger Hutchinson on life before the evacuation and the factors that led to this decision www.nts.org.uk/visit/places...
@britishspiders.bsky.social seen this?! www.livescience.com/animals/spid...
#fabulamurina (mouse story) 458 mures occupatissimi erant (The mice were very busy). Minimus novam mensam fecit, Minima clavos in murum fixit et Silvius vasa coquinatoria et lucanicam suspendit (Minimus made a new table, Minima put nails in the wall and Silvius hung up kitchenware and a sausage).
One of my favourites. They appear on freshly fallen trees and someone told me that's because the fungus is already present in the tree, but in a non-fruiting form.
"If your client has evidence to support her assertions, this ought to have been disclosed. As she has not, she must cease her misleading campaign immediately.” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
It's been quite a while since I've done any proper artwork so I thought I'd loosen up the muscles of my drawing hand by sketching some Geastrum Earthstar specimens. Need to work on the detail and deepen the shadows but quite pleased so far.
explaining scary things in the news to your elected leaders www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
"It is as if we now have laws on protest that only apply to those seeking a more sustainable, peaceful and harmonious way of life, while those seeking to disrupt it are beyond the law. How and why is that?"
My latest blog post, Orpine (Hylotelephium telephium). www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/2025/08/29/o... #WildFlowerHour
New interview with Greta Thunberg in Barcelona yesterday by Middle East Eye. The climate activist and arguably the leading humanitarian voice of our age is about to set sail along with dozens of ships from dozens of nations to bring urgent food and medical aid to millions of people in Gaza
With multi party politics and five political parties polling double digits, the current first-past-the-post electoral system is clearly not fit for purpose. Just 34% of the votes cast could gift Reform U.K., 63% of the 650 MPs in the HoC. It’s time to GET PR DONE! #getPRdone
It is! A very lovely specimen too.
I agree. Calling them fascists doesn't work. Treating them like we treated fascists in the 30, 70 and 90s will though. No pasaran.
secure.hopenothate.org.uk/page/176528/...
More Golden Conecaps, Conocybe aurea, in cucumber pots in an allotment neighbour's greenhouse. #Fungi #FungiFriends
Every donation to Care4Calais helps provide support to refugees in northern France and the UK. help.care4calais.org/page/177007/...
Reform led Nottinghamshire Council has blacklisted a local paper for asking questions about what Reform councillors were doing. Farage says he welcomes free speech, that should apply to freedom of the press too. Sign petition to get them to reverse the decision: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/re...
"Oddly the BBC never mentions this. It would be a shock to people in England to see how poorly treated we are down here." via Expats for Scotland Independence
Government must get a grip before it's too late. These things are dangerous, and just make communities worse. www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...
Also an issue in the countryside where SUVs take up the entire width of narrow lanes.
"Britains latest Nuclear Power station (Hinkley Point C) is 3.2GW (2 x 1.6GW reactors) costing £50 Billion, which is 4 x more than the cost of 8.1GW Dogger Bank wind farm (£11-15 Billion)" Hinckley Point C Nuclear = £15.6 Billion per GW Digger Bank Wind Farm = £1.85 Billion per GW via Marcus A Dare
Mycologist Arthur Peck (1870-1940) was such a fun guy (sorry, not sorry) we've added his 150+ images of British fungi to our Digitised Special Collections buff.ly/DwrpsMW. #NaturalHistoryMuseum #SpecialCollections #NatureInArt #Photography #SciArt #Mushrooms Alt text: Reel of sepia photos of fungi
That about sums it up?
Not a drill.
Very proud of hubby @jon-elsa.bsky.social for writing this excellent piece.
One million hectares have burned across the EU so far this year. Langdale Moor in North Yorkshire is on fire as we speak. And yet governments and the media continue to bury their heads. Only the Green Party has a plan to tackle climate breakdown and close the inequality gap.
Yorkshire moors burning releasing massive amounts of carbon. Yet BBC doesn't interview anyone from @greenparty.org.uk. Meanwhile Farage goes unchallenged on his denial of climate change. Routinely gets headline coverage. Greens & Reform both have 4 MPs. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion...
"The Center Party’s support for the act did not moderate Hitler; it gave him total control. This was the final, fatal miscalculation—the belief that democracy’s protections could be bargained away but democracy itself could still somehow survive." There are lessons to be learned here and in the US.
Another day, another pop at immigrants from Starmer. That's 21 anti-immigrant tweets from him so far in August, far more than on any other topic. (Nothing at all about the positives of immigration.) x.com/keir_starmer...
Nigel Farage’s Reform wants to bring back fracking in England. We need to lock the current ban in law. Join me and tell the Prime Minister: make the fracking ban permanent. @friends_earth 👇 foe.uk/ksojs
Mapping Israel's influence on the UK parliament. 🔍 "Two names stand out: Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) and Labour Friends of Israel (LFI)... CFI claims 80% of Tory MPs as members. It’s funded 118 current Conservative MPs on 160 trips, spending over £330,000."