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Tim Blackburn

@mothyblackburn.bsky.social

3.8K followers 550 following 6.5K posts

Professor of Invasion Biology at UCL. Amateur father, birder, moth-er. Mainly post wildlife photos, occasionally science and politics. Author of The Jewel Box, winner of the ZSL Clarivate Award for Communicating Zoology.

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Environmental science 63%

Geography 16%

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Reposted by Tim M. Blackburn

Auke Hoekstra @aukehoekstra.bsky.social · 2h

And now Chinese EVs are cheaper in the showroom (and MUCH cheaper to drive) than combustion engines.

Nobody will want to buy combustion engines in 2030, but these knuckle draggers want to lead the EU industry towards total annihilation by sticking their head in the sand.

Bah.

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 5h

As if them eating moths wasn't bad enough...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Greater noctule bats prey on and consume passerines in flight

Despite billions of passerines seasonally migrating during the night at high altitudes, only three bat species have been found to consistently tap into this rich prey resource. However, it remains unk...

www.science.org

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 1d

Bempton Cliffs apparently. Might turn north…

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 2d

Ah. It's not getting any commoner it seems.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 2d

Sorry! (Not sorry 😈)

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 2d

Good numbers, Liz. (At least no wasps here.)

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 2d

Moth numbers down to just 11:8 in the Camden trap overnight, but one NFY with just my second ever Dusky-lemon Sallow. A scarce species locally it seems - the Herts & Middx website only has one record from 2024, the one I caught on 6th October. #TeamMoth

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 2d

It was a total pain to subdue. It may find itself chopped now for my troubles!

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 2d

Thoughts?!

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 3d

Large Ranunculus?

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 3d

Ah yes, thanks for reminding me. Especially as my chances of getting back into the lab this year are slim.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks! There's certainly no shortage of Plane trees near me. Also I suspect Uncertain just from previous relative numbers, but it's in the fridge...

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 3d

A few moths flying in London overnight, with 17:11 in the Camden trap this morning. Acleris sparsana was NFY, and the 700th species I've photographed this year (699 adults, 1 caterpillar). Also late Uncertain/Rustic and Phyllonorycter platani (opinions welcome on both). #TeamMoth

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 3d

Got to save some good material for the next book.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 3d

👏

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 3d

Lovely - and a different bird to the one we had on the Point a few days ago.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 3d

A few more lab idents from today. The Oegoconia is a male quadripuncta, and becomes my 700th moth species this year. The very worn Noctuid is a male Clancy's, and the sandy one a Flounced Rustic, as ObsId, @photography-aj.bsky.social and @sj84turner.bsky.social all got right. #TeamMoth

A male Oegoconia quadripuncta moth, according to its genitals.

My best guess at this tatty moth was a Pale Mottled Willow, but the highly distinctive genitalia nailed it as male Clancy's Rustic.

A sandy-coloured female Flounced Rustic moth. I did think a late Tawny Shears could be in the running, but Flounced it is.

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 3d

A day in the moth lab, and the results are in. This Phyllonorycter from my friend's Highgate garden in September appears to be male blancardella, as I suspected given all her apple trees. A lifer, if no one dissents... #TeamMoth

Male genitalia of P. blancardella - to quote Chris Lewis's British Lepidoptera site, "has a narrow R costa with a long apical spine (spine 2/5 length of costa - upper oval) and a very short L costa with a long spine (spine 2x length of costa - lower oval)."

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 4d

Looks good to me - that silvery dot in the corner of the kidney (here's the one I caught in Camden in 2023).

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 4d

That looks amazing.

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 5d

I hadn’t thought that optimistically!

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 5d

I think that's one of the candidates.

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 5d

One more for #TeamMoth from Blakeney Point on 26th September. What do you think? (It's been retained for a (hopefully) definitive answer...)

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Reposted by Tim M. Blackburn

Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 5d

A few weeks after everyone started sending me the link to Listers and telling me I had to watch it RIGHT NOW, I have at last got round to watching it, and quietly suggest you do too (whether birds are your thing or not). youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo

LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching

YouTube video by owen reiser

youtu.be

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 6d

Flouncing off.

Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 6d

That’s a real work of art Andy!

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 7d

Good question, something I’ll look at when I’ve had a shower and a rest… (There will be issues of different types and numbers of traps of course.)

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 7d

Last night of trapping on Blakeney Point for a while. A rather tatty Archer’s Dart was NFY, and Pale Pinion new for the week. Ended on 2,346:57 from 7 nights, though more than 1,800 were Large Yellow Underwings. #TeamMoth

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 7d

Happy biodiversity scientists (and Cliff). #TeamMoth

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Tim Blackburn @mothyblackburn.bsky.social · 8d

It’s been good - no absolutely outstanding records but lots of good stuff, and biomass too.