Friends of Lye Valley
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friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Friends of Lye Valley
@friendlyevalley.bsky.social
870 followers 300 following 2.5K posts
We care for this 14,000 year-old internationally rare habitat, a tufa-forming alkaline spring fen, together with the calcareous grassland of Rock Edge. Headington, Oxford.
www.friendsoflyevalley.org.uk
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Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
drtonygillie.bsky.social
For today's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #raptor, here's another Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) from Oxford's Lye Valley.
#birds #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin #NaturePhotography @friendlyevalley.bsky.social @alan678.bsky.social
A medium size bird with brown head, and speckled brown and white chest and tummy is standing on an old small tree stump. It's looking to the left and its eye is in sharp focus. There's a single reed head crossing over the stump leaning to the right. The background is a diffuse mixture of light and darker browns.
January 15, 2026 at 9:14 AM
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Another freezing cold start for our volunteers today. Spot the scyther in the mist! 🌍 🌰
#OxfordshireFens #FenRestoration #OX3
@judywebb.bsky.social
A view down a shallow valley. Starting at bottom left and leading up through the photo a frost covered boardwalk. Just right of centre in the mid distance a pollarded Willow has branches growing upwards. In the background are some trees mostly hidden by the mist. There's a small patch of warmer sunlight top right in the background. In the mid distance left of centre a solitary figure with his back to the camera.
January 14, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
tombedford.bsky.social
The first drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker of the year is always a nice moment. This is a typical date for the first bird here in Oxford, plus Nuthatch, Starling, Jackdaw etc on the recording:
macaulaylibrary.org/asset/648748...

@friendlyevalley.bsky.social
@patchbirding.bsky.social
#UKbirding
ML648748146 - Great Spotted Woodpecker - Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML648748146; © Tom Bedford; Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
macaulaylibrary.org
January 12, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
drtonygillie.bsky.social
For @robcrank68.bsky.social's #BirdOfTheDay theme #MoodyFaces, here's a rather twiggy Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) from Oxford's #LyeValley.
#birds #UKWildlife #NaturePhotography #EastCoastKin @friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Just to the right of centre a large bird with a mix of dark and light brown feathers has its back to the camera. It's perched on a horizontal branch with lots of thin twigs growing up. It's looking over its shoulder and its left eye and short curved beak are visible.
January 10, 2026 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
tombedford.bsky.social
Amazing to see how cold weather forces birds into the city. Lapwings overhead on Monday, a flyover Snipe on Tuesday and a TEAL on this inner city stream right by the Churchill Hospital today! Only the 2nd daytime record of Teal in 856 visits!
@patchbirding.bsky.social
@friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Today’s Eurasian Teal was on the stream here 👌🏻 Lye Valley in freezing fog Cold weather movement of Lapwings on Tuesday 6th January.
January 8, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
judywebb.bsky.social
Insectivorous birds need Craneflies! Craneflies need wetlands and moist vegetated soils for their larvae. Birds therefore need more wetlands and wet grasslands.
drtonygillie.bsky.social Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 9d
Today's #BirdOfTheDay is #FoodFinds. This European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) got lucky. It had just caught one of the UK's largest Crane flies, Tipula maxima. Quite appropriate for a bird that belongs to the family of Old World flycatchers!
#birds #UKWidllife #EastCoastKin @alan678.bsky.social
A close up shot of a bird with a red breast, and greyish brown head and sides. Its legs wings and tail are hidden by the log it's standing on. In its beak is an insect with a long segmented body hanging down, very long legs, and a single wing pointing up. The background is dark green.
January 7, 2026 at 3:12 PM
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Before our Friends group took over management of the Lye Valley, the City Council (as landowner) used horses to drag mechanically cut reed offsite. Now, most of the reed is cut by hand, and moved by volunteers! Date of photos uncertain but we think late 1990s early 2000s.
#OxfordshireFens #SSSI
🌍🌰
At the right and in the foreground a black and white horse is harnessed to a low orange trailer. There are three men working round the trailer, one of them wearing an orange helmet. There's a large white bag being pulled into position. The floor is covered with cut reed, and there's a tree in the background. A side view of an all brown horse pulling an orange trailer loaded with large white builders' bags with a man on top of them holding the reins. There is uncut dead reed bottom right and in the background. Another photo of the horse from the first photo pulling a loaded orange trailer up a slight incline. There is uncut dead reed and some trees in the background.
January 6, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
drtonygillie.bsky.social
A Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #snowy bird captures. I remember waiting around for ages to get this photo. I was absolutely frozen!
#birds #UKWildlife #WildlifePhotography #EastCoastKin @friendlyevalley.bsky.social @alan678.bsky.social
A small brown bird with a short tail is looking to the right. There are rows of thin snow on the log it's standing on.
January 4, 2026 at 1:38 PM
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Just the lightest dusting of snow in the Lye Valley at sunrise this morning. Not quite the picturesque scene we'd been hoping to capture!
#OxfordshireFens #OX3 #landscape ❄️
@judywebb.bsky.social
A wintry scene. Running from the bottom centre of the photograph a boardwalk with a light dusting of snow heads into the midground before turning sharply to the right and leading through a shallow valley. To the right in the foreground a large clump of browning vegetation. To the left and right of the photo there are trees, while the sky in the background is grey with some lighter areas.
January 2, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
tombedford.bsky.social
The year ends with a 💥in the Lye Valley, Oxford, with a megaflock of 13 Snipe! For context, this is only the 4th occurrence of Snipe here in the city, a cumulative total of only 6 birds in 7 years until today. What else will the cold snap bring? 🤞
@friendlyevalley.bsky.social
#PWC2025 #ukbirding
Some of the flock of 13 Common Snipe above the Lye Valley in urban east Oxford. All 13 Common Snipe above the Lye Valley, Oxford.
December 31, 2025 at 5:07 PM
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Since 2016, scything, raking and scrub removal has transformed an area of almost 3000 m2 solid reed to the rare NVC M13 (Black Bog-rush Blunt-flowered Rush) plant community, more than doubling the amount of this habitat in the Valley. #FenRestoration #AlkalineFens
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
🌍🌰
View across a shallow valley. A boardwalk runs along the centre, and the upper half shows a cut area to the right and a dense area of uncut reed to the left. There are trees in the background and a sky with white clouds. A single stem of Marsh Helleborine orchid flowers that are thriving here thanks to the conservation work described in the post. The background is blurred.
December 30, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
drtonygillie.bsky.social
A diminutive Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) for #SmallBirdSaturday, photographed in the Lye Valley in Oxford.
#LittleBirds #UKWildlife #WildlifePhotography @javajanegallery.co.uk @friendlyevalley.bsky.social
A small bird facing right with a very small black beak, white crown, face and upper chest, and a pinky brown tummy and upper wing. It has a black streak running over its eye and down to the nape of its neck. Its wings are tinged with black, and the long tail disappears from view behind the thin branch it's perched on.
December 27, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social
Alone at Christmas? #joinin is always good.
writeforwellbeing.bsky.social Writing for Wellbeing @writeforwellbeing.bsky.social · 24d
This Christmas Day join us for #JoinIn on Bluesky. Just use or look for the #JoinIn hashtag. Lovely people coming together for chat and cheer - especially for those who may be alone or troubled at Christmas, or just looking for a bit of fellowship. See you there!
Please share
#JoinIn on Christmas Day
December 23, 2025 at 2:46 PM
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Planting a cutting of a suspected very uncommon hybrid of the Small-leaved Sweet Briar 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙖 𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙨 x ?? we rooted up. It was taken from a bush that will be eliminated by a large development locally. Waiting for determination by County Recorder...
@bsbibotany.bsky.social @judywebb.bsky.social
🌰🌍
A man in pale trousers, a green anorak and dark bobble hat is crouched down in a grassy area in front of long thin stems covered in small red berries. To his left an orange carrier bag.
December 22, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Alan's #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #QuietObservers, single birds observing their surroundings. I think this Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) resting on a frosted log in Oxford's Lye Valley fits the bill nicely!
#birds #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin #photography
@alan678.bsky.social
A small rounded bird with a raised short tail is sitting on top of a cut log, looking to the right. Its body is a pale brown, its head, back and tail are a darker brown with lighter dots. It has a very small beak. The background is a diffuse mixture of light browns and greens.
December 18, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
drtonygillie.bsky.social
My offering for today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme of #NaturesPantry (birds interacting with berries, seeds, or flowers) is this Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) eating Marsh Thistle seeds in the Lye Valley fen in Oxford, England.
#birds #UKWildlife #Photography #EastCoastKin
@alan678.bsky.social
In the centre of the photo a small bird with white and pale brown body, black and yellow wings, black and white head with a red face mask is perched on a thistle plant. Directly in front of the bird is a seed head with wispy seeds, while the rest of the plant still has small light purple flowers. The background is a uniform green.
December 16, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
tombedford.bsky.social
A remarkable 45 species in urban Oxford this morning, my highest December total ever, inc the first-ever winter record of Reed Bunting here. Plus recordings of Redwing, Treecreeper, Song Thrush etc:

ebird.org/checklist/S2...

@friendlyevalley.bsky.social
@patchbirding.bsky.social
#ukbirding
eBird Checklist - 13 Dec 2025 - Lye Valley & Warneford Meadow - 45 species
Submitted by Tom Bedford.
ebird.org
December 13, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
westenglandbylines.co.uk
As Oxford grapples with rising flood risks and strained green spaces, nature-based solutions offer a way to strengthen the city’s resilience | Steve Dawe
Nature-based solutions for Oxford
As Oxford grapples with rising flood risks and strained green spaces, nature-based solutions offer a way to strengthen the city’s resilience
westenglandbylines.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 7:39 AM
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Slightly ethereal feel to the Valley this morning, as the low winter sun caught the mist rising from the fen. Totally magical!
#OxfordshireFens #FenRestoration
@judywebb.bsky.social
In the foreground a gently sloping fen with piles of cut reed, whilst in the background a number of trees with a band of thin mist in front of them. The sky is blue with a few wispy white clouds.
December 3, 2025 at 2:14 PM
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
On this day four years ago, we were treated to this fabulous sunset in the Lye Valley. Sadly we've not seen anything like it since!
#OxfordshireFens #AltoCumulousClouds #PhotoHour #Landscape #EastCoastKin @judywebb.bsky.social
The upper part of the photo shows blue sky filled with white fluffy clouds. Low down and to the right the sun is setting, with visible rays coming from it. The rest of the scene is a shallow valley with a boardwalk running from the foreground into the distance. There are trees on either side, and low green vegetation either side of the boardwalk.
December 2, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Reflections with the alternative of #LongTails. How about this Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) that manages to combine both?
A regular visitor to Oxford's Lye Valley, it seems to love the mud round the ponds.
@robcrank68.bsky.social #OX3 #birds #UKWildlife 📷
A smallish bird with a slate grey back, and black wing tips edged in white. Underneath it's mostly bright yellow with some cream in the middle. It has a long dark tail edges with white. There's a white streak on its head just above the eye. It's standing in shallow water with mud, small twigs and a couple of leaves, facing to the right, and has just lifted its left leg out of the water. Below it is a perfect reflection, even including the eye and white eye stripe.
December 1, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BerriesandBeaks.
Here's a Blackbird (Turdus merula) caught in the act of eating a Cotoneaster berry at Rock Edge, and a Redwing (Turdus iliacus) amongst Hawthorne berries in the Lye Valley. Both sites in urban East Oxford.
#birds #UKWildlife #Photography #UKBirding
A medium sized black bird is perched on top of a twig covered in red berries. It's facing to the left, with a single berry between its open yellow beak. The background is blue sky. A small brown and white mottled bird is perched on a thin branch with small green leaves and red berries. It's facing to the left. The background is a mass of defocused twigs and red berries.
November 30, 2025 at 9:13 AM
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
A very cold and frosty morning for our volunteers today, but at least we had sunshine!
#OxfordshireFens #FenRestoration #OX3 @judywebb.bsky.social
A landscape view down a shallow valley. Almost everything is covered with frost. Starting at the bottom right corner and snaking the full length of the valley is a boardwalk. Near bottom right a man in a hi-vis jacket and carrying a dark rucksack is walking away from the camera. At upper right and in the distance are a number of trees, some of which still have autumn coloured leaves. Low sunshine is hitting the right hand side and middle distance of the view. The sky is blue with a few low white clouds.
November 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
It's remarkable how much #FenRestoration (and other #conservation work) comes down to the repetition of these two simple tasks. Scything and raking. Maybe not glamorous (especially the raking!), but vital to controlling rank vegetation and letting other plants thrive.
#OxfordshireFens #GreenSpaces 🌍
Roughly in the centre of the photo a man with wellies, light coloured trousers and shirt with a darker anorak is raking a large pile of cut reed down a slope towards him. In the background a large stand of reed waiting to be cut. Roughly in the centre of the photo a man facing to the left with dark trousers and wellies with a blue checked shirt is using a scythe to cut the reed in front of him. In the foreground a heap of material he has already cut, while on the left of the photo an area waiting to be cut. In the background is a mostly featureless area of short mostly greenish vegetation.
November 25, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Friends of Lye Valley
guyshrubsole.bsky.social
‘Is there anything we can do to alleviate flash flooding?’

Lots - & it’s good to see @floodmary.bsky.social talking here about working with nature, reducing paved areas & rain gardens

But we also need land use change across whole catchments - more trees, restored peat
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Is there anything we can do to alleviate flash floods in the West Midlands
Experts say housebuilding and concrete drives are making floods worse, but that there are things we can do.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 10:27 AM