Simon Phelps
@simonphelps.bsky.social
Conservationist, naturalist, wildlife photographer and writer. https://wildlifephelps.wixsite.com/wildlifephelps
Muted tones and mist on my early morning @webs-gsmp.bsky.social at @wwtworldwide.bsky.social Steart Marshes. Big flocks of Lapwing and smaller groups of Avocet the highlight. Not ideal conditions as not at high tide. Always a joy to be out there though.
January 18, 2026 at 11:31 AM
Muted tones and mist on my early morning @webs-gsmp.bsky.social at @wwtworldwide.bsky.social Steart Marshes. Big flocks of Lapwing and smaller groups of Avocet the highlight. Not ideal conditions as not at high tide. Always a joy to be out there though.
This is an issue that I worry about a lot too. Traditional ecological monitoring techniques often tell you more than new modern methods. We must not abandon them. Too many people are rushing to embrace new technologies without thinking about the issues.
#AI is transforming #ecology — but at what cost? A new #Nature piece warns that as models, drones & remote sensing boom, many scientists are spending less time outdoors (“I rarely get outside”). Are we losing essential natural-history insight? 🌿🤖
🧪🌍🌐
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪🌍🌐
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
January 16, 2026 at 5:51 PM
This is an issue that I worry about a lot too. Traditional ecological monitoring techniques often tell you more than new modern methods. We must not abandon them. Too many people are rushing to embrace new technologies without thinking about the issues.
This is a wonderful book. I'm halfway through and enjoying it. These passages stood out. We need to rebuild our connection to the natural world. Too many of us now have no link to it. It is alien to so many. People don't know, understand or care about it. We have lost so much.
January 9, 2026 at 7:52 PM
This is a wonderful book. I'm halfway through and enjoying it. These passages stood out. We need to rebuild our connection to the natural world. Too many of us now have no link to it. It is alien to so many. People don't know, understand or care about it. We have lost so much.
I found this dogs vomit slime mould this morning in Somerset. Such a strange looking thing! Wonderful name too!
January 6, 2026 at 7:32 PM
I found this dogs vomit slime mould this morning in Somerset. Such a strange looking thing! Wonderful name too!
This is significant. Probably more significant than we realise. It will be impacting other wildlife, particularly invertebrates that are more sensitive to changes in flowering and vegetation growth. It impacts our management practises. What once worked may not now. The world is changing.
We've been working with @metoffice.gov.uk to analyse 10 years of #NewYearPlantHunt data.
The analysis provides the clearest evidence yet of how rising temperatures are impacting the British & Irish flora, with knock-on effects for all our wildlife.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The analysis provides the clearest evidence yet of how rising temperatures are impacting the British & Irish flora, with knock-on effects for all our wildlife.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Winter blooming of hundreds of plants in UK ‘visible signal’ of climate breakdown
New year plant hunt shows rising temperatures are shifting natural cycles of wildflowers such as daisies
www.theguardian.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:10 PM
This is significant. Probably more significant than we realise. It will be impacting other wildlife, particularly invertebrates that are more sensitive to changes in flowering and vegetation growth. It impacts our management practises. What once worked may not now. The world is changing.
This intrigues me. I need to find out more. In England we have species with legal protection. I wonder how this differs from what we have. What extra does it provide? It is an exciting and interesting movement, which we are lagging behind on in the UK.
January 2, 2026 at 2:04 PM
This intrigues me. I need to find out more. In England we have species with legal protection. I wonder how this differs from what we have. What extra does it provide? It is an exciting and interesting movement, which we are lagging behind on in the UK.
Wonderful visit to @rspb.bsky.social Ouse Washes. It looked stunning in the sunshine. Lovely to see the Whooper Swans. Also saw a huge group of Coot, never seen so many! Kingfisher, Lapwing, Wigeon, Teal also great to see. A really lovely reserve to visit.
December 31, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Wonderful visit to @rspb.bsky.social Ouse Washes. It looked stunning in the sunshine. Lovely to see the Whooper Swans. Also saw a huge group of Coot, never seen so many! Kingfisher, Lapwing, Wigeon, Teal also great to see. A really lovely reserve to visit.
Reposted by Simon Phelps
Government's proposed new National River Walk a damp squib says @openspacessociety.bsky.social -it's not new, but on existing rights of way. Priority should be green paper on access to nature, and new legislation. www.oss.org.uk/new-national... @ramblers.org.uk @naturalengland.bsky.social
New National River Walk ‘a damp squib’ - Open Spaces Society
The proposed first new National River Walk, the government’s Boxing Day announcement, is a ‘damp squib’, we argue. The government claims that it will provide ‘21 kilometres of new paths’ along the Mer...
www.oss.org.uk
December 26, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Government's proposed new National River Walk a damp squib says @openspacessociety.bsky.social -it's not new, but on existing rights of way. Priority should be green paper on access to nature, and new legislation. www.oss.org.uk/new-national... @ramblers.org.uk @naturalengland.bsky.social
Reposted by Simon Phelps
I walked the line of HS2 from London to Birmingham. This is what I found: www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte... More widely, the scale of construction going on outside Birmingham was epic. All this striving for... no economic growth. The model isn't working anymore.
‘We hate it. It’s desecration’: the real cost of HS2
The long read: Ten years after I first followed the proposed route, I retraced my steps to see what life was like along the world’s most expensive, heavily delayed railway line
www.theguardian.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:18 AM
I walked the line of HS2 from London to Birmingham. This is what I found: www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte... More widely, the scale of construction going on outside Birmingham was epic. All this striving for... no economic growth. The model isn't working anymore.
Just finished a wonderful long walk from Middlezoy to Langport, across the Somerset Levels. Stunning misty sunrise. 18 cranes on Aller Moor, bugling away. Kingfishers on the River Parrett. Lots of Lapwing around too.
December 13, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Just finished a wonderful long walk from Middlezoy to Langport, across the Somerset Levels. Stunning misty sunrise. 18 cranes on Aller Moor, bugling away. Kingfishers on the River Parrett. Lots of Lapwing around too.
Lots of birds on my @webs-gsmp.bsky.social count at @wwtworldwide.bsky.social Steart. Dunlin flock grown to 5000. Hundreds of Wigeon on the River Parrett, whistling away. Watched a Peregrine hunting the Dunlin, incredible to watch it launch itself at the flock. @btobirds.bsky.social
December 7, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Lots of birds on my @webs-gsmp.bsky.social count at @wwtworldwide.bsky.social Steart. Dunlin flock grown to 5000. Hundreds of Wigeon on the River Parrett, whistling away. Watched a Peregrine hunting the Dunlin, incredible to watch it launch itself at the flock. @btobirds.bsky.social
Reposted by Simon Phelps
1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture | George Monbiot
I knew that a revolution in our understanding of soil could change the world. Then came a eureka moment – and the birth of the Earth Rover Program, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:55 AM
1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"But I have also watched in continuing dismay what we might call the Thatcher syndrome: apparently intelligent politicians failing yet and yet again to have the courage to implement the decisions necessary to tackle the ever more imminent danger of climate change."
'There has been another very sinister development, which has put back the cause of action on #climate change into very dangerous territory: the latest “#nuclear renaissance”.'
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘I have watched politicians failing yet and yet again’: lessons from a life as an environment writer
Paul Brown looks back at his career reporting on the climate crisis, failed summit and nuclear power – and how to do it well
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:44 AM
"But I have also watched in continuing dismay what we might call the Thatcher syndrome: apparently intelligent politicians failing yet and yet again to have the courage to implement the decisions necessary to tackle the ever more imminent danger of climate change."
The birds are back! Great @webs-gsmp.bsky.social count today at @wwtworldwide.bsky.social Steart Marshes. Dunlin, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Shelduck, Peregrine, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier. The mesmerising Dunlin murmuration is always a joy to see.
November 9, 2025 at 11:44 AM
The birds are back! Great @webs-gsmp.bsky.social count today at @wwtworldwide.bsky.social Steart Marshes. Dunlin, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Shelduck, Peregrine, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier. The mesmerising Dunlin murmuration is always a joy to see.
One of the most amazing things about Corfu was the swifts. They screeched across the sky in the old town, screaming over the rooftops and through the squares. It was a raw and thrilling spectacle. Two different photos here, one black and white and the other colour. Which do you prefer?
October 18, 2025 at 12:42 PM
One of the most amazing things about Corfu was the swifts. They screeched across the sky in the old town, screaming over the rooftops and through the squares. It was a raw and thrilling spectacle. Two different photos here, one black and white and the other colour. Which do you prefer?
Another amazing insect from Corfu. This glittering beetle is a Cerocoma species, maybe schreberi. I found it in the sand dunes at Korission Lagoon. It had wacky looking antennae, orange and twisted looking!
October 4, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Another amazing insect from Corfu. This glittering beetle is a Cerocoma species, maybe schreberi. I found it in the sand dunes at Korission Lagoon. It had wacky looking antennae, orange and twisted looking!
This is an excellent point. Well phrased. Compromise upon compromise. Resulting in a shifting baseline of environmental protection erosion. Sometimes we have to fight for what the rules say. If we don't we risk losing them.
farmework. This is a planning system working, ultimately a compromise never satisfies and reflects no ideal scenario. The danger is we pile compromise upon compromise and over time rationalise away the actual meaning behind our statutory environmental plans. Chip by chip slowly we transform
October 4, 2025 at 8:54 AM
This is an excellent point. Well phrased. Compromise upon compromise. Resulting in a shifting baseline of environmental protection erosion. Sometimes we have to fight for what the rules say. If we don't we risk losing them.
We've lost most of our orchards and no longer eat the majority of our British apple varieties. It was therefore wonderful to visit @nationaltrust.org.uk Cotehele to see their amazing orchards. Rightly celebrating the incredible diversity of British apple varieties. We need to value them more.
October 1, 2025 at 8:21 AM
We've lost most of our orchards and no longer eat the majority of our British apple varieties. It was therefore wonderful to visit @nationaltrust.org.uk Cotehele to see their amazing orchards. Rightly celebrating the incredible diversity of British apple varieties. We need to value them more.
Many people are afraid of spiders. However it would be hard to be scared of this one. This is Aelurillus v-insignitus, which I found on the dune heaths in Dorset last year. A lovely little jumping spider, very charming! Thanks to @tylanberry.bsky.social for the ID! @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social
September 27, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Many people are afraid of spiders. However it would be hard to be scared of this one. This is Aelurillus v-insignitus, which I found on the dune heaths in Dorset last year. A lovely little jumping spider, very charming! Thanks to @tylanberry.bsky.social for the ID! @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social
Two more photos of the stunning Comma butterfly that I saw recently at @nationaltrust.org.uk Cotehele. It was so fresh! I loved the lichen green spots on the underside of the wing. @savebutterflies.bsky.social
September 19, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Two more photos of the stunning Comma butterfly that I saw recently at @nationaltrust.org.uk Cotehele. It was so fresh! I loved the lichen green spots on the underside of the wing. @savebutterflies.bsky.social
Surprisingly poor catch in my Somerset garden moth trap this morning. Only 14 species. Box tree moth was the most numerous with 5 caught. Expected more due to warm temperatures. #teammoth
September 18, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Surprisingly poor catch in my Somerset garden moth trap this morning. Only 14 species. Box tree moth was the most numerous with 5 caught. Expected more due to warm temperatures. #teammoth
One of my favourite birds from Corfu was the Black-winged Stilt. Comically long red legs, looking gangly and un-elegant when in flight. Much more graceful when delicately wading through the water. Stunning birds to see up close.
September 16, 2025 at 4:46 PM
One of my favourite birds from Corfu was the Black-winged Stilt. Comically long red legs, looking gangly and un-elegant when in flight. Much more graceful when delicately wading through the water. Stunning birds to see up close.