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David

@duckinwales.bsky.social

100 followers 140 following 83 posts

North Wales based fern & lycophyte botherer (VC51); biological recorder working on Quillworts and Honduran Fern Flora. Love botany, libraries, maps, books, education and nature. Oh, and did I mention #FernFriday? FLS, BPS secretary & Cofnod LRC chair.

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · 2d

Well spotted, on my list to see.

David @duckinwales.bsky.social · 4d

Fungi and ferns, the perfect combination on a damp weekend. Amanita muscaria & Polypodium cf. vulgare on Betula.
#fernFriday #Coniston #LakeDistrict

Two orange red fly agaric mushrooms at the base of a birch tree, along with a small clump of epiphytic Polypodium ferns.

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Reposted by David

Elizabeth Beston @elizabethbeston.bsky.social · 11d

I have thousands of #marineplankton microscopy images and measurements and would like to make these available to researchers. Where’s the best place to put them and how do scientists like their metadata? 🧪🦑

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · 11d

A plume moth, possibly Platyptilia gonodactyla. The caterpillar stage live as leaf miners I! Coltsfoot and Butterbur. Amazingly delicate moths that seen to land on spiders webs with impunity!

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · 17d

Dermatocarpon miniatum (Leather lichen) on a hard Carboniferous limestone outcrop at Denbigh Castle #ValeOfClwyd

Pale grey two lobed roughly circular lichen on a vertical limestone wall

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · 23d

They are quite incredible, aren't they. Surviving in a quiet hostile ecosystem, yet appear quite delicate.

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · 28d

A productive couple of hours scouring a shoreline in the rain and sifting through hundreds of broken specimens. Managed to find a handful of #Isoetes quills 😊 and a few invasive non-natives 🙁. #Quillwort

A hand holding half a dozen pieces of Quillwort (an aquatic lycophyte)

Yellow flowers stretching away into the distance, with a lake and rainclouds beyond.

David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Sep 6

You'd need to take a chunk of the substrate.

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Reposted by David

Andrea Peterson @andreapeterson.bsky.social · Aug 27

A smack of fried egg jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

#MarineLife #PhacellophoraCamtschatica #WestCoast #Pacific #Jellies #MontereyBay #MBARI #Cnidaria

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Aug 27

Alas, too late for this one
bsky.app/profile/duck...

David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Aug 27

Stopped to pick up this beautiful adult Tawny Owl today (RTA fatality) mainly to check for a ring and have a close look at such a stunning bird.

A gloved hand holding the wing of a deceased Tawny owl.

David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Aug 27

Stopped to pick up this beautiful adult Tawny Owl today (RTA fatality) mainly to check for a ring and have a close look at such a stunning bird.

Reposted by David

NHM Library and Archives @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social · Aug 19

⬆️ If you would like to visit our Public Reading Room or learn more about our collections, please use the link in our bio.

#NaturalHistoryMuseum #SpecialCollections #Ephemera #PostageStamps #NatureInArt #ZoologicalArt #EntomologicalArt #BotanicalArt #Art #SciArt

Stamps depicting animals and plants displayed in groups on paper.

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Reposted by David

Graeme Lyons @graemelyons.bsky.social · Aug 17

I had a great morning yesterday on the way back from Broughton at Menai! Read about it here analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/08/soft...

Soft power

Never underestimate the power of your enthusiasm for natural history to win people around. Hold that thought for now. Yesterday I was headin...

analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Aug 16

A nice find in the charity shop: The Flora of Svalbard by Olaf Rønning 1996. Maybe not the most up to date taxonomically but nice maps and community descriptions. #Svalbard #NatureBookChallenge #botany

Photograph of a book cover with white and yellow flowers in a Svalbard landscape.

Reposted by David

franz @franzanth.bsky.social · May 5

IT'S FINISHED!
The Art of #InverteFest April 2025 Edition
A digital art book showcasing the work of 86 artists from around the world, in celebration of overlooked invertebrate fauna.

Thank you to the human artists who contributed to our art book!

Download here drive.google.com/file/d/1JvEx...

a promo image showing various pages from the book, each page showcasing different animals like a bristle worm, octopus, butterfly, and so on.

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Aug 16

Some of these are incredible. I really loved the inclusion of the unexpected too (the Sea bunny made me grin); a great piece of work, thank you 😊

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Aug 7

🤣🤣🤣🫣

David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Aug 4

Nice, I remember surveying that spot 10 years ago for Lycopodiella. Didn't find it there, but a few populations higher up. Lovely area but suffered from a lack of grazing.

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Reposted by David

Cameron Thrash @jcamthrash.bsky.social · Jul 31

Flourishing chemosynthetic life at the greatest depths of hadal trenches www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊

Flourishing chemosynthetic life at the greatest depths of hadal trenches - Nature

The discovery of chemosynthesis-based benthic communities at depths of 5,800 m to 9,533 m in the Kuril–Kamchatka and western Aleutian trenches challenges traditional perspectives on the energy sources...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by David

Kew Gardens @rbgkew.bsky.social · Jul 21

Just 10 days left to join us on the Millennium Seed Bank Seed Conservation Techniques course - running online on 13-24 October 🌱

We'll cover the ins and outs of seed storage behaviour, genetic diversity sampling, seed bank design, and much more ❄️🧪🏛️

⏰ July 31 2025!
www.kew.org/science/trai...

A scientist examines germinated seeds in a petri dish, in Kew's Millennium Seed Bank. Photo by Sebastian Kettley.

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Jul 21

Acid heath over Dalradian limestone next to the sea, including Harebells and virtually adjacent Grass of Parnassus; Port Ramsay, #IsleOfLismore #HarebellChallenge #Wildflowerhour

Acid heath on a slope including heather and Harebells in flower.

A tidal island with mirror calm sea, Isle of Lismore

A Grass of Parnassus flower bud and leaves.

David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Jul 21

Marooned in Stirling for a couple of days with car trouble; any must see or nature related recommendations?

David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Jul 15

An exhausting day immersed in nature. Leeches, snails, lichens, clubmosses, flowers and fish. Time for bed! #IsleOfLismore #BiologicalRecording #Scotland

The island of Eilean Dubh in evening light, with the Scottish Highlands behind and a calm sea in front.

David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Jul 14

A slightly surprising find today, Lobaria pulmonaria (non-fertile) on an old dying Fushia magellanica
#IsleOfLismore #lichen #lismore @britishlichensociety.org.uk

A green irregularly shaped lichen with a netted surface.

Lichens on a thin branch of a dying Fushia

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David @duckinwales.bsky.social · Jul 14

Finally, a wet day and chance to write up some holiday observations #biologicalRecording
#IsleOfLismore

A kitchen table covered with various items including a notebook, sketchpad, mug, books, cameras, torch and binoculars.