Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 8d

Remember this? Well Malvern Hills DC have cut & collected as requested! I’m so pleased as previously they were only able to cut & mulch. This will accelerate the emerging community. A massive THANK YOU!

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 11d

So frustrating hearing & seeing fruit & seed bearing hedges being cut ahead of winter. We have lost 50% of our hedgerows since the 1950’s, no wonder we are in a “”#BiodiversityEmergency in the UK.

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 11d

Join me on the evening of 22nd October for a FREE talk by me on “Making Farming Buzz Again”, which will focus on what research I’ve been up to over the years. Then Ann Conquest from LUC will talk about her work on the agri-environment. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-far...

Making Farming Buzz Again ~ 180th Lecture Series

Join us for the fifth event in our180th lecture series at the RAU and learn more about enhancing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 11d

Glad they flowered Roger!

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 13d

Not good. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’

Species index fell by 4% between 2019 and 2024 – although data shows woodland populations beginning to stabilise

www.theguardian.com

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 14d

Too many celebrities think that keeping honeybees addresses the #BiodiversityEmergency. Such a shame, they could do so much more with their money.

Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 14d

PLEASE READ! No more #BeeWashing. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Why saving the honeybee could be bad news for other bees

In this week’s newsletter: a conservation success story has a sting in its tail as wild pollinators pay the price

www.theguardian.com

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 14d

PLEASE READ! No more #BeeWashing. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Why saving the honeybee could be bad news for other bees

In this week’s newsletter: a conservation success story has a sting in its tail as wild pollinators pay the price

www.theguardian.com

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 15d

The last bit of major wildflower colour in our front garden and what a beaut! @lgspace.bsky.social

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 16d

Pond & Meadow prepped for winter. Meadow patch left to continue feeding the bees & provide shelter for inverts over winter @worcswt.bsky.social

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 22d

If sowing a new meadow, go big! In the table below I've based sowing rates on a commercial mix; if you only create 1 square metre using their sowing rates, you are unlikely to get all the species 'advertised'; the number of seeds sown is simply too low! @lgspace.bsky.social

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 24d

Where are all the birds that could be eating all this food in our #BumbleBird patch. Even the sparrows have disappeared after rearing three broods in our garden. @rspbengland.bsky.social

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Reposted by Prof Duncan Westbury

Dr Rebecca Warren @drrjwarren.bsky.social · 24d

One day, nearly 2000 years ago, a cat dashed across some drying tiles, somewhere near Hadrian's Wall.

It's immortality of a kind, isn't it?

Photo of square orange tiles, set into the ground, across one of which several cats footprints are clearly visible.

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 25d

Perhaps a bit late to get these in, but I’m really interested in seeing how Cotswold Seeds new range of small packet green manures do. I’ll still use my go to phacelia, & have sown one part with both!

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 25d

One great thing about growing your own grapes is being able to take a large handful, shove them in your mouth and releasing all of the wonderful grape juice!

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 25d

My new #WildlifePond has a long way to go, but it will get there!

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 25d

It’s very early in the process I’m afraid! #WatchThisSpace

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 26d

The RAU & Asahi supported the BBPA at the House of Commons to demonstrate what was being done as part of #BrewingGreen. We discussed the challenges faced by the remaining 42 hop growers in the UK, and how our research in collaboration with Warwick Uni will lead to more resilience.

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Reposted by Prof Duncan Westbury

Little Green Space @lgspace.bsky.social · Sep 7

UK gardens cover c270,000 hectares – more than all the country's National Nature Reserves. And nature-friendly gardens – even small ones – can form a huge network of green spaces that are havens for wildlife. More: littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/Wil...

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · Sep 7

New addition to #WildlifePond an amphibian refuge. Most people forget about this. Where are they meant to go when they aren’t in your pond? @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · Sep 7

To create access to the wealth of seed in our #BumbleBird patch, I’ve created a strip across it. Hopefully this enough… @rspb.bsky.social

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · Sep 7

Wildflower strip cut & collected, with patch left to overwinter. Cuttings put on top of habitat piles!

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Reposted by Prof Duncan Westbury

Bat Conservation International 🦇 @batcon.org · Sep 4

Which bat are you today? There's a strong case to be made for #3 🤪

📸 Jennifer Barros

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · Aug 31

Great point Miles! If we had biocontrol of all non-native invasive species like this in the UK it would be lovely!

Miles King @milesking.bsky.social · Aug 31

Misleading: BBC website users reading this headline would worry that the UK's native woods were under threat. In fact the Spruce Bark Beetle feeds on different kinds of Spruce, as the name suggests.

There are no native species of Spruce in the UK.

Headline should read UK's spruce plantations.

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Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · Aug 31

Yes, but they never used my other pond! This is why I created a shallower different pond type.

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Reposted by Prof Duncan Westbury

Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · Aug 30

Every day the government delays banning the sale of peat compost means more carbon lost to the atmosphere from this appalling practice

www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/vast-ar...

Vast areas of peatland destroyed since peat ban announced exactly 3 years ago | The Wildlife Trusts

It has been three years since the UK Government announced that it would ban the sale of peat for use in the amateur gardening sector, yet there is still no sign of legislation to enact the ban.

www.wildlifetrusts.org

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