Steve Thackeray
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thackers.bsky.social
Steve Thackeray
@thackers.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.3K following 190 posts
Freshwater ecologist, wildlife lover, likes a bit of art 💦🦠🔬
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thackers.bsky.social
Never gets old - a Herring gull doing its "worm charming" dance #ukwildlife
December 19, 2025 at 6:50 PM
thackers.bsky.social
New study led by @ellie-mackay.bsky.social shows how organic nutrient fractions can stimulate the growth of algae in rivers, and explores the predictability of this effect across the UK.

share.google/qKtTDE0BMOF1...

🧪🦠🏞
December 7, 2025 at 12:39 PM
thackers.bsky.social
Beautiful reflections on Lancaster canal today. Love the effect when rotating the image 😍
A row of trees reflected in still water. The reflection is sharp and clear. I rotated the image 90 degrees, so the real and reflected trees reach out to the left and right.
November 16, 2025 at 4:36 PM
thackers.bsky.social
It was a privilege to talk to Tristan Gooley when he was researching his latest book; The Hidden Seasons. We talked about life underwater! #freshwater #ecology #NatureWriting
November 2, 2025 at 5:25 PM
thackers.bsky.social
A spooky scarecrow sketch for Halloween 🎃 #drawing
October 31, 2025 at 9:52 PM
thackers.bsky.social
A bit of autumn #wildlife. Not sure at all, but maybe stubble rosegill and autumnal/November moths #ukwildlife
A glossy grey toadstool in vivid green grass A patterned mid grey moth on varnished wood A pale mottled moth on warmly lit brickwork
October 22, 2025 at 6:51 PM
thackers.bsky.social
New paper uses 1D lake modelling to explore the extent to which floating solar panels could offset warming-related impacts of climate change: www.kmae-journal.org/articles/kma...

#FloatingSolar #FPV #ClimateChange 🧪🌊☀️
Boxplots showing reductions in modelled, seasonal water temperatures with increasing floating solar panel coverage, under four climate scenarios
October 17, 2025 at 1:23 PM
thackers.bsky.social
I love an angle shades. Always worth pausing to give them consideration 👌 #ukwildlife #moth #insect
An angle shades moth on a wooden fence. It is coloured shades of brown and has the appearance of a curled autumn leaf.
October 12, 2025 at 3:56 PM
thackers.bsky.social
A little dragonfly sketch, for relaxation purposes #drawing #SciArt
Black ink drawing of a dragonfly in a cartoon, rather than realistic, style.
October 5, 2025 at 7:51 PM
thackers.bsky.social
Not a great picture, but a male migrant hawker from #Lancaster canal today

#UKwildlife #dragonfly #insect @britishdragonflies.bsky.social
A dragonfly perched on some vegetation. It has a black abdomen with paired blue markings, and a yellow marking like a golf tee at its leading end.
September 28, 2025 at 1:46 PM
thackers.bsky.social
Great to see that the UKCEH Molecular Ecology Group have now joined us here on BlueSky!

Give them a follow!

🧪🧬🦠🧪🧬🦠🧪🧬🦠🧪🧬🦠🧪🧬🦠🧪🧬🦠🧪🧬🦠
September 18, 2025 at 1:26 PM
thackers.bsky.social
Found this fab female short-winged conehead near #Lancaster today.

#ukwildlife #insect #orthoptera
A vivid green cricket with long antenna, orange eyes and a long curved ovipositor
September 6, 2025 at 3:11 PM
thackers.bsky.social
This stunning hoverfly was very patient with me today! I think it's Sericomyia silentis.

#ukwildlife #hoverfly
A robust hoverfly with narrow yellow bands on its black abdomen
August 23, 2025 at 6:47 PM
thackers.bsky.social
A beautiful common darter from my walk by #Lancaster canal today. He kept coming back to this favoured spot following lots of excursions to hunt. #ukwildlife #dragonfly #wildlife #freshwater
An orange- red dragonfly perched on a wooden plank
August 23, 2025 at 6:30 PM
thackers.bsky.social
Have been trying something new with my drawing - faces and expressions. This is hard! Interesting to practice, though! #drawing #artsky
Black ink drawing centred on the eyes and nose of a human face.
August 22, 2025 at 7:02 PM
thackers.bsky.social
Some caddisfly finds - male and female Glyphotaelius pellucidus from Lancaster canal. The females lay jelly-like egg masses on overhanging leaves ("tree snot"!), and the aquatic larvae build cases from leaf fragments.

#ukwildlife #insect #freshwater
The male caddisfly. It is mottled brown with long antennae. The female is more uniform chestnut brown with a pale wing stripe and dot.
August 14, 2025 at 8:32 AM
thackers.bsky.social
A magnificent (male) common hawker, which was very obliging today #ukwildlife #dragonfly #insect🐉🪰
Side view of the dragonfly on a mossy tree trunk. You can see the dark abdomen, with pale blue patches and pale yellow marks all along its length. The same dragonfly viewed from above shows its blue eyes and yellow leading wing veins.
August 13, 2025 at 6:18 PM
thackers.bsky.social
A mean cephalopod with kraken tendencies #drawing #art
Ink drawing of an octopus with a menacing look
August 1, 2025 at 8:47 PM
thackers.bsky.social
Check out this exciting job opportunity, for a Senior Freshwater Ecologist at @ukceh.bsky.social...take a look and please repost!

ceh.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CEH_Ca...

#freshwater #ecology #job #career 🧪🐟🦠🌊🚣‍♀️
A group of people collecting water samples from a riverbank A group of people, wearing lifejackets, in rowing boats A member of our team in a boat, on a polar fieldtrip, wearing yellow waterproofs and a lifejacket
July 28, 2025 at 5:53 PM
thackers.bsky.social
Loved Micropia at the Artis zoo in Amsterdam! Great to see tiny but mighty plankton centre stage! #Freshwater #plankton #Amsterdam
A microscope set up alongside illuminated algal cultures Microscope image of bdelloid rotifers Plankton projected up on a wall, including bright green Volvox colonies A giant screen with animated Daphnia
July 26, 2025 at 12:54 PM
thackers.bsky.social
A wonderful hummingbird hawkmoth from today. A little marvel that hovers and whizzes around flowers as it feeds. #moth #insect #ukwildlife
A tan coloured moth hovering in front of buddleja flowers as it feeds with its extra long proboscis. The wings have bright orange patches and are a blur of motion.
July 3, 2025 at 5:21 PM
thackers.bsky.social
Some lovely damselflies for #InsectWeek: male azure and large red. Was also delighted to see a nymph climbing a tree to complete its development after months below water. #UKwildlife #damselflies #freshwater
A male azure damselfly, perched on a leaf. It has a bright blue body, with black stripes. A large red damselfly perched on a leaf. It has a deep red body, with black and golden yellow bands. A damselfly nymph on a tree trunk. Brown in colour and yet to moult.
June 26, 2025 at 2:20 PM
thackers.bsky.social
For #InsectWeek 2025, some recent finds: eyed ladybird, gold swift, ghost moth, and buff ermine #ukwildlife #ladybird #moths
An eyed ladybird - it has orangey wing cases with black spots, each surrounded by a pale halo. A gold swift moth - it has a furry ginger thorax and reddish gold wings with bright white patches. A female ghost moth - it has a furry yellow thorax and yellowish wings with lines of orange markings. A buff ermine moth - it has a pale yellowish white furry thorax and buff yellow wings with lines of dark markings.
June 25, 2025 at 3:30 PM
thackers.bsky.social
It's #ShowYourStripes day &, inspired by @edhawkins.org, here are climate stripes for surface water temperatures in 4 lake basins in the English Lake District

These plots, by @ellie-mackay.bsky.social, clearly show long-term warming of these iconic lakes.

#lakes #ClimateChange @ukceh.bsky.social
Climate stripes for Windermere north basin, showing long term warming. The stripes go from blue to red (cooler to warmer) from the 1940s to present. Climate stripes for Windermere south basin, showing long term warming. The stripes go from blue to red (cooler to warmer) from the 1940s to present. Climate stripes for Esthwaite Water, showing long term warming. The stripes go from blue to red (cooler to warmer) from the 1940s to present. Climate stripes for Blelham Tarn showing long term warming. The stripes go from blue to red (cooler to warmer) from the 1940s to present.
June 21, 2025 at 6:29 PM
thackers.bsky.social
I'm very fond of marmalade hoverflies, so here is one that I met today #ukwildlife #insect #hoverfly
A small hoverfly perched on a leaf, covered on raindrops. The hoverfly has deep red eyes and a metallic thorax, with dark striped orange-yellow abdomen.
June 15, 2025 at 7:03 PM