In the news - April 2022

I haven’t come across First Nature before ( orat least cannot remember doing so) and it looks very comprenensive;

The waters off Long Island are known to marine biologists as a nursery for the species, and it’s a testament to oceanic health – and successful long-term conservation efforts – that they are here and feeding on schools of bait fish, mainly Atlantic menhaden. The rise in encounters is not complicated to explain: warmer sea temperatures mean more food and more reason for sharks to come around.

“They belong in the ocean. We don’t.”

Quiz…. This is the( truncated) headline in todays BBC.
Invasive species cost world $16bn world $16bn.
I couldn’t guess what they were… and one of them is breeding in UK.
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Spoiler: Another reason why moving tadpoles around is Bad News.

I think ‘we’ should genetically change a Falcon, train it to catch the snakes, that catch frogs that catch flies, that catch the Entomophthora that may soon affect Humans. If so I could write yet another Project!

I wonder how much Aedes aegyptii, for example, has cost.

In the news - August 2022.
Is there anything green about plastic grass? Most iSpotters will know the answer. Is there anything green about plastic grass? - BBC News

We have been using artificial grass for many years on our floodplains project but not to cover the whole floodplain in grass. Instead cut into A4ish size bits and pegged down before a flood to collect the sediment for analysis in the lab.

I read that article but somehow doubt any “new” artificial turf is ever going to get recycled.

There is an iSpot observation, showing its use. Find it! I couldn’t but it’s here somwhere!

This seems a positive move

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Thanks again for newslinks Jo

The Guardian newspaper is known to be hoples at speeling, but if this true it’s very bad news.

The Tories have got a taste for habitat destruction in building HS2.

Not the usual way for a non native species to arrive. Family discovers tree frog in bag of Sainsbury's bananas - BBC News

As I recall, it’s usually tarantulas that arrive with bananas.

I find it a real wonder, each time I take the lid off a new Banana box in LIDL, that it is not full of exotics.
I used to carry a sample tub but now feel it unnecessary. How DO they prevent stowaways?

National Fungus Day on Saturday

We have a project on that day

‘the lowest number of sightings recorded in the 13 years since the project began… (Though the) Holly Blue has seen increases of 120% compared with last year, and has now spread across swathes of Scotland… increased sightings of other species… Common Blue up 158%… Gatekeeper up 58%… Comma… increased by 95% compared with last year.’

I never saw holly blue as a child (possibly did not recognise it) but now see it several times per year in the same areas i visited as a child but on the other hand almost all other species seem to be less frequent. Totally subjective but just saying I agree with the findings.

Putting Aristotle’s mind to.rest.
Ancient eel migration mystery unravelled - BBC News.
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