Freelance entomologist & founder of @collieryspoil. Conservation Officer @BuglifeCymru. Organiser of @OilBeetlesUK. Obsession with #brownfields and wild #bees.
Garw Valley
Joined January 2015
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Nice to finally get back to delivering in-person bee identification courses. Now that I have my own microscopes, I can deliver courses anywhere in the UK so get in touch if you'd like a course near you! – at Tonyrefail, Wales
Good company and weather (albeit cold) for my 'Identifying Bees' training course last weekend. Had a great time - thanks to @scolwill1 @insectecologist @EmilyR_Shaw @EntMikeAshworth @SoftyCottages @pen_bre_ranger @mariagram_dk @JoshySquaashy and others for making it so enjoyable.
Liam Olds retweeted
"100% of the nests contained fipronil, banned in the UK and EU for agricultural use, and 89% contained imidacloprid, banned in the EU as a plant protection product. Both are still widely used in pet flea treatments..."
#cats #dogs #birds #pesticides
theguardian.com/environment/….
Liam Olds retweeted
The orange harvestman Scotolemon doriae was first discovered in the UK in Plymouth in 2017. I found it in Bristol in 2023 and it seems to be popping up in different places in the city now. Checking under rocks in wet winter weather seems to be a great way of finding them.
Liam Olds retweeted
Pet owners accidentally poisoning garden birds! Our latest research finds pet flea treatments (fipronil and imidacloprid) in 100% of blue tit and great tit nests, with nestling mortality higher in the more contaminated nest. @SongBirdSBS @SussexUni @CannelleTassin
After almost a decade, its time to leave X/Twitter and move to @bluesky. If you fancy giving me a follow on @bluesky, my handle is liamolds.bsky.social. I'll leave you with just some of my favourite invertebrates, all photographed in my home region of South Wales.
ALT Collage of pictures. Top left = Celtic Ghost Millipede (Psichrosoma cf breuili). Top centre = Violet Oil Beetle (Meloe violaceus). Top right = the hoverfly Microdon myrmicae. Middle left = Lemon Slug (Malacolimax tenellus). Centre = Long-horned Bee (Eucera longicornis). Middle right = Bee Beetle/Chafer (Trichius fasciatus). Bottom left = Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris). Bottom centre = Bilberry Bumblebee (Bombus monticola). Bottom right = Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages).
Liam Olds retweeted
We've decided to follow the many naturalists on their move from X to @bluesky - check us out at collieryspoil.bsky.social. Thanks to all of our Twitter/X followers over the past 9 years who have supported us and helped spread word about the amazing biodiversity of colliery spoil. – at Wales, United Kingdom
The distinctive egg cocoon of the comb-footed spider Paidiscura pallens, found in leaf litter in the garden today. A common species in Britain but a new species for my garden list.
Pontyrhyl, Bridgend, VC41
#spiders #Paidiscurapallens
Great to be in North Wiltshire today delivering a Rugged Oil Beetle workshop for @WiltsWildlife. After our indoor session, we headed to Morgan's Hill to search of the nocturnal beetles. It was colder than expected and we only found, but one is certainly better than none!
Liam Olds retweeted
Suck-cess! Our medicinal leech breeding programme with @rzss has produced 20 baby leeches!
Only found at 3 sites in Scotland, the rare leech is at risk of extinction due to historic overharvesting for bloodletting & now pollution & habitat loss. So we're giving them some help🧵
Liam Olds retweeted
It's that time of year.....its adult Rugged Oil Beetle (Meloe rugosus) season 🥳 We've received a few reports of sightings over the past few weeks, such as this individual seen by Rob Nixon in his Salisbury garden. Please add any sightings to @iRecordWildlife. #OilBeetleHunt
Liam Olds retweeted
Megachile pluto has been officially listed as an endangered and protected species in Indonesia! This is an important step, and those of you who know me you will understand this is near and dear to my heart. 💪
Liam Olds retweeted
Join The Natur Am Byth project at Newport Wetlands for a free event: Bee's Eye view: soundscapes, imagery and poetry, exploring Wales' rarest bumblebee the Shrill Carder bee delivered by the talented artstation.org.uk
#naturambyth #rspb
book via: tinyurl.com/beeseyeview
Liam Olds retweeted
Few spaces left for our free Autumnal Woodland Walk led by @AilinKee at Cosmeston this Mon 28 Oct
Celebrate the changing colours of Autumn and learn about the importance of our native trees, how to identify them and collect seeds to plant your own!
Book: eventbrite.co.uk/e/autumnal-…
Liam Olds retweeted
Today, we remember all those who lost their lives in the Aberfan disaster.
Around 9.15am on the 21 October 1966, Merthyr Vale Colliery tip collapsed and slid onto the village of Aberfan. 116 children and 28 adults were killed.
Liam Olds retweeted
Just adding some 2023-2024 wasp images to Flickr and tidying up some species accounts. Here is the new feature for the scarce mason wasp Symmorphus crassicornis with species account, photos of males, females, prey, cuckoo & some known locations. flickr.com/photos/63075200@N…
Liam Olds retweeted
The British planning system is supposed to be a level playing field, fairly & transparently applied & suitably informed with @yourcolchester & @NaturalEngland overseeing that process. Delayed SSSI notification weakens the planning system & severely undermines nature conservation.
Liam Olds retweeted
Join #CoalSpoilConnections, @AilinKee & Christian ‘Sparrow’ Owen for guided walks & nature themed fun at Beaufort Hill Ponds & Woodlands.
🗓️ Saturday 19 October
🕙 10:00-15:30
Discover more about the project & the wildlife that calls #BeaufortHill a home.
#BuglifeCymru
Liam Olds retweeted
Here's an oddity. Fly Wolf (Mellinus anvensis) with a fly. Whilst others were taking flies to burrows, she seems to be consuming it in some way. Not at all expected - anyone come across this before? #DiggerAlley @RSPBMinsmere
@StevenFalk1 @WaspWoman @BroadGavin @olds_liam
Liam Olds retweeted
Please share this fantastic opportunity far and wide 💚😁🐝 – at Beddau, Wales
Join our Team - Conservation Assistant: #CoalSpoilConnections
😍 #BuglifeCymru is seeking to appoint a part-time Conservation Assistant!
Find out more & apply
👇
buglife.org.uk/job/conservat…
Not for you? ❤️🔃with your family & friends, to help Wales' invertebrates.
@HeritageFundUK
