Stephen Parkinson 💙🕷🇵🇹🇪🇺🇧🇷

Retired academic still working on medieval literature. Supporter of #BBOWT #raleighparkoxford @soschildrenuk and all things Portuguese and Madagascan.

[Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley]

Another busy week for our volunteers. Having cleared the #SSSI fen on the east side, we're making good progress on the west side. Here scything an area ready to be spread with the last of our hemi-parasitic Marsh Lousewort to weaken the reed and rush.
#OxfordshireFens

[Dr Haseena Wazir @DrHWazir]

This @BBCNews propaganda piece is an utter joke from @NickTriggle.

Diminishing doctors concerns around patient safety and scope creep to a ‘toxic staffing row’ is wrong.

Triggle also did not address how a PA (starting on 46k) can earn more than a doctor (starting salary 32k).

[Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley]

It's starting to look very autumnal in the Valley. Our Oak (left) is looking glorious, and a couple of our disease resistant Elms (Sapporo Gold) are starting colour up nicely. 😍

[Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley]

Parsley Water-dropwort (Oenanthe lachenalii) is a nationally Near Threatened wetland umbellifer that is also Rare in Oxon. Pleased to say it thrives here in the Valley in the slightly enriched areas of our #fen. This week we spread more seeds in a new area. Fingers crossed!

[Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley]

The Queen of Seeds!
Surrounded by bags of locally collected Yellow Rattle, Knapweed, Ox-eye Daisy, Meadow Cranesbill, and Kidney Vetch, our ecologist @judyweb32049878 hands out bags of seed to volunteers to spread on the dry grassland banks above our #SSSI fenland.
#Pollinators

[Judy Webb @judyweb32049878]

If you visit a nice old woodland with lots of fallen trees & general deadwood, apart from #fungi you may be lucky and have this amazing bird-dropping mimic deadwood #beetle Pogonocherus hispidulus or Greater Thorn-topped Longhorn I found next to attractive Turkey tail brackets

[Judy Webb @judyweb32049878]

Incredibly important. BNG baseline assessments are mostly on plants. Invertebrates are ignored. This research finds that invert diversity does not necessarily correlate with plant diversity. Full surveys of invert taxa plus plants needed to avoid inaccurate biodiv. assessment

[Stephen Parkinson 💙🕷🇵🇹🇪🇺🇧🇷 @Stephen28030977]

@Kit_Yates_Maths Well done, Kit, you've discovered linguistic variation. It may be governed by social factors (abdomen), phonetic factors (the), dialect contact (tomato), and the historical origin of the two or more variants does not control their use... Keep observing!

[Chris Birkinshaw @c_birkinshaw]

The iconic spiny thicket in southern #Madagascar is being rapidly lost. Some of the best remaining large areas of this vegetation are now found on the Vohidava-Betsimilaho Massif, in the upper Mandare River Valley. Watch these drone flight over this site https://t.co/l9wuxspzXg

[Stephen Parkinson 💙🕷🇵🇹🇪🇺🇧🇷 @Stephen28030977]

@caitlinrgreen @azure_seal No guarantee that an Arabic name for a Hispanic island would bear any relation to past or future Castilian, Portuguese or Catalan names. Could Shashin be an Arabic translation of a Romance name?

[Stephen Parkinson 💙🕷🇵🇹🇪🇺🇧🇷 @Stephen28030977]

@caitlinrgreen @azure_seal I suspect the author is making a guess at what the hispanization of Shashin would look or sound like. Arabic <sh> (a palatal fricative) would correspond to medieval Iberian <x> which in post-1500 Castilian would have become the velar fricative spelled <j>.

[Alex @alex_avoigt]

Awesome 🇵🇹 Portugal!

[Stephen Parkinson 💙🕷🇵🇹🇪🇺🇧🇷 @Stephen28030977]

@Riverford @jessphillips Different strains are more or less hot - I know of one seed supplier and one Spanish deli which sell hot padron peppers as a separate category. Perhaps Riverford's French growers should check their supplier - or visit the municipal market in Santiago de Compostela.

[Stephen Parkinson 💙🕷🇵🇹🇪🇺🇧🇷 @Stephen28030977]

@Riverford @jessphillips It's not a myth, but if they are properly cultivated and picked young, only a small percentage will be hot. I've been eating Padron peppers for over 20 years, I have grown them myself for over 10 years, and I avoid Riverford's peppers, even though I am a faithful customer...

[Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley]

Our seed collection is now in full swing, here harvesting Long-stalked Yellow-sedge and the remaining Ragged Robin. And just look at all the wonderful Grass-of-Parnassus and Parsley Water-dropwort, both Rare in Oxon and vc23. A truly wonderful sight!
#OxfordshireFens

[Judy Webb @judyweb32049878]

Friends of Lye Valley fen have worked with Headington Churches in our joint 'Sponge Headington' project to help more rainwater get into ground in catchment for springs & reduce run-off & fen erosion. have a look at our leaflet, going out soon to houses:
https://t.co/iAv2yPSKa3

[Beatrice Groves @beatricegroves1]

Beautiful #sunset over the Blythburgh reed beds🧡
#Suffolk

[Stephen Parkinson 💙🕷🇵🇹🇪🇺🇧🇷 @Stephen28030977]

@jessphillips The key is size, ideally they should be no more than an inch long. The younger they are picked, the less chance of them reverting to their chilli ancestry. Now that they are grown everywhere, and not just in NW Spain (they come from Padron in Galicia), they are unrecognisable.

[Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley]

@Stormvogel99 @judyweb32049878 @Freshwaterhabs @BSBIbotany @wildflower_hour @MarkLygo @cllrsusanbrown @LabLinda75 @rail_guns @EmilyKerr36 If you want to see our Grass-of-Parnassus, now would be a good time to visit. There are dozens easily visible from the boardwalk, although none particularly close to it...
#OxfordshireFens

[Jerome Adams @JeromeAdamsMD]

Missed gold by 0.02 seconds. And then tested positive for Covid. 🤦🏽‍♂️

If 2021 was the pandemic Olympics, THIS is the Covid #Olympics…

(Also, I realize the Olympics are supposed to be about feel good stories, but I can’t figure out why no health reporters are covering this)