Dr Raye eating choccy @LeafyHistory@computerfairi.es

Happy #SaveTheEaglesDay!
Where I live now, eagles seem impossibly mythic birds, but according to my research, just 250-500 years ago White-tailed Eagles (or Sea Eagles) were widespread around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. The last native White-tailed Eagle was only shot in 1918! 🌬
But this is not the end of the story. The eagles are reintroduced on Mull, Wester Ross and Fife in Scotland, Killarney NP in Co Kerry and now the Isle of Wight in England. Please post pics if you see one! 🦅💚

My strange winter habit is to read something about #SlowWorms (they are hibernating right now and I miss them! 💚​)
I found this paper today called 'Great capricorn beetle-created corridors as refuges for lizards' https://herpetozoa.pensoft.net/article/81190/download/pdf/
It describes how common lizards, sand lizards and slow worms use the holes (corridors) bored by gc beetles for predator evasion, as well as maybe hunting, thermoregulation and hibernating. Another reason to have a log pile! 🦎🎄​​ #herpetology

@mistyuk wow I am jealous!! You will have to post a pic (or maybe wait until they are gone for safety!) 💚

@mistyuk That's amazing! I wonder how many generations of seals that is? Have you seen any this year? 💚

@richardev Ah nice! I hope martens and wildcats come back in our lifetimes, there are places near me which feel like they would be perfect too! 💚​

@richardev It's just the standard recorder effort problem so not so bad when you know to balance for it - "Oh hi again Machell!" But Morecambe Bay woods sounds lush! Have you there often yourself?

@CherylMorgan That's so outrageous!

@CherylMorgan wow

@richardev Yes! I can actually explain that one. There was one recorder called Thomas Machell who seems to have been EVER SO interested in Martens and Wildcats around Kendal. He was so interested in them and records so many locations that it skews the whole map, although I suspect the early modern Lake District was also genuinely a very good habitat for them too! ​

@mari3lle I know right! I was absolutely blown away when I saw that cover, all credit to Pelagic Publishing! The artwork is actually from the seventeenth century - I have a contemporary picture for most of the species in the Atlas! ​​

December's historical wildlife map is of the (harbour/grey) #seal! According to my research, seals were widespread around Britain and Ireland 250-500 years ago! 🐕​🧜‍♀️​

Interestingly, seals started to decline after the end of the #EarlyModern period due to increased hunting. Around 1900 they had become so rare that they had to be legally protected. They have recovered pretty well since, and it's now pupping season, so look out for them if you walk on the coast this winter! 🌊​🔭 #histodons #mammals

If you traveled back 250-500 years what #wildlife could you see near you? After a four year research project, I can tell you the answer in Britain and Ireland and it is quite exciting! (🐺​🐆​🐰​🦈​​🦐​🐍​)!

My Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife will be published in June, but I have special permission to share some of my findings before that, so I will be releasing one map each month here. Here is a list of previously released ones: https://historyandnature.wordpress.com/2022/12/21/atlas-maps/
#gis

Today the #mountain air is murky with fog. My footsteps are muffled as I walk and there is a ripple of quiet anticipation passing through the wood. A good lunchtime!