bsky.app/profile/iand...

👍😀😂

And yesterday Andy - but @alan678.bsky.social says I'm a smart 'rse...
I'm hoping for three in a row tomorrow...🧐

bsky.app/profile/iand...

Excellent!!! They may be vulgaris but they're still very special!

Southern Wood Ants Formica rufa carrying a dead Short-fringed Mining Bee Andrena dorsata to their nest, Dartmoor, Devon

Could I tempt you into a drawing? @drrjwarren.bsky.social

Gold on Green at the #WeedyPond
#Birds #Ponds #DailyNature

Experts call for restrictions on pet flea treatments that harm UK songbirds Chemicals known to affect brains of common garden birds, and to kill unborn chicks, found in most feather samples

Experts call for restrictions on pet flea treatments that harm UK songbirds www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A north east wind in late April means only one thing on Severnside - Bar-tailed Godwits! An amazing spectacle to see these globetrotting migrants navigating the Severn on their long trek to the Wadden Sea each Spring. Hundreds through in the last 48 hrs. Pic: @severnsidebirds.bsky.social #ukbirding

A Douglas Percy Bliss depiction of railway bridges at Blackheath. In the foreground, a red brick three arch bridge flanked by grassy banks and trees, in the midground, the same again. On the horizon a church spire and a church tower. It's cloudy, but the sunlight is strong. Railway Bridges at Blackheath', Douglas Percy Bliss, oil on canvas, c.1932. Have a brilliant day.

Good morning - I hope you slept like a bird's-foot-trefoil-stuffed dingy skipper - I'm starting with 'Railway Bridges at Blackheath', Douglas Percy Bliss, oil on canvas, c.1932.
Have a brilliant day.

Thanks, Rob.

A peaceful scene viewed from the railway of a canal cutting through countryside. Two barges are passing under a bridge. In the background is a windmill.

“Barges are loaded with goods from factories built beside canals. Barges may be towed by horses or driven by their own motor engines”

‘In the Train’, 1955
Artist: WC Watson

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #SplashingAround, any bird making a splash. The Alt Theme is #Green, any bird with green included in its plumage.
Here we have a Greenfinch bathing, meeting both of Rob's criteria...
#birds #ECK#birdlife
@robcrank68.bsky.social
@alan678.bsky.social

Dog Control: Keep dogs under close control and on a short lead, especially between 1 March and 31 July, to avoid disturbing ground-nesting birds.
Protection of Wildlife: On Open Access land and at the coast, it is a legal requirement to have dogs on a lead during this period.

Here, sometimes Mxyomatosis, sometimes, Haemorrhagic disease. The latter killed a child's pets in their enclosure overnight...
Very depressing to see such a devastating effect on the population.

😃

But did they all have the same R4 soundtrack Jon??

Ha! and you get some of the R4 Today programme as well!
Forgot to mute that one - sozza...

The Rabbit
It may not be cool to show a clip of a rabbit but I can honestly say that recently I have seen more Otters, Weasels & Stoats around these parts, than I have the humble rabbit.
There's been wave upon wave of virus over recent years & I'm so pleased to have a dozen or so about the place.

Trial underway for man accused of dumping 50 dead hares & two raptors outside Broughton village shop in Hampshire A trial is underway at Southampton Magistrates’ Court this week for a man who is accused of several offences relating to the dumping of 50 hares and two raptors (a Barn Owl and a Kestrel) out…

Will the full backstory to this madness be revealed?

Trial underway for man accused of dumping 50 dead hares & two raptors outside Broughton village shop in Hampshire raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/04/21/t...

The Secretive Skulker.
The Lesser Whitethroat, a warbler which prefers dense scrub is described in bird books as "skulking".
Their scratchy song is more often heard, than the bird is seen.
He has been singing in the Ash tree for several days & I think a female has just arrived - 🤞. #Birds #BTO 🦉

The Mating Game
As I watched the male Kestrel arrived & called repeatedly - a vole was passed to the female in mid-air.
She landed on a fence post to inspect the gift & then flew into a tree to consume it.
All part of the pair-bonding process - they have mated at least daily for the last week or so.

Have you ever wanted to know more about preserving plant specimens? Maybe for your own reference, or so you can share plants with experts for identification?

The BSBI is here for you! We have a webinar next week - 28th April, 7pm, completely free!

Book here: www.tickettailor.com/events/botan...

Some of the lovely variation in colour and form of Green-winged Orchids (Anacamptis morio) in Dorset today 💜 #orchid

'The big tree'
by UK printmaker Sarah Morgan #WomensArt

Please, please, please, no more photographs of the Red spotted Bluethroat in Dorset.
He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy with dodgy map reading skills...
#RedspottedBluethroat #Dorset

England wildlife watchdog ‘has stopped designating special sites for protection’ Exclusive: Report finds Natural England has created no new SSSIs, which protect areas from development, since 2023

Natural England failing to protect valuable sites. Our report for @wildjustice.bsky.social shows that nearly 2/3 of sites waiting to be designated as SSSIs were under threat from development. One site in Thurrock will be directly destroyed. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#OtD 21 Apr 1834 30,000 marched for the freedom of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, agricultural workers from the Dorset town of Tolpuddle who were transported to Australia as punishment for their trade unionism stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9336...

Other work by the Ladybird artists
‘April’
Shell Guide to Trees and Shrubs Artist: SR Badmin

Yes Aan, some say that AI (Amazing Ian) should be banned...
🧐😂😅