... and a few more photos of the lovely snake's head fritillary in the grounds of Magdalen College, Oxford

The snake's head fritillary in and around the water meadow at @magdalenoxford.bsky.social are looking gorgeous in the sunshine!

#Oxford #Flowers #Fritillary

Two of the many horses that graze on Port Meadow, Oxford.

#Oxford #PortMeadow #Horse

A small brown bird called a dunnock perched on a branch in profile - it's beak is pointing towards left of frame.

A small brown bird called a dunnock perched on a branch in profile - it's tail is pointing towards right of frame and its head is turned so it's facing towards the camera.

A small brown bird called a dunnock perched on a branch in profile - it's beak is pointing towards left of frame. It is leaning forwards as it is about to take flight.

A dunnock in Wytham Woods near Oxford.

#Bird #Dunnock #BirdPhotography

My Bengal cat 😺, Loki, perching on the end of a guitar case so he's at the optimal height to harangue me from about his food bowl being empty 🤣

#caturday #bengalcat #cat

This great tit foraging along the edge of my lawn is from Wytham Woods.

I was able to just about make out the ring code using a couple of other photos and apparently it was ringed in May last year as a nestling in Bean Wood (which is about a mile away from here)

#Birds #BirdPhotography #GreatTit

#spring #catkins

It felt properly like spring for today's cycle through Oxford up to Wolvercote, and then a walk in Wytham woods. 12c, sunny spells with crocuses and daffodils starting to bloom

Still a bit surprised the new ones needed doing though after only about 400 miles mostly on paved surfaces in the dry!

I had a go at servicing the hubs on my old wheels after swapping over to the new ones and had some success (cones are a little pitted tho), so I was confident enough to try repack this clicking new rear hub and (touch wood) that's sorted it.

I bought some new-old-stock wheels last Oct for my old MTB as the old hubs had started clicking. Bit disappointed that the new rear started clicking after just 4 months! Apparently these hubs are cheap and lack seals though - could see where the grease had oozed out...

I have a Bengal cat and an Abyssinian cat. They generally get on pretty well and at times engage in mutual-grooming, but often the mutual-grooming sessions descend into a little bit of a tussle after a few minutes...

#Caturday #Bengal #Abyssinian #Cats #CatPhotography

Swan on the pond at University Parks Oxford

#Swan #Oxford

An area of grassland in Wytham Woods (near Oxford) labelled on their map as "The Park". The grass had been cut and baled. Photographed late January.

#WythamWoods #Photography #Grassland #Oxford #Oxfordshire

A ring-necked parakeet in a tree by Christ Church Meadow in Oxford

#Bird #Parakeet #Photography #Oxford

Cartoon drawing of a vertical rectangle containing a pig and a horizontal rectangle containing a lamb - the captions read Porktrait and Lambscape

Porktrait

If you like this cartoon, I can draw one for you! Amazing! Or any of the others on my website. What a thrilling idea!

www.worldofmoose.com/products/por...

A view looking over a meadow and trees at the Oxford skyline. It's a slightly hazy early summer morning. There is a red hot air balloon in the sky towards the left.

The top of a red hot air balloon is visible behind some trees with some of Oxford's spires in the background. The balloon is about to take off.

A red hot air balloon that has just taken off. There are some green tree tops in the foreground, some of Oxford's spires in the near background and then more trees hazy in the distant background.

My banner photo is the Oxford skyline (the "dreaming spires") with a Virgin Balloon Flights hot air balloon flying above it. I took the photo last summer while making an early morning visit to the Hinksey Heights Nature Trail. On this occasion I actually saw the balloon taking off! #Oxford

... they did land safely 😁

#Bengal #Abyssinian #cat

Two young cats jumping from right of frame to land on furniture bottom right of frame. In the middle of frame is a Bengal cat with a spotted coat. Upper right of frame is most of an Abyssinian cat with his paws on the back of the Bengal.

It's #caturday ... When Loki and Theo were kittens I had a few attempts at action photos. For one set I got them to jump from a cat tree to a cupboard. On one occasion they both jumped from different platforms at the same time 😯😁
#Bengal #Abyssinian #Cat #Photography

He's a bit bigger these days of course 😁. I see you have a gorgeous Bengal too! Anyway, here he is as an adult looking his most regal... 🙃

For #caturday here's an old photo of my Bengal, Loki, when he was a kitten at just 14 weeks old. His base coat was a lot lighter back then making his spots really stand out!

#BengalCat #Cats #CatPhotography #Photography

Merry Christmas!

(that's my Abyssinian cat, Theo)

#caturday ? Here's Theo with tucked paws and wild eyes

#cat #abyssiniancat

... Originally I lived near a lot of forestry commission land I would ride trails mostly, but there's not anywhere suitable nearby. So my main wheels have road-oriented tyres as I now ride mostly roads & cycle paths, with some "gravel" along the Thames (e.g. unpaved bits of the Thames/tow path).

... the chainset, cassette and twist-shifter are all original. I did replace the pedals a couple of weeks ago as the bearings were shot in them and clicking. Original brakes, saddle & handlebars (new brake pads - originals had plenty of material still but were rock hard). Mudguards new obv...

... the tyres are Schwable Marathon Winter Plus and are studded so I can still get about relatively safely if it gets icey again. They need 40km on asphalt to bed in the studs which I've been doing this past week (they're so noisy) - I'll go back to my other wheels while it's not icy...

... those wheels are the original Araya VP-20 rims. The hubs started clicking (never serviced) so I bought some similar sized rims which I have been using with more road-oriented tyres. I then regreased/replaced bearings on these hubs and bought some new-old-stock winter tyres as seen here...

A mountain bike side-on against a wood fence. The front is towards the left of frame.

Any other owners of mid '90s MTBs still going strong? I bought my Marin Bobcat Trail new in 1996 shortly after starting my first full time job. It fell into disuse about 5 years later once I owned a car but after moving to Oxford last year I'm back using it again!

#mtb #mountainbike #marin #cycling

A fox on a block-paved driveway. It's body is facing away from the camera but its head is turned to look back over its shoulder. In the background of the fox are the wellington boots of someone who is stood on their doorstep watching the fox.

A neighbour had been working on his driveway; his wife put out a ham sandwich on a plate for him but before eating it he popped around the back to get something. This opportunistic fox then quickly took advantage and helped itself to the sandwich 🦊

#Fox #Photography #AnimalPhotography

An Abyssinian cat peers out of a circular black fur-lined hole in a large black cat scratching "barrel".

Occasionally Theo will sit somewhere with good lighting and even stay there when I point a camera at him 😁. He rarely goes in this "cat barrel" but on this occasion he picked a good time of day to do so and stayed while I got the snap.

#caturday #catsofbluesky #cats #catphotography #photography