No - he's not. His 'fury' last week should have been introspective. Mandelson was evidently too deeply flawedto warrant the appointment.

A x20 phone camera zoom of a heron that had just landed at the far edge of the Watercress Reserve's main pond. I rather like the fuzzy reflections of the heron and the waterside plants in the pond. The heron is side on with its neck extended.

This afternoon's photo of a heron in a pond - with hazy dream-like reflections in the water. #birds #photography #nature #ECK

I think the osprey would be very pleased with the photo. ...just look at those talons!

A trinidadian motmot perched on a wooden balustrade, seen in Tobago. The bird's head is in profile showing off the bright blue feathers framing the crown and the eye - while the rufous tummy is in three-quarters view.

Here's a Trinidadian Motmot, for #birdoftheday #JKLMNOP. #birds #nature #photography

A rare instance of a white bluebell, next to a blue one - in among thousands and thousands of the blue kind carpeting Langley Wood in Heartwood Forest. April 9th 2026

Blackthorn full-throttle blooming. These have become more and more frequent hedgerow denizens in recent years, it seems to me. The picture is focused on a near twig carrying the delicate white flowers, against an increasingly out-of-focus background of more and more blooms covering the bush. Heartwood Forest, April 9th 2026.

In the foreground a branch of a cherry tree, loaded down with white flowers - against a background of more flowers. Heartwood Forest, April 9th 2026.

And finally, a sprig of prunus (cherry) flowers on the tree in our back garden. Some of the flowers are yet to open and present with pink hues. The open flowers are white. Underneath and a little in the background are the shrivelled fruit of last autumn, still hanging there. A few years back, birds used to take them. The difference is likely to be some reduction in bird numbers, but also an increase in competing food attractions in surrounding gardens. St Albans, 9th April 2026.

More #spring #bloomscrolling: a white bluebell, peak blackthorn and two flowering cherries. #photography #nature

A photo of the sea of bluebells in Pudler's Wood, Heartwood Forest (Herts. England). The coppice is not yet in full leaf, allowing in the light that encourages the bluebells to flower. The foliage showing on the trees is 'spring green' in colour.

Peak bluebell! A photo from yesterday, April 9th, in Heartwood Forest, SE England. #bloomscrolling #nature #ECK #photography

Class video, class bird. ...a fascinating watch.

Lovely photo. ...don't you love the tit behaviour of clasping the food item between the feet, ready for comprehensive attack by the beak? The blue tits on my feeder do this ALL the time.

Nice and unusual photo. For ground-feeding company, the northern flicker has the eurasian green woodpecker. I've only ever seen them on the ground (ants are their preferred food). Northern flickers are prettier, in my opinion.

This photo was taken through a (not very clean!) window of two wood pigeons *lurking* in the bay tree at the back of our garden. The more visible of the two, on the left, is in what might be a guard position with its head and beak pointed straight at the camera. It will have an excellent view of what is going on out in the open. The other, to the right, is side-on and embedded in the bay foliage. Eating or nesting? Might be either.

...something's going on at the back of our garden this morning: two wood pigeons loitering up in the bay tree. They've been in there for over an hour, perhaps longer. #birds #nature

Jurassic-era strata that have been tipped to practically vertical - mostly limestone with some softer darker layers in between. (Lulworth formation rocks for those interested in the geological detail). The drop captured in the image is several 10s of feet. These are seen on the east side of the promontory. The famous Durdle Door view with the arch is from the west side.

Some serious up-ended Jurassic layers on the less-visited east side of Durdle Door in Dorset. #AlphabetChallenge #WeekLForLayers #ECK #nature

No one has mentioned Pachinko. That has had a wonderful couple of seasons - and you learn a lot about the relationship between Korea and Japan as you watch. Excellent inter-generational drama. (Loved Silo, and Ted Lasso ...as well as Slow Horses, of course)

Hats off to the Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board: a concise, wise statement. The aphorism '...if you don't use it, you lose it' certainly applies to power of thought. Equally, if you don't put in some effort to use it, you won't (magically) gain it, either.

A zoom shot of two large inflorescences on an almost tree-sized rhododendron-related shrub -- the lower of the two is still opening up and glows with pink. The upper flowering is more nearly white, but the dark purple detail in the interior of each individual flower is more visible. This plant is Mount Usher Gardens, Wicklow.

The River Vartry flowing through the heart of Mount Usher (Wicklow) on a recent - but rare - fine spring day. The dense varied growth on either side of the river is advanced in greening. A towering rhododendron, in flower, is visible on the right. Human on right-bank footpath for scale.

From my garden - a close up of a snakeshead fritillary in flower (an inverted cup shape, with petals of allternating light/dark purple squares). The elegantly drooping golden anthers are visible through a gap between two of the petals.

A perfect pink camellia bloom in my back garden. Seen in among other buds and flowers on a large bush. This year's flowering is relatively late, and had me concerned for the plant. But it has happened and has been worth waiting for.

Images of #spring in Wicklow, #Ireland. The weather since the this year's has been very wet, windy and often cold. It has felt like a hard wait! But finally, spring arrives. #nature #EastCoastKin #photography #blossom #flowers

A magellanic penguin seen on the Valdes Peninsula, Patagonia (Argentina). It is stood with wings open, right next to a parking lot: at the bottom of the photo, the cast-iron bar separating it from the sandy ground the penguin was stood on. It seemed completely ease despite the tourists (including us) within just a few feet. Along with his compadres, this individual had just waddled up from the water's edge below, with the immediate goal of simply getting into the sunshine. The real reason they were there - to scout out nesting sites on the slope down to the water. Apparently the boys show up before the girls, each breeding season, to do this.

A magellanic penguin: both #blackandwhite and #wingsopenbutnotflying ...in a manner of speaking! For today's #birdoftheday and #birds. To my eye, not the prettiest of penguins, but they still have ALL the winning, ungainly charm on land, you expect of this bird group. #nature

@thebuell.bsky.social gives me an idea... How about printing on bank notes the animals/birds our monarch and his family like to hunt/shoot? (As a daily reminder of who our royal family are.)

Lanchester goes on to give polling evidence with numbers. The effect is real and so excrutiating and maddening.

There's a really good piece on the (UK's) intergenerational gap by John Lanchester in today's Guardian.I've grabbed a bit of the text that is, for me, a source of continuing pain...
www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...

A patagonian sierra finch, facing right. It has a typical short finch-style beak, with darker feathers around the eye blending into a grey head. It has a khaki/green collar, and a light warm brown back, edged with more khaki/green. The wings and tail are grey mainly, and the tummy below is yellow. A white rump is just visible. The feet are pink. The bird is stood on a bench - off picture there is a bit of bread left by a visitor that it is summoning up the courage to seize. The out-of-focus weird light blue background is the Perito Moreno glacier.

#Sideview of a patagonian sierra finch (...great name!) which also has a #yellow tummy. For today's #birdoftheday.

It might be. I've been seeing one on my feeder recently. Distinctive dark cap, with buff bib - and a bit spherical! (A borb...). Cream wing markings like adult. Nice photo.

A group of 6 fulmars gliding/flying low over the north Atlantic. Five of the birds have their wings in a horizontal glide, with only one actively flying. The sea beneath, a steely blue-grey, is being rucked up by the wind. The photo was taken from the deck of the Fram (Hurtigruten) in 2017.

Fulmars are gliders par excellence. Here are 6 of them (with only one actively flying) low over the ocean off Jan Mayen Land for #BirdoftheDay #fourormore. #birds #nature

Thanks, Alan.

In the foreground, a puffin standing tall in profile, looking to the left, with a beak full of sand eels. To the rear two more puffins, slightly out of focus - one of them is hunkered down on its tummy also looking left, while the other is looking to the right (off frame). Photo taken on Inner Farne, spring 2018.

The puffin in the foreground is standing very erect, perhaps rather pleased with itself its and its haul of sand eels - a #powerpose of sorts for today's #birdoftheday. #birds #nature

A Royal Reckoning YouTube video by Jonathan Pie

A Royal Reckoning.
JonathanPie.com

youtu.be/yiOvAgw4hwE?...

This photo, and the one accompanying are both of the Matterhorn as seen from my hotel bedroom in Zermatt. This mountain has to be the most iconic mountain of all. In its many moods, it just seems like a Platonic ideal - the stuff of imagination. In the first photo, taken during the afternoon, it was wearing some of the fluffy white cloud in the picture like a scarf, around and streaming behind its neck. More on the second photo in the next alt text...

I got up at dawn to take this one (and others). just the moon (top left) and the Matterhorn are lit up by the Sun. Not a cloud in the sky, with the ridge sitting below the mountain still in darkness.

Just felt like posting a couple of archive photos - of the Matterhorn, to brighten up the timeline. #photography #nature #EastCoastKin #mountains

A pair of spectacled ducks stood next to the water. The water in question is the meltwater forming the lage at the foot of the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina. The ducks are mostly a warm chocolate-y brown, with a purple/bronze speculum visible on the wing. The 'spectacles' are very distinctive white patches between the actual eyes and the top of the dark pointed beak. Orange legs and webbed feet. The darker barring on the chest is a nice feature.

A pair of spectacled (or bronze-winged) ducks - for today's #birdoftheday #waterbirds. Details in +alt #birds

One of the most unusual and beautiful sights we had were the Buzzards, some of them had this amazing plumage and markings. Although we saw the most common type we have here in the UK, this one was in my eyes something special. It could be a young Buzzard but I am not sure. 😉😊 @rspb.bsky.social

The first of three photos all featuring the octagonal light that is the eye-dragging effective centre of this impressive cathedral. Here the view from the choir stalls looking back down the nave. The dark wood tracery of the screen is in strong contrast to the bright octagon above.

A close up fo the decoration around the base of the octagonal light - as seen through one of the (also decorated) gothic arches.

A view up to the octagonal light from not quite below it. The ribs the reach into the light and create a star-like pattern around it can be seen in the barely iluminated gloom.

Well done for lying down - I didn't. I thought I'd just add some some of my photos, to your inspired shot, of this very fine and remarkable bit of cathedral architecture ...to fill out the context. #ElyCathedral #IsleofEly #Ely

The Brexit anniversary is a day for sadness. After the results of the Brexit ref came through all those years ago, this young woman was asked to put her thoughts about it on camera. Her eloquent words spoke for so many of us back then – and her worst fears have tragically come true.
#RejoinEU 🇬🇧🇪🇺

A male(?) chimango caracara at rest on a branch of a dead tree, atop Cerro Llao Llao (near Bariloche, Argentina). The bird is looking to its left placing the head in profile, while the light-brown mottled, delicately feathered chest is seen from the front. Sunlight illuminates the left side of the bird, whilst also seem to catch the tip of the down-curved beak.

For today's #brownisbeautiful #birdoftheday, a chimango caracara seen in the Bariloche area of Argentina. Pretty chest feathers. This predator was soon bullied off its perch by the bigger predator, a crested caracara. #birds #nature #photography

The Carney doctrine Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech

“The old order is not coming back. We should not mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy.”

As a piece of prose and geopolitical analysis Carney’s Davos speech feels history-making. paulwells.substack.com/p/the-carney...