Photograph of a Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) standing on the edge of a river. The bird's body is facing towards us and slightly to our right, with the head turned fully to the right and looking up towards the flies which can be seen (though 3 of the 4 are out of focus) in flight above the water. The Wagtail has a slim, medium-length bill and a fairly long tail - which, the the name Wagtail suggests, was constantly in motion, being wagged up and down. The bird has a grey head (with two white streaks running backwards from the beak, one past the eye and one down to and along the side of the neck) and the upper part of the back is also grey. The chest and the rump are yellow, and while the flanks look whitish hints of yellow can be seen on the belly. The wings are mostly black with some white markings, and the tail has black and grey feathers in the centre, with white feathers on the edges. The legs are pinkish and the beak blackish.

Eyes on the flies. For #riverbank, the alternative theme for #BirdOfTheDay today, here is a Grey Wagtail on the lookout for the next meal for his or her chicks. Photographed in May 2024 on the River Wye, Monsal Dale, in the Peak District. #Birds #BirdPhotography #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

Photo of a Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), a small, stocky wading bird with longish legs (obscured and mostly under water in this image) and a long, straight beak (designed for probing soft ground for worms and insect larvae). The general background colour of the head and body is whitish or a tawny/buff colour, with darker stripes, striations and mottling which breaks up the bird’s outline and can make it difficult to see in the marshland and waterside vegetation it likes to frequent. This is individual is standing in some shallow water, with some several new, green rush or reed leaves growing close by, but nowhere near enough for the bird to hide. The Snipe is facing towards the left of the image.

#Snipe are usually masters of camouflage. But this one, on the water's edge by the John Walton Hide at Brandon Marsh towards the end of Monday afternoon, had evidently given up hiding for the day. #Birds #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

In a reflection of a puddle, pavement becomes the night sky with three people standing below it.

Another world
#HumansOfBlueSky #UrbanGaze
#StreetPhotography #EKC

Photo of a Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) queen at rest on a cluster of glossy, green Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) leaves, with part of a yellow-petalled flower at the top of the picture. The Bee is both chonky and furry, and she is facing towards the left side of the image. Her head and thorax are all black, apart from a broad patch of orangey-yellow just behind the top of her head. Her abdomen has successive bands of black, orangey-yellow, black, and buff - hence 'Buff-tailed.' Her wings, which are clear with dark veins, are folded back across the top of her abdomen.

A Buff-tailed #Bumblebee queen resting on Lesser Celandine leaves, not far from the spot where I took the photo in the previous post in this Fawsley thread on Thursday last week. If she hasn’t already done so, she will soon establish a nest in an on old rodent burrow. #Insects #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

A Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) perched on the top rail of a wooden fence, on which a few peanuts and sunflower seeds have been placed. The Nuthatch is facing towards the right of the picture, beak open and clutching a peanut, feet hidden behind the food in front of the bird, and tail out of view behind the wooden rail on which he or she is sitting. The feathers of top of the Nuthatch's head, the nape, the back, and most of the wings are a bluish-grey colour; some of the wing feathers are black. A thick black stripe runs from the base of the beak to the eye (also black), and from the eye to the shoulder. The underparts are a rich buff colour. The upper part of the longish, Woodpecker-like beak, and the front part of the lower part, is blackish, the rest of the lower part is grey. The lower part of the face, below the eye stripe, is white.

#Snacks is the main theme for #BirdOfTheDay today, so for post #17 in this thread of Brandon Marsh #NaturePhotography (pics taken in mid-March) here's a Nuthatch holding a peanut prize aloft. #Birds #BirdPhotography #PlumeScrolling #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

Photo of yellow Common Gorse (Ulex europaeus) flowers, borne in profusion - along with lots of green, spiky leaves - on the uppermost twigs of a Gorse bush. In the background, out of focus, are the branches and twigs of some leafless trees. Above, the sky is a pale blue colour.

Some blooming gorgeous Gorse at Brandon Marsh a couple of weeks ago. A particularly welcome sight in early Spring, but there is usually some Gorse #flowers to be found at almost any time of year, hence the saying that when Gorse is in flower, kissing is in season. #BloomScrolling #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

Photo of a pair of Great Crested Grebes (Podiceps cristatus) mating on their nest. These fish-eating water-birds have longish, pointed beaks, longish necks, long bodies (with feet right at the back, ideal for swimming, but not for walking on land), and next to no tails. The face, the front of the neck, and the underside of the body are all whitish, while the back of the neck, the back and the wings are brown-grey in colour. Each bird of this pair has a crest of black feathers on top of the head, and a ruff of feathers (orange at the base, turning to black) around the top of the neck. The female is lying down on the nest (a pile of vegetation on a tiny island in a lake) while the male is sat upright on her rear end, with his legs stretched out in front of him for balance. Out of focus in the background are various branches of waterside trees. The water is a golden brown colour, as it reflects the waterside trees (leafless at this time of year) which are lit up by the late afternoon sun which is low in the sky.

The theme for #BirdOfTheDay today is #BestOfTheMonth. This image from yesterday is not technically my best pic of March 2026, but given the behaviour captured and how far away these Great Crested Grebes were, I’m very pleased with it. The golden evening light helps too. #Birds #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

Photo of a Cedar tree (possibly Cedrus libani, Cedar of Lebanon). Set in parkland, the tree is surrounded by green pasture on a gentle slope (which I was standing at the bottom of). Brown, rush-like vegetation in the foreground (centre and left) indicates wet ground. More trees, all leafless, are dotted around the grassland behind the Cedar, which has graceful, sweeping branches covered with green needle-like leaves. Above is a blue sky with thin white clouds.

One of Fawsley's stupendous Cedars for #ThickTrunkTuesday. A younger specimen than the one I usually photograph, this lacks the lakeside location but does look rather gorgeous when the light is right (as it was last Thursday). #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EKC #OnePlaceStudy #TreeTrunkTuesday 🌿

Painted in pink and black, a person seated in a flowing garment, adorns an alcove to a building entrance. The window next to the figure holds in a vertical mounting of a horizontal mountain scape; the window below shows holds a picture of an old truck; a photo of a tiger is mounted above the doorway.

Here expression: “What life choices brought me to this place?”
#TagTuesday #Streetart #SensoryArt #alone #photography #EKC

Photo showing part of the trunk of a tree (on the right edge of the image) and a tortuously twisting and turning network of branches, their upper sides covered with moss, extending leftward across the image from that trunk. In the gaps between the branches and twigs, a lakeside reedbed can be seen along the bottom part of the image, with a grassy green slope, with several trees growing on it, rising beyond the reeds, and a pale grey-blue sky at the top.

Staying at Fawsley for #ThickTrunkTuesday – although the focus of this photo is very much on the terrific tangle of branches rather than the trunk of this #tree growing beside the reedy North-west corner of Big Waters lake! #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

A male European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola), perched on top of a spikey Gorse bush. His body, Robin-like in size and shape, is facing us and slightly to our right while his head is turned to the left of the picture. His head, including his beak (which is open) and eye, is black; his throat is also black but on either side of his neck he has a white 'collar'. What we can see of his shoulders, one wing and his tail are also dark in colour, but his chest is a bright reddish-orange colour and his belly a pale, slightly orangey-white. His legs and feet are black. The background is blue in colour, thanks to the sea rather than the sky.

#RuffledFeathers is the main theme for #BirdOfTheDay today, so here is a very chatty Stonechat (photographed in June 2024 at Cemlyn, #Anglesey) on a prickly perch, with some out-of-place plumage. #birds #BirdPhotography #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

Photo of a Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) standing near the edge of Teal Pool at Brandon Marsh nature reserve near Coventry. The bird is facing towards the left side of the image, head lowered as he or she watches the water for potential prey. The Little Egret is a small member of the Heron, and have the longish neck and long legs of their bigger relatives. The plumage - including two long, slim plumes extending from the back of the head and more plumes on the breast and elongated scapular feather - is all white. The long, slim, pointed bill is black. The eye is yellow with a black pupil and rim. Only the feathered upper parts of the legs are visible in this photo, the rest of the legs (which are black in colour) being below the water. A slightly distorted reflection of the Egret can be seen in the blue water.

For post #15 of this Brandon Marsh #NaturePhotography thread here is a lovely Little #Egret. There were Great Egrets too when I was visiting Brandon earlier this month, but none who came as close to the camera as their smaller relative. #Birds #BirdPhotography #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

Snow capped peaks jut out of the valley floor behind a blue water tower and several beige buildings

The Mission range lined up and looking pretty for #MountainMonday
St. Ignatius, MT.
#BlueskyMonday #mobile #Montana #landscape #EKC

Photo of a family of Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica). In the bottom left corner of the image we see part of one of the adults, who is resting with his or her head turned back so that their beak is buried between their back and and one wing. Above and to the right is the other adult, facing towards the left. At the back, and head poking up from behind the second adult, is the well-grown chick or Puffling, facing towards the right. The adult birds are white, with black crowns, necks, backs and wings; the beak of the one who is not hiding theirs, seen from the side, is triangular in shape, blue-grey edged with pale yellow at the base while the remainder is red with pale yellow, near-vertical stripes. Their eyes are black with orange rims. Their orange legs and feet cannot be seen. The Puffling also has a black crown and neck, plus a blackish patch on the side of otherwise grey-white face, extending from the base of the beak and surrounding the eye. The Puffling's beak is not as tall as an adult's (the shape is like that of a shark's fin on its side) and is dark grey in colour. His or her eye is black, with a thin white rim.

A pair of Atlantic #Puffins with their Puffling, near the entrance to their burrow on Skomer Island in July 2024, for #SuperSeabirdSunday and for today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme #AdultsWithChicks. Looking forward to my third visit to Skomer later this year! #Birds #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

A colour photograph of a beach on Lake Ontario, with smooth rocks in the foreground and an expanse of sand meeting the blue water, with the sun glistening on the surface and clear blue sky above.

A stunning view of Lake Ontario.

#Stunday #BlueSky #LakeOntario #beach #photography #EKC #EastCoastKin

A stone column supports a canvas-sailed windmill. It is covered by lush, vining fuchsia flowers. Trees and a pale blue sky are visible between the top sails.

My imagination is in Greece this morning, so my #Stunday is a flower-covered #windmill from a winery there. #photography #EKC

A Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), viewed side-on as he or she pulls a worm from the ground near the water's edge, where the vegetation is low. The bird is facing towards the left side of the picture, with the head end of body tilted downwards and the tail end upward. A wading bird, this species has longish legs which are pink in colour. The head is white, with black running up from the throat and over the front of the face onto the crown, from which sprouts a long, upward-curving crest of several black plumes. The black colour also extends from the base of the beak, in a thin stripe running just below the (black) eye, across the cheek. The bill, relatively short for a wader, is also black, as is the top part of the chest. The back and wings are greenish, with darker and purplish areas depending on how the light hits the feathers, and the underparts are white.

To continue this thread of photos taken at @wildlifebcn.org #SummerLeys reserve last Saturday here is another bird successfully worm-hunting. This Lapwing or Peewit kept tapping one foot then the other on the ground, an effective worm-charming technique. #Birds #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

A Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), perched on a twig. The bird's body is facing towards us, but his or her head is turned to the right side of the image and looking up. Blue Tits are small, colourful, and characterful birds. The head is white with a blue crown, with a stripe (black from the beak up to and just beyond the eye, dark blue thereafter) encircling each cheek. The underparts are yellow, with a short, often irregular black stripe running down the middle of the belly. We can't see the back or much of the wings here, but the small part of the one wing that is visible is blue. The underside of the tail is grey. The beak, and the legs and feet, are dark grey.

For #BirdOfTheDay (theme: #blue) and for #SmallBirdSaturday here is a brilliant little Blue Tit who I photographed a little over a week ago at @warwickshirewt.bsky.social Brandon Marsh nature reserve. #Birds #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

Two photos combined in a single image, both featuring rear views of the same Little Grebe or Dabchick (Tachybaptus ruficollis). Dabchicks are small, plump waterbirds which dive for small fish and aquatic insects. In the top photo the Grebe is rising from the water, with wings open; the plumage we see is mostly greyish, with dark brown on the head and running down the middle of the back to the rump. The rear end of the bird, which has no discernible tail, is pale (whitish and brown) and fluffy. In the lower photo the Grebe is is floating on the water, turned slightly to the left, and with the head turned fully to the left so that we see the large patch of reddish-brown on the lower half of the head, and the short black beak with a yeollow patch at its base.

Post #13 in my Brandon Marsh thread, and a late entry for #BirdOfTheDay (theme #WingsOpenNotFlying), features a Little Grebe or Dabchick. Displaying a fluffy butt, first with wings open and then with wings closed, this bird was active by the Ted Jury Hide last week. #Birds #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

#Butterflies are among the jewels in the crown of Llanymynech Rocks. Exhibit A. #EKC #UKWildlife

Photograph of a Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), a type of warbler. The bird has mostly brownish plumage on its upperparts, with a pale stripe running across each side of the face above the eye, whitish underparts, and dark legs. This one, perched on a small Willow or Sallow branch, surrounded by catkin-bearing twigs, and is facing towards our left while tilted downward so that the head is pointed towards the bottom left corner of the picture. Behind the bird and the twigs, a blue sky can be seen.

The star of post #6 in this Summer Leys #NaturePhotography thread is a charming #Chiffchaff. This one, who may have overwintered here but is more likely a recent arrival from Southern Europe or North Africa, was looking for insect prey amongst the catkins. #Birds #BirdPhotography #UKWildlife #EKC

Photo of a single Elf or Ruby Elf-cup fungus (genus Sarcoscypha), amongst green moss plus dead twigs and leaf litter. The fungus is like a small bowl with a notch in it; the uppermost, inner surface is red, while the underside or outer surface (which we can't see much of, as we are looking down on this specimen) is a pale reddish pink.

Possibly the last of the Scarlet (or Ruby?) Elf Cup #fungi at Brandon Marsh last week, certainly the only one I spotted in the area where there were others a month before. With moss and a dead Oak leaf for scale. #BrandonMarsh thread post #12. #UKWildlife #NaturePhotography #EKC #ShroomScrolling 🌿

Matchy
#ColorADay
#Yellow
#Street
#Urban
#HumansOfBluesky
#PhotographersOfBluesky
#EKC
#EastCoastKin

A Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis) perched in a clump of Heather, facing towards the left of the picture. The Skylark is a small passerine (or perching) bird. The plumage is mostly pale brown or buff, with darker patches on the wing feathers and darker streaks and speckles on the chest, on the crest (which is raised) and on the back of the head. There is a well defined, pale line on the side of the head, running from the beak, past the eye, circling the cheek and ending at the pale patch below the beak. The beak, fairly short and pointed, is mostly yellowish, but dark along the top. The legs and feet of this particular bird are hidden in the heather.

#BirdOfTheDay, March 26th – the main theme today is #speckled. Here is a #Skylark, perched in some Heather while taking a break from skylarking about in the Stiperstones, #Shropshire, back in May 2024. #Birds #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

Orpheum Theatre
Conrad, MT
#ColorADay #YellowThu
#UrbanGaze #EKC #photo

Child with a stuffed animal, happily exiting a night ferry.

Little #HumansOfBlueSky
#ClassicMono #EKC #photography

Two photos combined into one image. Top and bottom both show three Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) standing on some uneven, sparsely vegetated ground, part sandy and part stony. The Puffin on the right, with his or her beak open, is facing towards the other two. In the top picture, those two Puffins are leaning forward as if listening attentively. In the second picture they are standing upright and looking like they would rather be somewhere else. At least that's how I'm interpreting the scene! The Atlantic Puffin has a black back, wings, tail and neck, with the top of the head also black. Each side of the face is white. The eyes are black with orange rims, and the legs and webbed feet are orange. The colourful beak is narrow when seen from the front, triangular in shape when seen from the side. The base of the beak has a large patch of blue-grey enclosed within a pale yellow border, while the rest of the beak is red with a couple of pale yellow stripes.

Thirty seconds into Peter’s story, Penny and Paul realised they’d heard it before – and that it would go on for at least another ten minutes. #BirdOfTheDay #BeakOpen #Birds #Puffins #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

The #cherry tree by our front door is humming with bees

#photography #photo #photographersOfBlueSky #tree #blossom #ekc

Male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) in the plum tree 🌸 ten minutes ago for #BirdsSeenIn2026 🇩🇪

#birds #ekc #naturephotography #spring

A small river winds around an old red barn. There are mountains in the background. Long , straw colored, grass looks pressed flat due to recent snowmelt. The buds of spring are still a few weeks away.

Clear river water looks golden as it passes over larger rocks and a log. The far bank is covered by white and black birch trunks, and the burgundy branches of lower shrub plants.

Today at the Whitefish River #Scape
#Montana #landscape #photography
#EKC