latest Newsletter. Temminck's Stint a rare breeding wader in UK An Update from the Mono Lake Phalarope Project and much more... More details here!! waderquest.net/wp-content/u... Photo @DeanEades Be #inspired by #waders or #shorebirds #wildlife #conservation #charity

Beyond the rail tracks A barn owl, hunting; pale smirr Over the dark marsh. #haikuSaturday

Making the most of the murk! A blog at jonathanpomroy.wordpress.com

Pinkfeet sleeping, loafing and preening in the early morning after being out all night feeding in the moonlight

Some excellent goose watching in North Norfolk over the last week. A notable influx of White-fronted, Barnacle and Tundra Bean Geese joining the Pinkfeet flocks. The Netherlands is most likely the origin of these birds. Certainly livened up the grey weather.

A not-completely-exhaustive illustration of our winter shorebirds, but these are the species that you’re most likely to see during winter around Teesmouth (northeast England). 🐡🪶 #birdingNortheast

Beach boulders from the coast of northeast England - metamorphic and igneous, I think; the igneous rocks are probably on the granite-diorite scale, possibly left here by glaciers. All very beautiful. #geology #nature

I’m calling this photo artistic. You may call it blurred. That is your prerogative. Sanderlings at Hartlepool, northeast England. 🪶 @teesbirds.bsky.social

Am I the only person who hates those drone shots of the skiing? The noise is hideous and the pictures make me feel sick 🤢

Blackbird’s yellow bill Matches the machines slouching In a muddy yard. #haikuSaturday

We hear woodpecker drumming everywhere, but rarely ask what it truly signals. This Conceptual Note looks at what we know — and what we don’t. theornithologist.org/is-woodpecke... #birds #birding #Woodpeckers #TheOrnithologist #ornithology

Please download these signs, share them on social media and put them up near you to protect your local wintering birds. If you would like A4, laminated copies of these signs please e-mail [email protected], all you need to do is donate for postage. www.curlewaction.org/wintering-wa...

There are few Baikal Teal (Sibirionetta formosa 花脸鸭 Huāliǎn yā) wintering at the Yellow River estuary in Shandong Province. Photo by "菜小hua". #birds #china #yellowriver

Shapes at the wood’s edge. Two young deer wait, uncertain; Shift back into trees. #haikuSaturday

#ArtDD2026 The Ritual Year Big Reveal 🥳🥳🥳 For today & tomorrow's #dailydrawing, here is the cover of our new book (out in August), featuring some of my illustrations from within! @saocousins.bsky.social @holnicotenh.bsky.social @stevecobbin.bsky.social @andykaitken.bsky.social

Cloud inversion from Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire, today. Almost as if the sea had come back to this ancient reef.

This week's column is about something that's arguably more important than anything in the news, crucial as some of the other issues are. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Beach wildlife and strandline finds from an early morning walk last month. (Hartlepool, northeast England). 🪶🐡

Here are the 14 stunning BlueSky versions of my ##HaikuSaturday #haiku posted so far. I'll post the complete list on Monday so more people can join in if they wish to do so.

The wind had turned the sea to foam today; there were drifts of bubbles blowing across the rocks. It was the sort of wind that get’s right through to your bones, but the birds have to endure it; at least Sanderlings are used to Arctic weather though this one doesn’t look happy. 🪶

A watercolour painting, available at claireleach.com/shop.

Days lengthen, slowly, Like swaying hazel catkins, Longing for spring’s warmth. #haikuSaturday

Bitterns and Aurora Borealis- what a day! A blog at jonathanpomroy.wordpress.com

Occasionally we get tiny Goldcrests in the garden, hunting for insects amongst the evergreens. They’re resident in Britain, but some Goldcrests cross the North Sea to escape the harsher continental winters; people used to believe they rode on the backs of migrating Woodcocks. (watercolour) 🐡🪶

Spotty trees…looks like someone’s gone mad with a can of paint, though it’s actually lichen, thriving in the damp winter weather. Strid Wood, North Yorkshire.

Good to see the Observer featuring new poetry. Today it's my 'Mineral'.

Here’s a short poem about the power of poetry to change the world.

Oglala Sioux Tribe demands release of tribal members in ICE custody www.buffalosfire.com/oglala-sioux...

Snowdrops, already. All the seasons blur, these days, Lose definition #haikuSaturday

Studies of the Black-throated Diver (Loon if you’re on the other side of the Atlantic) at a chilly Hartlepool Marina today. Very lovely bird, plumage seems halfway between summer and winter. Also the most grey-headed Cormorant I’ve ever seen. 🐡🪶 @teesbirds.bsky.social

Miss Julia White learnt to plough with horses, aged 40, from Jack Tucker in wartime, in the fields I know & love. I learnt (in theory) from her words, & as I recreated & reanimated them, & walked those furrows. Here’s an extract & a song for #PloughMonday from #GhostsoftheFarm, & a photo of Jack 1/4

The Larch trees along the western edge of the North York Moors take a battering from the winds, which leads to some beautiful forms. This one appears to be guarding the way… a scene from a dull November day, with plover flocks swirling. Ink and watercolour painting. #art #nature

Small footprints in snow Led to the frost-bound birdbath. Disappointment, sensed. #haikuSaturday

This was a nice find from the beach at Seaton Carew (Northeast England) - battered and broken, but definitely a Red Whelk, not the more triangular-shaped Common Whelk. Not rare, but Ive never seen one here before, so an encouraging sign. Watercolour studies. #art #wildlife #watercolour 🐡

Last night or this, a lament for #TwelfthNight. The tree is still fresh & green, having barely dropped a needle. I just don’t want to let it all go! @environment.theguardian.com Country Diary

NEW: Teesworks Ltd has published its latest accounts. Despite plummeting revenues, the businessmen at the centre of the controversial redevelopment project continue to increase their dividends each year. This year they paid themselves more than £32m against revenue of £6m.

Fieldfares in the hawthorns at Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire (UK). These beautiful thrushes are winter visitors to the UK, though numbers vary. It’s impressive how such large, striking birds can almost vanish among a tangle of branches, berries and grey winter sky. Watercolour painting. 🐡🪶

new year's sparrows chirp cheers beneath goldenrod plumes fireworks that feed them Happy #HaikuSaturday! 💚 #nativeplants

The elegant twist Inside a whelk’s broken home - A stranded shellwreck. #haikuSaturday

Good morning 🌅 December always seems so full of darkness. And then comes the slow expansion of light and incredible skies full of fire & pink & purple hues. Almost light, land emerges from the dark, made of rock, of air, of salt, of sand, of stories hidden, of time moving slowly between shadows.

A year of Teesside’s coastal wildlife and wonders - they can take some finding but, mercifully, they’re still hanging on, for now. Wishing everyone the best for 2026. 🪶🐡 #nature #art

The decline of breeding Eurasian Woodcock on a Scottish island has been linked to shooting pressures:

Geometric patterns left by the retreating tide. (Hartlepool, northeast England) #nature #sea

We present: The Art of #InverteFest - December 2025 Edition A digital art book showcasing the work of 100 artists from around the world, in celebration of overlooked invertebrate fauna. Thank you to the artists who contributed to our book! Download: drive.google.com/file/d/1JCXz... #Art #SciArt

Winter Solstice gift: Sands shift, briefly, from drowned lands, Reveal ancient roots. #haikuSaturday There are’legends’ of drowned lands in British folklore, though in the west, not the east - presumably their memories stretch back further. Any similar tales from the other side of the North Sea?

A Solstice sunrise (this one’s an ink-and-watercolour from a few years ago - we haven’t had any sort of sunrise here for the last week or so!). For the final day of #artAdventCalendar - best wishes to everyone. 🪶 #art #nature

Day twenty-three of #ArtAdventCalendar Here is a coloured pencil drawing of a mountain hare in the snow.

Day twenty-one of #ArtAdventCalendar and a happy solstice to everyone! I said I’d look through the archives for my contributions this year, so here is a painting which must be about twelve years old! It was inspired by a wild-eyed hare I saw on a walk to Durdle Door in Dorset.