Look, I found the Eye of Sauron on Seaton beach… (Okay, it’s a fossilised coral, but it’s fab, isn’t it?) #fossils #geology

Wildflower sketches from Teesmouth (North Gare) last week - lots of lovely Purple Milk Vetch, and a small clump of tiny, bright blue Early Forget-me-nots in the dunes. Small and hairy or small and shiny seem to be the chosen strategies for coastal plants. (NE England) #wildflowers #tinyplants

Mothers - is this wishful thinking on my part that this is an early instar Emperor Moth caterpillar? Feeding on Purple Loosestrife at the edge of my local pond, not a million miles from an area of lowland heath. #TeamMoth

Curly-whirly thing growing in the sand dunes, North Gare, Teesmouth - presumably a basal rosette, but does anyone know what it could be? Growing alongside Sea Sandwort. #wildflowerHour #wildflowerID

Poplar seeds flying Silver in the sunlight fall Grey fluff in gutters #haikuSaturday

Recent sightings at Saltholme. The Pill Beetle was my favourite, though it refused to play with me; curled up and showed me how it got it’s name! (The Spoonbill didn’t appear to have moved since I saw it a fortnight earlier). 🪶🐡 #birdingNortheast

Near Durham, by the riverside; carpets of Ramsons and a yellow crucifer that I can’t ID - a Wintergreen? #WildflowerHour #wildflowerID (I know it’s meant to be carrots and peas, so apologies for producing onions and cabbages, but that’s all I’ve got.)

Wee moth on the kitchen window.

Rugose coral video is done! Full video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwkM... #SciArt #paleoart #3dAnimation #coral #reef

Wriggling tadpoles - Blackbird watches, considers The depth of the pond. #haikuSaturday

Some of the garden wildlife from April - pen and watercolour sketches. The tadpoles seem to lose their external gills(?) after a few days. 🐡

Find a member of the pea or carrot family, that’s the challenge this week from Wild Flower Hour! Don’t be tempted to eat them up though, as some members of the carrot family are extremely poisonous ☠️ Post your finds for #wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm using #carrotsandpeas!

Little terns at Seaton Carew - lots here this year, with the aid of the volunteers. @teesbirds.bsky.social #birds

Beach finds from Seaton Carew, Northeast England (watercolour painting). 🐡 #rocks #fossils #seashells #art

Another strange arrival. The remains of an oar fish washed up on the sands which I took a photo of in 2015. And this took me down a rabbit hole to the story of when Hartlepool had its own strange and slimy ‘dock monster’ which seems highly likely to have been an oar fish.

Got the test print - a few amendments required then it’ll be ready! 🤞 #birdingNortheast

orange sherbet shines on the lake rising flower moon #haikusaturday #haiku #MayDay #amwriting

Forgotten roses Twist through old iron railings, Spill into sunshine. #haikuSaturday

Fascinating list of sightings reported from Albert Park in May & June 1912 - Cuckoo, Hawfinch, Redstart, Yellowhammer, Yellow Wag, Kingfisher & Woodcock not on my Park list @teesbirds.bsky.social from N. Moorsom (2002) Middlesbrough’s Albert Park

Smooching Parakeets - Ward Jackson Park, Hartlepool. 🪶 @teesbirds.bsky.social

The *Birds of Budle Bay* is now with the digital printer! Purchase and collection details coming soon. Please repost 🐦 @ntbirdclub.bsky.social @durhambirdclub.bsky.social @teesmouthbirdclub.bsky.social @birdinglothian.bsky.social #BirdsofBudle #NEbirding

Snipe update! Lots more tagged Snipe have flown from Ireland to Iceland Please read linked thread. Data from @tomasgunnarsson.bsky.social @joseaalves.bsky.social #ornithology

#HaikuSaturday #haiku 5/7/5: slender rose stems sway and soft pink petals flutter-- gathering storm clouds short form: thrashing tree limbs and booming thunder-- dark of the storm monoku: after the storm wren song Please add a version if you feel like it.

Spring comes, whatever. Song Thrush bragging; hawthorn blooms. Grace notes in grey towns. #haikuSaturday

I just came across the cutest little hairy caterpillar in our garden. A Muslin Moth Caterpillar, perhaps? But from what I've read it's quite early in the year for this species. That's my little finger for scale... #moths #lepidoptera

Morning all. ‘Ave a lovely Friday, ‘ave a great weekend. ‘Ave an Avocet, on me. Cheers. xx

I found this notebook at Whittle Dene on 22nd April. It has field notes from a trip to Africa. If anybody knows any local birders who've recently been to Africa and may have lost it, please let them know I have it & to get in touch. Feel free to share on local WhatsApp & Facebook groups. #NEBirding

Congratulations to the winners of our World Curlew Day Poetry Competition.

Here are the winners of our World Curlew Day Art Competition! We had so many beautiful entries, it was hard for our judge, Ellen Bradley to pick! But here they are:

An “incomprehensible” disaster is unfolding at wetlands in New South Wales after the state water agency abruptly stopped environmental flows in the state’s north-west, leading to the deaths of turtles, waterbirds, frogs and sheep.

Common Cornsalad, growing by the Temenos sculpture in Middlehaven, Middlesbrough. #wildflowerHour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Silver burnished sky; Blackbird, pursued by his bairns, Digs into damp earth. #haikuSaturday

Singing male Blackcap in the garden this morning. 🪶 #birdingNortheast @teesbirds.bsky.social

These people call themselves patriots. Almost invariably, they turn out to be stooges of foreign powers. goodlawproject.org/orbans-pay-c...

Reintroducing rare rock whitebeam in today's @theguardian.com by Susie White. #countrydiary #naturewriting

From the Temenos sculpture, Middlesbrough; possibly Common Ramping Fumitory? And a rayed Groundsel, which is probably the subspecies var.Hibernicus? #wildflowerHour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Morning all. Here’s your Razorbill & Guillemot now with added lighthouses just for fun. xx #SuperSeabirdSunday

Tulips in splendour - A year’s brooding, baked in Earth, Makes now their moment. #haikuSaturday

Last call for Cleveland 2025 records. Deadline is 15th April 2026. Work needs to start on the report. Thank you. @teesbirds.bsky.social @northyorksbirds.bsky.social

"around 95% of species being hauled up were not the intended target of the fishery" The destructive power of bottom trawling has been known for a long time yet authorities still allow it in so-called 'protected areas' oceanographicmagazine.com/news/world-f...

Next Meeting- Club AGM followed by a RSPB Saltholme Update on Monday 13th April 2026 in Stockton-on-Tees Library (TS18 1TU). Meeting starts at 7:30 pm room open from 7 pm for tea and coffee. Visitors are welcome. @teesbirds.bsky.social @northyorksbirds.bsky.social

Bluebell season is nearly here.

We're looking for new contributors for Birdwatch and BirdGuides. Interested in birds, birding or ornithology and want to write for us about something you're particularly passionate about? We'd love to hear from you! www.birdguides.com/contact

Call for Abstracts! The National Bat Conference 2026 will take place 11-13 September 2026 at @uni-of-warwick.bsky.social www.bats.org.uk/our-work/con...

Drawings from a recent visit to RSPB Saltholme, Teesside, NE England; the highlights, though, were what I didn’t see - Cetti’s Warblers every few yards along the path and a booming Bittern (more like an echoing ‘bomp’, in my opinion.) @teesbirds.bsky.social 🐡🪶 #birdingNorthEast

siren's call rouses wind-scarred warrior rises - defend! deny! defy! #haikuSaturday #haiku #gulfofmexico #godsquad #goonsquad #resist #hellno #myFlorida

White carrier bag Tangled in branches - shapeshifts To snoozing spoonbill. #haikuSaturday

I don’t know why balloon releases aren’t classed as littering and dealt with accordingly.

Dartmoor has been deliberately set ablaze tonight. An apocalyptic photo of swaling (moorland burning) that I’ve been sent, of the moor alight at Corndon Down, Spitchwick Common. All burning is meant to end on Dartmoor today, 31st March - and many birds will already be nesting this early spring. 😢