As someone who has grown up in England, the union Jack is not part of any history I want to celebrate. It's the flag of Empire, of the subjugation and exploitation of half the world. @sutrbirmingham.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Many of us in England only see the raising of these flags as a way to intimate and exclude. And he's right, there is a link between the flags and the racist attacks in the UK ... they're part of a deliberately created hostile environment. The flags aren't welcome #notinmyname #standuptoracism

This might be a first for me. The alarm call of a mistle thrush. I'm told that some have said that it sounds like a machine gun or a football rattle (if anyone knows that that is anymore).

Do #Birds Have Language? It Depends on How You Define It. In the cheeps, trills and tweets of birdsong, scientists find some parallels with human speech. 🐦 🐤 bit.ly/4meCpso

An extraordinary underestimate of the catastrophic impact of #climate breakdown by 2050 Forget food being a bit more expensive, increasing analysis suggests we will be very lucky to still have a functioning global society and economy www.theguardian.com/business/202...

UK ban on Palestine Action at odds with international law, says UN rights chief

View from the River Severn at #Worcester. #urbansketching #graphite #pencildrawing #art #drawing #illustration #urbansketch #urbansketchers

Not even 24 hours and 180,000 of you have now signed up. Billionaires already have three parties fighting for them. It’s time the rest of us had one. Join us: yourparty.uk

It's time for a new kind of political party - one that belongs to you. Sign up at yourparty.uk.

The police (wrongly) inform a peaceful protestor that holding a Palestinian flag and signs deploring genocide is an offence under the Terrorism Act. This is the deranged policing environment the government has created.

I've just read that "humpback whales participate in the largest communication network on earth - outside of what we have created" among other facinating stuff in this book by @rebeccagiggs.bsky.social #nature #bioacoustics #whalesong

I support Palastine Action. Any democratic rights we have today in the UK were built on direct action. Protest is not the crime, genocide is

Palestine Action is part of Britain’s proud history of protest. Proscribing it is an assault on democracy | Suresh Grover | The Guardian share.google/VPdqU7NMXj6W...

A couple of sketches of #Droitwich #Worcestershire at the end of last week #drawing #art #illustration #urbansketching #urban_sketchers #urbansketch #urbansketchers

In 2003, anti-war activists broke into RAF Fairford to stop US bombers heading to Iraq. Keir Starmer defended their actions and said it was justified to prevent war crimes. Now his government is banning Palestine Action for doing the same. The Prime Minister is a hypocrite.

Feedback to our local museum: "What has been most surprising for us tourists has been that British #museums collect other countries' artefacts. What gives you the right to keep them? ... Give the artefacts back" www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/birmingham-m...

Quick sketch yesterday of the canal running through Tardebigge Locks in #Worcestershire. #pencildrawing #art #illustration #urbansketching #urban_sketchers #urbansketch

Diolch yn fawr (GRMA) to the over 100 Welsh artists who released this statement today. 🙏🏻 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 "Kneecap’s activism is not the story we should focus on, the real story is the slaughter in Gaza and the West Bank." nation.cymru/culture/over...

The creeping commercialisation of almost every part of our lives is behind the widespread growth of inequality. But It's great to know people who are willing to be part of the fightback

Most people expect to hear a knocking sound, but the Great Spotted Woodpecker also has a short 'chip' call. I recorded this one today near my house in the urban West Mids #birds #birdsong #bioacoustics www.british-birdsongs.uk/great-spotte... @ecorecord.bsky.social @bbcwildlifetrust.bsky.social

Chuffed to get to 500 followers! Here's Bristol Street and Holloway Circus, #Birmingham UK. #art #drawing #illustration #urbansketching #urbansketch ##urbansketchers

This week on our blog we are celebrating the archive of Nick Hedges and his pioneering social documentary photography which is currently being displayed at the National Trust Birmingham Back to Backs. Read more here www.theironroom.wordpress.com

"Some campaigners have called for church assets to be seized unless the institution contributes to a state-run redress scheme" #motherandbabyhomes www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I drew what's now called 1 Centenary Square when it was being built as offices for the multinational HSBC. This site has a chequered history, being once home to an iron foundry, a masonic hall, and TV studios. #drawing #illustration #urbansketch #urbansketchers #urbansketching #art

I'm sure you'll be familiar with the idea that T Rex and chickens are related. But I'm still getting my head around the idea (put by @oddpride.com) that by the time T Rex had evolved, birds in general were already as old as primates are now. #birds #evolution #paleontology #Cretaceous

Fancy Fabrics. Corner of Meriden Street and #Digbeth #Birmingham. #Art #illustration #urbansketching #urbansketchers #urbansketch #pencildrawing #streetscene

To understand our future, we have to understand the struggles of the past. Join us in remembering the chainmakers of 1910, whose fight for fair pay helped shape workers' rights across the UK @unisonwestmids.bsky.social @unison.org.uk @tuc.org.uk @wolvestuc.bsky.social @birminghamtuc.bsky.social

"Redress needs to be extended to anyone who ever spent time in an institution"

I've been asked "whose fur is this?" (found on an urban allotment in the English West Midlands). Fox? @ecorecord.bsky.social @bbcwildlifetrust.bsky.social @worcswt.bsky.social #urbanwildlife

One thing you learn when you're #birdlistening on a regular route is that the same birds are there to greet you. There's often a #nuthatch in this big old tree, fighting to be heard above the traffic noise #birds #bioacoustics #urbanwildlife

The new Kepax walking and cycling bridge over the River #Severn in north #Worcester #pencildrawing #drawing #illustration #urbansketching #urbansketch ##urbansketchers #art

Solidarity is alive and well in Birmingham: “It is laughable to suggest that firefighters would be brought in to collect bins during a strike by refuse workers… there is a clear solution – to treat refuse workers with the respect they deserve.” uk.news.yahoo.com/birmingham-f...

Sand Martins (or Bank Swallows to some) seem to be enjoying weaving in and out of the railway viaduct arches in the sun today. maps.app.goo.gl/woqWyLhUKpXD... #Worcester #birdsong #bioacoustics @worcswt.bsky.social

Mural by Curtis Hylton on Cherry Tree Walk, #Worcester. #streetart

Two Birmingham University students face disciplinary action for protesting genocide Despite mounting condemnation - including from Zarah Sultana - Birmingham University has pressed ahead with punitive measures against pro-Palestine students www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2025...

It was a cloudless day in Dublin as we said goodbye to Dad. Like many 000s of children of #motherandbabyhomes, he went without ever knowing what happened to his mother or even who she was. Really, no one should be made to feel that shame or be denied that part of their identity

I like the fact that the Great Tit has one of those names that contradicts itself, 'great' meaning large and 'tit' meaning small. Let's just say that it's largest of the small ones. #birdsong #bioacoustics #birds #etymology

This book has been in my family for nearly sixty years. I loved it as a boy, and it fed my early interest in wildlife. Now its pages feel like old friends. @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social #birds #nature

Remember that through all these years of public sector cuts MPs wages weren't frozen, the house of Lords membership has hugely increased, no one has looked into cutting staff for MPs, or the cost of their other expences, their bars and restaurants are still subsidised and we pay most of their bills.

The corner of Ludgate Hill from St Paul's Square #jewelleryquarter #Birmingham #art #drawing #illustration #pencildrawing #urbansketching #urban_sketchers ##urbansketch

Mainstream Media is catching up to what we already know. Urban Sketching is going strong…. 💙⚔️🎨 @fredwj.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJvi...

Taking cover on a wet day at #jewelleryquarter station, #Birmingham. #art #drawing #illustration #urbansketching #urbansketchers #urbansketch #whiteonblack #blackpaper

'TAX THE RICH ...' is nearly always a good start to a headline @expressandstar.com 7th Feb 2025. @tw-green-party.bsky.social @brumgreens.bsky.social

"Great tits learn songs in the first year of life. As a result, neighbourhoods with a greater mix of ages showed a greater diversity of songs" @bbcwildlifetrust.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social #bioacoustics

Nothing like an early morning yaffle. #birding #birds #birdsong #bioacoustics @bbcwildlifetrust.bsky.social @ecorecord.bsky.social

Carding Mill Valley #Shropshire. Two minute sketch. It was freezing. Couldn't wait to get my fingers back in my pockets #pencildrawing #art #illustration #sketching

For me, this is the first greenfinch recorded this year. Worth remembering they're on the UK red list because of massive loss in numbers in the last 20 yrs due to disease and loss of habit #birdsong #bioacoustics @ecorecord.bsky.social @bbcwildlifetrust.bsky.social @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social

Thanks to the thousands of union members and leisure centre users who contributed to this campaign @unison.org.uk @birminghamtuc.bsky.social @unisonwestmids.bsky.social

The vacant stare of another local pub on the way to being re-purposed as flats. Better that than demolition, for sure, but I rue the loss of community