Sunday #morningread Alice Oswald’s ‘Seabird’s Blessing’ from a book I found in @poetrypharmacy.bsky.social yesterday: 100 Poems to Save the Earth, ed. Zoë Brigley & Kristian Evans.

Four lifers today at St James Park, London: Barnacle Goose, Hooded Merganser, Nene (Hawaiian Goose), and Red-breasted Goose. #UKbirding

Saturday #morningread ‘We have lit upon the gentle, sensitive mind And lost the old nonchalance of the hand; Whether we have chosen chisel, pen or brush We are but critics, or but half create, Timid, entangled, empty and abashed’ —W.B. Yeats, from 'Ego Dominus Tuus’

I travelled to NYC to help launch (last night) Joanna Stalnaker's astonishing new book _The Rest is Silence: Enlightenment Philosophers Facing Death_. The book is a treasure, humane and moving: a vindication both of the #18thc philosophes and of what literary studies scholarship can do with them.

New insult to life itself just dropped

This is absolute nightmare fuel. It's genuinely creepy how many people want to replicate genuine relationships with AI Im also concerned about the long term impacts of convincing people that they shouldn't have to ever experience negative emotions, loss or loneliness.

#CFP: "Poetry's Environments" June 9-11, 2026 (University of Leeds, UK) Keynote speaker: Simon Armitage Deadline for proposal: December 5th 2025 Info: conferences.leeds.ac.uk/poetryenviro... #envhum #envhist #ecolit #environment #poetry #ecocriticism

Wetlands are rare and exceptional, even small ones. Intrinsically valuable, they also: 🌱 Offer habitat for plants, insects, amphibians and birds 🌊 Absorb stormwater, buffering against floods 🌍 Filter and reduce pollutants, improving water quality Learn more with the Convention on Wetlands 👇

I know what you mean. So many structural reasons encouraging its use. Sometimes I think about King Canute commanding the tide.... But we are not alone and there are many colleagues doing fantastic work on resistance e.g. this article by Guest et. al philarchive.org/archive/GUEATU

Friday #morningread Keep warm& drink coffee ☕️

Just realised today is #worldkindnessday ‘Being kind to yourself is one of the greatest kindness’, said the Mole. I love this painting by Charlie Mackesy. From his book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.

Crab apples in November. Flow and grow with abundance and happiness. To use time properly is the way to help our souls ascend.

I genuinely believe that speechifying about Gen AI is one of the most important things that we can do as academics! Students are getting so much AI propaganda thrown at them and need a more critical perspective (which they often welcome)

Anyone have good recommendations for basic undergraduate readings/resources on the basic concept of sustainability? Bonus points if you can point me to texts on Scandinavian contexts (tekster på norsk/dansk/svensk er også greit). Thanks! #EnvHum #Sustainability #Bærekraft

Thursday #morningread Enjoy some sunlight! ☀️☀️☀️

🎶 Winter is coming – so make sure to listen out for the ‘chacking’ of Fieldfare and the high-pitched ‘tseep’ calls of night-flying Redwing (1/3) #ornithology

Wednesday #morningread #AldoLeopold

As we learn more and more about the costs associated with GenAI, I continue to wonder how institutions and their leadership decide that yes, incorporating anything OpenAI produces into the lives of educators and students is worth the harms.

Tuesday #morningread #11:11portal #11/11portal

Gloriously atmospheric… the blackbirds’ winterdink …

Country diary: The muted beauty of moth-trapping in November by Susie White Susie's latest book, The Gardener and the Moth: Planting for Moths and Butterflies, is available to order now! Details in the link below 🦋 #booksky #naturewriting 📚💙 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Monday #morningread Have a good week! 💚

Ragwort in Ely. #WildflowerHour

Ragwort A wild flower that should not be neglected The yellow is collective and not solitary #wildflowerhour St Aidans, Leeds

Spotted Knapweed St Aidans, Leeds #wildflowerhour

Sunday #eveningread

As we approach COP30, and experience a crazily warm November in the UK, I feel pretty despondent. Emissions continue to rise and the projections are scary. The forces of denial and delay seem more powerful than ever. But I’m not preaching giving up — pessimism does not preclude positive action.

MTB ride from home to #RSPB St Aidan's. Glossy Ibis, 12 GW Egrets 2 Water Rail & 2 Kestrels the best. Lots of Kites enroute. #YorkshireBirding #lowcarbonbirding

Happy to announce that I am joining the the Environmental Humanities journal editorial team as an Associate Editor. read.dukeupress.edu/environmenta... #envhum #envhist

Pleasant morning at Sevenhampton. 1st Autumn Fieldfare ringed with 15 Redwing's. Redpoll no's are slowly picking up & the 9 caught today is our best day total after a few meagre years #birdringing #migration #

Saturday dry morning #UKbirding at RSPB St Aidans. Saw one kingfisher, one kestrel, one teal, two gcgrebes, several herons, a few great white egrets, some goosanders, and a small flock of lapwings. Heard pink-footed geese. The ibis and beared tits not showing well.

Sure, I may be lazier and less competent than many other birders, but I have developed an efficient system for counting in the field: One Two Several A few Some A small flock A medium-sized flock A large flock Loads of Cor blimey Bloody hell

Saturday #morningread Have a restful weekend! Walk into the woods, meet the birds, clean your lung. 💚 #EmilyBrontë

Woodcock the best of this week's birding in the city, flushed from the allotments in the park. Tawny owl calling one evening. Solid supporting cast - Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Nuthatch and Jay, plus 4 species each of gulls, thrushes, tits and finch. 36 spp is a great total. #patchbirding #Leeds

It's possible that I've totally lost it, but is this actually quite a sensible article about reforming our prescriptive, instrumentalised, exams-obsessed curriculum, by... [checks notes] Simon Jenkins?! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I am honestly sick of being told — at a university FFS — that we need to ‘embrace’ this profoundly unethical and irresponsible technology.

Friday #morningread

It's Halloween, so here's my annual reminder that I wrote a book and it has the word GHOSTS in the title. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/natu...

Our next indoor meeting is taking place on Wednesday 19th October starting at 7:30pm. The speaker is Laurence Rose who will be talking about Windhover. All welcome! #Leeds #RSPB

Thursday #morningread ✨

I keep seeing 1.5C described as a goal or a target. It’s not. It’s a LIMIT that we’re about to exceed, with very serious ramifications. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The most annoying night of the year.

Beaver Supermoon 🌕🙏🤞