@iandunt.bsky.social "it's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me". I think perhaps William of Wykeham put that a little more succinctly 650 or so years ago...."manners makyth man".

@peralstrom.bsky.social a contribution to the 'great' 'whistleri' Meadow Pipit debate....in Hampshire, UK.

Massive success on the last full day of the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman tour: African Sacred Ibis, Menetrie's, Asian Desert and Yellow-browed Warblers, Sand Partridge, Blue Rock Thrush, Steppe Eagles, Nile Valley Sunbird and at least three superb Grey Hypocoliuses. Image by Mike Morse #birds

Yesterday's Arabian Grosbeak on the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman tour. A proper "birders' photo", this one, but the best our group managed! Image by Chris Sidebottom. #birds

Further Oman drama with @naturetrek.bsky.social An ARABIAN COBRA! Rare and deadly.... but not*too* close. Photo by client Mike Morse.

More great times in southern Oman with @naturetrek.bsky.social We're filling in the last few gaps: Black-crowned Tchagra and this Long-billed Pipit (Mike Morse) on a return visit to Ain Hamran. #birds

@peralstrom.bsky.social Per, could you take a look at this pipit from Oman today and tell me what you think? Call definitely not Richard's - "chep.....chep".

The large pipit from today on the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman tour. It will need some further analysis, effort and reading, and I would welcome informed comment (only call was a "chep...chep"), but we're thinking quite strongly that it's a Blyth's Pipit, which is a major rarity in Oman. #birds

It all went crazy on the Oman @naturetrek.bsky.social tour today! Jouanin's Petrel, Red-billed Tropicbird & Persian Shearwater; Bay-backed Shrike, Brahminy Starling (pic), Asian Koel, Yemen Serin, Bonelli's and Verreaux's Eagles, Arabian Wheatear and Partridges..& a large pipit to work on! #birds

The Dhofar region is producing the goods for the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman group: 3/3 Masked Shrike #birds

The Dhofar region is producing the goods for the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman group: 2/3 Citrine Wagtail #birds

The Dhofar region is producing the goods for the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman group: 1/3 Crested Honey Buzzard #birds

The @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman group finally reached Salalah in the far south of Oman today. And who was waiting for us? A very showy Arabian Eagle-Owl! #birds

Incredibly, the Asian Koels weren't the highlight of the day on the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman tour. They were upstaged by a very rare and normally nocturnal AFRICAN WILDCAT, accidentally disturbed from its daytime lair at the base of acacia, 50km from habitation! Photo by client Steve Hughes

Prussian horse kicks down significantly from four to two. #poisson #iykyk

Day 6 of the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman tour starts with a bang: two Asian Koels at Duqm. A very scarce migrant/winterer from India. #birds

The first of the highly sought-after true Arabian endemics on the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman tour: (South) Arabian Wheatear. #birds

Another day, another superb Omani bird with @naturetrek.bsky.social. Greater Hoopoe-Lark. #birds

Major target unlocked on the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman tour: the fantastic Crab-plover. #birds

More great stuff on the @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman tour. Point blank Pallas's Gull. #birds

Oman continues to produce the goods for @naturetrek.bsky.social. absurdly close views of Indian Roller and Night Heron today, plus Plain Leaf Warbler, Desert Lark, Hume's and Red-tailed Wheatears & more in the Muscat region's deserts/mountains. #birds

The @naturetrek.bsky.social Oman tour is under way! A jetlag-affected, gentle first day turned up 18 wader species (including Terek Sandpiper), two Isabelline (Daurian) Shrikes and our first eagle, a magnificent Eastern Imperial. #birds

Techbros seem to love Tolkien, so here's an analogy to help you understand what genAI is. GenAI is The One Ring. You think your use is justified, b/c you don't have evil in your heart. But it came from evil, it is intended for evil purpose, & anything you do with it will be twisted to that end.

@markgolley.bsky.social Not white, but hey, you can't complain....today in Iceland.

The @naturetrek.bsky.social "Gyrfalcons and the Northern Lights" Iceland tour had a sting in the tail!

We finished the last full day of the @naturetrek.bsky.social tour of Iceland in style today: frankly unbelievable views of our fourth Gyrfalcon in three days! #birds

We finished the last full day of the @naturetrek.bsky.social tour of Iceland in style today: spectacular sulfuric fumaroles

We finished the last full day of the @naturetrek.bsky.social tour of Iceland in style today: best views yet of Barrow's Goldeneye #birds

@naturetrek.bsky.social Iceland continues: a cracking winter Ptarmigan.

@naturetrek.bsky.social Iceland continues: another Gyrfalcon, this one full-cropped, in off the sea and over our heads!

@naturetrek.bsky.social Iceland continues: a stunning roadside Merlin.

In Iceland with @naturetrek.bsky.social: the Gyrfalcons and Northern Lights tour. Also Barrow's Goldeneye and many Snow Buntings.

In Iceland with @naturetrek.bsky.social: the Gyrfalcons and Northern Lights tour. And when darkness fell....

In Iceland with @naturetrek.bsky.social: the Gyrfalcons and Northern Lights tour. Our first full day was fairly massive despite us only seeing eight bird species!

The @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt tour is drawing to a close: we have arrived in Luxor and visited the Temples of Luxor and Karnak. Birds still coming: recent highlights included a big flock of Trumpeter Finches on a Nile Island, multiple Bluethroats, Isabelline Wheatear and Turtle Doves.

Today the @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt tour found two tropical African birds at their only outpost in the Western Palearctic: Abu Simbel in far southern Egypt. African Pied Wagtail and Long-tailed (or Reed) Cormorant.

Today the @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt - Birds and History tour continued to the far south of Egypt and the astonishing Abu Simbel, via Mourning Wheatears, a Greater Spotted Eagle and Black Storks.

The @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt - Birds and History tour continues, with "wonderful things" on both fronts....Red-throated Pipit: a migrant from the Siberian tundra to East Africa. Only a few winter in Egypt. 6/6

The @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt - Birds and History tour continues, with "wonderful things" on both fronts.... White-winged Tern, the scarcest tern we are seeing, behind Whiskered and Gull-billed. 5/6

The @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt - Birds and History tour continues, with "wonderful things" on both fronts....Senegal Thick-knee 4/6

The @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt - Birds and History tour continues, with "wonderful things" on both fronts.... Siberian Stonechat (maura), one of two Stonechat species which winter here. 3/6

The @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt - Birds and History tour continues, with "wonderful things" on both fronts....Ferruginous Ducks in abundance and very confiding on the Nile. 2/6

The @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt - Birds and History tour continues, with "wonderful things" on both fronts.... 1/6

Day 2 of the @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt - Birds and History tour was all birds, around Qarun Lake west of Cairo. Masses of waders and waterbirds, African Green Bee-eaters, Little Heron, 3 kingfisher species, Senegal Thick-knee, Senegal Coucal and the near-endemic Nile Valley Sunbird.

Day 1 of the @naturetrek.bsky.social Egypt - Birds and History tour was almost all history! Much of the day was at the extraordinary, brand-new Grand Egyptian Musuem, where we enjoyed ALL of the Tutankhamun trove, Khufu's solar funerary ship and so much more. An incredible start!

@remembrancewatch.bsky.social www.facebook.com/share/1baZxB...

Some fantastic wildlife on the @naturetrek.bsky.social Go Slow in Switzerland tour: Nutcracker, Lammergeiers, Snowfinches, dozens of glorious butterflies and masses of great plants. 15 species of orchids today, including Coralroot, Lesser Twayblabe, Globe-flowered, and the epic Lady's Slipper.

Western Olivaceous (Isabelline) Warbler, Coto Doñana, Spain with @naturetrek.bsky.social - client photo. Sometimes a tough-to-find species! #birds 🪶

Success! A client's photo of two fabulous Iberian Lynxes in the Coto Doñana yesterday evening, during the @naturetrek.bsky.social Doñana/Extremadura tour.

Spotted Thick-knee (and chick), Ndutu NP, Tanzania, April 2025. #birds 🪶