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 🪶

Secretarybird, Serengeti NP, Tanzania, yesterday. #birds 🪶

Purple Grenadier, Setengeti NP, Tanzania, today. #birds 🪶

Black-bellied Bustard, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, yesterday. #birds 🪶

Swinhoe's Pheasant, Taiwan, 2012. A fabulous Taiwanese endemic. #birds 🪶

Siberian Crane, India, 2001. An ancient photo from the pre-digital age, but what a bird! Siberian Cranes no longer winter in India; this bird was one of the last two that returned: the entire population of about 3000 birds breeds in NE Russia and winters in a select few wetlands in China. #birds 🪶

One of our bird photos a day #86: White-necked Jacobin, Trinidad, 2006. A genuinely cracking hummingbird! #birds 🪶

Verreaux's Eagle-Owl, Gambia, last week. #birds 🪶

One last shot from Gambia with @naturetrek.bsky.social: the fabulous White-throated Bee-eater. #birds 🪶

Last full day leading Gambia with @naturetrek.bsky.social, and still the great birds come. Pearl-spotted Owlet, Northern White-faced Owl, Senegal Eremomela and African Darter. #birds 🪶

Penultimate day leading in Gambia with @naturetrek.bsky.social: Klaas's Cuckoo, Verreaux's and Greyish Eagle-Owls, and Long-tailed Nightjar at roost. #birds 🪶

Another day in Gambia with @naturetrek.bsky.social , and more great birds. Blue-breasted and Pied Kingfishers, Northern White-faced Owl and Cardinal Woodpecker 1/2 #birds 🪶

Another day in Gambia with @naturetrek.bsky.social , and more great birds. Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, White-crested Helmetshrike, West African Pied Hornbill and an outrageously out-of-range Brown-backed Honeybird! 2/2 #birds 🪶

Another great day with @naturetrek.bsky.social in Gambia: Violet Turaco, African Golden Oriole, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu and African Grey Hornbill. #birds 🪶

The good stuff keeps coming for those willing to keep birding through the heat of the Gambian day: Lesser and Spotted Honeyguides, Red-billed Firefinch and Common Wattle-eye. #birds 🪶

More wonderful things in Gambia with @naturetrek.bsky.social: White-throated Bee-eater, Pied Kingfisher, African Harrier-Hawk and Grey-headed Gull. #birds 🪶

Only one morning in Gambia, and already lots of great birds, including Palm-nut and Hooded Vultures, Fine-spotted Woodpecker and Senegal Thick-knee. #birds 🪶

More wonderful things in Gambia with @naturetrek.bsky.social: White-throated Bee-eater, Pied Kingfisher, African Harrier-Hawk and Grey-headed Gull.

The good stuff keeps coming for @naturetrek.bsky.social clients willing to keep birding through the heat of the Gambian day: Lesser and Spotted Honeyguides, Red-billed Firefinch and Common Wattle-eye.

Only one morning in with @naturetrek.bsky.social in Gambia, and already lots of great birds, including Palm-nut and Hooded Vultures, Fine-spotted Woodpecker and Senegal Thick-knee.

In 2022, Mr. Jim Moon (@hypnogoria.bsky.social) did a great series of podcasts on the history of NOSFERATU--its origins, production, its legacy, why it more than just an adaptation of Dracula. If you've never thought a podcast could be art, this will change your mind: hypnogoria.com/h_nosferatu....

An amazing last full day in Oman with @naturetrek.bsky.social. At least six Grey Hypocolius, Nile Valley Sunbird and Arabian Eagle Owl - plus Sand Partridge.