Yesterday's newsletter by yours truly:

“The Force is not a power you have. It's not about lifting rocks. It's the energy between all things, a tension, a balance, that binds the universe together.” - LUKE SKYWALKER

As usual at this time of year we have people on to us worried about having a bumblebee ‘hive’ in their #garden. ‘Are they dangerous?’ ‘Should I have them removed?’ ‘Will they be there forever?’ Here’s a quick #bumblebee #lifecycle thread to explain. Please #repost/#share for the #bees. Thanks! 1/14

"The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire." — Pamela Hansford Johnson

The Wild Cherry Blossom Fairy Look up and see A fairy tree, With blossoms white In clusters light, All set on stalks so slender, With pinky leaves so tender. O Cherry tree, wild Cherry tree! You lovely, lovely thing to see! -Cisely Mary Barker #ImageAndVerse #bloomscrolling #photography #ECK

The Pearl Bush Amazing poise and grace, This shrub can truly embrace. Their beauty shines so bright, Bathed in plumes of dazzling white. — Mr. Ian Hulf #ImageAndVerse #bloomscrolling #ExochordaMacrantha #stunday #photography #EastCoastKin

Oh, how sweet and what a sight! #evening #naturephotography

Along the road the magpies walk with hands in pockets, left and right. They look like certain gentlemen who seem most nonchalant and wise until their meal is served – and then what clashing beaks, what greedy eyes! -Judit Wright #ImageAndVerse #BirdOfTheday #RockSolid #mouthful #Photography #ECK

We are the mirror and the face in it. We are tasting the taste this minute of eternity. We are pain and what cures pain, both. We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours. Rumi, “Music Master” tr., Coleman Barks, 1995, p.106

Small wild birds have demonstrated an ability to recall what they have eaten in the past, where they found it and when, a new study has shown. "Our findings suggest these birds are more intelligent than they’ve been given credit for." BBC 😆💚 #SmallBirdSaturday #Birds #photography #EastCoastKin

Scrolling, scrolling, scroll... Sunny 🖤 Wasn't he so very sweet To tell me it was time to eat? ― Henry N. Beard, Poetry for Cats: The Definitive Anthology of Distinguished Feline Verse #caturday #CatsOfBlueSky #photography #EastCoastKin

Cats and humans have been partners for over ten thousand years. And what you realize when you've lived with a cat for a long time is that we may think we own them, but that's not the way it is. They simply allow us the pleasure of their company. 🩶 ― Genki Kawamura #caturday #ECK #CatsOfBlueSky

And another one, a Nicaraguan Grackle (Quiscalus nicaraguensis) #stretched in a courtship dance (that's my best guess at least). A boat trip again, in this case in Costa Rica's Caño Negro wetlands. Enjoy! NL: Nicaraguaanse troepiaal #birds #birdoftheday #costarica #wildlife #photography

🌠🌌 #musicsky #music

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For #BestOfTheMonth I caught this amorous pair of blue jays dancing beak-to-beak in my back yard. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #bluejays #backyardbirds #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

Following months of activism, 1,500 beagles are being released from the Ridglan Farms testing facility to animal rescue groups: the Beagle Freedom Project and Big Dog Ranch Rescue. To all the dogs being released, we wish you many years in loving homes. 14/10 for all

Jackdaws are comfortable around people, which helps explain their place in folklore. Some cultures saw the Jackdaw as a predictor of rain, others as a savior of crops. Or possibly an omen of death. 💙🖤💛 #BirdOfTheDay #BestOfTheMonth #birds #trees #ColorADay #YellowThu #photography #EastCoastKin

Morning run. These geese were among my charges at a former job. Each morning when I opened their pens in the barn they would run to the pond for a bath and swim. I decided to run beside them and snap the dash. One of my favourite images. #photography #geese #LongNecks #birdoftheday #stunday #ECK

Take it from cats. If you’re not interested, don’t look interested. You don’t have to chase every bird that you see. ― Helen Ellis I´m sure Luna would approve this message, she is just not in the mood right now . 🩶😽 #WhiskersWednesday #CatsOfBlueSky #WindowsOnWednesday #photography #EastCoastKin

Garden escape Daffodils seem to have settled quite well in their new wild environment on the forest floor ; they offer an exotic sight among the dry leaves. 💚💛💚 #Bloomscrolling #flowers #forest #photography #EastCoastKin

Vibrant red immature spruce cones. Specifically, they are female cones that have just emerged. The tree needs several years to accumulate enough resources to support another heavy reproductive cycle.❤️💚 #ColorADay #RedWed #WoodlandWednesday #photography #EastCoastKin

It looks like reality kicked in before her morning coffee did. 😆 #naturephotography #nature #wildlifephotography #wildlife #macrophotography #macro #amphibian #treefrog #frog #herps #eastcoastkin #photography

To bring a smile to your face, here’s a c. 4,500 year-old clay vase in the shape of a little hedgehog holding a bowl! 🦔 😍 From Chalandriani, Syros, Greece. Early Cycladic II period. National Archaeological Museum, Athens 📷 ArchaiOptix #Archaeology

There's a time in our lives when we hear those words "we did everything we could" and that is what people want to know, that everything was done that could be. Regardless of this young whale, or any animals health, we should always be saying "we did everything we could." news.sky.com/story/strand...

Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas)…Mexico, Central/South America up to south Texas…omnivores, they take almost everything…insects, fruit, seeds, small animals. They’re Covids so they’re very smart. #birds #wildlife #nature #biology

Them: Are you a cat person or a dog person? Me: Are you an inhale or exhale person? Just hand me a furry creature so I can talk to it in a weird voice.

It’s life, and ours, exist only because of a myriad of synchronicities that bring us to this particular place at this particular moment. In return for such a gift, the only sane response is to glitter in reply. ― Robin Wall Kimmerer #MossyMonday #trees #rocks and #moss #photography #EastCoastKin

Waiting for his treat—as if he’s a cat, American Herring gull, Baja, California. #ECK #birdoftheday #westcoastkin #passportphoto #nosmile #photographersunited #photography #mexico #🪶 #mugshot #photographersofbluesky #birdphotography #nature #gull #birds #birdsofbluesky

Wood Squill (Scilla siberica) a plant steeped in floral symbolism. In various folk traditions, the plant was long considered a flower of witches and evil spirits, but it was also used to ward off the "evil eye" and break witches' spells. 💙 #BlueSkyMonday #flowers #bloomscrolling #photography #ECK

While we are transfixed by the antics of our supposed "leaders", a catastrophe of astonishing proportions has been creeping up on us. Climate scientists now believe it is more likely than not to happen, and soon. This week's column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

💙 #Stunday

Good morning and happy #StunDay, I hope the sun shines on you my friends 😊 ! #spring #nature #naturephotography

As I reap my crop in the wasteland, and only dig up what I do need I’m happy I don’t need convincing that the dandelion is not a weed. 💛 -Lindsy Laurie #Bloomscrolling #ImageAndverse #stunday #flowers #photography #EastCoastKin

If I was your Squirrel I'd employ my unique style To bring you joy and entertainment And find ways to make you smile. I would skip around you playfully Just to make you giggle. 🧡 -Natasha L. Scragg #ImageAndVerse #ColorADay #OrangeSun #photography #forest #EastCoastKin

This absolutely cheered me up this morning, if you like bees and flowers, it might cheer you up too 🐝🌼 One of my favourite critters on one of my favourite flowers. #IrishWildlife

#squirrelSaturday #mammals #wildlife #ECK #photography #Sony #naturephotography #Squirrels

😽 #caturday #archaeology

You cannot look a sleeping cat and feel tense. 🩶💜 - Jane Pauley Pro catnapping Luna. #Caturday #cat #CatsOfBlueSky #photography #ECK

Book 💚 ECOCIVILIZATION Making a world that works for all by Jeremy lent

Beautiful, cautionary photo essay: 💚 Photographer Jon McCormack's "new book, ‘Patterns: Art of the Natural World’, published on Earth Day 2026 (22 April), captures beauty and urgency in the same frame." www.euronews.com/2026/04/22/b...

When I am not shooting birds, you can find me shooting foxes. This one looked mighty regal as I photographed her in a most relaxed pose. No, this is not AI! #UKWildlife #FoxofTheDay #WildlifePhotography #Fox #Photography

Red belted polypore for my aching heart... A wizened old red belted polypore among fallen cedar branches. ❤️ — Kitty F.L. Hardy #FungiFriday #FungiFriends #ForestFridy #photography #EastCoastKin

#birds #nature #wildlife #barnswallow #swallow Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #TheSongFactor, birds with their empty beaks open. These baby Barn Swallows have empty beaks opened wide. They're hoping mom comes back soon with breakfast. If they're lucky she'll bring 'em some delicious bugs! 😄

How thin the air felt at the forest's edge, how ghostly the trees that guarded their realm.... The whole world seemed as delicate as a dandelion seed, and as fleeting.... ― Martine Leavitt #FrestFriday #scape #trees #photography #EastCoastKin

“To enter a wood is to pass into a different world in which we ourselves are transformed.” ― Roger Deakin, Wildwood: A Journey through Trees #ForestFriday #scape #nature #trees #rocks and #moss #photography #EastCoastKin

scheduled pot Meko the Malamute 🐺