Theme for today's #BirdOfTheDay set by @robcrank68.bsky.social is #Outstretched, birds with their wings fully stretched out. So here are an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) and a Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus). #Birds 🪶

It's lovely to hear in today's second @theguardian.com young country diary how Theo's community organised a clean up of his local river and now the birds and other animals are back. #countrydiary #naturewriting

‪The #BirdOfTheDay theme for today set by @alan678.bsky.social is #contrast, birds that stand out against their background. Returning to the Isle of May National Nature Reserve for this and going with Atlantic Puffins and Arctic Terns. Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas tomorrow. #Birds 🪶

The Theme for #BirdOfTheDay today set by #robcrank68.bsky.social is #SideProfiles with the alternative theme of #BlackBirds. So here I am attempting to kill two themes with one bird. A Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) taken at The Cranberry Bog Conservation Land, Carlisle, Massachusetts.

#BirdoftheDay theme from @alan678.bsky.social is #Grounded, birds on the ground. Curlew (Numenius Arquata), Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) and an Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus). More info in ALT. #Birds 🪶

It's slime time!! Tapioca slime mold (Brefeldia maxima), appears as a shiny, white, slimy mass on decaying wood, mulch, or grass, feeds on bacteria and fungi. Seen today in @SWT Bawsinch and Duddingston Nature Reserve. #Protozoa @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Checked a camera I had put out on Duddingston Loch a couple of weeks ago. Camera was set to start operating at 9:00pm. Swan was lying there so no idea why it died. First scavenger on the carcass was an otter. Followed by a number of foxes. @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Velvet Shank mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) seen yesterday at Bavelaw Marsh/Red Moss of Balerno Nature Reserve. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photography #iPhone @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Rob's #BirdOfTheDay is all #AboutTheKids. Mute Swan cygnets (Cygnus Olor), Arctic Tern chick (Sterna paradisaea), Red Grouse chicks (Lagopus lagopus scotica) and a Great Crested Grebe chick (Podiceps cristatus) hitching a ride on mum's back. More info in ALT. #Birds 🪶

The #BirdOfTheDay theme for today as set by Alan @alan678.bsky.social is #Quietmoments. Here we have a Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Eurasian Dipper (Cinclus cinclus), Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) and a Long Eared Owl (Asio otus). #Birds 🪶

Velvet Shank mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) seen today at Bavelaw Marsh, Balerno. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photography #iPhone @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Theme for today's #BirdOfTheDay is #LongLegsAndNeck. Here we have a Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), a Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) and another Grey Heron. More information in ALT. #Birds 🪶

Male Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) on the Water of Leith today at Saughton Park. Caught the dive but completely botched with shutter speed way too slow! 😒 #Kingfisher #Nature #BotchedShots @wolct.bsky.social

Today's theme for #BirdOfTheDay is #QuietObservers. So here are a Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus), Juvenile Common Cormorant (Phalacrocorax Carbo) and a Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) and a Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus). #Birds 🪶 #Photography #Nikon

Encounter with an Otter (Lutra lutra) this morning on the Water of Leith near Saughton Park. Watched it for an hour or so before it went to ground for a sleep. #Otters #WaterOfLeith #EdinburghWildlife #Nature #Photography #Nikon @wolct.bsky.social

Absolutely shocking. We're offering an overall award of £10k for information that leads to a conviction in these cases. We need to make raptor persecution a thing of the past.

Today's #BirdOfTheDay is #Groups. I just love Puffins so here are two little groups of Puffins chilling on the Isle of May National Nature Reserve. A little group of Waxwings trilling up in an Edinburgh tree and a little group of Roseate Spoonbills. More info in ALT. #Birds 🪶

Today's theme for #BirdOfTheDay is #NaturesPantry, birds interacting with berries, seeds or flowers. Here are three species of Thrush and a Waxwing stripping berries in previous winters. All taken in Edinburgh. More information in ALT. #Birds 🪶 #Photography #Nikon

Three garden visitors. Have not checked this camera for a while so these clips are from a couple of months ago. Hedgehogs are hibernating now but badgers and foxes still active. #GardenWildlife #Edinburgh #Nature

The beauty of gills! Velvet Shank mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) seen yesterday in woods around The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Red Moss of Balerno Nature Reserve. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photography #Nikon @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Today's theme for #BirdOfTheDay is #HeronsAndEgrets. Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides), Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) and a Green Heron (Ardea herodias) #Birds 🪶 #Photography @wolct.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay alternative theme is #Finches. Not a single shot of a duck on one leg. So here is a European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) thinking it's nest couldn't be seen. #Birds 🪶 #Photography #WaterOfLeith @wolct.bsky.social

Common Inkcaps (Coprinopsis atramentaria) found yesterday in The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Bawsinch and Duddingston Nature Reserve, Edinburgh. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photography #Nikon @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Late season Wood Blewits (Lepista nuda) seen yesterday in The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Bawsinch and Duddingston Nature Reserve, Edinburgh. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photography #iPhone @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Tiny female flowers on Common Hazel (Corylus avellana) started appearing on a small Hazel tree in The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Bawsinch and Duddingston Nature Reserve a few days ago. These were taken today. #Nature #Photography #Nikon @scotwildlife.bsky.social

The theme for today's #BirdOfTheDay is #Splashes with the alternative of #Hidden. Here is a Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) making a splash on the Water of Leith, Edinburgh. #Birds 🪶 #Photography @wolct.bsky.social

Seabird chicks are still being clubbed to death today, sign the petition to stop this now: petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE...

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is from @alan678.bsky.social and is #AlansNemesis which appears to be the Kingfisher. So here is one I spotted a couple of years ago on my local river (Water of Leith). It seemed to have mastered some kind of continuous production system! #Birds 🪶 @wolct.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #SideViews and the Alternative is #TurningAway birds not looking at you. Here we have a Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea), Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius), Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) and an Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga). #Birds 🪶 #Photography #Nikon

Amber Jelly (Exidia recisa) found at Bavelaw Marsh/Red Moss of Balerno Nature Reserve. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photography #Nikon @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #NestBuilders. Here is a sequence of images of a pair of Long Tailed Tits (Aegithalos caudatus) their intricate nest from moss, lichen, and spider silk. Perfectly camouflaged and lined with feathers. #Birds 🪶 #Photography #Nikon

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BirdsOnTwigs, any bird on a thin branch. How about a 'stick' of Bohemian Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus). #Birds 🪶

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Movement. I spotted a Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) basking on a stump on a pond at El Clot de Galvany, Elche, Spain. A Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra) swam over to it and politely asked it to move. It refused so the Coot not so gently 'moved' it. #Birds 🪶

Gills! Velvet Shank mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) taken yesterday at Bavelaw Marsh/Red Moss of Balerno Nature Reserve. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photopgraphy @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Late Autumn Oyster mushrooms (Sarcomyxa serotina or Panellus serotinus) seen today around The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Red Moss of Balerno Nature Reserve. #FungiFriday #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photography #Nikon @scotwildlife.bsky.social

The theme for today's #BirdOfTheDay is #Borbs or birds being orbs. A Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus), a Long Tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus), a Eurasian Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) and the ultimate #Borb, a Tawny owlet (Strix aluco). #Birds 🪶 #Photography #Nikon

Mistletoe (Viscum album) today in Edinburgh. A parasite that draws water and nutrients from it's host tree while also producing its own food by photosynthesis. A rare plant in Scotland. I only know of one location. @joaniemcnaughton.bsky.social knows others. #Plants #Christmas #Nature #Photography

Needs to be completely banned. oceanographicmagazine.com/news/unprece...

The #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #Songbirds. The alternative is #Seabirds. Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea), Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus), Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) and a Razorbill (Alca torda). Isle of May and Bass Rock. #Birds 🪶 #Photography #Nikon @seabirdcentre.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is birds #LookingAtYou. Here is a Long Eared owlet (Asio otus) trying to figure out what that odd looking creature is, and what it is pointing at it. All while trying to figure out why that loose feather is obscuring it's view. #Birds 🪶 #Photography

Butter cap (Rhodocollybia butyracea) taken today in The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Bawsinch and Duddingston Nature Reserve, Edinburgh. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photography #iPhone @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #stripes. So here are a few birds showing off their stripes. Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), Barred Owl (Strix varia), Common Kestrel (Falco Tinnunculus) and a Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) enjoying a snack. #Birds 🪶 #Photography

The theme for today's #BirdOfTheDay is #Reflections. Here are a pair of Goosanders (Mergus merganser). The handsome male with his green head and the female with her wild hairdo. #Birds 🪶 #Photography

Velvet Shank mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) appearing in the woods now. These seen in the woods around Bavelaw Marsh/Red Moss of Balerno Nature Reserve. #Fungi #MushroomMonday #Mycology #Nature #Photography #Nikon #iPhone @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BerriesandBeaks Bird–berry interactions. So here are 4 different species caught in the act. Redwing (Turdus iliacus), Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus), Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) and a European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris). #Birds 🪶 #Photography

In Central America, scientists found a spike in malaria cases after the fungus arrived. As frogs died, there were fewer tadpoles to eat mosquito larvae; more mosquitoes resulted in a fivefold increase in malaria cases: wapo.st/3LHtdAj (gift). We allow extinctions at our peril. 🌎

Checked today on these Common Eyelash fungus (Scutellinia scutellata) in The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Bawsinch and Duddingston Nature Reserve. Developing nicely. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photography #Nikon @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Gannets. These are Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) on the Bass Rock off the East Coast of Scotland. Colony impacted by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Down by 25-30%. More information in ALT. #Birds 🪶 #Photography #Nikon @seabirdcentre.bsky.social

As right wing rags attack the chancellor for her Budget, they can't ignore the disastrous impact Brexit has had on our economy.

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #MorningLight. Here is a little Green Heron caught by a shaft of sunlight as it penetrated the swamp at Sweetwater Strand along Loop Road, Everglades, Florida. #Birds 🪶 #Photography #Nikon