Peak autumn vibes @ldvnnr.bsky.social today. Hedges full of chattering Fieldfares & Redwings, Pinkies calling overhead, Goldcrests, Goldfinches feeding on seedheads, Bullfinch x 5. Also Kestrel, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard x 2, Lapwings & Golden Plovers. @nybirdnews.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Today was a classic case of right place, wrong time. Started at Bempton, then headed to @flamboroughbird.bsky.social thus missing Pallid Swift, Pallas's Warbler, Firecrests and Snow Buntings 😭. Some consolation in YBW, Black Redstart and enjoyable conversations! @nybirdnews.bsky.social

"The days are getting shorter and colder, but I ask you to remember: even as the Winter comes in, there is Hope and there is Light." ~ Seamus Heaney

Unexpected 3rd brood Holly Blue in the garden this morning.

Trevesia burckii produces otherworldly leaves the shape of snowflakes. This formation may be an adaptation to help sunlight filter down to lower leaves, helping the plant photosynthesize in shaded forests.

I sketch skies with watercolour often. I’ll be showing this and many other sketchbooks at this weekend’s North Yorkshire Winter Open Studios 1st/2nd November 11am-4pm. Many watercolours, prints and cards for sale. See how I work, do come and chat birds and watercolours! www.jonathanpomroy.co.uk

"If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way; they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse." ~ Charlotte Brontë

Proofs of Field Guide to Dragonflies & Damselflies of GB&I have arrived and look good. Written by Steve Brooks & Steve Cham with many new artworks, photos and detailed maps, make it the most complete guide to British Odonata. The 6th edition in 28 years

If you're in Bradford on 28/10, join us to find out about #peatlands & the #GreatNorthBog at #Bradford2025 Science Festival: www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/whats-on/bra... Our @yorkswildlife.bsky.social Marine colleagues will be there too to tell you about seagrass. #ForScience!!!

1st trip to Bank Island @ldvnnr.bsky.social for ages. No sign of Jack Snipe but heard Kingfisher, saw 1 Grey & 6 Pied Wagtails, LTTs, Mipits, Goldfinches, 1st Fieldfares of the autumn and a few Redwings. Plenty of berries in the hedgerows for them! @yorkbirding.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

"People only see what they are prepared to see. If you look for what is good and what you can be grateful for, you will find it everywhere." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Evening • Montfoucault Pond 🎨 Camille Pissarro (1875)

... and into The Week we go! ☀️ May something wonderful happen. May someone special appear. May somebody be glad of you. May it all somehow come good. 🎨 Sanford Robinson Gifford (1862)

Beautiful colours in Homestead Park, York this afternoon. The autumnal mood heightened by a flock of Pink-footed Geese calling as they passed overhead 🍂.

It's #WorldAlgaeDay! Japanese algologist Kintaro Okamura (1867-1935) provided taxonomies & descriptions in English & Japanese for his monumental work "Nihon sorui zufu" / "Icones of Japanese Algae" (1907-1942). Find it in #BHLib via #MBLWHOILibrary www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography... 🧪

Headed to Filey Brigg today in the hope the Needletail would turn up. No luck, so had to be content with Rock Pippits, feisty Stonechats and a handsome Wheatear!

Just extraordinary to witness this nature-hating government sabotaging Labour’s own legacy. And for absolutely no reason: nature protection isn’t blocking development - it’s a necessary prerequisite for it (& for everything else, come to that…)

Saturday #morningread Have a restful and peaceful weekend! Enjoy the autumnal woods! 🍂🍁

The Freedom Frogs of Portland are multiplying. It’s beautiful.

"Hang in there. It is astonishing how short a time it can take for very wonderful things to happen." ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett An October Morning (1910) 🎨 Frank Alfred Bicknell

Pause, and read... • Kenneth C. Steven •

Stop for a moment, and read... • Kenneth C. Steven •

Four watercolour studies sketched on a September evening. My sketchbooks will be available to view at my forthcoming Ampleforth Abbey exhibition. Saturday and Sunday 4th/5th October 10am-4pm each day More details at jonathanpomroy.wordpress.com

Big news from #OutintheField at the Walled Garden excavations at Stourhead! ⛏ The team, led by @nationaltrust.org.uk archaeologist Steve, have uncovered a 19th-century cast iron stove, sitting in its original spot - the cellar of the pine house. 🧵

Gall of the week is caused by a moth, Mompha sturnipennella on rosebay willowherb, Chamerion angustifolia. Gall photo by Tom Higginbottom, causer photo unknown, taken from the British Plant Gall Society website: www.britishplantgallsociety.org

Breathe in... • Wendell Berry •

It's #FatBearWeek! To celebrate, here's a nice #FatBear from BHL's image collection. For more historic #SciArt of bears (of all sizes) see our BHL Flickr collection: www.flickr.com/photos/biodi.... For this year's fattest bears, see www.explore.org/fat-bear-week 🐻

No longer needed for farming, they remain part of the landscape’s story and, thanks to groups like the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, are being restored as quiet havens for wildlife. Image courtesy of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. See their article at www.ywt.org.uk/wolds-dew-po... 2/2

Monday #morningread First day of Autumn Happy Autumn Equinox & Mabon 🍂🍐🍎🌽

Help track UK ticks! Found one on yourself or a pet? Send it in to support research on tick populations, distribution, and species diversity. Every sample counts. Learn how: gov.uk/guidance/tic... #TickAwareness #TickSurveillance #LymeDisease #BeTickAware

Stealing, fomr the wonderful Iain Banks: “I mean, your society’s broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No let’s blame the people with no power & no money & these immigrants who don’t even have the vote, yeah it must be their fucking fault.”

"Enchantment is the oldest form of medicine." ~ Carl G. Jung September (1956) 🎨 René Magritte

In times of darkness keep sowing the seeds of goodness. 》Vincent van Gogh

Great trip to the coast today. Quality birds and good conversations at #RSPB Bempton. Pied Fly, smart Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Hobby, Kestrel, Sprawk, masses of Chiffchaffs, W.Warblers, Blackcaps and Whitethroats. Icing on the cake was a stunning male Redstart. @nybirdnews.bsky.social

Gall of the week is the little gem caused by the cynipid Neuroterus anthracinus f. agamic on oaks Quercus spp. For some strange reason known as the oyster gall. Photographer unknown.

I've been managing BHL's #Bluesky account for 4 months now. It's an honour to share such beautiful & significant content, particularly at this critical time. BHL's future is uncertain, but hopeful. Follow along @biodivlibrary.bsky.social & on the #BHLblog: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/tag/transition

• Kenneth C. Steven •

This is infuriating. What is the point of a Marine Protected Area if trawlers are allowed to keep ploughing it? Yet again, the government has succumbed to commercial lobbying. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Don't miss tonight's celestial show...🌕🪐 The Corn Moon, our last full moon of summer, will rise in total lunar eclipse...glowing deep red as a Blood Moon. Catch it climbing the horizon from 19:30, with Saturn shining close by, shining brighter than usual.

Trip over to @ldvnnr.bsky.social Bank Island this morning, ended up staying for hours! So much to see. Hobby mobbed by swallows & martins Barn owl 3 Red Kite 3 Buzzard 2 Kestrel Spotted. Flycatcher Jay Warblers - Chiff. Willow, W'throat, B'cap. 8 species of butterfly. Willow Emerald damselfly.

Some lovely descriptions here, and I do like the use of 'starnels' for starlings. Anyone know if this is a dialect word that's still used?

Feels very autumnal in York this morning. Small groups of Swallows heading south over the house, plus 2 Blackcaps and 3 Chiffchaffs in the garden. 🍂 @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Gall of the week, maybe gall of the year it seems to be super-abundant just now, is that of the cynipid wasp Neuroterus numismalis f. agamic on oaks Quercus spp. Photo by Peter Shirley.

Don't forget folks iNaturalist's Gall Week is coming up - it's from the 6th to 14th of this month.

📢Help save Coul Links! Once again, this beautiful place is threatened by plans for a golf course which would do irreparable damage to rare habitats and wildlife. 🌱🦆🐦🦋🪰 Join us in sending a message to Scottish Ministers to stand up for nature. Add your voice: action.rspb.org.uk/page/166270/...

Another great trip to @rspbblacktoftsands.bsky.social with nice weather this time! Cracking birds including juv. Curlew Sandpiper, Spotshank, Ruff, GWE, Marsh Harrier, Yellow Wagtail & loads of Snipe. @nybirdnews.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Join NEYEDC & East Riding of Yorkshire Council in Hayton on Tuesday 2nd Sept for a wildlife recording day, part of the Live Labs 2 project! Alongside recording, we'll be hosting a moth trap opening, sharing what the project has found so far & showing how you can get involved: www.neyedc.org.uk/c2n 🔍

This week's column. The details will make you gasp and rage. This massive desecration of nature is almost unbelievable, but it is happening in the UK right now. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

May this get shown to the right people. • Mary Oliver •

Wonderful morning sea-watching @flamboroughbird.bsky.social . Many thanks to the experts who shared their knowledge and special shout out to #RSPB East Yorkshire group. Some great birds: Bonxie, Manx Shearwater, Wheatear, Whinchat & Stonechat, and singing seals! @nybirdnews.bsky.social