Andrew Clarke

An image of a full moon. There is a halo of orange and purple, a refraction of light from the surrounding clouds.

absorb as much of
the light as you can
whenever it falls on you
so that later when you are lost
in the midnight of your darkest despair
your tears will glow in the dark like fireflies
and we will come rescue you
I swear I will find you
-john roedel

Have a wonderful day friends.

#imageandverse

Interesting. I see it more as a species of deciduous woodlands, often on the edges rather than associated with watercourses. It’s also regular along hedgerows in agricultural landscapes where the trees are long gone. I believe it’s an ancient woodland indicator species - an echo of a lost woodscape.

Also a few other names mentioned in the Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru app.

Hefyd ychydig o enwau eraill a grybwyllir yn ap Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru.

All sounds utterly ridiculous like some kind of birding soap opera! 🍿

Had there been previous incidents when rare birds were ringed, released and suppressed?

Glad to read in the account of the Tengmalm’s Owl that the present situation regarding the release of rarity news at Spurn has improved.

"In Paris, France, water is 100% municipally owned and the customer satisfaction rate of the publicly owned Eau de Paris ranges from 90-96%."

It was superb! I also saw all the above birds you mention but my memory is fading fast.

Sadly I lost all my irreplaceable early nature notebooks when I phased out of birding in my late teens for a few years and got into girlfriends and nightclubs!

Been trying to make up for lost time ever since… 😉

When the Blyth’s Reed Warbler was announced for inspection I must admit I’d never even heard of it! Seeing the crowd increase as the day progressed made me realise the gravity of the find.

A funny memory is a bloke in yellow oilskins in the sea of green waxed jackets chasing it along a hedgerow 😆

Crikey, I was actually visiting the observatory that day but was completely unaware of this avian Mexican stand off!

TBH I was way too busy enjoying my first decent east coast fall with Bluethroat, Icterine Warbler, Red-backed Shrike etc in the mix amongst lots of common drift migrants.

It sounded like a fiasco. I understand the concerns regarding potential disruption to the work of the lifeboat station but surely supervised access could have been arranged?

Here’s the account from the superb book ‘The Birds of Spurn’ by the late Andy Roadhouse.

#UKRareBirds
#YorkshireBirding

Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) on a visit to Sheffield Botanical Gardens today.

It’s Welsh name is Llygad Ebrill which translates as ‘The Eyes of April’.

Climate change means flowers appear as early as January in Wales. Is a rename due?

#shiftingbaselinesyndrome
#signsofspring
#wildflowerhour

My photo shows a museum display with colourful Minoan pottery cups arranged on three clear shelves, one above the other. These cups, known as Kamares Ware, are from Phaistos, Crete. They were made in palace workshops, c. 1800-1700 BC. The cups range in shape and size from conic and cylindrical cups (top and middle shelves) to hemispherical and carinated shaped cups (bottom shelf). They are decorated with multi-coloured geometric motifs; with spirals and swirls painted in red and white pigment on black.

Sipping my coffee ☕️ and thinking about these marvellous Minoan cups!

They look so modern it’s incredible to think they were made during the Bronze Age some 3,800 years ago!

Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete. 📷 by me

#Archaeology

What a gorgeous beast! 😍

Many thanks Alex. Like many formerly regular UK wintering birds it seems that Rough-legged Buzzard is a species in decline as the climate rapidly changes.

The book is a frame of reference that describes the current status of a once scarce but regular bird that is now in steep decline. It’s apparent that this reflects the national trend and gives context to the discussion of records from the wider region eg Yorkshire by several contributors up thread.

I wouldn’t rely too much on this @cornellbirds.bsky.social eBird map as many observers use alternative reporting systems.

@shefbirdstudy.bsky.social latest avifauna ‘New Birds of the Sheffield Area’ will have the answers. Maybe someone could post an image of the species account for clarification?

My photo shows part of a limestone wall panel carved in bas relief from the Fifth Dynasty mortuary temple of king Userkaf at Saqqara, Old Kingdom, 2465-2458 BC. It shows a Hoopoe, a crested bird with black and white wing pattern, and an ibis, with long curved beak, amongst papyrus plants in the marshes of the river Nile. My photo was taken in 2022 at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Lovely naturalistic relief of a Hoopoe and Ibis, carved by an Egyptian artisan some 4,500 years ago!

Limestone wall relief from the 5th Dynasty mortuary temple of Userkaf at Saqqara. Egyptian Museum, Cairo 📷 by me

#ReliefWednesday
#Archaeology

Apply a thick organic mulch (eg seasoned woodchip) at this time of the year to all permanent beds.

Mulch benefits plants, suppresses weeds (any that emerge are easier to remove), builds soil, holds moisture, prevents run-off and looks great.

Either invest time in mulching now or weeding later.

The same site where I twitched my first around 1983/84. Always a few interesting raptors to be seen around Upper Derwentdale 😉

Sadly my earliest birding notebooks were lost but I believe that I saw Rough-legged Buzzard before Common Buzzard in the Sheffield area back in the 1980’s.

Latter species is now widespread (even over the city’s suburbs) with RLB a scarce migrant to the @shefbirdstudy.bsky.social recording area.

A gander at winter geese Widespread snow across Scandinavia and northern Germany last week led thousands of geese to cross the North Sea as their feeding grounds were covered; the Hamburg area saw 40cm of snow, the biggest...

The largest flocks of European White-fronted Geese in #NorthWales since the 1980s were driven west by heavy snow in northern Germany last week. These and other sightings in @northwaleslive.bsky.social BirdNotes.

📷 @zoobirder.bsky.social #BirdingWales

www.birdnotes.wales/blog/a-gande...

Considering just how many phone zombies I see shuffling along on a daily basis, their little rectangular devices clutched in hand and heads tilted down, I can only surmise that the greatest demand in the future jobs market will be for qualified chiropractors!

It took me YEARS to gain the trust of suspicious local farmers at an old birding patch.

It took minutes for some selfish twitchers to chase a Woodchat from the roadside onto private farmland.

I’d carefully consider matters prior to releasing #RareBirdsUK news if there’s any chance of disturbance.

Respect! 🤛

Bloody lightweight - just keep them around yer neck at all times! 😉 #BirdingGear

Been thinking exactly the same.

bsky.app/profile/mran...

Having witnessed and experienced countless adverse effects caused by this dangerous drug (drink driving deaths and injury, violence, abuse, hangovers, addiction etc) I find it truly astonishing that the term ‘drugs AND alcohol’ is still widely used.

This must be one of the greatest misnomers ever!

It would be interesting to do a deep search into historical photographs and specimens of UK, Ireland and European Black-throated Divers.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Pacific Diver had occurred in the days before identification criteria and vagrancy potential was fully established.

#UKRareBirds

Plagued by Flooding, an African City Reengineers Its Wetlands As climate change and urbanization intensify flooding in Rwanda, the hilly capital of Kigali has embraced nature-based solutions. The city is restoring and reshaping 18,000 acres of degraded wetlands,...

As climate change and urbanization intensify flooding in Rwanda, the hilly capital of Kigali has pushed nature-based solutions, reshaping 18,000 acres of degraded wetlands, planting native species to filter and slow runoff and enhancing biodiversity.

One of the highlights of a January visit to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens is the collection of Witch Hazels.

Most begin flowering just after the winter solstice. This truly gorgeous cultivar, bejewelled with iridescent orange-scented flowers, is Hamamelis × intermedia 'Jelena'.

#GardensHour

Little Owl pair

acrylic, 30 x 40 cms

Little Owls may be found in parkland, farmland and at the edge of woods. They feed on small mammals, birds, beetles and worms.

On a sunny day they may perch at the entrance, or beside, their roost site- usually a cavity in a tree or wall.

#littleowl #birdart