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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 9h

Puffins galore and lots, lots more!

Screen grab from the home page of Carl Bovis's online shop, showing a gride of 12 items (3 rows of 4 items each): Puffin calendars, a tea towel with a photo of a male Mandarin duck, Carl's 100 Birds and 100 More Birds books, a colouring book, a Goldfinch mug, a Puffin tea towel, a Puffin mouse mat, a Puffin jigsaw puzzle, and a book, Garden Birds Of Britain.

Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

#BlueSkies is the main theme for #BirdOfTheDay today. Here is a Chiffchaff who occasionally sang, but mostly chased after insect prey, in and around a shrub at Thornwick Pools nature reserve in Yorkshire towards the end of last month. #Birds #UKWildlife #NaturePhotography #EastCoastKin 🌿

Photo of a Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), a type of warbler named for its "Chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff" song (which I heard before seeing this bird). The bird is perched on a twig, one of several on which leaf buds (but, for the most part, no leaves) can be seen. We are looking up at the warbler, whose body is facing towards the right side of the picture, while the head is turned slightly towards us. The bird has mostly pale brown plumage on its upperparts. There is a pale stripe running across the side of the face above the eye, and the throat, chest and belly are whitish, with pale yellowish brown on the flanks. The legs and feet are dark in colour. Behind the bird and the twigs, a blue sky can be seen.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

A Blue Tit has hopped into your Bluesky feed to check that you are having a wonderful weekend! With #blue on both head and wings, he qualifies for the alt theme of #BirdOfTheDay today (as does the Kingfisher and the Barn Swallow, posted earlier in this #birds thread). #UKWildlife #Photography #ECK 🌿

Photo of a Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), seen from below, standing on some dead wood. The bird's head and body are facing towards us and slightly to our right, and he seems to be looking straight at us. His head is white with a blue crown, a black stripe running from the beak to, and beyond, the eye, and black running down from below the beak across the throat to the neck, where it then runs along each side of the neck to enclose a large white cheek. The chest and belly are yellow, with a short, thick, black stripe down the middle of the belly. What little we can see of the back, wings and tail have blue and green plumage. The beak, and the legs and feet, are dark grey. The background is mostly green.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

#WingsOpenNotFlying is the main #BirdOfTheDay theme today, and it’s #SuperSeabirdSunday, so here is an almost-fledgling Gannet, white downy fluff almost all gone, trying out his or her wings at Bempton Cliffs last last month. Post #11 in this #Gannets thread. #Birds #Photography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

A photo of an almost-fledgling Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) sat on a cliffside nest with wings held wide open. The bird is facing towards the rocky cliff and so has their back, and their left side, towards us. The left wing partly obscures the adult Gannet, snoozing on the edge of the nest platform. Gannets are large seabirds, the adults are mostly white in colour but have black wingtips, and yellowish-brown colouration on the tops of their heads which extends down the upper parts of the backs and sides of their necks. The chicks start off with a covering of white, fluffy down, but the one in this photo has little of that left - the head is well covered, as are the lower flanks, by the base of the tail, and there are few small patches on the wings. Elsewhere, the bird is covered with dark blackish-grey feathers, each with a small whitish spot or streak at its tip. The long, pointed beak, the eyes, the short legs and webbed feet, are all blackish in colour.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Two Terns twisting and turning (or should that be ‘terning’?) over the sea at Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey, back at the beginning of July, and qualifying for today’s #BirdOfTheDay themes #Black&Red and #LongBeak. Post #4 in this #birds thread. #BirdPhotography #ECK #UKWildlife #SuperSeabirdSunday 🌿

Photo of two Terns - Common Sterna hirundo or Arctic (Sterna paradisaea) - in flight above the sea. The one on the left side of the image has his or her upper side towards us, wings outstretched and tail fanned out, with head turned to look down towards the bottom right corner of the picture. In that corner is the second Tern, flying towards us and to our left, head turned to look across towards the left side of the image, with the upper sides of the wings facing us (one stretched right out and the other folded back a little), and tail angled downward and so almost entirely hidden from our view (but it appears that it is fanned out). Terns are like smaller, slimmer and more elegant versions of Gulls. These two are mostly white in colour, with grey on the upper sides of the wings, black tops to their heads. Their long, slim beaks are red; possibly with a black tip in the case of one of them, which would make the bird a Common Tern.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Does somebody need a hug? Actually, if you’re an insect, it’s best to avoid a hug from a Flower Crab Spider! The same #spider who appears in the post above – this time with alt text, which I somehow missed last time. #Arachtober #Invertebrates #UKWildlife 🌿

Photo of a Flower Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) lying in wait for prey near the top of an Orchid flower spike. We are looking at the flower spike from above, with the spider perched on the side of the spike and facing up towards us. The cephalothorax (the combined head and thorax), which is much smaller than the large ovoid abdomen behind it, is - along with the palps and legs which extend from it - a slightly yellowish white in colour, the yellow tint being stronger around the eyes and towards the tips of the palps and legs. The first two pairs are held open (the right legs pointing down towards the bottom of the picture and the left legs towards the top left), ready to spring forward and grab any insect landing on the flower spike in front of the spider. The third and fourth pairs of legs are holding on the flowers. The abdomen is white, with a hint of pale green on the upper surface. The Orchid flowers are a pale pink or purple in colour, with darker pink/purple spots and streaks.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The Puffin heading this #birds thread definitely has one of the #BestBeaks (main #BirdOfTheDay theme today), but I'm ending the thread with a brilliantly beaked bird who also qualifies for the alt theme #YellowElements: a Great Cormorant. Photographed at Brandon Marsh on Saturday. #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Photo of the head and long neck of a Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), swimming (towards the left side of the picture) in a lake. The Great Cormorant, with a long, grey beak tipped with a downward-pointing hook, looks almost prehistoric. At the base of the beak, especially the flower part, there is some yellow colouration, which in this image looks very bright with the sun on it. The bird's eye is a sea-green colour, with a small, black pupil and thin, black rim. Behind the eye and the base of the beak is a pale brown patch, with the rest of the bird's head and neck (and its body, only part of which is visible in this image) being covered with very dark brown, almost black, plumage.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The first of my very limited contributions to #Arachtober, and I am easing you in gently with this Flower Crab Spider, perched near the top of an Orchid flower spike. Photographed at @wtsww.bsky.social Dowrog Common Nature Reserve in Pembrokeshire back in June. #Spiders #Invertebrates #UKWildlife 🌿

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

#31DaysOfGraves Day 1: Flower. A floral decoration on the grave of Hubert Victor Woolley in the cemetery of Waters Upton, my main #OnePlaceStudy. Hubert served during WW1 (& afterwards as a Military Policeman in Cologne), then worked as a railway platelayer. He was was struck and killed by a train.

A grave featuring a black headstone with a yellowish inscription which reads:
Treasured Memories
of a Faithful Husband and Loving Father
Hubert Victor Woolley,
Accidentally Killed April 17.1945
Aged 46 Years.
A smiling face, A heart of gold.
“Until the day dawn.”
A small black urn bearing the word Dearest and containing (artificial?) flowers stands on white stones or gravel in front of the headstone.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The alt theme for #BirdOfTheDay today is #vivid, any bird with bright colours, so here are more Kingfisher pics! I took these at Brandon Marsh on Saturday, when I had many sightings but none of the Kingfishers came particularly close. #Birds #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin #NaturePhotography 🌿

A montage of four colour photos of a Eurasian Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) perched on (and in one case taking off from) twigs or small branches of waterside trees. The KIngfisher's upper parts (including the top of the head) are a greenish blue, with a brighter blue on the back. The underparts are an orangey-red, and the small legs and feet are reddish-pink. On the side of the head, running from the base of the beak and below the eye, is an orange stripe which ends with a shorter white stripe, dividing the blue of the top of the head from more blue below. The beak is all black apart from a tiny white tip (features which show that this is a young male Kingfisher). Top left: The bird is sitting upright with his front towards us, and head turned to face the right of the image. Top right: The bird is taking off; his feet are still in contact with the twig but the wings are raised and the body is more horizontal than vertical. Bottom right and bottom left: The bird is upright and leaning slightly forward, body facing towards the left of the images but head turned towards us and slightly to our right; he is looking ahead at bottom right, and looking down at bottom left.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I really missed these smart little guys during my visits to Bempton Cliffs last week, and with their parents gone too the cliffs were much quieter. I don’t take black and white photos, so have converted a colour pic for today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme, #black&white. #Birds #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Photo of a juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) in flight, high above a grey sea. The Kittiwake is a small and rather dainty member of the Gull family. Adults are mostly white, with grey backs and upper wings, slim, yellow bills, dark eyes (each with a thin red rim) and black legs and feet. Youngsters like this one have black bills, and several several black markings on their wings and bodies - mostly on the upper sides, which we can't see in this picture as the bird is flying (from right to left) with underwings and underparts tilted to face towards us. There is however a small black patch behind the eye, a black collar around the back of the neck, black tips to some of the tail feathers, and some black markings can be seen on the edges of the wings. Originally a colour photo, this image has been converted to black and white.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The deadline for donations to the appeal to purchase the #Rothbury Estate in #Northumerland has been extended to the end of October - an extra month in which to raise the remaining £2.1m needed. #Rewilding #Nature #Wildlife #Conservation www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/environ...

“We are committed to doing all we can to acquire this Estate in its entirety. We have a clear and ambitious vision for this historic landscape; a place where people and nature can thrive side by side. A place for nature and nation.

“We couldn’t let down all the thousands of people who have supported us by letting this opportunity pass by at the very end. To ensure we raise the funds required we will continue with our fundraising campaign to the end of October, which is our deadline to complete on the purchase.

"To support, our Trustees have agreed in principle to take out a low interest impact loan to cover any funding gap between what has been raised and the total needed. The more funds raised through our fundraising appeal, the smaller the loan will be.”

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Pic #11 in this #birds thread is a juvenile Goldfinch eating thistle seeds. This adult Goldfinch is also eating seeds, perhaps with some of the pulp, from inside Whitebeam berries. Taken on Friday near Thornwick Bay in Yorkshire, and a contender for #BestOfTheMonth. #BirdOfTheDay #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

A European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) perched amidst lots of red berries in in a Whitebeam tree (Sorbus species). The bird’s body is facing towards the right side of the image, while the head is turned a little towards the bird's right and tilted slightly upwards, with the beak partly open. The head is white, with red extending from the base of the upper part of the beak to the front part of the top of the head, and from the base of the lower part of the beak to the throat; between those two areas of red is a patch of black, enclosing the eye. More black can be seen on the back of the head. The chest, flanks, back and the upper parts of the wings are almost coffee-coloured, while the wing is black with some whitish blotches and a bright golden-yellow bar. The belly (also the feathers on the upper parts of the legs) is white. The beak of the Goldfinch is a pale pink colour and is somewhat longer than those of other finches, and with a sharper, more pointed tip - an adaptation for seed extraction. This bird appears to be using his or her beak to open up the Whitebeam berries to reach the seeds, and possibly also the orangey-coloured pulp, inside - bits of pulp can be seen stuck to the beak.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

For #BirdOfTheDay today (main theme—birds with names beginning with any of the letters #EFG) here’s a Greenshank. This beauty provided @robcamera.bsky.social and I with lots of photo opportunities when we visited @yorkswildlife.bsky.social Filey Dams last week. #Birds #Photography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Photo of a Greenshank (Tringa nebularia), a wading bird with a long beak and long legs. This one is walking towards the right of the picture, along the muddy edge of a pool of water, with head lowered as the bird looks for potential prey. The bird has a dark, blackish beak. The eye is also dark, with a pale rim. The throat and forehead are whitish, while the rest of the head, the neck and the back are white with lots of brownish speckling. The wing feathers are dark, with thin whitish borders, and the underparts are white. The legs - at least, those parts of them not covered with mud - are a greenish brown colour. Behind the bird on the muddy shore, lots of green plant stems rise upwards. The Greenshank, and the green vegetation behind the bird, are reflected on the surface of the water.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

For post #17 in this #birds thread, and for today’s #BirdOfTheDay alt theme #AwkwardAvian, here is a Little Egret (photographed at Brandon Marsh on Saturday) who appears to walking – or maybe even dancing – on water. Loving that green footwear! #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin 🌿

Photo of a Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) who appears to be walking, or maybe even dancing, across the surface of some shallow water next to a shoreline covered with low vegetation. The bird is heading towards the right, with wings raised, neck curved in an 'S' shape, right leg out of the water, and left foot on the surface of the water. The Little Egret is one of the smaller members of the heron family, and has a long bill, neck, and legs but a short tail. Its plumage is white, its eye is pale with a black pupil and rim, is beak is black, and the legs are also black, but the feet are a pale green colour.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

A fabulous female Kingfisher, with a soft/blurry background, photographed today from the Carlton Hide at @warwickshirewt.bsky.social Brandon Marsh, for the main #BirdOfTheDay theme #BokehBirds. #Birds #BirdPhotography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Photo of a female Eurasian Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) perched near the top of a small, dead branch placed on the edge of a pool of water for use by this species. Her body is facing away from us and slightly towards our left so we see her back and her left flank, but her head is turned to the right. Her back, partly covered by her wings, reflects a bright turquoise-blue colour, while the top half of her head, a broad band running back and down from the base of her beak, and her tail, are a greenish-blue, with paler blue speckles on the top of the head and along the outer edges of the wings. Her underparts are an orangey-red, and a patch of this colour also appears on the side of her head, followed by a longer patch of white, in the gap between the parts of the head coloured greenish-blue. The beak is mostly black apart from an orange area towards the base of the lower part. Her tiny feet (we can just see part of her left foot, in shadow) are red.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The Gannet took a few steps towards the edge and crouched down, with wings partly open and at an angle. Then, lift off! Immediately after getting #airborne (today’s #BirdOfTheDay alt theme) the Gannet takes on a wonderful shape, with head up and tail down. #SuperSeabirdSunday #Birds #UKWildlife 🌿

Photo of a Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) just after taking off from a sandy ledge on a cliff. We see this large seabird from the side, heading towards the left edge of the picture. The head is pointing slightly upward, the chest down, the rump up, and the fanned out tail down; the wings are held upwards. The Gannet is mostly white, with yellow-brown colouring on the top of the head which runs part way down the back and sides of the neck, and black wing-tips. The long beak is grey, with black lines around the edges, and a further black line running along each side of the top part of the beak, from the base almost to the tip. The Gannet's eyes are blue-grey, with black pupils and thick blue rims. The legs and webbed feet are black, with a pale green line running along the top of each toe. The background is a blue-grey colour - the sea, out of focus. A second Gannet can be seen on the cliff a little further back, watching the one in flight with a look that almost appears to be critical, or mildly cantankerous!

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

With their mutual preening complete, one of the Gannets started sky-pointing and swaying from side to side – a signal that bird was likely to take flight. (One more pic to come in this thread within a thread.) #SuperSeabirdSunday #Birds #UKWildlife #WildlifePhotography 🌿 #BirdOfTheDay – #Seabirds

Photo of the pair of Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) who featured in the previous post in this thread, standing on a sandy ledge on a cliff. The bird on the left has begun swaying their body from left to right; at the moment this photo was taken their body is touching that of the bird on the right, while the legs and the oustretched neck are angled towards our left and the bird's right, and the head is raised so that the bird is pointing their beak towards the sky. Gannets are mostly white, with yellow-brown colouring on the tops of their heads which runs part way down the backs and sides of their necks, and black wing-tips. Their long beaks are grey, with black lines around the edges, a further black line running along each side of the top part of the each beak, from the base almost to to the tip. In the case of the sky=pointing bird, we can also see another black line, running along the underside of the beak from base to tip. The Gannets' eyes are blue-grey, with black pupils and thick blue rims. Their legs and webbed feet are black, with a pale green line running along the top of each toe. The background is a blue-grey colour - the sea, out of focus.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Adding to this #Gannets thread again, for #Seabirds (today’s main #BirdOfTheDay theme) and #SuperSeabirdSunday. This pair of Gannets, at Bempton Cliffs last Monday, were engaged in mutual preening. #Birds #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin #NaturePhotography 🌿

Photo of a pair of Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) standing on a sandy ledge on a cliff, and engaged in mutual preening - the Gannet on the left is using his or her bill to preen the feathers on the top of the other Gannet's head, while that Gannet preens the feathers on the neck of the first one. The birds are mostly white, with yellow-brown colouring on the tops of their heads which runs part way down the backs and sides of their necks. Their long beaks are grey, with black lines around the edges and a further black line running along each side of the top part of the each beak, from the base almost to to the tip. Their eyes are blue-grey, with black pupils and thick blue rims. Their legs and webbed feet are black, with a pale green line running along the top of each toe. The background is a blue-grey colour - the sea, out of focus.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

There are a number of these AI bots with accounts on Bluesky and I daresay their numbers will grow. Their posts typically link to AI generated garbage on the ilands dot ai website. So, I have just made an addition to my long list of muted phrases...

Screen shot of a 'Muted words and tags' dialogue box within the Settings section of my Bluesky account, showing the text string <ilands dot ai slash content> (but with the words dot and slash replaced with a . and a /) and with the 'Add' button ready to click on.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Just got this message while trying to use Ancestry for #OnePlaceStudy research, and I guess the revolution has begun...

Screen grab showing part of an error page on Ancestry. It says: Error 1101, Worker threw exception.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Watching and photographing a fairly distant Barn Owl at Bempton Cliffs, back in May, has definitely been one of the highlights of this year so far. Hopefully I will get to see, and capture on camera, more #AmazingOwls! #BirdOfTheDay #Birds #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin 🌿

Photo of a Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in flight, above a field full of long grass and the white flowerheads of what may be Cow Parsley. The Owl is flying towards the left side of the image and slightly towards us, with head lowered (all the better to spot prey down below). We see the bird's head with its white, heart-shaped face and dark eyes; the top of the head, the back and the upper wings (we can see a little of the upper side of the owl's right wing) are a speckled, tawny-brown colour. The leading edges of the upper parts of the wings are white, the remainder of the wings (of which we mostly see the undersides) whitish, with bars on the leading edges of the flight feathers just visible. The owl's body and legs (the latter are dangling below the owl, all the better for grabbing any prey which might be swooped down upon) are white, and the talons are dark in colour. The sky behind is a pale bluish-grey.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Post #5 in this Gannet thread featured photos of Gannets gathering nest material. Following on from that, here are two views of another one who, having gathered some grass, is heading back to their nest on Bempton Cliffs. #BirdOfTheDay - #BirdNameG #Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Two photos of a Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) in flight, combined into a single image. In both photos, the Gannet is flying from our right to our left, carrying some dry grass in his or her beak. The uppermost image shows the bird in full, the lowermost is a closer crop to give a closer view of the head, with part of the body and wings. Gannets are large seabirds, mostly white in colour but with yellowish-brown colouration on the tops of their heads (extending down the upper parts of the back and sides of their necks), and black wingtips. Their long beaks are grey, with black lines around the edges and another line running along each side of the upper part of the beak. The eye is blue-grey, with a black pupil and a blue rim.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Dazzling while dozing. This instance of #iridescence is delivered to #BirdOfTheDay fans by a couple of off-duty Mallards at Brandon Marsh, who I photographed back in February. Post #16 in this #Birds thread. #WildlifePhotography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Photo of a Mallard drake (Anas platyrhynchos) at rest, standing on one leg on moss-covered ground next to a pool of water, with his head turned 180 degrees (and partly buried under one wing) so that while his body faces towards the right side of the picture his head is facing the other way. The bird's head is an iridescent green. A narrow white collar separates the green head from the reddish-brown neck and chest. The rest of the plumage that we can see is pale grey, whitish or pale brown, with an iridescent blue bar in the wing; the legs and webbed foot are orange. Part of another Mallard drake, closer to us and so out of focus, can be seen at the bottom right corner of the picture.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Gannets, whether on land or in the air, almost always #StrikeAPose. This is particularly true when one half of a couple returns to the nest site and both engage in pair-bonding. Photo taken at Bempton Cliffs towards the end of May. #BirdOfTheDay #Birds #BirdPhotography #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin 🌿

Photo of the raised heads and necks of two Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) who, with their bills crossed, are engaged in pair-bonding. The birds are mostly white, with yellow-brown colouring on the tops of their heads running part way down the backs and sides of their necks. Their long beaks are grey, with black lines around the edges and a further black line running along each side of the top part of the each beak, from the base almost to to the tip. Their eyes are blue-grey, with black pupils and thick blue rims. The background is a green-blue colour - the sea, out of focus.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

It’s a long way down, if you’re a teeny, tiny Wren! This one, at RSPB Greylake in Somerset back in April, knew what the #BirdOfTheDay theme would be four months later and decided to #StrikeAPose. #Birds #Photography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Photo of a Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) perched on top of a fence post, leaning forward with head tilted to look down, and with tail cocked upward. This little bird (around 6 to 10 centimetres long - although I did not actually measure this one) is mostly brown in colour, with paler and whitish flecks on the wings (and the underside of the rather short tail); there is also a pale stripe running from the beak across the top of the eye to the back of the head. The cheek, throat, chest and belly are also slightly paler in colour. The beak, longish and slim (ideal for probing for insects and other small invertebrate prey) is dark in colour, but with yellow at the base. The legs and feet are a dark pinkish-brown colour.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

One from my archive for this #MammalMonday thread: a young Badger photographed near their underground home or sett in a local woodland back in 2009. When they can, Badgers feast on Earthworms—they will have struggled over the long, dry Summer this year. #Mammals #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Photo of a young Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) foraging on the woodland floor. The cub is heading towards the right side of the picture, head down and nose almost touching the ground; we see the head, forelegs and most of the front half of the body. The Eurasian Badger has a white face with a thick black stripe on either side, each one running upwards from the muzzle and enclosing the eye and white-tipped ear. The legs and feet are black, while the body appears greyish - most of the body hairs are white, with black near the tips.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

In another #birds thread post 👇 a couple of months back, I showed how the Gannets at Bempton Cliffs were gathering (and stealing!) grass and green herbage as nest material. Some are still adding to their nests, but mostly with dry, brown material. #SuperSeabirdSunday #Photography #ECK #UKWildlife 🌿

Photo of the head and neck of a Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) with a beak full of mostly dry and brown vegetation (grass and herbage; there is a little green content too), facing towards the right side of the picture. The bird is mostly white, with yellow-brown colouring on the top of the head running part way down the back and sides of the neck. The long beak is grey, with black lines around the edges and a further black line running along the top part of the beak, from the base almost to to the tip. The eye is blue-grey, with a black pupil and a thick, blue rim. The background is grey - the sea, down below, out of focus.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

A snoozing Swan for #SereneBirdScene, the alt theme for #BirdOfTheDay today. Photographed at RSPB Middleton Lakes in May last year. Wishing everybody a Sunday as serene as this scene! #Birds #WildlifePhotography #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin 🌿

Photo of an adult male Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) on a lake. The bird is facing to the left of the image, with his long neck slightly curved, and his eye (probably both eyes, but we can only see one!) shut. The Swan's plumage is white, with hints of brown on the head. The beak is orange with a black tip and black around the nostrils. A black area extends from the base of the beak to the eye and extends into a large, rounded, black lump projecting forwards.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

#50ShadesOfGrey? A Jackdaw trying out for a position with the Ministry of Silly Walks (or maybe hoping to be included in a Madness album cover photo by going One Step Beyond), for #BirdOfTheDay. At Bempton Cliffs, just under a fortnight ago. #Birds #NaturePhotography #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin 🌿

Photo of a Jackdaw (Corvus monedula), a small member of the Crow family. The bird is walking (towards the right side of the picture) amongst mainly dry, brown vegetation on a clifftop, with blue sea out of focus in the background. The Jackdaw's plumage (and beak, legs and feet) appears almost wholly black, with the back half of the head being a paler grey. However with the sun on this individual, and the angle at which we are looking at him or her, many of the feathers (especially the flight feathers in the wing, also some on the chest) have hints of blue in them. The eye is pale blue with a black pupil. At the moment when the bird's image was captured, the right leg was held forward at an angle of about 90 degrees, giving the Jackdaw a slightly comical appearance.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Guys, if you are following this account 👇 you are supporting content theft. “DM for credit” says the account’s bio. No. Post with full credit for the photographers or not at all. Better still, if the copyrighted work of others is being shared it should be with permission as well as credit.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Post #9 in this #birds thread: a Chiffchaff I think (dark legs, less distinct 'eyebrow', and there was a male singing nearby so this may have been his mate—but the yellowish chest is rather Willow Warbler-y), at Brandon Marsh in early June. #BirdOfTheDay #Warblers #BirdPhotography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Photo of what I am almost certain is a Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), a type of warbler. The bird is perched on a twig, one of several from which leaf buds are beginning to burst. We are looking up at the warbler, whose body is facing partly towards and partly to our left, while the head is turned to look a little to our right. The bird has mostly brownish plumage on its upperparts (we can't see much of those parts though, only the top of the head, a little of the left wing, also the underside of the tail which is also brown). There is a pale stripe running across each side of the face above the eye, and the throat, chest and belly are whitish, with hints of yellow. The legs and feet are dark in colour. Behind the bird and the twigs, a blue sky can be seen.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Post #12 in this #Birds thread was a pic of a juvenile Kittiwake in flight, at Bempton Cliffs. For post #14, and for #FlyDay, here’s an adult Kittiwake in the same place. I wouldn’t normally crop a pic this tightly but the bird was right in the corner of the frame! #Photography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Photo of a Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) in flight over a dark blue-grey sea, heading towards the left side of the picture. Kittiwakes are members of the Gull family. This species is white, with black-tipped grey wings. The beak is bright yellow, slim, and with a slightly hooked tip. The eyes are dark with thin orange rims. The legs and feet, as the name suggests, are black; here, they are tucked back beneath the white tail.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

An emotional support duckling for anyone who needs one! I photographed this little bundle of fluff at Brandon Marsh, near Coventry, back at the end of April. #BirdOfTheDay #ducklings #Birds #UKWildlife #NaturePhotography #EastCoastKin 🌿

A Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) duckling photographed on a pool of water, swimming towards the left side of the picture. Mallard docklings are covered with down which is yellow in some places (especially on each side of the head, where it is divided by a dark brown stripe running from from the base of the beak to the eye and then towards the back of the head) and brown in others (mostly a darker brown, but with paler areas, notably on the chest). This one has his or her beak open, as they were calling franticly for their Mum!

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

For #Raptors, the alt theme of #BirdOfTheDay today, here’s a male Kestrel hovering over the cliffs near Flamborough Head back at the end of May. A real photo from a real human as an antidote to the GenAI slop pushed into my Bluesky feed today. #Birds #Photography #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin 🌿

Photo of a male Common or Eurasian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), hovering in the air with wings outstretched, tail feathers fanned, and eyes looking downward. The bird's body is facing towards our right and slightly away from us, but the head is turned slightly towards us so we get a good view of its right side. The upper wing is brown, with back spots, towards the base, and blackish towards the wingtips, while the under wing is pale with black spots. The head is grey, with a dark band running down from the eye (which is dark in colour with a yellow rim), while the chin is white; the short, hooked beak is yellow at the base and dark grey elsewhere. The chest and belly are a pale brown, with black spots on the chest; the legs and feet are yellow. The tail feathers are grey, with a few small black spots and black tips. Out of focus in the background is a bluish-grey sea.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Brandon Marsh has Robin guides Who show you round all of the hides A tour you haven’t done completely Until you visit the one named Steetley. #BirdOfTheDay #NoBranchWood #Birds #BirdPhotography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

Photo of a European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) perched on a wooden signpost pointing towards Steetley Hide. (It's the signpost doing the pointing, not the Robin.) The bird's face and chest are an orangey red in colour, with a grey border on each side of the orange-red area. The belly and flanks are whitish, with some darker patches. What little we can see of the wings and the tail (the bird is facing towards us and slightly to our right) are brown. The eye appears black, the fairly short beak is dark in colour, and the legs and feet pinkish.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Seriously @bsky.app, WTF is this? The byelection hasn't even taken place yet. 🙄

Screen grab showing trending topics on Bluesky. Number 2 is "Farage wins Clacton seat" - which is baffling given that the Clacton byelection has not yet taken place.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Two Gannets in flight for #Twosday. I found myself wondering whether these birds felt even a small part of the exhilaration that I did as I watched them demonstrating their mastery of the air around the cliffs. I do hope so. #Birds #Photography #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin 🌿

A photo of two Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) in flight, seen from the side and a little from above with the sea below them. The birds are flying towards the left side of the picture and are almost hovering, with heads pointing slightly downward, tails pointing upward, and feet trailing behind. Gannets are large seabirds, mostly white in colour but with yellowish-brown colouration on the tops of their heads (extending down the upper parts of the back and sides of their necks), black wingtips, and black legs and feet. Their long beaks are grey, with black lines around the edges and another line running along each side of the upper part of the beak. The eye is grey, with a black pupil and a blue rim.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

A #BirdOfTheDay twofer. This Goldfinch was feeding on seeds in the middle of a dense stand of Thistles at Bempton Cliffs; in finding a gap just big enough to see the bird’s head clearly I may have allowed the bird to peek at me too! #PeekABoo #Finches #Birds #BirdPhotography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

A European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) on Thistle seed-heads, photographed through a gap in a dense stand of Thistles - a gap so small that although the bird's head is sharply defined, pretty much everything around that has a soft focus effect. The bird’s body, which we can see the front half of, is facing towards the right side of the image with the beak partly open. The head is white, with red extending from the base of the upper part of the beak to the front part of the top of the head, and from the base of the lower part of the beak to the throat; with black between the two areas of red, enclosing the eye; and with more black extending from the top of the head (where it joins with the red) down the back of the head almost to the white nape of the neck, then extending down both sides of the head behind the white cheeks, to the neck. The chest, the back and upper parts of the wings are brown in colour, while the wing is black with a bright golden-yellow bar. The beak of the Goldfinch is a pale pink colour and is somewhat longer than those of other finches, and with a sharper, more pointed tip - an adaptation for seed extraction.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I’ve already posted a pic of the wider scene of which this marine mammal was a part, but for #MammalMonday I couldn’t resist making this splendid Seal the star. Wishing everyone a great week! #Mammals #WildlifePhotography #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin 🌿

Photo of a Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) at rest on the relatively flat rocks and shallow water of a wave-cut platform, at the foot of the cliffs near Flamborough Head (just South of the 'Drinking Dinosaur'). The seal is lying on his or her right side, belly towards us, with head and hind flippers raised into the air, right flipper stretched out and touching one of the hind flippers, while using their left flipper for support. The rocks are a pale brown colour, and partly covered with green seaweed. Photographed with a long lens from the top of the cliffs.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

#RunningFromTheLaw, any bird moving fast on land or water, is today’s main #BirdOfTheDay theme. Here, a Sandwich Tern zooms towards the colony at Cemlyn, Anglesey, where they will blend in amongst 2,000+ other terns, and stash that fish in their chick’s belly. #Birds #UKWildlife #Photography #ECK 🌿

Photo of a Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) in flight (flying from our right to our left), with a small fish (possibly a Sprat or Sand Eel) held by the head in his or her beak. The Tern is Gull-like, with a body which is mostly white, with grey on the upper parts of the wings, a black cap, and a long, black beak which has a yellow, pointed tip. The legs and feet, held back against the body, cannot be seen. In the background is a blue sky with white clouds. At Cemlyn Nature reserve, Anglesey, the site of the only Sandwich Tern colony in Wales, on 2 July 2026.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Another #SplashOfColour as a Puffin puts his or her #BestFootForward while taking a beakful of fish back to the burrow for a hungry Puffling. Photographed on Skomer Island in mid June. #BirdOfTheDay #Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday #UKWildlife #NaturePhotography #ECK 🌿

Photo of an Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) walking, towards the left side of the picture, on bare earth in the midst of low-growing grasses and Mayweed, carrying about half a dozen small fish in his or beak. The Puffin has a white chest, belly and vent, and black upper parts, with the black extending around the whole of the neck, and enclosing white sides to the face; the beak, triangular in shape as seen from the side, is blue-grey near the base, and red towards the tip, with thick yellow lines enclosing the blue and thinner yellow lines within the red. The short legs and webbed feet are orange.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Another Bempton butterfly: a Red Admiral, feasting on Knapweed. A close relative of the Painted Lady (featured two posts ago in this thread), with almost identical white spots and blotches on the black tips of the forewings. #Butterflies #Insects #Macro #Photography #ECK #UKWildlife 🌿

Photo of a Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) perched on the purple flowerhead of a Knapweed (Centaurea species). The butterfly is facing away from us and slightly to the right, and tilted towards us with wings fully open. Those wings are mostly black in colour but each forewing has white spots and blotches near the tip and a thick, broken band of red across the middle, while each hind wing has a thick band of red along the rear edge; within each band is a series of small black spots and a couple of black blotches with iridescent blue centres. The hairy body is black, while the antennae are white with black rings around them and enlarged tips which are black, tipped with white.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Puffins, Razorbills & Guillemots have all left the cliffs at Bempton, but as we’ve seen the Gannets remain. So too do the Kittiwakes, with juveniles—sporting black markings & (go faster?) stripes—joining the adults in the air. One of my new favourite #birds! 😍 #SuperSeabirdSunday #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

I may have gotten ever so slightly addicted to photographing Gannets in flight as they floated, sailed or zoomed past at Bempton Cliffs this week. Most were photographed from above or side-on but a few were captured on camera from below. #Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday #BirdPhotography #UKWildlife #ECK 🌿

A photo of a Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) in flight, seen from below against the backdrop of a cloudy blue sky. Gannets are large seabirds, mostly white in colour but with yellowish-brown colouration on the tops of their heads (extending down the upper parts of the backs and sides of their necks), black wingtips, and black legs and feet. Their long beaks are grey, with black lines around the edges and another line running along each side of the upper part of the beak. The eye is grey, with a black pupil and a blue rim. We see the underside and left side of this one as he or she flies towards the left side of the picture.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

#ASplashOfColour (plus splashes of something else entirely!) for #BirdOfTheDay, brought to you by a family of Barn Swallows at the RSPB centre at Bempton Cliffs. A challenge to photograph in conditions much darker than my photo suggests! Pic #4 in this #birds thread. #UKWildlife #Photography #ECK 🌿

Photo of a male European Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) perched on the edge of an artificial nest in the corner of a wooden structure. In the nest, three chicks can be seen, two with beaks open and displaying the bright yellow insides of their mouths as they beg for food. The adult has his back facing towards us and partly towards the left side of the picture, and he has his head turned to look at us. His body and wings are long and slim and his forked tail has long streamers (extra-long feathers on each side). He has a dark red throat, with that colour repeated on the front of his head just above the beak. The rest of his head, his back, his wings and the upper side of his tail feathers are dark blue. His beak is dark grey or blackish, and his eye is also dark in colour with a thin white rim. We can't see much of the chicks, but their colouration is a paler version of that sported by their parents, with a little extra fluffiness. The artificial nest is basically a quarter section of a ball made from what looks like clay (but probably isn't!), fixed to a semi-circular piece of wood, which has been screwed to a wooden wall. The upper section of the outside of the nest is liberally splattered and encrusted with Swallow droppings!

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

This Jackdaw, who I captured on camera as he or she zipped past below me at Bempton Cliffs earlier this week, definitely has #ShadesOfPurple (alt theme for #BirdOfTheDay today), plus blues and greens, reflecting from some of those feathers. #Birds #UKWildlife #NaturePhotography #EastCoastKin 🌿

Photo of a Jackdaw (Corvus monedula), a small member of the Crow family, in flight over the sea, as seen from the clifftops above. The bird is flying towards the left side of the picture, with wings maybe two-thirds open. The Jackdaw's plumage (and beak, legs and feet) usually appears almost wholly black, with the back half of the head being a paler grey. However with the sun on this individual, and the angle at which we are looking at him or her, many of the feathers have hints of green, blue or purple. The eye is a pale blue=grey with a black pupil.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

A Gannet thread? Why not (got to do something with all those photos!). Adults, and chicks with white #DownyFeathers (for #BirdOfTheDay) contrasting with dark faces and beaks, feature in a photo from earlier this week at Bempton Cliffs. #Birds #Photography #UKWildlife #EastCoastKin 🌿

A photo of five Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) - 3 adults and 2 chicks - on their rocky clifftop nesting site. Gannets are large seabirds, the adults are mostly white in colour but have black wingtips, yellowish-brown colouration on the tops of their heads (extending down the upper parts of the backs and sides of their necks), with their legs and webbed feet being black, with dark green line extending along the top of each toe. Their long beaks are grey, with black lines around the edges and another line running along each side of the upper part of the beak. Their eyes are grey, each with a black pupil and a blue rim. The chicks have blackish beaks and throats, and dark eyes, but their bodies are covered with white fluffy down.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

The second post in this #butterflies thread shows male Common and Adonis Blues. Females are typically more brown than blue – this female Common Blue, at Bempton Cliffs yesterday, was doing her best to look like a Brown Argus! #NaturePhotography #Insects #Macro #ECK #UKWildlife 🌿

Photo of a female Common Blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus), perched on a Knapweed flowerhead. We are looking down on this butterfly, so although she is small she almost completely obscures the purple flowerhead. Her wings are mostly brown, each with a row of mall orange blotches along their outermost edges, and with white borders; they also have a dusting of tiny blue scales (particularly on the parts of the wings closest to the body). The thorax and abdomen have lots of blue hairs on them.

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Steve Jackson @atcherleyons.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Oops, Busted is the alt #BirdOfTheDay theme, the main theme is #LittleBrownBird. My choice for that is a pic I took yesterday of a another juvenile bird, a Goldfinch. The youngsters do have the lovely gold wing bars of the adults, but are otherwise largely brown in colour. #Birds #UKWildlife #EKC 🌿

A photo of a juvenile European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) perched amongst Thistle seed-heads, with lots of white, fluffy seeds (on which the finch was busy feeding). The bird’s body is facing towards the left side of the picture, with his or her head, chest, back, and the majority of the left wing visible, while the belly, feet, tail and the remainder of the wing are hidden. The pinkish beak, more pointed than that of other finches (being designed for extracting small seeds) is partly open, with a pointed tongue just visible. The head lacks the red, black and white colours of the adult bird and is instead mostly a pale brown colour, with lighter and darker markings; this colour scheme continues onto the back while the 'shoulders' are a more solid brown colour. The chest is pale with brown streaks. The wings, with their black, white and yellow (or 'gold') colours, are like those of an adult Goldfinch.

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