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Matthew Cookson

@gathorne.bsky.social
83 followers 93 following 206 posts

Ageing birder, north of Morecambe Bay and south and/ or west of the A590 and A591.

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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
At sunset, sitting in a bird hide counting birds coming into a reed bed roost, a Red Deer hind and calf came into feed, with a stag. Almost like a family they fed together: as the stag washed his antlers a Barn Owl drifted past, just outside the window. All round the bellows of the rut: very happy.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Watching & listening to British takes on the Bayeux Embroidery i thought back to a local Frech paper from 3rd Sepytember - what a headline!
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Le Loir (sic), above La Loire, early this morning with Cetti's Warblers and Kingfishers just beginning to rev up for the day. In the background there was a chorus of 5+ Firecrests and 3 very irritated Great Spotted Woodpeckers. A 'peaceful' autumn start to Thursday...
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Poitou Charente: river Gartempe, today's highlights: english Osprey, blue ring right leg, probably female; Blackcaps singing, Chiffchaffs too; passing Wood Sandpiper; single Black Headed Night Heron over (two, two nights ago). Lots of House Martins, an occasional Swallow. Not too bad.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“Guys, they want us to go home.” 🔥 🇫🇷 French short film about what would happen to society if all the immigrants listened to angry old racist white men and left (aka the Republican agenda)
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A garden window: Cateau Villandry
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
At dusk yesterday in Sées, Normandy, I sat under tree into which 2 Tawny Owl flew. They called and for an hour and more were responded to by at least four others at all compass points. Not to be outdone, 2 Barn and 2 Little Owls added their contributions. The noise was fabulous - a great experience
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Reform Party UK Exposed @reformexposed.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Comments on Newcastle Chronicle's Facebook show why we need Pride more than ever www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/wha...
chroniclelive.co.uk
Comments on Newcastle Chronicle's Facebook show why we need Pride more than ever
With Newcastle Pride now just days away comments on the Chronicle's Facebook show why we need to be celebrating it
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Sitting under a roof nest and 2 of 3 occupied nest boxes listening to a gentle wittering of Swifts still inside. 6 Swifts this summer have already become 9 or more. It seems there are some to come. Happy that they appear to have survived the summer heat. Will try to get all 3 boxes occupied in 2027!
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Alf Dubs @alfdubs.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Remove home secretary Mahmood and rip up her asylum plans, says Alf Dubs
Exclusive: Labour peer who fled Nazis as a child says Andy Burnham has chance to ‘correct mistakes’ on refugees
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
www.theguardian.com/environment/... Surprise, surprise!
theguardian.com
$30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds
Exclusive: Climate action blockers including Saudi Arabia, Russia and major fossil fuel firms set to make extra $234bn by end of 2026
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Well said: excellent last phrase. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Ten years after Brexit, this is the UK: a divided nation frozen in time | Aditya Chakrabortty
Tribalism has not faded over the past decade. Instead, new research reveals our politics has become ever-more polarised and fractious, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Sometimes someone just gets it right. Well done, sir.
theguardian.com
This Ramadan, know this: I am me, a Muslim and a Briton. I am not a headline, a threat or a stereotype | Nazir Afzal
I am, like millions of others, dutifully fasting from dawn to dusk this month. My faith does not define me. It refines me, says Nazir Afzal, chancellor of the University of Manchester
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
This is excellent
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Mull of Galloway after the 'Nine Tides', Gannets, Red-throated Divers and a passing pod of Porpoises.
Mull of Galloway sunset 16.21 on 13/1/2026.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
I just supported this case!
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Protect the Wild @protectthewild.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Damn right! No excuse for it!
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CJ McKinney @cjmckinney.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
The border inspector’s 2022 description of Home Office data as “inexcusably awful” remains undefeated
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
A good surprise in South Lakes yesterday: 1 Cattle, 2 Little Egrets, and 1 Great White Egret together at one site. #UKbirding #ukbirds
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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Baron Hain, "Al Qaeda - real terrorism" "ISIS - real terrorism" "This Labour government is treating Palestine Action as equivalent to ISIS or Al Qaeda, which is intellectually bankrupt, politically unprincipled, and morally wrong"
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
On a beach in Dumfries, watching an Herring Gull dismembering, and eating a crab, I realised I was being bobbed and screamed at by a pair of Common Sandipers, and so moved off.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
A nasty experience for a Blackbird. She came down the chimney into the wood burner and needed release. Already panicked, she missed the opened windows and thrashed against glass, screaming as she was gently held and given freedom. It was a dreadful sound, but she flew fast away. #ukbirds #ukbirding
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LittleGravitas, →EU immigrant, UK→ emigrant, anti-Brexit @catanonim.me · 14/05/2025
@imogenwalker.bsky.social Mr McSweeney and @yvettecooper-mp.bsky.social: If you are still capable of feeling shame, now would be the time ↓.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Incredibly depressing day. I've spent my entire life being told by British governments how dreadful immigration is. New Labour did it. The Coalition. The Brexiters. Now Starmer. All of them accusing the ones who came before them of failing to clamp down. The same old vacant mean-spirited bollocks.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
#ukbirding You go away for a week and come home to fledgling Blackbirds shouting their hunger AND the Swifts screaming round the house and into nests.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
#ukwildlife Can anyone help identify this moth, please? Fluttering in a shed yesterday and admirably camouflaged against the desk.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
#ukbirdin Still attracting 10 and more Blackbirds to the kitchen door with currants, but the fruit lasts much longer as the birds, now 80% males, squabble over territory. The Starlings also, apparently, fewer, but are established in the roof and in nest boxes. The Song Thrush remains calm. Spring.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
#birds Grange over Sands, the high tide flooded out two Water Rail who swam and scampered toward vanishing grasses where there were also Common Snipe seeking refuge; fascinating to observe with the Saturday crowd oblivious to what was going on, and knowing I was not particularly disturbing them.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Can anyone identify this moth for me, please. It was seen at Roudsea Moss.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
@cumbriawildlife.bsky.social The spring time beauty of Marsh Marigolds at Foulshaw Moss
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
#UKBirding #Gardenbirds Sometimes, hanging out the washing brings additional rewards: 14 Whooper Swans over, flying westward. Lovely to see them, though they are leaving.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Well, yes.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
@cumbriawildlife.bsky.social Elves ears/cups showing well at Foulshaw Moss - sorry about the quality of the photos!
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Draculosity Jones: Ghost Skeleton @brainmage.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Also: I've recently converted to Heideggerian Christianity. I believe in Intelligent Dasein
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Win win for trump.....
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
@cumbriawildlife.bsky.social #ukbirds For the second day running, at Foulshaw Moss, listening to a Mistle Thrush in full song: rather good. Spring is approaching
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Reece Dinsdale @reecedinsdale.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
If I laughed at this, does it make me a bad person? 👀
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Cumbria Wildlife Trust @cumbriawildlife.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Beavers are nature's ecosystem engineers, but their return to the wild in England is still facing delays. It's time to remove barriers and welcome the incredible benefits they bring 🌍💧🐾 Read our vision 👇 bit.ly/BeaverVision #Winterwatch @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social 📷 David Parkyn
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Sun rising before the rain.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
Dawning on the Rhins of Galloway.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Sun setting , Rhins of Galloway.
Sun setting, Rhins of GallowaySun setting, Rhins of Galloway.Sun setting, Rhins of Galloway.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
The view toward Northern Ireland from Dally Bay, Rhins of Galloway.
Dally Bay
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
#birds Untimely: the Rhins of Galloway today.
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
Trying to play with lights of Morecambe & Heysham
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Persiflage @persiflage.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Could two followers please copy and re-skeet this skeet to show that someone is always there? National Suicide Prevention Hotline Call: 0800 689 5652 (UK) 1-800-273-8255 (USA) 1.833.456.4566 (Canada)
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Mike Hudema @mikehudema.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Huge win. Ecuadorians have voted in a historic referendum to halt the development of all new oilwells in the Yasuní national park in the Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet: buff.ly/3QNZzdo Protect people and the planet. #ActOnClimate
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
Certainly appears an odd one, Bert!
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
Why do the panel on Match of the Day keep saying 'Mo Farah, the Eygptian' or 'The Egyptian, Mo Farah'?
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
Dear @UKLabour, I want you to legislate to keep peat in the ground and out of our gardens by supporting @CllrDyke's Horticultural Peat (Prohibition of Sale) Bill! #BogsNotBags @SteveReedMP @Keir_Starmer
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Matthew Cookson @gathorne.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
#birds #ukbirds Foulshaw Moss, at sunset, a different Merlin to the usual occupant perched on the favoured stump. The usual bird is male, this a female/juvenile type. After some minutes another Merlin arrived, they sparred. The light was now so dull that the winner's gender/age was not evident.
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