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Janet Drew

@jedrew.bsky.social
280 followers 236 following 233 posts

Lifelong astronomer and scientist, with an interest in birds, landscape, geology, and (almost) all things natural. For fun, consumes crime fiction, and tries to play the cello.

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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Just sharing this evening's uncommon sunset. It announced itself with an intense blaze of orange - and then these clouds, seemingly diverging from the horizon, appeared and streamed across. #nature #clouds #ECK #photography #Ireland
Looking west above Wicklow Town this evening - an unusual sunset, made up from pulled-out cotton wool clouds, coloured a warm salmon-y pink by the setting sun.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
For #birdoftheday #alt theme - a #grey heron, enjoying autumn sunshine (as was I). Greystones, Wicklow. #birds #nature #photography
This grey heron, standing as tall as it can with its back to the camera, was probably just taking a break - no food likely by the shoreline of Greystones Harbour.  The sun nicely catches the right half of the bird, showing off its grey plumage.  Photo taken two days ago - when it was sunny!
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
...editing photos, this morning, from recent trip to Banff and Jasper. This one, of Maligne Lake taken 5th September, is an early favourite. #nature #Canada #photography #ECK #landscape #mountains
Looking south along Maligne Lake, Alberta, during the evening golden hour.  The lake occupies the lower half of the frame, with soft-focus reflections of partially-sunlit peaks lying in a band across it.  The sky in the upper half of the frame is a light baby blue, with just a few small clouds present.  Across the middle, the mountains around the lake, with a hint of snow on some peaks.  The forested banks of the lake are in deep shadow.  The photo was taken September 5th this year.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
For #birdoftheday #birdsinabstract - two out of focus greylag geese, taken during the golden hour one fine November evening, in Norfolk (always good for geese!), a few years back. I've a soft spot for this impressionistic photo, despite the evident problem. #birds #nature #ECK #photography
A 'failed' picture taken some years ago of a couple of greylag geese settling down for the November evening in the long rough grass behind the lagoon at Snettisham, Norfolk.  Somoehow the two geese wound up out of focus giving the photograph a kind of hazy, dream-like charcter.  The two geese are seen in profile, facing right, towards the top left corner of the frame.  A taller shrub in the foreground is also out of focus, adding a rusty hue to the lower half of the image.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Peyto Lake, Canadian Rockies this morning. The astounding turquoise is for real... see alt for more detail #nature #ECK #photography #Canada #Rockies
One end of Peyto Lake, of The icefield parkway, Alberta.  Once upon a time (around 100 years ago).  The ice of Peyto Glacier would have reached into this photo.  Now, it is well off to the left up the valley it has ground out.   The variation in the beautiful colour of the lake water is caused by passing cloud.  Photo taken a few hours ago (10 Sept 2026).
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Here's an eclpse offering - illustrating the way we interpret everything as faces... This looks like two happy faces nose to nose. It is, of course the projection of two images of the sun through a pair of binoculars (held by my son) onto a cream wall. #nature #eclipse #photography #ECK
A photo taken before solar eclipse minimum light, today August 12th, in St Albans Hertfordshire.  The image is of a cream wall, serving as a screen for the projection of the partially eclipsed solar disc on top of the dark grey shadow of the binoculars - which takes on the appearance of two happy faces in profile, nose to nose!
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Here's a california gull getting ready to sprint along the shore of Mono Lake for a delicious? mouthful of brine flies. An offering for #birdoftheday #bestfootforward. The brine flies are everywhere in the photo - including on the water surface, showing as black pin-pricks.
A california gull is positioned in profile in the photo, about to sprint off to the left in search of mouthfuls of brine flies - one foot off the ground.  Th gull has a mainly yellow beak, white head/neck and chest/tummy, with grey wings and black feathers showing in the tail.  Both the foreground mud and the background water of Mono Lake are dotted with large numbers of the brine flies -- their presence in huge swarms covering everything was once commented on by Mark Twain (in 'Roughing It').
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
This is an old one from 1992 - probably taken with my second-hand nikkormat (and since scanned). For #birdoftheday #Firsts. An alert eagle owl, with glowing amber eyes. Photo taken at the Ringwood Owl Sanctuary next to the New Forest.
An eagle owl readying itself to fly around the room in which the guy running the Ringwood Owl Sanctuary 1992 is telling his audience about the sanctuary's owls.  When it was let loose ...deeply impressive!  The owl is perched on a heavily gloved hand, some talons showing.  The beautiful tan-and-dark breast feathers are fluffed up.  The bird is face on, with both the rich amber-coloured eyes clearly visible, and the long ears flattened onto the head.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
A #screenfiller for #birdoftheday: a whooper swan on the water, Welney Wetlands near Ely. #birds #nature #swans #birdphotography #photography
A whooper swan seen on the main lake in Welney Wetlands, near Ely, Cambridgeshire.  The bird is seen side on, with it's neck in a relaxed curved shape, practically resting on its back.  The wings are slightly raised making them look a little fluffy.  The photo was taken on a sunny winter day, illuminating the bird in a warm light, showing off the yellow in the beak well.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
See the story in 'alt'. An encounter between two rock doves. A slice of avian daily life. #pigeonsky #nature #photography #birds
A pair of rock doves meeting up on a Greystones Marina quayside, Wicklow.  I first noticed them walking towards each other at the quay's edge - so I watched what happened, taking a few photos.  It seemed to me quite sweet - two birds pleased with each other's company - an established couple, presumably.  Both are identically-marked rock doves (iridiscent necks, light grey backs/wings with black wing and tail bars, white rump patch, coral feet - not feral pigeons).
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
For #birdoftheday #ebony&ivory, a black guillemot taking a breather on the quay beside Greystones Marina, Wicklow - seen there last Monday. They are reliably there, and always seem like a relaxed bunch. #birds #ireland #nature #photography #ECK
A black guillemot, sitting on the quay in Greystones Marina - taking a break.   There is a community of around 10 of them there this summer.  They seem to be using the gaps between the large stone blocks making up the sea wall to nest in (a man-made cliff).  In this photo, the bird is in profile and a red leg/foot is just visible.  The white epaulette that marks these auks out, is centered.  Otherwise the bird is all dark - including the dark eye and eye ring (zoom in and you can just see it...).
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Sunset on the shortest night. As seen overlooking the Connemara coast. End of a perfect sunny day. #nature #photography #ECK #sunset
Summer solstice sunset - looking across to Inishbofin, from Cleggan (Connemara).  Orange sky with no hint of cloud.  Darkening foreground.  Inishark (just visible left horizon) and Inishbofin in silhouette across the water.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
'What are you looking at? Can't a bird bathe in peace?!' A juvenile blackbird in a birdbath eyeing up the photographer. #BirdoftheDay #lLookingAtYou A bit past the #newlife stage... #birds #nature
A juvenile blackbird is sitting, side on, in a green ceramic bird bath (with a few insect-friendly stones in it to help out the occasional passing bee in need of a drink).  The bird's plumage is brown all over, but its beak is beginning to acquire the yellow colour of maturity.  Seen side on, it is head is turned towards the camera.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Three #anatidae species for #birdoftheday: 2 mallards, a goosander and 5 swans - all seen on Lake Como last week. #birds #nature #wildlife #photography
Two mallard drakes show their displeasure at being disturbed by a female goosander whose sole crime is to decide she's had enough of sitting on the corner of the quay and is walking between them.  Photo taken on the edge of Lake Como last week, in late afternoon sunshine. The two drakes are hissing at the goosander (beaks open and heads thrust forwards).A swan with his/her 4 cygnets in front.  The curious lighting is the result of the photo being taken from the side of Lake Como already in the shade - the sky above (out of frame) is still a perfect blue.  Photo taken last week just before the current heatwave set in.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
A photo for #Stunday representing late #spring on the banks of Lake Como - a view from the very lovely slopes of Villa Carlotta gardens. #landscape #gardens #Italy #photography
This photo was taken from within one of the more wooded sections of the Villa Carlotta gardens on the banks of Lake Como, on May 16th.  The right hand side of the picture is dominate by a gap in the foliage, revealing the matching blue sky and lake (and the opposite bank, in the distance).  The main feature of the left hand side is a rhododendron in flower, with the pink of the blooms making a very pretty contrast with the luxuriant foliage - that, for sure, is characteristic of Villa Carlotta and many other Como gardens.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Persona non grata. The goosander can be forgiven for wondering what she had done to upset the two mallard drakes either side of her, as she left her sunning spot on the corner of the quay. They were clearly angry - both of them. #birds #nature #wildlife
A female goosander is making her way on a concrete pier, between two seated mallard drakes.  Inexpicably, both drakes turn their heads and hiss at her.  The photo was taken late yesterday afternoon beside Lake Como.  The strong shadows are testament to the very clear conditions.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
This was us, at around 2.30 pm yesterday, a thousand feet plus up in the air - ringside to an in-flight lightning strike. Not actually scary (oddly) but definitely an experience.
A still, from the ground near Gatwick Airport, of the plane we were on yesterday afternoon - as it was struck by lightning. This image appeared in a couple of online reports yesterday evening.  We were in row three (me, by the window) on the side the lightning struck.  ...brilliant white flash, and a loud crack!
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
These young starlings have to be #linedup (for today's #birdoftheday) given the space that is theirs to occupy. What a rumpus there is when a parent turns up with food! The noise... Photo taken late this afternoon. #birds #nature
Four starling nestlings lined up in their distinctly linear space beneath a roof tile - up on the house next door.  The photo was taken today (with extreme 30x zoom - they are a long way up).  I fear for the small one at the left end of the line that's only just visible.  The biggest, with an especially mean expression is second from right. They are probably not long from fledging.  When a parent flies up on the roof with food for them, the squawking is intense and all you can see are the gaping yellow-outlined mouths frantically pushing forwards.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
I post this to mark David Attenborough's 100th birthday tomorrow. I'm pretty sure his TV programmes about Madagascar introduced me to lemurs in my early teens - got to see them in their habitat in 2015. It's wonderful he's still with us. #nature #DavidAttenborough #photography #mammals #ECK
A sportive lemur passing the daytime away, wedged in a tree cleft - as they do - in Zombitse national park, Madagascar.  The lemur is looking down at the camera, while clutching the thick branch to the left in the picture.   He/she is not minded to do anything about his/her audience.  The animal's fir has a golden hue.  The prominent eyes are round with small pupils - they are really designed for evening/nighttime use. 


Verreaux's sifaka, moving throught the trees next to a picnic spot in Isalo national park.  These long-limbed animals are very agile.  When on the ground they bounce around on two legs.  They're quite big - but not as big as the awesome indri (once hear - never forgotten!).  The vegetation in Isalo has a semi-arid character, which makes lemur spotting easy.Had to include one photo of ring-tailed lemurs.  This is a family group huddled up in a tree in the park at Anja.  I think there are 4 of them in this picture: 2 adults and 2 youngsters.  When most of us think 'lemur' we're thinking long-tailed ...the one thing you can't actually see in this photo.  The distinctive faces of the two adults and the youngster  toward top left are the main point of the image.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
I love wisteria - and this one lives with me. Drought conditions last summer (only its second) when we were away almost killed it. But it's back😊and it's fun to watch the blooms develop. #nature #gardens #bloomscrolling #photography
The first of three photos of a pair of wisteria buds up on the garden wall.  This one was taken a week ago.   The buds are compact and purple in coloiur and have 'scales' that make them look a bit like pine cones or hops.  They are set in young leaves at the end of a woody stalk.  Training wire on the wall behind is visible about 3/4 of the way up the photo.This photo was taken two days later, on Tuesday last - the buds and the leaves are both bigger.This is today's photo - the flowers are just starting to show, and the leaves are still developing (although they still have a pretty 'brand new' look to them).  The colour of the flower petals becoming visible is a beautiful mauve.  The angle this shot was taken from is more angled to the wall to better show what is going on, and to accommodate the grwoing leaves in the frame.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
I came home, after a spell away, to this! Feels miraculous, but its just a broom plant in the back garden (Wicklow). This has turned into quite a #spring. #bloomscrolling #nature #Ireland #gardens
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
This afternoon's photo of a heron in a pond - with hazy dream-like reflections in the water. #birds #photography #nature #ECK
A x20 phone camera zoom of a heron that had just landed at the far edge of the Watercress Reserve's main pond.  I rather like the fuzzy reflections of the heron and the waterside plants in the pond.  The heron is side on with its neck extended.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Here's a Trinidadian Motmot, for #birdoftheday #JKLMNOP. #birds #nature #photography
A trinidadian motmot perched on a wooden balustrade, seen in Tobago.  The bird's head is in profile showing off the bright blue feathers framing the crown and the eye - while the rufous tummy is in three-quarters view.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
More #spring #bloomscrolling: a white bluebell, peak blackthorn and two flowering cherries. #photography #nature
A rare instance of a white bluebell, next to a blue one - in among thousands and thousands of the blue kind carpeting Langley Wood in Heartwood Forest.  April 9th 2026Blackthorn full-throttle blooming.   These have become more and more frequent hedgerow denizens in recent years, it seems to me.  The picture is focused on a near twig carrying the delicate white flowers, against an increasingly out-of-focus background of more and more blooms covering the bush.  Heartwood Forest, April 9th 2026.In the foreground a branch of a cherry tree, loaded down with white flowers - against a background of more flowers.  Heartwood Forest, April 9th 2026.And finally, a sprig of prunus (cherry) flowers on the tree in our back garden.  Some of the flowers are yet to open and present with pink hues.  The open flowers are white.  Underneath and a little in the background are the shrivelled fruit of last autumn, still hanging there.  A few years back, birds used to take them.  The difference is likely to be some reduction in bird numbers, but also an increase in competing food attractions in surrounding gardens.  St Albans, 9th April 2026.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Peak bluebell! A photo from yesterday, April 9th, in Heartwood Forest, SE England. #bloomscrolling #nature #ECK #photography
A photo of the sea of bluebells in Pudler's Wood, Heartwood Forest (Herts. England).  The coppice is not yet in full leaf, allowing in the light that encourages the bluebells to flower.  The foliage showing on the trees is 'spring green' in colour.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
...something's going on at the back of our garden this morning: two wood pigeons loitering up in the bay tree. They've been in there for over an hour, perhaps longer. #birds #nature
This photo was taken through a (not very clean!) window of two wood pigeons *lurking* in the bay tree at the back of our garden.  The more visible of the two, on the left, is in what might be a guard position with its head and beak pointed straight at the camera.  It will have an excellent view of what is going on out in the open. The other, to the right, is side-on and embedded in the bay foliage.  Eating or nesting?  Might be either.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Some serious up-ended Jurassic layers on the less-visited east side of Durdle Door in Dorset. #AlphabetChallenge #WeekLForLayers #ECK #nature
Jurassic-era strata that have been tipped to practically vertical - mostly limestone with some softer darker layers in between. (Lulworth formation rocks for those interested in the geological detail).  The drop captured in the image is several 10s of feet.   These are seen on the east side of the promontory.  The famous Durdle Door view with the arch is from the west side.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Images of #spring in Wicklow, #Ireland. The weather since the this year's has been very wet, windy and often cold. It has felt like a hard wait! But finally, spring arrives. #nature #EastCoastKin #photography #blossom #flowers
A zoom shot of two large inflorescences on an almost tree-sized rhododendron-related shrub -- the lower of the two is still opening up and glows with pink.  The upper flowering is more nearly white, but the dark purple detail in the interior of each individual flower is more visible.  This plant is Mount Usher Gardens, Wicklow.The River Vartry flowing through the heart of Mount Usher (Wicklow)  on a recent - but rare - fine spring day.  The dense varied growth on either side of the river is advanced in greening.  A towering rhododendron, in flower, is visible on the right.  Human on right-bank footpath for scale.From my garden - a close up of a snakeshead fritillary in flower (an inverted cup shape, with petals of allternating light/dark purple squares).  The elegantly drooping golden anthers are visible through a gap between two of the petals.A perfect pink camellia bloom in my back garden.   Seen in among other buds and flowers on a large bush.  This year's flowering is relatively late, and had me concerned for the plant.  But it has happened and has been worth waiting for.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
A magellanic penguin: both #blackandwhite and #wingsopenbutnotflying ...in a manner of speaking! For today's #birdoftheday and #birds. To my eye, not the prettiest of penguins, but they still have ALL the winning, ungainly charm on land, you expect of this bird group. #nature
A magellanic penguin seen on the Valdes Peninsula, Patagonia (Argentina).  It is stood with wings open, right next to a parking lot: at the bottom of the photo, the cast-iron bar separating it from the sandy ground the penguin was stood on.  It seemed completely ease despite the tourists (including us) within just a few feet.  Along with his compadres, this individual had just waddled up from the water's edge below, with the immediate goal of simply getting into the sunshine.  The real reason they were there - to scout out nesting sites on the slope down to the water.  Apparently the boys show up before the girls, each breeding season, to do this.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
There's a really good piece on the (UK's) intergenerational gap by John Lanchester in today's Guardian.I've grabbed a bit of the text that is, for me, a source of continuing pain... www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...
Lanchester goes on to give polling evidence with numbers.  The effect is real and so excrutiating and maddening.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
#Sideview of a patagonian sierra finch (...great name!) which also has a #yellow tummy. For today's #birdoftheday.
A patagonian sierra finch, facing right.  It has a typical short finch-style beak, with darker feathers around the eye blending into a grey head.  It has a khaki/green collar, and a light warm brown back, edged with more khaki/green.  The wings and tail are grey mainly, and the tummy below is yellow.  A white rump is just visible.  The feet are pink.  The bird is stood on a bench - off picture there is a bit of bread left by a visitor that it is summoning up the courage to seize.  The out-of-focus weird light blue background is the Perito Moreno glacier.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Fulmars are gliders par excellence. Here are 6 of them (with only one actively flying) low over the ocean off Jan Mayen Land for #BirdoftheDay #fourormore. #birds #nature
A group of 6 fulmars gliding/flying low over the north Atlantic.  Five of the birds have their wings in a horizontal glide, with only one actively flying.  The sea beneath, a steely blue-grey, is being rucked up by the wind.  The photo was taken from the deck of the Fram (Hurtigruten) in 2017.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
The puffin in the foreground is standing very erect, perhaps rather pleased with itself its and its haul of sand eels - a #powerpose of sorts for today's #birdoftheday. #birds #nature
In the foreground, a puffin standing tall in profile, looking to the left, with a beak full of sand eels.  To the rear two more puffins, slightly out of focus - one of them is hunkered down on its tummy also looking left, while the other is looking to the right (off frame).   Photo taken on Inner Farne, spring 2018.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Just felt like posting a couple of archive photos - of the Matterhorn, to brighten up the timeline. #photography #nature #EastCoastKin #mountains
This photo, and the one accompanying are both of the Matterhorn as seen from my hotel bedroom in Zermatt.   This mountain has to be the most iconic mountain of all.  In its many moods, it just seems like a Platonic ideal - the stuff of imagination.  In the first photo, taken during the afternoon, it was wearing some of the fluffy white cloud in the picture like a scarf, around and streaming behind its neck.  More on the second photo in the next alt text...I got up at dawn to take this one (and others).  just the moon (top left) and the Matterhorn are lit up by the Sun.  Not a cloud in the sky, with the ridge sitting below the mountain still in darkness.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
A pair of spectacled (or bronze-winged) ducks - for today's #birdoftheday #waterbirds. Details in +alt #birds
A pair of spectacled ducks stood next to the water.  The water in question is the meltwater forming the lage at the foot of the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina.  The ducks are mostly a warm chocolate-y brown, with a purple/bronze speculum visible on the wing.  The 'spectacles' are very distinctive white patches between the actual eyes and the top of the dark pointed beak. Orange legs and webbed feet.  The darker barring on the chest is a nice feature.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Well done for lying down - I didn't. I thought I'd just add some some of my photos, to your inspired shot, of this very fine and remarkable bit of cathedral architecture ...to fill out the context. #ElyCathedral #IsleofEly #Ely
The first of three photos all featuring the octagonal light that is the eye-dragging effective centre of this impressive cathedral.  Here the view from the choir stalls looking back down the nave.  The dark wood tracery of the screen is in strong contrast to the bright octagon above. A close up fo the decoration around the base of the octagonal light - as seen through one of the (also decorated) gothic arches.A view up to the octagonal light from not quite below it.  The ribs the reach into the light and create a star-like pattern around it can be seen in the barely iluminated gloom.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
For today's #brownisbeautiful #birdoftheday, a chimango caracara seen in the Bariloche area of Argentina. Pretty chest feathers. This predator was soon bullied off its perch by the bigger predator, a crested caracara. #birds #nature #photography
A male(?) chimango caracara at rest on a branch of a dead tree, atop Cerro Llao Llao (near Bariloche, Argentina).  The bird is looking to its left placing the head in profile, while the light-brown mottled, delicately feathered chest is seen from the front.  Sunlight illuminates the left side of the bird, whilst also seem to catch the tip of the down-curved beak.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Aurora as it just happened: looking north, from the hills above Wicklow Town.
From the back garden around midnight: trees, part of the house, a bit of cloud at the top of the frame - and in between - a red aurora glow (to the north)
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Taken as we set out on this afternoon's walk, next to Kilcoole's marshes. Great sky! #EastCoastKin
A view across the railway line out of Kilcoole towards Wicklow Town.  The sun is low in the southern sky behind fine "combed-out" cirrus.  Marshland occupies the middle distance, showing very dark green in the highly angled light.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
For #BirdoftheDay #anatidae These greylags were on Hickling Broad in Norfolk.
A picture of very gently rippling water, with a thin fringe of reed to the fore.  Right at the front is a greylag goose in profile: fine orange beak, buff chest, pale rump and patterned brown feathers.  Another one further back, has its head down.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Cats... being cats. (Instinct > reason!)
The photo shows a doorway with a tall winerack to the near side of it.  One of the two cats in the photo sits on top of the open door, while the other opts for the next highest point on top of the wine rack. A typical moment of madness from these two!
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
For #birdoftheday, I have #most pictures of so-called black guillemots - a lovely chocolate-y brown, close up (the consequence of living next to a marina in Wicklow, they visited often). In photo 2, the non-breeding plumage is starting to show around the top of the beak. #birds #EastCoastKin
Two black guillemots swimming together in Greystones Marina.  The view is from above, via a telephoto lens.   Their bright red legs show under the water.  Most of the plumage is a rich chocolate brown.  The birds appear 'black' only from a distance and/or under cloudy sky.   The distinctive white wing patches are clearly visible. Just one black guillemot in this picture - seen at an angle where you can see the speckling around the top of the beak that signals the beginning of the switch to non-breeding plumage.  When the switch is complete most of the 'black' will have gone, giving the bird a very different appearance.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
My #mostrecent bird snap for #birdoftheday, taken yesterday - during a pre-Christmas-dnner stroll to the nearby, essentially urban, nature reserve. First saw one in 1995 (Chiswick, London). Now they're all over SE England.
A ring-necked parakeet clinging to a feeder, checking her surroundings (if male, the ring around the neck would be more prominent).  Seen Christmas Day 2025, in strong winter sunshine.  Mostly green plumage, although the tail has some blue in it, when viewed from behind.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
A #Grounded robin for #BirdoftheDay - suitable also as a subject for the #holidayseason. The robin was clearly human-comfortable, being a small number of feet away on a gravel path, and happy to wait a while as I took the photo.
A robin, on a gravel footpath in the National Botanic Garden, Kilmacurragh, Wicklow.  Facing left, he/she is looking up at me as I take the photo (taken early March this year) - quite unfazed by the people around at the time.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
...seasonally-themed postbox bonnets are a thing in St Albans, Herts, too. I raise you two dinosaurs in Santa hats!
A Christmas-themed knitted postbox bonnet, seen in St Albans, Hertfordshire.   Two dinosaurs, wearing Santa hats, sat on a white (snow?) base, with a smaller decorated Christmas tree at the front.  The blue dinosaur with a striped scale on its back seems to be trying to swallow a Christmas pudding.  The dinoosaur at the back is green with yellow spots and is swallowing some tinsel.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
10 #birdsonfeeders for #BirdOfTheDay. At this location - a cottage near Coniston in the Lake District - there was never any shortage of birds on the feeders, which would empty in a day. The blue tits visible have grey caps, marking them out as juveniles (photo taken June '22). #birds
Great tits, juvenile blue tits, and a couple of siskins on 3 bird feeders hanging outside a cottage window in the Lake District.  June 2022.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
For #Birdoftheday #groups - a troup of Chilean flamingos, seen near El Calafate, Argentina. The way they are arranged almost looks like a class for debutantes in how to carry yourself. Lovely and comical at the same time. #birds
Eight Chilean flamingos in the lake next to El Calafate, in Patagonia, Argentina.  Photo taken on an October late-ish afternoon.  One of the two flamingos at the extreme left is facing the remaining six who are pretty nearly lined up, as if in a class of some sort.   All of them have warm rose-pink plumage, with a slash of shocking pink near the tail.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
#Mr&Mrs white-lined tanager. He's black and she's a light orange brown. For #birdoftheday. Why white-lined? ...apparently there's some white under the male's wing and a patch of white on the upperwing. Don't think I saw it. #birds
Black male and orange-brown female 'white-lined' tanagers, on a bird feeder in a Tobago garden.  The wikipedia entry admits that the white on the male is often not visible.  Needs to be watched in flight. We put out papaya for them, as I recall.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
A #gardening oddity: a photo from yesterday showing winter jasmine in full bloom (normal for Dec/Jan ...so not far off), and a flowering rose, of all things (normal for June to early Sept). One of those little signs life is turning strange. #climatechange
A side bed in a Hertfotrdshire back garden, Nov 21 2025.  There is a winter jasmine in full flower up against the fence.  To its right - a rose bush, STILL flowering and even has rosebuds visible.
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Janet Drew @jedrew.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
A #bright photo for #BluSkyArtShow. The dazzling colour of an acer in autumn, in the back garden. The colour is as close to true as I could make it (the camera tried to push it ~pink). The leaves were SO vivid. #Nature
The fizzingly scarlet autumn colour of the leaves on a japanese maple ('orangeola').  The frame shows nothing but the 'dissecta' leaves of the shrub from no more than month ago.
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