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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Todays #BirdofTheDay theme by Rob is #Green. So I’ll go with this lapwing that I saw at Cley on Tuesday as the sea fog rolled in. I hadn’t realised how colourful they were till I saw one close up.

Lapwing walking from left to right across dried exposed mud in front of reeds. Its back, that looks black from a distance, is iridescent, mainly green.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

For #BirdOfTheDay #BestBeaks, it has to a razorbill on the Farne Islands. Oh, did you think I was going to say Puffin? #UKwildlife

Rocks, whitened with guano. In the foreground is a sitting razorbill, looking sideways so its beak is almost invisible. In the background are 3 puffins partially obscured by rocks.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It has to be a long tailed tit for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme, which is #Borbs, birds looking plump.

A long tailed tit sitting on a small lichen encrusted twig. Looking from the front, the bird is round as a slightly squashed ball with shiny black feet and beak.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Redheads. So for me it has to be a little grebe on a windy day. #birds #ukwildlife #naturephotography

A little grebe seen from behind on a green rippling pond. It’s looking to the left and you can see its green and black head with a bright white dash below the beak: breeding plumage.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Rob’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Paridae, so here’s a blue tit at RSPB Fowlmere who’s just had a bath and is now sitting in the sun trying to dry out.

A somewhat bedraggled bluetti sitting sideways on a sloping twig in reeds and willow. Looking to the left, with its tiny feet clasping the even smaller stem

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay is #BirdsWithBerries. Set by Helen @helenbennett.bsky.social. So here’s a Long tailed tit enjoying the sun on Devil’s Dyke, Cambridge

Long tailed tit sitting on hawthorn? On small branch surrounded by berries. Part of a flock going through and hunting for insects among the berries. This one’s just sitting in the sun though looking right into the clear blue sky. They have a red eye lining that is the same colour as the berries.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is: #Silhoutte; any bird in silhouette, so, better late than never, is a cormorant in a tree

Comprantesi silhouette in tree, bare black branches in and out of focus, blue sky beyond. The cormorant is looking to the right, back towards the thinner branches

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Reposted by Kate King

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

For the last 6 months, I’ve been working on a story of prejudice, bureaucracy, and misplaced cost-cutting. In today’s paper: the disabled people who are being banned from going abroad by the state. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s... - by me and @patrickjbutler.bsky.social

theguardian.com

‘I want to live’: the disabled people unable to go abroad because of care funding refusal

Campaigners say care users face a postcode lottery for support overseas – despite no extra cost to taxpayer

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay alt theme is #ReflectionsAndShadows. I had a lot of fun photographing local little grebes this spring. When they come up from a dive, their feathers are slicked back and they look almost black.

Little grebe in breeding colours, though you can barely see the russet red neck. It is swimming amongst the reflections of reeds. The green and brown reflections look almost like a 1970s fabric design: green circles and lines with the dark still shape of the grebe and it’s reflection at the centre

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

We were out on Devil’s Ditch (Cambs) watching flocks of young goldfinches and chattering families of long tailed tits.

Young long tailed tit , facing away but with head turned, almost in silhouette on a lichen covered branch. The out of focus golden fields beyond give an autumnal feel to the picture.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Happy to see Chalk Hill Blues on dyke near Swaffham Prior. Have to remember the ‘paw prints’ on the upper wing

Male Chalk Hill Blue settled on a lump of white chalk on Devil’s Dyke. The wings are quite faded but the body is an intense blue and you can see dark veins running out to the wing margins past little round dark circles surrounded by white. The ground around the white chalk is dry littered with dried out grasses and stalks.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is: #Simple, so here is a welsh meadow pipit in the sun. Wish I was there today, though walking along Devil’s Ditch nr Swaffham Prior and listening to chattering flocks of young goldfinches was a nice way to spend the morning.

Meadow pipit (I hope) standing on a concrete pillar, side on facing left, with its head turned to look at camera. It was taken in May, and it looks very smart with orangey lega and even brown streaked breast on cream.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Lovely to meet you again. Glad you saw some small blues too, they are so beautiful like that with the dusting of blue over dark. And thanks for the lesson on Brown Argus - think I might need a crib sheet if I’m going to remember them all next year!

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Good to see clouded yellows still flitting around Magog Down. Thanks to @andrewknights.bsky.social for this. I should have laid down to take the photo… but you can see the warm buttery yellow of the wing showing through. Butterflies making the best of very dry conditions.

Clouded yellow sitting with wings folded on a dried out path. It’s underwing is green, more like a brimstone, with brown spots and brown/white fringe. Straw coloured antennae and legs, like dried grass, and a round green eye - why do butterflies so often look so discomfited?

Small blue I think. So dark with a dusting of blue and white fringing

Female common blue on a dried seed head surrounded by other dried stems the same colour as her brown wings.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

An eclipse on a fence, mediated by trees

A projection of the partial eclipse, on a wooden fence. It’s caused by the sun shining through vegetation.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #PeekABoo. So here’s a Stock Dove peeking through the greenery in rather late light.

Stock dove looking sideways through the small leafy twigs of a tree. You can see it’s black beady eye,the iridescent teal blue feathers on its neck and its pink feet on a larger branch.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

So nice to have cooler weather on Magog Down. Following a tip (thank you!) we did get to fruitlessly run around after a beautiful clouded yellow butterfly. Also a couple of Latticed Heath moths, tiny with chunky little stripey bodies, and willing to sit around long enough even for me.. #ukwildlife

Latticed heath with dark brown veining and creamy white. Tiny.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

#BirdOfTheDay theme #FabulousWaders makes me a bit sad as I’m missing the sea and its wildlife. Here’s a foraging curlew from my first trip last September to Cley Marshes - and what lovely friendly birdwatchers there were there!

A curlew foraging on salt marsh. Its feathers are fluffed by the wind, legs buried in long grass. They are facing slightly away so you can see their dappled back, golden head and long long slightly curved beak. It’s keeping a watchful eye out for predators (and observers)

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

@alan678.bsky.social #BirdOfTheDay theme is #OverTheRainbow - a bird looking skyward: so here’s rainbow seeking wood pigeon. #ukwildlife #birds

Head of a wood pigeon looking up. You can see the striated iridescent blue green feathers on his neck. Behind him the background is orange, red and green.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

#BirdOfTheDay theme is #EgretsAndHerons, so here is a heron sat in a tree and doing a Jarvis Cocker impression #birds #ukbirds

A heron sitting face on the camera, head slightly tilted, one eye each side of his beak and looking down at the camera. He has a fringed suit of brownish grey feathers at the front. He’s framed against a funky blurry backdrop of bare branches against which he seems rather well camouflaged. He has a mournful look probably because he’d just dropped a fish in a stream by mistake.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Me too, and they have such a full caps voice for such a tiny bird!

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Posting this because it’s just a wren in the green, singing its heart out. #BirdOfTheDay theme is: #YourChoice #birds #ukbirds

A russet brown wren singing in a hawthorn. Its eyes are part closed, and it’s perched on a small twig off a lichen covered branch covered with old spider web. The leaves are bright green and the lichen ochre yellow

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Three Jersey Tigers hanging out in hedges in our Cambridge street today. First saw them last year, glad to see they’re back! #ukwildlife

Large Jersey Tiger moth sheltering in a holly hedge. Stripy black and white upper wings, orange red lower wings just showing along the body. Stripy yellow and black legs, yellow body with black spots just visible. When they fly, slow flappy wandering, they are stunning: orange red and stripy black and white.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

I thought maybe a chiffchaff among hazel (?) leaves, wrangling a delicious insect would be suitable for #BirdOfTheDay #FeathersInFoliage

A Chiff chaff in a small tree at Magog Down. It is sitting on a small lichen covered branch that swoops up to the right. The chiffchaff is looking up to the left and holding a bright green insect in its beak.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

A little dappled bird on the Dyfi: a Grasshopper warbler for #BirdOfTheDay #Dappled.

A slim grasshopper warbler stretched out to sing from gorse. He is a pale brown with streaked neck and upper back, his belly is pale yellow as is the stripe over his eye. (He was very loud!)

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

A pair of wary stock doves in a cypress tree for #BirdOfTheDay #Pairs

Two Stock Doves sitting in a fastigiate cypress. One is facing left, with one eye on the camera. The other is straight on but their head is turned to the left to keep an eye on the sky. You can see their characteristic black eyes and iridescent green necks. A bit of clear blue sky is visible between the frondy branches.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Thought I’d add to today's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Petals&Perches with a Rook in Cowslips

A Rook, with a large pouch under his beak, wandering through a field of yellow cowslips on Magog Down

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Definitely spring at the Cambridge Botanics today @cubotanicgarden.bsky.social

Three mallard chicks sitting in long grass. One’s looking straight at the camera, one behind and to the left is grooming his chest feathers. Their mother is half out of shot behind.

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Reposted by Kate King

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Have you ever been criticised in public for using a Blue Badge? I’m looking to gather disabled people’s experiences for The Guardian to explore hostility around the Blue Badge and Motability schemes. We’ve made a quick form you can fill in here: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a... (Please share.)

theguardian.com

Blue badge holders: how are you treated by other members of the public when out?

Have you experienced reactions from other people when using your blue badge? We’d like to hear from you

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

This is such a lovely author interview, on the level. Don’t think the title really indicates the emotional and intellectual breadth of the piece.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Lovely to see the little grebe back in his breeding colours @cubotanicgarden.bsky.social

Male Dabchick in breeding plumage: dark grey with russet neck on green water with ripples and reflections of green plants

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

some days the weather is beautiful, but the birds are too far away, all you can photograph is a water deer, but, on the upside, you see your first bittern #ukwildlife.

Chinese water deer in flight across Ouse fen, Cambs. Another deer watches from a distance.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

And belatedly realise it’s World Wetlands day. So here’s a little grebe being photobombed by a Mallard..gotta love a Dabchick. #ukwildlife

A little grebe in winter plumage swims past as a blurry mallard quacks into the lower left of the frame.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

As a woman with a MH disability, I now identify strongly with newts and bats. So, I guess, when I have to give up most of my work because I’m disqualified from PIP, at least I’ll have a hobby

Male Newt. Swimming. Face vaguely in focus, the rest underwater.

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Reposted by Kate King

Doctors Without Borders @doctorswithoutborders.org · 24/01/2025

Hi Bluesky community! We're excited to be here to share important humanitarian stories. Would you let your network know where to find us? This is just a snapshot of what we stand for as an emergency medical organization:

Text reads: Stand with refugees and people forced from home.

Stand with people demanding access to safe abortion care.

Stand with people whose health is impacted by climate change.

Stand with people facing health inequities due to racism and discrimination.

Stand with vulnerable people everywhere.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

And overwintering Chiffchaff, round as a robin, feeding and bathing at the old watercress pools, by the spring inlet.

Chiff chaff perched on narrow edge of a wooden plank in the old watercress beds. There is frost on the topside, it was freezing still, and it’s fluffed up into a yellow/pale olive ball, with a yellow eye rings mirroring the frost. Not a great picture, light was not brill and I’m still not very adept.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Hungry watervole at RSPB Fowlmere today. #ukwildlife

Water vole in crook of tree, he’s just finished his snack and is thinking about having another.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Apparently I’m American and have published two books of poetry: The Blood of a Stranger and The Haunting of a Southern Heart, but sadly, not my own poetry book, The Pasta Maker. Probably couldn’t fit it in alongside my apparently extensive academic career. Basically, do not trust GPT.

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Reposted by Kate King

Ann Memmott @annmemmott.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Yes, many of us in the academic fields have to take very good care of ourselves, after reading endless documents filled with derogatory descriptions of our loved ones (& ourselves). It's heartbreaking, damaging, and unnecessary. captapnetwork.wordpress.com/2023/09/19/h... is recommended.

captapnetwork.wordpress.com

CAPTAP

We have created a free and downloadable guide that can be used by anyone who talks to or about autistic people. Download and print for free: A poster Download it here An explanatory text document D…

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Completing a PIP application is one of the most destructive things that people with disabilities have to do. I still have physical symptoms that started due to stress of my PIP transfer 5 years ago. Emily Wooden’s blog is worth a read. ndconnection.co.uk/blog/pip-liv...

ndconnection.co.uk

Applying for PIP as an Autistic person — Neurodiverse Connection

Emily Wooden shares a frank account of her difficult experience applying for PIP as an Autistic person, and how it forced her to confront some challenging reflections around masking and identity.

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Such a grey day, then we get a garden visit from two foxes, and everything seems brighter #ukwildlife

A young fox sitting side on to camera, with his head turned to the left, and tilted so he’s looking straight at you. His coat is the warmest russet, his eyes are a little sad

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Kate King @katekingmh.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Happy New Year! Hope your days are filled with tasty flowers.

A sheep with white fleece, black face and white nose eating cowslips.

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