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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Can anyone comment on the *Aythya* at Cresswell Pond today? I had it (her?) down as a Scaup due to structure, lack of any tuft, small and central 'nail' on the bill. But it seemed dark in odd places and a bit on the small side and I wasn't so certain. If Scaup, which sex and plumage? Thx #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

#insect or #diptera people (or whoever uses hand lenses for detail really): can anyone recommend a legit 20x hand lens available in the UK? Clearly, there's so much crap out there, including 10x or less masquerading as higher magnifications.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

A pretty dire Monday evening coast trip (for birds) was saved by this Didea fasciata male, my first of the year. #flies #insects #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Not getting out much for meaningful birding (6 hours of combined bus on Saturday for 3 Temmincks Stints at Newton besides) but here's a quality bee mimic hoverfly from yesterday, a pretty late *Criorhina ranunculi*. #NEbirding #Diptera #Hoverfly

A fly with black, orange and ochre-yellow fur and a large white, downward-projecting face sits on green leaves in the centre of the shot, using its back legs to preen itself.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Urban observations: Common Whitethroat flying around the shrubs and trees at Chilly Road metro, including perching on the main line overheads, followed in short order by 3 Adela reamerulla moths discussing sex in the low trackside trees. #NEbirding #Moths

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Marsh Sandpiper still present on the far shore of Boldon Flats as of now. I've had some good public transport twitches on the year so far, but this will take some beating. #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Can't really prove it, but it seemed to me that this Palomena prasina in Darlo was rather actively sunbathing, angling its shield to catch the most rays. #bugs #NEbirding

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Reposted by LurkyMclurkface

Emma @emmasartworks.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Gull at Saltholme yesterday - seems to have more head colour than the usual black-headed, but too brown for Med - possibly a hybrid? @teesbirds.bsky.social #birdingNorthEast

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Reposted by LurkyMclurkface

klipdok.bsky.social @klipdok.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

The Black-throated Diver in Hartlepool Marina. Note the lesions on the web foot. Are these barnacles? @teesbirds.bsky.social @teeswildlife.bsky.social @whitbynats.bsky.social @clevelandnats.bsky.social @scabz1.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Redhead Smew still present at Ladyburn, not far from the metal and concrete bridge. #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

I need goose help - I don't have enough experience to be confident about them. In the pics below (Cresswell, Saturday) what are the birds with the largely plain pinky/orange bills? I was thinking young White-fronts, but they looked v dark-headed compared to the adults. #NEbirding #UKbirds Thanks!

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Plenty of Kittiwakes in close at Druridge/Cresswell plus two unphoto'd Little Gull. This before I was informed of the eagle and hurried back the way I came. 👌🏻 #NEbirding

Three white and grey gulls, two Kittiwakes and a Black-headed Gull, fly above breaking waves on a grey day.

Three white and grey gulls fly above the surf, two of them Kittiwakes and the third a Black-headed Gull, with one Kittiwake resting on the sea.

Eight Kittiwakes rest on the sea, in from the breaking waves.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I've been let loose with an old 70-300mm lens that's been in a box for more than a decade at work. Don't think I'll be using it all the time, and it's probably not really good enough for mid-long range birding, but I had fun this morning at SMI. #NEbirding

A robin, with brown back, grey cheeks, white belly and red breast, sits facing right on a fence in the middle of shot.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Am I imagining things or has the Beeb used a picture of Coquet Island for this 'volunteers wanted' piece on Skomer? #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

There's been a reasonable Caspy candidate flying around the office (near Rye Hill campus) this morning. Gangly, very pale head, bit of a shawly thing going on, pretty pale underwings from what I can see. Not guaranteeing it though. #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

4+ Willow Tits between Gosforth NR and Big Waters today, with the American Wigeon, Iceland Gull and a Whooper all present at the latter, and visible Cetti's and a mad Water Rail party at the former. #NEbirding

A blue-grey and brown bird with upstanding tail, long, spindly pink legs and a medium long blood red bill walks on ice next to brown vegetation.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

An experience on the ferry from Hoek to Harwich yesterday - at 14:05-ish British time, about an hour west of Hoek, a flock of about 30 Lapwing was flying due west, low over the sea. Not quite the stuff of SuperSeabirdSunday, but perhaps #WaderWednesday? #UKBirds #Birds

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

BlackWit Y,G,R-O,L,O if I'm reading it right, on the Deben at Melton, Suffolk. Orange maybe a bit faded, but with ref to the schemes, I think that's it. Any metal ring below the knee, right leg remained submerged. I think this is a Pete Potts scheme, PP7. Am I right @edkeeble.bsky.social? Cheers!

Close-up of a brown and white wading bird with a long pink and black bill wading in muddy estuarine water. Its legs carry colour-rings applied by a ringing scheme.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

My parents' closest "custodian of the countryside" has for about a year left this plastic crap pile where there's usually just a good muckheap that attracts Green Sandpipers. I strode up to it incautiously, expecting nothing, and flushed a well-camoflagued Green Sand and a PieWag. #UKbirding

A 2.5m high pile of plastic wrap sits surrounded by large puddles and mud on hardstanding in the corner of an open farmer's field.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

I just walked out of my door, looked up, and there was a woodcock flying east over the terraces, presumably fresh out of Heaton Park. #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Arse-end of a Woodcock that couldn't decide if it wanted to land on the moving blue and white landmass (the DFDS ship). For ten minutes, it was high and low, flying around all sides. It decided against the empty 'Skybar' and flew two metres past me. #birds #UKbirds

A rich brown, blurred bird in flight facing away from the camera with a deep blue sea occupying the bottom third of the picture, with pinky-grey cloud in faint blue sky at the top.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Nervous-looking Water Rail currently on the steps into the water north of Cullercoats lighthouse station. Seems trapped between fear of anglers above and the waves. #NEbirding #UKbirds

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Reposted by LurkyMclurkface

Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 18/11/2025

NEW In the heart of the Eurasian steppe, a #BronzeAge metropolis has been unearthed, showing that the settlements of nomadic steppe societies were just as sophisticated as contemporary, more traditionally 'urban' civilisations. #AntiquityThread 1/14 🧵 🏺 #Archaeology

Drone photograph of the archaeological site of Semiyarka, looking from the south-east to the north-west, taken in July 2018. The outlines of several rectilinear buildings are visible running in a line across a flat grassland (credit: Peter J. Brown)

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Snab Point, Northumberland - is this a Sab's? Help! #NEbirding #UKbirding

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Reposted by LurkyMclurkface

Jules or Τζουλς 🕊️🍉 @katsikajules.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

Israeli settler & 3 soldiers taking turns beating & assaulting Ahmad Shakarneh 65 yrs old - he was harvesting olives with his family in the town of Nahalin near Bethlehem. The IDF is cooperating with the settlers in the West Bank to evict Palestinians from their homes, land & communities.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

I lucked into great views of the SMI Water Pipit today on a very brief visit. My Wabi-sabi bin-phone photos aren't worth sharing, but just wanted to say, in its current state, it really is a *gorgeous* bird. #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Yellow-brow in the Holy Island public car park hedge. Plenty of thrushes on the deck, but no Ouzel yet. #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Ivy is pretty much the place to be for hovers right now. Not a particularly diverse species list, but these plants near to a site I'm working at West Denton-ish had literally hundreds. #hoverflies Sprawk crossing the A69 a few times, probably based locally somewhere, I've seen it a bit. #NEbirding

A bulky black and yellow female hoverfly, _Myathropa florea_, sits on a ivy leaf.

A female _Epistrophe grossulariae_ with a yellow abdomen with straight black stripes, feeds while still buzzing its wings on an ivy flower.

A female _Syrphus torvus_, a black and yellow hoverfly with a gold thorax and hairy, red-brown eyes, sits on an ivy leaf

A female _Eupeodes luniger_, a black and yellow hoverfly, hangs upside down from an ivy flower.

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Reposted by LurkyMclurkface

Colin Conroy @colintheconroy.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

@teesbirds.bsky.social does anyone know if Northern Experience Wildlife Tours (that run pelagics out of North Shields) are still operating? Their website is showing trips with spaces available but the booking system doesn’t work and they are not answering emails or the phone

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Reposted by LurkyMclurkface

Prof Bill McGuire @profbillmcguire.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Smoke and mirrors drivel There is no such thing as sustainable aviation fuel We need a prohibative levy on the minority that flies for fun every other weekend No new airport expansion and a ban on private jets And train not plane for domestic travel www.theguardian.com/business/202...

theguardian.com

‘This is real progress’: airlines on sustainable aviation fuels and the chances of net zero flying

The EU and UK have imposed mandates, and investors see its value – but the industry has mixed views

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Hoopoe just flew round N half of Whitley Bay Crem! Current whereabouts unknown. #NEbirding

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Reposted by LurkyMclurkface

Paul Weddle @onemantess.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

I'd appreciate it if this could be re posted by as many people as possible to highlight this greedy firm. Apparently if your Husband is rushed to hospital and you get there urgently (following the ambulance) you still have to read the conditions on the sign & appeal failed. @england.nhs.uk use them

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Second shot is a good summary of the majority of times this bird showed itself. Not bad for a skulker mind. #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Hovers getting less frequent in the NE, with some rainy days like today featuring zero records. Nevertheless still some pretty ones around. Here's an Eristalis arbustorum ♂️ from Wednesday, Eupeodes latifasciatus ♀️ from last Saturday and a Syrphus ribesii ♀️ from last Tuesday. #hoverflies #syrphidae

A yellow and black hoverfly with large connected eyes and a pale face sits on a green leaves and a dried and fallen Annual Honesty seed pod.

A striking black and yellow band hoverfly with a yellow face and a black frons sits on the head of a dandelion

A yellow and black hoverfly with yellow legs and a shining gold-looking scutum attends a pink flower with a yellow centre

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

SMI seawatch and island-watch at 12:30 onwards featured 60+ Wigeon S, 4 Whimbrel heading S then in over the island and a Shag S. Most notable though was a large bat making its way NW over the causeway at c. 14:00. 🤔 #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

A small Grebe present in Druridge Bay, level with Chev. I'm a bit optically challenged, but it looks a bit too elegant and long to be 'just' a Little Grebe. Or am I underestimating both their elegance and seagoing tendencies? Answers pls #NEbirding

Shot of silhouettes of two birds floating on a grey sea surface in the middle distance, with a fishing boat in the background, albeit much larger.

The silhouette of an elegant bird floating on a grey sea is present in the centre of the shot.

The silhouettes of a smaller grebe and a larger auk are present on a grey sea surface offset from each other from the centre of the shot.

Photos shows the silhouette of a grebe floating on the grey sea in the centre of the shot, with a small flock of Scoter visible in the background.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Cavenham Heath NR this morning: 6+ Stone Curlew present in the heather and a young Cuckoo still wafting around. A massive Pompilid (spider-hunting wasp) with orange abdominal banding wouldn't allow me to photograph it properly, so I'll post this beautiful silver birch texture instead.

The hand of the photographer is touching the tree trick at the bottom left of this close up of mature silver birch bark, featuring heavily textured grey-brown bark with a few patches of silver-grey bark.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Suffolk insects: Volucella inanis (a #hoverfly); Sphaerophoria rueppelli (also hoverfly); the #butterfly (two photos) is I think a Purple hairstreak, although it wouldn't open its wings for me.

A large and stout yellow and black hoverfly sits at a pink bramble flower among unripe green brambles

Close up of dainty, tapering black, yellow and orange-brown hoverfly attending a white Mayweed flower with a yellow centre

A butterfly with its wings folded up attends a wild carrot flower, side on to the lens. Its wing undersides are grey-brown with two white streaks and two black spots. Its antennae are black-and-white striped with the tips orange-brown.

A butterfly with its wings folded up attends a wild carrot flower. It is face on to the camera, showing its dark eyes, grey frons and orange-brown antennae tips.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

BLOOD/INJURY WARNING, don't look too closely if you don't like [mild] animal suffering. Seal TSH78 looking a little worse for wear this evening at SMI. Looks like blood/flesh rather than a man-made item. I don't think it's food either, it appeared to be coming from a nostril.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

1-2pm, Castle Island had, among regular gulls, Lapwing and Redshank, 10+ Common Sandpiper, 1 Greenshank, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Dunlin. The Wansbeck from Castle Island to the mouth, a minimum count of 20 Little Egret. #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Some people really are as stupid as they come. #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

I bought this phone well before getting back into insects and really lucked out with the camera. Some NE hoverflies of late: - Cheilosia illustrata, m - Scaeva pyrastri, f - Eupeodes, probably corollae, f - Pyrophaena (or Platycheirus) rosarum f

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Reposted by LurkyMclurkface

Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

“The real conflict is not town v country, but money & power v people.” Profound piece by @georgemonbiot.bsky.social on the forthcoming eviction of an entire village by a faceless plutocrat, the enclosure of access, & @righttoroam.bsky.social’s next mass trespass: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

An entire village in Dorset is facing eviction – proof that private money holds all the power in rural England | George Monbiot

This scandalous story gives lie to the claim that the biggest threat to country life comes from city dwellers, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Insects of Druridge yesterday evening: a smart Morellia sp. male; Panorpa communis male; Common Blue #butterfly male; my first record of #hoverfly Sphegina sibirica, a female. On the ponds, 2 Green Sandpiper and 3 Wood Sandpiper, my first ever chance at direct comparison. #NEbirding

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

If anyone wants to watch a male Xylota jakutorum, a weird leaf-walker hoverfly, give itself a clean and hop about on its established bit of fence, THIS is your video. #hoverfly #diptera

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

My fairly crap shot of a beautiful ?2nd summer Med hanging out at the top of the bay at Whitley. #NEbirding

Two white gulls stand on a sandy beach. One, standing on dead centre of the photograph, is a Mediterranean Gull with a pure black head and a striking white eye ring, blood red bill and legs, the other is a Black-headed Gull with a more grey-brown head, darker grey mantle and black wingtip feathers.

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LurkyMclurkface @lurkymclurkface.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

A few hovers from the River Lark, near Bury St Edmunds yesterday. In order: - Xylota sp., possibly florum, male - Volucella inflata, male - Xanthogramma pedisequum, female - Xylota segnis, male

A lanky, thin, black hoverfly sits on a leaf.

An orange and black hoverfly with wing spots and a rotund abdomen feeds at a light pink bramble flower.

A smart-looking black and hoverfly with wing spots, yellow vertical stripes on the thorax and broken yellow horizontal stripes on the abdomen sits on a leaf with a spider on a curled brown leaf in the background.

A thin black hoverfly with thick rear femora, a broad yellow-orange band on the abdomen and a bronzy thorax sits on a leaf.

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