Dominic Collins
@dominiccollins.bsky.social
Voluntary bird and butterfly surveyor for BTO, Staffs WT, RSPB, BC (WCBS). Patch-watcher. Moth-er. Green Party, Hope not Hate & Liberty member. Re-awoken political animal. Reader and bibliophile. Poet manque. Cat lover. Endon, Staffordshire.
Pinned
My local patch walk. I do most of my birding, butterflying, mothing and Brown Hare-watching within these precious confines. One day - who knows - I may write 'The Natural History of Endon' in the form of an imaginary and one-sided correspondence with the Endonian Society.
A splendid night's mothin' here in Endon, VC39. Top billing goes to my first ever Figure of 8, found mid-evening and promptly potted. 32/17 in total inc. 2 Satellites, Brick, Barred Sallow (having a record-breaking year here), 3 Y-l Quakers (likewise), Feathered Thorn & 8 Juniper Carpets. #TeamMoth
October 28, 2025 at 2:40 PM
A splendid night's mothin' here in Endon, VC39. Top billing goes to my first ever Figure of 8, found mid-evening and promptly potted. 32/17 in total inc. 2 Satellites, Brick, Barred Sallow (having a record-breaking year here), 3 Y-l Quakers (likewise), Feathered Thorn & 8 Juniper Carpets. #TeamMoth
I think it was @claretaz.bsky.social who made my wonder why I wasn't trapping last night. Anyway, by that point (10-ish) I was too inert to do anything more than activate the actinic angle-poise lamp that shines out onto the back garden. Within an hour, this tiny effort earned me a Mottled Umber.
October 25, 2025 at 7:19 AM
I think it was @claretaz.bsky.social who made my wonder why I wasn't trapping last night. Anyway, by that point (10-ish) I was too inert to do anything more than activate the actinic angle-poise lamp that shines out onto the back garden. Within an hour, this tiny effort earned me a Mottled Umber.
Reposted by Dominic Collins
You may have seen quite a bit of news from Caerphilly today.
But how much have you seen about the Reform candidate’s relationship with Nathan Gill?? Anything? Nothing?
Watch & read @johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social on the trail of ‘Moscow Gold’
bsky.app/profile/then...
But how much have you seen about the Reform candidate’s relationship with Nathan Gill?? Anything? Nothing?
Watch & read @johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social on the trail of ‘Moscow Gold’
bsky.app/profile/then...
"It's democracy, but not as we know it"
Nerve Reform UK correspondent
@johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social
went to Caerphilly on byelection day. Where *was* candidate Llŷr Powell, ex-colleague of Russian puppet Nathan Gill? And what did Plaid Cymru's Lindsay Whittle say?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq83...
Nerve Reform UK correspondent
@johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social
went to Caerphilly on byelection day. Where *was* candidate Llŷr Powell, ex-colleague of Russian puppet Nathan Gill? And what did Plaid Cymru's Lindsay Whittle say?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq83...
Film made by John Lubbock & Daisy Steinhardt
YouTube video by Lyn Cat Irv
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
You may have seen quite a bit of news from Caerphilly today.
But how much have you seen about the Reform candidate’s relationship with Nathan Gill?? Anything? Nothing?
Watch & read @johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social on the trail of ‘Moscow Gold’
bsky.app/profile/then...
But how much have you seen about the Reform candidate’s relationship with Nathan Gill?? Anything? Nothing?
Watch & read @johnsweeneyroar.bsky.social on the trail of ‘Moscow Gold’
bsky.app/profile/then...
Out along the valley this afternoon. Gloomily quiet for the most part, but the winter marsh is water-logging nicely and I duly found my first Jack Snipes (2) of the season together with 13 Common. Elsewhere c120 Fieldfare and 50 Redwing were gathered in field boundary treetops. 🪶
October 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Out along the valley this afternoon. Gloomily quiet for the most part, but the winter marsh is water-logging nicely and I duly found my first Jack Snipes (2) of the season together with 13 Common. Elsewhere c120 Fieldfare and 50 Redwing were gathered in field boundary treetops. 🪶
Recently discovered on the driveway wall - a growth of Vapourer eggs. Would have loved to watch these being pumped out by the female, but wasn't even aware she was there. #TeamMoth
October 24, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Recently discovered on the driveway wall - a growth of Vapourer eggs. Would have loved to watch these being pumped out by the female, but wasn't even aware she was there. #TeamMoth
BBC News - Newborn giant otters add to world's largest romp in New Forest - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Newborn giant otters add to world's largest romp in New Forest
The three baby otters pass their health checks at New Forest Wildlife Park.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 12:03 AM
BBC News - Newborn giant otters add to world's largest romp in New Forest - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
My local patch walk. I do most of my birding, butterflying, mothing and Brown Hare-watching within these precious confines. One day - who knows - I may write 'The Natural History of Endon' in the form of an imaginary and one-sided correspondence with the Endonian Society.
October 23, 2025 at 8:54 AM
My local patch walk. I do most of my birding, butterflying, mothing and Brown Hare-watching within these precious confines. One day - who knows - I may write 'The Natural History of Endon' in the form of an imaginary and one-sided correspondence with the Endonian Society.
Reposted by Dominic Collins
He lost the 2020 election. He knew it. He lied about it. And now he’s demanding your money because knowingly lying didn’t make him President.
Trump: "It's awfully strange to make a decision where I'm paying myself. But I was damaged very greatly and any money I would get I would give to charity."
October 22, 2025 at 9:52 PM
He lost the 2020 election. He knew it. He lied about it. And now he’s demanding your money because knowingly lying didn’t make him President.
Reposted by Dominic Collins
Thank you to @mrjamesob.bsky.social for having me on, one of the v few people in the UK press to follow this story during what is now a decade of media apathy &/or complicity
‘The threat couldn’t be more urgent and imminent. Yet here we are, still putting our head in the sand.’
@carolecadwalla.bsky.social says it’s ‘peculiar’ that the case of Farage ally Nathan Gill admitting to making pro-Russia speeches for cash isn’t being followed more closely.
@carolecadwalla.bsky.social says it’s ‘peculiar’ that the case of Farage ally Nathan Gill admitting to making pro-Russia speeches for cash isn’t being followed more closely.
October 22, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Thank you to @mrjamesob.bsky.social for having me on, one of the v few people in the UK press to follow this story during what is now a decade of media apathy &/or complicity
Last night's moths. A Feathered Thorn appeared on the window at 7.45 p.m. At about 4 a.m. (awoken repeatedly by my own snoring / wife berating me for snoring. Decided to abandon the bed and join the moths) discovered a NFY Mottled Umber on the doorstep - later re-encountered on a wall. Plus: ...
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Last night's moths. A Feathered Thorn appeared on the window at 7.45 p.m. At about 4 a.m. (awoken repeatedly by my own snoring / wife berating me for snoring. Decided to abandon the bed and join the moths) discovered a NFY Mottled Umber on the doorstep - later re-encountered on a wall. Plus: ...
Reposted by Dominic Collins
NEW: Russian interference case heads to Europe's 'Supreme Court'
Ex-MPs with @the-citizens.bsky.social take landmark case to Grand Chamber.
Case claims UK govt in breach of law for refusing to investigate foreign interference.
1/
www.thenational.scot/news/2556145...
Ex-MPs with @the-citizens.bsky.social take landmark case to Grand Chamber.
Case claims UK govt in breach of law for refusing to investigate foreign interference.
1/
www.thenational.scot/news/2556145...
UK Russian interference case heads to 'Europe's Supreme Court'
THREE former MPs have lodged a case with “Europe’s Supreme Court”, accusing the UK Government of failing in its duty to protect elections from…
www.thenational.scot
October 22, 2025 at 12:31 PM
NEW: Russian interference case heads to Europe's 'Supreme Court'
Ex-MPs with @the-citizens.bsky.social take landmark case to Grand Chamber.
Case claims UK govt in breach of law for refusing to investigate foreign interference.
1/
www.thenational.scot/news/2556145...
Ex-MPs with @the-citizens.bsky.social take landmark case to Grand Chamber.
Case claims UK govt in breach of law for refusing to investigate foreign interference.
1/
www.thenational.scot/news/2556145...
Reposted by Dominic Collins
What do you do when your media org is captured? You start your own.
Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social
We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.
Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊
Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social
We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.
Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊
Former Observer big-hitters inc @carolecadwalla.bsky.social launch new title The Nerve with redundancy payouts
After Observer sale: "We decided to launch a title that the journalists themselves would own, that would be truly independent"
pressgazette.co.uk/news/former-...
After Observer sale: "We decided to launch a title that the journalists themselves would own, that would be truly independent"
pressgazette.co.uk/news/former-...
Former Observer big-hitters launch new title with redundancy payouts
Five former Observer journalists including Carole Cadwalladr have launched their own culture publication using their redundancy money.
pressgazette.co.uk
September 26, 2025 at 11:03 AM
What do you do when your media org is captured? You start your own.
Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social
We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.
Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊
Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social
We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.
Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊
Reposted by Dominic Collins
Trump's AI video, showing himself as a pilot dumping shit on Americans, fits right in to a long authoritarian tradition
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Why Trump Turned to the Sewer
The president’s disturbing, excremental propaganda campaign
www.theatlantic.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Trump's AI video, showing himself as a pilot dumping shit on Americans, fits right in to a long authoritarian tradition
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Dominic Collins
The area to watch tonight is just ahead and behind the cold front as it pushes east this evening and overnight, when the wind will drop briefly for an hour or two. It will remain fairly windy on the coast. Western and more inland spots perhaps more likely to see any migrant activity. #teammoth
October 19, 2025 at 11:19 AM
The area to watch tonight is just ahead and behind the cold front as it pushes east this evening and overnight, when the wind will drop briefly for an hour or two. It will remain fairly windy on the coast. Western and more inland spots perhaps more likely to see any migrant activity. #teammoth
This morning's moths. Nothing N, but I did manage my second Feathered Thorn of the year (the first turning up a month ago on 20th Sept). Also notched up my 37th Merv of the year thus far. Truly, I am blessed with Mervs. 6 Juniper Carpets was a seasonal high too. #TeamMoth
October 21, 2025 at 1:30 PM
This morning's moths. Nothing N, but I did manage my second Feathered Thorn of the year (the first turning up a month ago on 20th Sept). Also notched up my 37th Merv of the year thus far. Truly, I am blessed with Mervs. 6 Juniper Carpets was a seasonal high too. #TeamMoth
You may already have seen this, but it's a beautifully illustrated and animated look at the fortunes of three migratory species of bird: the Nightingale, Bewick's Swan and the storm-surfing Dersertas Petrol.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Bird migration is changing. What does this reveal about our planet? – visualised
Bird migrations rank as one of nature’s greatest spectacles. Thanks to GPS tracking, scientists are uncovering extraordinary insights into ancient and mysterious journeys – and new threats that are re...
www.theguardian.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:14 PM
You may already have seen this, but it's a beautifully illustrated and animated look at the fortunes of three migratory species of bird: the Nightingale, Bewick's Swan and the storm-surfing Dersertas Petrol.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
"Understand comes from Old English understandan, meaning "to stand among, stand in the midst of." ...
not analytical detachment but participatory presence—the embodied sense of positioning oneself within a context of meaning rather than observing it from outside."
www.ocrampal.com/your-words-k...
not analytical detachment but participatory presence—the embodied sense of positioning oneself within a context of meaning rather than observing it from outside."
www.ocrampal.com/your-words-k...
Your Words Know Something Your Mind Has Forgotten
Something extraordinary hides in plain sight beneath our modern academic landscape. Physics, mathematics, biology, psychology, philosophy—these impressive disciplines that organize our understanding o...
www.ocrampal.com
October 20, 2025 at 10:31 PM
"Understand comes from Old English understandan, meaning "to stand among, stand in the midst of." ...
not analytical detachment but participatory presence—the embodied sense of positioning oneself within a context of meaning rather than observing it from outside."
www.ocrampal.com/your-words-k...
not analytical detachment but participatory presence—the embodied sense of positioning oneself within a context of meaning rather than observing it from outside."
www.ocrampal.com/your-words-k...
Arrived late at this party - apparently they won a well-deserved Mercury Prize last year for their debut album 'This Could Be Texas'. And what an album it is, infused with a fully-formed and distinctive sensibility* that really speaks to me youtu.be/U--4X8cNluc?...
Nearly Daffodils
YouTube video by English Teacher - Topic
youtu.be
October 20, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Arrived late at this party - apparently they won a well-deserved Mercury Prize last year for their debut album 'This Could Be Texas'. And what an album it is, infused with a fully-formed and distinctive sensibility* that really speaks to me youtu.be/U--4X8cNluc?...
As the tech-bro oligarchy continue to push out dystopian junk products in an attempt to keep afloat the gigantic combustible bubble of hype and over- investment in A'I' (thanks Open AI for your diabolical Sora, AKA 'Sauron') this sounds as good a solution as any.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Tech bros need the world to believe their hype. Here’s an idea – let’s just ignore them | Pip Finkemeyer
Social media didn’t live up to its promises. So why do we think artificial intelligence will be any better?
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:23 PM
As the tech-bro oligarchy continue to push out dystopian junk products in an attempt to keep afloat the gigantic combustible bubble of hype and over- investment in A'I' (thanks Open AI for your diabolical Sora, AKA 'Sauron') this sounds as good a solution as any.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Ah FFS. Well, as one commentator recently observed - "The courts aren't going to save us."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...
Trump can deploy national guard troops to Portland, Oregon, federal appeals court rules – live
Justices on ninth circuit court of appeals overrules lower court decision that blocked deployment
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Ah FFS. Well, as one commentator recently observed - "The courts aren't going to save us."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...
Am afflicted with mothing ennui lately, seeming only able to attract varying numbers of the same species (8 Mervs was a record). Had a tantrum yesterday and vowed not to moth again this year. But I'm out again tonight, like a sucker, like a schmuck, like a lamb to the slaughter. #TeamMoth
October 20, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Am afflicted with mothing ennui lately, seeming only able to attract varying numbers of the same species (8 Mervs was a record). Had a tantrum yesterday and vowed not to moth again this year. But I'm out again tonight, like a sucker, like a schmuck, like a lamb to the slaughter. #TeamMoth
Quite dismally quiet on the patch this morning but managed to eke out a female Pintail at the Ashes Pool with 2 Little Grebes, a Cormorant (uncommon here) and 3 Snipe. Elsewhere: 4 Snipe, 4 Fieldfare and 12 Redwing. The juve. Peregrine absent from the Peregrine Pylon this morning. Pictured anyway. 🪶
October 20, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Quite dismally quiet on the patch this morning but managed to eke out a female Pintail at the Ashes Pool with 2 Little Grebes, a Cormorant (uncommon here) and 3 Snipe. Elsewhere: 4 Snipe, 4 Fieldfare and 12 Redwing. The juve. Peregrine absent from the Peregrine Pylon this morning. Pictured anyway. 🪶
I can concur with this having recently having had a disappointing experience with a Club.
BBC News - Penguin and Club bars can no longer be described as chocolate - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Penguin and Club bars can no longer be described as chocolate - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Penguin and Club bars can no longer be described as chocolate
The rising cost of cocoa has led to the manufacturers changing their recipe.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 20, 2025 at 7:22 PM
I can concur with this having recently having had a disappointing experience with a Club.
BBC News - Penguin and Club bars can no longer be described as chocolate - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Penguin and Club bars can no longer be described as chocolate - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...