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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 5h

Blackbird I think, its beak is the wrong colour to be a Blue Rock Thrush...

Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 19h

Yes indeed. Not sure I told you we have a house in Trujillo, so we have spent countless days in Monfragüe. I've got a few good photos of the vultures over the years, but these days, I get more excited by Black Stork and Blue Rock Thrush there...

A large mostly brown bird with lighter upper chest, neck and head. It's sitting on a rock looking to the right. The background is dark.

A small dark blue bird sitting on a light coloured rack covered with lichen on the left hand side. The background is a diffuse lightish colour.

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 19h

Nope.

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 1d

Ah, you’ll have seen a few Griffon Vultures then. 🤣

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 1d

A bit far south for you isn’t it Chris?

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 3d

Just up the road on the junction of Gipsy Lane and Old Road / Warneford Lane is always blocked like your top photo. Drives me nuts!

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 5d

Great work, and curious how past use of the land disappears so quickly...

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 9d

A classic case of familiarity breeds contempt?

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Reposted by Tony Gillie

Joelle Grogan @joellegrogan.bsky.social · 9d

Looking for a really simple explainer?

The #ECHR and #HRA on post-it notes.

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 14d

Nice photos, but the thing that strikes me is the difference in the light!

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 15d

Wow! What an amazing photo!

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 15d

Hopefully no mega cruise ships arrived!

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 16d

Well to be fair Cathy, I’m sure that font would look lovely in the corner of your dining room!

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · 18d

I once accidentally scythed into one. Definitely not recommended!

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · Sep 3

… but presumably without a single telephone…

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · Sep 3

And FOUR telephone boxes!

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · Aug 15

Delighted to spot this pristine Brown Hairstreak butterfly this morning in the Lye Valley, Oxford, the first adult I've ever seen there!
#Recorded #UKWildlife #WildlifePhotos #inverts #OX3
@friendlyevalley.bsky.social @tverc1.bsky.social @upperthames.bsky.social

A pale brown butterfly with white "streaks" through both its upper and hind wings. The edge of the hind wing is tinged orange and it has a small "tail" sticking out near the bottom. It's perched on a piece of dried brown grass, facing to the right of the photo. Its black eye is visible, as are its orange tipped black and white striped antennae. Its legs are also striped. The background is a messy mix of mostly green blades of grass.

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Reposted by Tony Gillie

Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley.bsky.social · Aug 15

Our Grass-of-Parnassus is now carpeting large areas of the west side of the Valley. Henry Taunt (1842–1922), an Oxford based photographer once described them as “like twinkling stars in the shadowy grass”. Seeing them now it's easy to understand what he meant!
#WildFlowerHour @judywebb.bsky.social

A photo of an area of fen with a mixture of green and brown shortish vegetation. Growing through this vegetation on thin stems are dozens of small white flowers.

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Reposted by Tony Gillie

Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley.bsky.social · Aug 14

We've got baby lizards! Likely lots of them! 😍
We spotted three juvenile Common Lizards (Zootoca vivipara) and one adult yesterday in a location in the Valley we've never seen them before. They seem to be doing well in the warm weather...
@arc-trust.bsky.social #reptiles #UKWildlife

Just above centre and slightly to the right the head of a lizard. It's facing right, with one eye visible. Its right front leg and foot are also visible. It's leaning on a light coloured piece of wood, and its body and tail are partially hidden by other pieces of wood. Although a little darker than most of the surrounding wood that makes up the rest of the photo, it's very low contrast, making it rather hard to see.

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · Aug 14

Really worrying. We've been following the local media, and will see for ourselves within a couple of weeks when we come back. I suspect the situation is aggravated by the steady abandonment of land and the consequent reduction in grazing. Doesn't bode well.

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Reposted by Tony Gillie

Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley.bsky.social · Aug 13

Rock Edge in Headington is one of the few areas of grassland chosen by @oxfordcitycouncil.bsky.social to benefit from their new "cut & collect" mowing regime. Over time this will reduce the nutrients in the soil, allowing more wild flowers to flourish here. Thanks to ODS for cutting this morning. 🌰🌍

Roughly centre is a large blue tractor with black and white wheels, with a large green hopper behind it. To the left a pile of cut grass. In the foreground mostly yellowing cut grassland, and in the background trees still in green leaf.

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Reposted by Tony Gillie

Davenant 📸 @marcdavenant.bsky.social · Aug 8

Alice Clark, a doctor and volunteer for the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, waits to be arrested as a terrorist for holding up a sign opposing the genocide in Gaza and the proscription of Palestine Action.
It is strange with how little note a country may drift into authoritarianism.

A person with their eyes closed waits to be arrested

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Reposted by Tony Gillie

Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley.bsky.social · Aug 10

#PollinatorPals
With its false nectaries, Grass-of-Parnassus flowers must look very inviting to pollinators. However, the plant cheats, and offers very little in the way of nectar to the insects that pollinate it. Here a hoverfly is trying its luck...
#insects #OxfordshireFens
@judywebb.bsky.social

In roughly the centre of the photo a small white flower with its petals curved inward has a stripy yellow and black hoverfly in it. The large eyes of the hoverfly are facing the camera. It's surrounded by thin green stems with dark markings on them. At the extreme left of the photo is a Grass-of-Parnassus still in tight bud.

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Tony Gillie @drtonygillie.bsky.social · Aug 9

I remember it well, though I think I prefer your photo!

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Reposted by Tony Gillie

Friends of Lye Valley @friendlyevalley.bsky.social · Aug 8

The "scrapes" we created and sowed with native plants in the amenity grassland at Rock Edge are proving popular with the last of the summer's butterflies. Here a Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) is nectaring on the copious Marjoram still in flower.
#UKButterflies @upperthames.bsky.social #Oxford

In roughly the centre of the photo a small blue butterfly is sitting on a purple flower with its wings closed. It's facing to the left of the photo, and its striped antenna and left eye is visible. The underwing has a number of small mostly black dots, while the hindwing has a row of orange heart shapes markings. Front left is another Marjoram flower, not fully in focus, while the background is a mix of diffuse greens and purples from other flowers.

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