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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · 4d

Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish? www.theguardian.com/technology/2... "... when merchants raise their prices on Amazon, they are required to raise their prices everywhere else, even on their own direct-sales stores.."

Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and ...

www.theguardian.com

Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · 5d

bsky.app/profile/thea... @campaignstrat.bsky.social might be of interest

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 5d

Jane Austen. Spike Lee. MrBeast. “Modern Family.” The Atlantic’s new AI Watchdog search tool lets you see which creative works tech companies may have used to train their generative-AI models: https://theatln.tc/vQSlfiyC

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · 6d

Not sure she'll last long enough to fight an election?

Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · 8d

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... "...Last year it made DNA tests for dogs compulsory so that any abandoned excrement could be tested, and its owner then tracked down and fined..."

Why I have had it with entitled dog owners | Arwa Mahdawi

You know the types – they let their hound jump all over you and don’t clear up after them. Bring on their poo-nishment, writes Arwa Mahdawi

www.theguardian.com

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · 12d

Late morning walk RSPB Titchwell Marsh down to Thornham Point where for two minutes this Black Redstart popped out of the Sea Buckthorn. @rspbengland.bsky.social

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Reposted by Steve Rowland

RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · 13d

The tree you climbed as a child. Gone. The Swifts over your town. Gone. The air you breathe. Polluted. The river. Unsafe.

This is the reality of deregulation.

Cutting protections would mean disaster for nature & our economy.

Our CEO sets out why: rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 👈

A small flock of Swifts sweep across a clear blue sky, their slim bodies and crescent wings cutting sharply above the roof of a house. A beloved summer sight - and one at risk of disappearing if protections for nature are lost.

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · 13d

With the wind in the East, I took the day off work and had a q6km stomp through the coastal dunes and woods at Holkham with Dave Tipling. Didn't see a huge amount, but find a southbound pair of Ring Ousels was a small reward for our efforts. And now for a curry.

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · 18d

Autumn sunshine filtering through the trees at #KenHillWoods this afternoon.

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · 20d

19km walk at #Holkham Norfolk today under a blue sky and a warm September sun. Saw some great birds, including skeins of newly arrived Pink Footed Geese, 4 Hobby's hawking for Dragonflies, and 3 Whinchats. But perhaps the highlight of the day was half a dozen Clouded Yellow butterflies.

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · 27d

#Ospreys occupy a special place in my life. I started volunteering for the @rspb.bsky.social / @rspbscotland.bsky.social back in the 1980s when their recolonisation of the UK was starting to pick up steam. Decades later it was a joy to see one this morning at #RSPBTitchwellMarsh on the Norfolk coast

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Sep 8

Glossy Ibis flying over #WallaseaIsland today against a backdrop of Southend on Sea. A climate refugee on a reserve built to help the coast adapt to a changing climate. Apt as today, 10 years after breaching the seawall, I met up with members of the project team that created this amazing landscape.

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Aug 31

Had a couple of hours to play with this afternoon grabbed the chance to go & look at a couple of good local birds. First stop near Ringstead for a distant & hunkered down Dotterel & then down to Thornham for this Red Backed Shrike. Any day with a #Shrike in it is a good one in my book! #Norfolk

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Aug 31

www.theatlantic.com/science/arch... "...ecologists have come to value wetlands not only as wildlife habitats but also as carbon sinks, defenses against rising seas, and filters for harmful pollutants..."

The Meadowlands Ideal

The protections that made its balance possible are disappearing.

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by Steve Rowland

Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · Aug 22

New meta-analysis underlines that Grey Squirrels are really a very minor nest predator in UK, despite once considered probably very important in woodland bird declines. Good example of evidence overturning dogma, allowing focus on real issues. #ornithology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Meta‐analysis of predator identity in nest‐camera studies in the British Islands

Nest predation is the primary cause of nest failure across many bird species. Interventions to support declining or threatened species frequently involve measures to reduce nest predation, through le...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Aug 17

How can England possibly be running out of water? "...The Environment Agency (EA) assess that 15% of surface water bodies and 27% of groundwater bodies in England have unsustainable levels of abstraction..." www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

How can England possibly be running out of water?

While famously rainswept, climate crisis, population growth and profligacy mean the once unthinkable could be possible

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Steve Rowland

Mark Eaton @markaeaton.bsky.social · Aug 8

Long-stay car park, Edinburgh Airport today. I pity the traveller who’s going to return to find that a Crow’s wedged a rabbit’s head into their windscreen wipers in order to pick the brains out 😂 #birds

A Crow eating the contents of a rabbit’s head that it has wedged into windscreen wipers

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Reposted by Steve Rowland

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Aug 3

Some scientists believe that there is an approximately 12-per-cent chance of a severe solar storm striking the Earth in the next decade—which could devastate our power grid and communication systems. Are we prepared?

What a Major Solar Storm Could Do to Our Planet

Disturbances on the sun may have the potential to devastate our power grid and communication systems. When the next big storm arrives, will we be prepared for it?

www.newyorker.com

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Aug 3

Popped into Little Snoring churchyard yesterday evening. Wonderful long golden grass framing the old church, which had House Martin's nesting under the eaves. And on the gravestones were Wall Brown butterflies sunning themselves. A species that has undergone huge declines finding a home here.

Wall Brown butterfly on lichen covered headstone

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Jul 27

Not seen this before a #Stonechat with a young Common Lizard in it's beak. The Stonechat's fledged young were nearby begging so I guess one of them was in for a treat. # DersinghamBog @naturalengland.bsky.social

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Reposted by Steve Rowland

Anthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · Jul 26

Road deaths are a policy choice.

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · Jul 26

Helsinki (pop 657,000) has not had a single traffic death during the last twelve months.

poliisi.fi/-/helsingin-...

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Jul 11

You still in the bar?

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Jun 23

www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.... "...So while we're typically taught about how trees breathe in carbon and store that in the wood, here salt marshes are doing that as mud. So the mud here is just as important for climate mitigation as trees are."

UK's muddy saltmarshes vital to tackle climate change - report - BBC News

The UK's saltmarshes lock away climate-warming greenhouse gases in layers of mud, a new report from WWF says.

www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Jun 21

The seagulls have landed: why gulls are encroaching on our towns "Rather than merely ousting the birds from their facades, for instance, building owners are now encouraged to build bespoke nesting ledges for them on more discreet walls away from public footpaths" www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The seagulls have landed: why gulls are encroaching on our towns

Avian invaders have coastal communities in Britain and beyond in a flap – but people are learning how to live with them

www.theguardian.com

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Jun 6

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... "...Hill says. “The Ukrainians are fighting with drones. Even though they have no navy, they sank a third of the Russian Black Sea fleet..."

Russia is at war with Britain and US is no longer a reliable ally, UK adviser says

Government defence expert Fiona Hill warns UK to respond to threats by becoming more cohesive and resilient

www.theguardian.com

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Steve Rowland @bull-of-the-bog.bsky.social · Jun 5

t.co/pYASZ6ENOA "In 2019, researchers found that almost a third of US birds – about 3 billion – had disappeared from the skies since the 1970s. The losses, however, were not evenly distributed: those birds that ate insects as their main food had declined by 2.9 billion..."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/03/climate-species-collapse-ecology-insects-nature-reserves-aoe?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

t.co

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