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neildbarker.bsky.social
Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
@neildbarker.bsky.social
110 followers 76 following 420 posts
Sijo poetry inspired by Nature.
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neildbarker.bsky.social
Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛ @neildbarker.bsky.social · Oct 24
Mount Tae may be high, it is but a mountain under the sky.
If you climb and not give up, there is no way you can't succeed.
Yet people stay at the base saying the mountain is too high.

태산이 높다하되 하늘아래 뫼이로다
오르고 또 오르면 못오를리 없건만은
사람이 제 아니 오르고 뫼만 높다 하더라

Yang Sa Eon/양사언 (1517-1584)

#poem #sijo #korean
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
alan678.bsky.social
Christmas can be a beautiful season, but it can also feel painfully loud when your heart is quiet, tired, or hurting.

If you are alone this Christmas, or struggling in ways others may not see, please know this: you are not failing the season. You are surviving it. And that matters.

#EastCoastKin
Wide winter landscape at dawn or dusk showing a frost-covered open field in the foreground, tinted pale blue with ice crystals. A line of bare deciduous trees and darker evergreen trees borders the field in the midground. The sky is dramatically divided: warm golden and amber light glows near the horizon on the left, fading into cooler blue tones on the right, with layered clouds sweeping across the sky. The scene feels quiet, cold, and peaceful, with no people or animals present.
December 24, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
klausbusse.de
@alan678.bsky.social set the #BirdOfTheDay theme today to #contrast and the alt theme to #faceoff

This razorbill picture is one of my favorites and ticks both boxes.

Happy Holidays!
Razorbill (Alca torda) looking straight to the viewer, in the background the blurred cliff. Skomer Island, Wales, UK
December 24, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
pintailpictures.bsky.social
Another of my Northern Hawk-owl shots for @alan678.bsky.social’s #BirdOfTheDay alternative theme #faceoff
#birds #photography #nature #wildlife #Finland
A close in image of a Northern Hawk-owl flying directly towards the camera over snow covered ground. The bird’s eyes fixed directly ahead.
December 24, 2025 at 7:44 AM
neildbarker.bsky.social
The #BirdOfTheDay theme today from @alan678.bsky.social is #contrast birds that stand out against their background. I am sharing this #GreatEgret. #birds #photography #Ottawa #Canada #EastCoastKin
December 24, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
pleides.bsky.social
winter's monster
dares you to go outside
on cold mornings

#thingstowriteabout (monster)
#haiku

🥶❄️
December 23, 2025 at 3:42 PM
neildbarker.bsky.social
From @robcrank68.bsky.social - today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #SideProfiles any 'Birds Side Profile'. I am sharing a #PileatedWoodpecker I saw last Winter here in #Ottawa. #birds #photography #Canada
December 23, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
robcrank68.bsky.social
Good morning

#BirdOfTheDay is all #AboutTheKids any bird chicks or juveniles, and the Alternative is #Gulls.

I've gone with Coots, Goslings, Black-headed Gull & Blue Tit youngsters.

My Replies/Reposts be come later

#birds #photography #EastCoastKin #naturephotography @rspb.bsky.social #ukbirding
December 21, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
robcrank68.bsky.social
Here's a beautiful set of #Borbs for #NationalRobinDay & #HolidayRobin, they are from various venues in 2024.

#Robins #photography #EastCoastKin #naturephotography #birds #birdphotography #ukbirding #wildlifephotography #BirdLife @rspb.bsky.social #PhotographyIsArt
December 21, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
alan678.bsky.social
Good morning, the dog, in his wisdom has decided that 4am is the new 6am. 🙄 Saw these guys yesterday on our walk. Curlews. One is obviously an extrovert and the other is an introvert. Which are you? Obviously I’m an introvert. 😁 #Stunday #photography #birds #EastCoastKin
Two large wading Curlews forage in shallow water beside a muddy, grassy bank. In the foreground, one bird is partially submerged with its head underwater, body angled downward as it probes for food, showing richly patterned brown, cream, and black plumage along its back and flanks. Behind it, a second bird stands on long grey legs at the water’s edge with one wing lifted and partly spread, revealing pale underwing feathers with dark barring. The standing bird has a long, slender, slightly downcurved bill and finely mottled brown-and-cream markings across its head, neck, and body. Sunlight highlights the feather patterns and creates soft reflections on the rippling water, with green grass forming a natural backdrop.
December 21, 2025 at 5:01 AM
neildbarker.bsky.social
From @alan678.bsky.social the #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #Quietmoments peaceful captures of birds. I am sharing this #EasternScreechOwl I saw dozing peacefully in their tree. #birds #owls #Ottawa #Canada #photography #EastCoastKin
December 20, 2025 at 7:28 AM
neildbarker.bsky.social
Return of a Legend
Returning to places your forebearers have been in the past.
A new experience connected to the past in some way.
A Way that is unnamed and unexplained, yet so familiar.

#poem #poetry #sijo #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #blueskypoetry #nature #birds #carolinawren
December 19, 2025 at 10:00 AM
neildbarker.bsky.social
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme from @robcrank68.bsky.social is #LongLegsAndNeck any birds with both items listed.

I am sharing a #GreatBlueHeron from this past Summer I saw here in #Ottawa. #birds #herons #photography #EastCoastKin
December 19, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
pleides.bsky.social
red oak branches spiral --
perfect ladder for climbing
but I haven't ...yet

#thingstowriteabout (ladder)
#haiku #senryu
December 18, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
alan678.bsky.social
I don’t know who sets these #BirdOfTheDay themes but they are geniuses and I’m told very handsome. 🤥😂 #QuietObservers #birds #photography #EastCoastKin
A white little egret stands motionless in shallow, dark blue water, its slender neck and black bill lit by warm sunlight. The bird’s reflection is clearly mirrored on the calm surface, with soft, blurred reeds in the foreground adding depth to the scene.
December 18, 2025 at 8:39 AM
neildbarker.bsky.social
The #BirdOfTheDay theme today from @alan678.bsky.social is #QuietObservers single birds observing their surroundings. I am sharing this female #SnowyOwl I saw December 2024. She was perched up high watching the world around her #birds #owls #photography #EastCoastKin #Ottawa #Canada
December 18, 2025 at 8:34 AM
neildbarker.bsky.social
Foggy Apparitions
A time of changing seasons, transitioning from cold to warmth.
Apparitions move about, having travelled from lands afar.
All settling into the approaching season with questions.

#poem #poetry #sijo #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #blueskypoetry #Canadagoose #ringbilledgull
December 18, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
robcrank68.bsky.social
Time for the wading birds to hit the highlights on #WaderWednesday, so i've chosen a Great Egret, Jack Snipe, Water Rail & Glossy Ibis from Summer Leys Nature Reserve.

#birds #photography #EastCoastKin #naturephotography #ukbirding #birdphotography @wildlifebcn.org @rspb.bsky.social #BirdLife
December 17, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
robcrank68.bsky.social
It's time for #WrensDay where the little lads & lasses pop into the light, so they can gather enough food for 'Brunch'.
In the line up we have Willie & Wendy Wren from RSPB Old Moor in November.

#birds #photography #EastCoastKin #naturephotography #ukbirding #birdphotography @rspb.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 11:39 AM
neildbarker.bsky.social
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme from @robcrank68.bsky.social is #Groups, groups of 4 or more birds (can be different species).

I've gone with a motley group of #AmericanCrows, a #CommonRaven and a #BaldEagle sharing a meal on the #Ottawa River here in #Canada. #birds #photography #EastCoastKin
December 17, 2025 at 10:25 AM
neildbarker.bsky.social
On the Ice at Sunrise
The sunrise reveals a change in season, shrinking winter ice.
On the ice, a meeting awaits a decision from Nature.
Conflict or connection - or a choice that transcends all around?

#poetry #sijo #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #blueskypoetry #nature #birds #canadagoose
December 17, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
figureoutthesea.ca
#BirdOfTheDay: I don't usually shoot groups so let's go with closeups of some extremely floofed out #Pigeons I shot recently

-- Burnaby Lake Regional Park, December 2025

#photography #birds
Closeup of a somewhat backlit pigeon, extremely floofed out. Its plumage is typical, with a bit of green and violet iridescence around the neck. Closeup of the head and upper chest of a very floofed out pigeon. Its head is mottled grey and white, and there are a few bits of green iridescence around the back of the neck Closeup of a plain grey pigeon, extremely floofed out. So much that it seems its beak is resting on its chest
December 17, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
alan678.bsky.social
Good morning. @robcrank68.bsky.social has announced today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Groups, groups of 4 or more birds.
The Alt is #Pigeons I’m going with Red Knots in non breeding plumage, most on one leg, less heat loss means the bird uses less energy to stay warm. #birds #photo #EastCoastKin
A group of small Red Knot shorebirds standing close together on wet sand at the edge of Lough Foyle, many resting on one leg, with their reflections visible in the shallow water.
December 17, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
robcrank68.bsky.social
Good morning friends

It's time for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme which is #Groups, groups of 4 or more birds (can be different species).
The Alternative theme is #Pigeons

I've gone with Cormorants, Starlings, Lapwings with Gulls & Pigeon from various venues.

#birds #photography #EastCoastKin
December 17, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by Neil Barker 🐦‍⬛
mad7500.bsky.social
From earlier this year. The beautiful #Birds at #SuffolkOwls With their highly acclaimed 😉 version of:
🎶 🎤 Mr Neil Diamond 🎤🎶📷🌱
🎶💃🏻🦉’Sweet Caroline’ 🪶🕺🏻🎶..
#Owls #Smile #Photography #Nature #ECK
December 16, 2025 at 9:58 PM
neildbarker.bsky.social
Nature’s an Artist
A cool bright morning, Nature’s canvas of beauty and living.
A flock of winged creatures, carefully picks at the offerings.
A single question: what Artist has created all of this?

#poetry #sijo #skypoets #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #blueskypoetry #nature #birds #cedarwaxwing
December 16, 2025 at 10:21 AM