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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 21h

Watching the antics of the mute swans, I noticed a lovely female wheatear (barely discernible in video) catching insects amongst the vegetation. The marina's 2nd of autumn, briefly joined by a grey wagtail.
Once again, the council not spraying here ATM has paid off for the wildlife.
#UKbirding

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 1d

Peregrine, ravens, kestrel, curlews, little egrets, LTTs, lots of mipits and singing robins the highlights during a brief visit to Hale Marsh at high tide.
#UKbirding

A very grey sky and river with a yacht going past the Runcorn Bridge.

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 2d

Wow!
It's cloudy here now, but there was a nice reflection on the water at Liverpool Marina earlier. No moondogs, though.

(📸 - through glass)

The full moon shining in a dark sky and reflected in the dark water of a marina, with boardwalks and boats surrounding it.

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 4d

Liverpool Marina mute swans enjoying a brisk bathe. The two cygnets have been practising their wing flapping 🤍🤍
#UKbirding

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 6d

I love a challenge, so I had a look and found it for sale here, if that's any help:
www.whatsinastory.co.uk/shop

Shop | What's in a story?

www.whatsinastory.co.uk

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Reposted

UK Wild Otter Trust 🦦 @ukwildottertrust.bsky.social · 7d

This morning, our Founder and CEO Dave Webb is sharing some difficult news.

“On September 18th, we were given four months’ notice to leave our home and six months' notice to dismantle and move all otter centre materials, animals, and associated equipment.

Save Our Charity: Statement from CEO Dave Webb - UK Wild Otter Trust

“I’m sharing difficult news on behalf of the UK Wild Otter Trust – news that has left me and our volunteers devastated. As some supporters know, my wife and I […]

ukwildottertrust.org

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 13d

The kingfisher is having a good morning at Liverpool Marina.
Pity the video doesn't do him justice!
#UKbirding

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 13d

Great to have my expert guide by my side 🤗

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 13d

Had a great morning at Speke & Garston Coastal Reserve with @birderjack.bsky.social 🌞
Walked 3 miles for 1st time since accident in May (am exhausted now!)
Birding highlights: kestrel, buzzards, sparrowhawk, stonechats, mipits, chiffchaff, swallows, ringed plover, golden plover, etc.
#UKbirding

Blue sky and fluffy white clouds above the Mersey Estuary, with an inlet cutting through grasslands.

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 14d

Gave an informal talk on autumn bird migration to the UK to the Stroke and Brain Injury Group at Growing Sudley last week, and was given these lovely home-grown dahlias in return 💐

A sheet containing 6 photos of birds that migrate to the UK in the autumn.

Various dahlias in a vase on a tiled surface.

A woven raised Hugel bed full of plants, with trees behind.

A woven raised Hugel bed containing plants, with trees behind.

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Reposted

Julian Hughes @penrhynbirder.bsky.social · 15d

Interesting read about timing and distance of migration by Common Scoters.

Also confirms important role of Irish Sea/Liverpool Bay for Icelandic breeding population as well as those from eastern Europe that are vismigged across northern England each spring and autumn.

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 15d

Me: "Ah, how peaceful it is here."
Canada geese: "We'll see about that."

Also, Cetti's, 2 ravens, 6 buzzards, kestrel, little egrets, dunlin and redshank flocks, etc., and my first pinkies of the autumn.
Down Within Way.
#UKbirding

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 19d

My dad, too - plus the whistling!

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 19d

Thanks 😊
I look every day from the beginning of September, as one usually turns up for the winter, and today was the day 🩵

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 19d

Kingfisher (and mallard) at Liverpool Marina this morning 😊
#UKbirding

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 22d

Decided on a whim to walk up to Fairy Glen rather than round Sefton Park lake, and was lucky enough to see the kingfisher 🩵
(Obviously not in the photo, but there is a grey heron lurking in an unusual place!)
Lots of swallows and house martins hunting over the fields, too.
#UKbirding

Trees and shrubs under a pale sky. A grey heron lurks somewhere in the scene.

Russet autumn leaves on a green field, with trees around it. Swallows and house martins hunt overhead, out of shot.

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 25d

Thanks for the clarification 👍

wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 25d

Not a great photo, but when I saw the bird I was convinced it was a feral pigeon-woodpigeon hybrid based on the the head, beak and bulk. A quick Google suggests such interbreeding doesn't occur, though.
Any thoughts @willjsmith.bsky.social
#UKbirding

A bird that looks like a cross between a feral pigeon and a woodpigeon; it has a large, reddish body, white wing tips and tail, and a woodpigeon's face and beak.

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 26d

Spent a lovely few hours on the #allotment, mainly sitting and taking it all in. Singing chiffchaff, sparrowhawk chased by a crow, screeching jay, GSW, blue and great tits, blackbird, robin; still lots of pollinators enjoying the field scabious; butterflies and dragonfly 💚

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Reposted

Emma Cameron @ecameron.bsky.social · 29d

Butterflies need our help.
If you’re in the UK please sign and share.
🦋
@savebutterflies.bsky.social
#pesticides
butterflyemergency.good.do/rescue-missi...

Join me in supporting the Remove Pesticides from UK Shelves Campaign

Join the Butterfly Rescue Mission Sign our open letter to UK retailers, asking them to remove synthetic pesticides from sale, for a wilder, butterfly-filled future for generations to come. The UK ...

butterflyemergency.good.do

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · 28d

Sounds fascinating 👌

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Reposted

Big Green Books (Simon) @biggreenbooks.bsky.social · 28d

I have another #buyastrangerabook day offer to tell you about.

@61jab.bsky.social is offering to buy a book for a child, up to £10!

So if there's something you have in mind (anything at all, not just what's on my website), get in touch!

UK only

Big Green Books (Simon) @biggreenbooks.bsky.social · 29d

IT'S WEDNESDAY!

It's #buyastrangerabook day.

The grooviest of all the days.

I'll give out TWO books.

FOR FREE.

If you'd like one, let me know.

Also, if you'd like to #BuyAStrangerABook too, let me know.

It's a thing! Look.

www.biggreenbookshop.com/stuff-you-mi...

UK only

Buy A Stranger A Book. #buyastrangerabook - Stuff you might like... - Big Green Bookshop. @biggreenbooks on Twitter. Cheese fan. My Mum says hi.

The Big Green Bookshop an independent online bookshop in selling awesome titles by awesome authors to awesome people

www.biggreenbookshop.com

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · Sep 8

Limped down Within Way to the dogleg and back this morning, and was lucky enough to see a male marsh harrier 🌞
Other highlights: kestrel, buzzard, raven, grey partridge family, swallows and house martins.

Blue sky and fluffy white clouds, a distant estuary, and a grassy field.

Blue sky and fluffy white clouds, trees, gravestones.

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · Sep 7

@davidho.bsky.social
You might like this article, too: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Drugs, smuggling and abductions: inside the fast and furious world of pigeon racing in Taiwan

Low regulation and high stakes mean Taiwanese pigeon racing is awash with cheating – but efforts are afoot to clean up the sport

www.theguardian.com

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wordsanddeeds.bsky.social @wordsanddeeds.bsky.social · Sep 1

A bittersweet image: I walked past this field weekly before my accident and it was fairly barren; drove past it yesterday morning for the 1st time in 4 months and it was full of 🌻🌻
How lovely - but even lovelier to have watched in anticipation as they grew.
Still, at least I was outside, right?!

A field of sunflowers with a line of trees behind, under a cloudy blue sky.

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