Author | Lightnews

Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 11h

This male kingfisher brightened up an otherwise dull and overcast day on the saltmarsh last week at a regular wintering spot.
#birds

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Danica Priest @danicapriest.bsky.social · 13h

It’s hard to enjoy life when there is so much at stake for our wildlife 😫

Developers will soon legally destroy endangered species. Stop it before it becomes law. Email your MP today using this link action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/180301/...

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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 23h

Your regular reminder that by throwing away nature, we throw away *everything*.

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Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 17h

Colours of the bog part 4:
Vibrant red and gold of alpine bearberry leaves and pale green tufts of fir clubmoss
#bogs
#bogplants

Red and gold alpine bearberry leaves amongst moss and lichen

Short green tufts of fir clubmoss sticking up from grass and lichen

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Sathnam Sanghera @sathnam.bsky.social · 17h

Teach it all, the contradictions, scandals, adventures, violence, connections and complexity. And stop seeing it entirely through the prism of feeling.

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 18h

On binary questions about Britain's colonial past, the median is Neither/Don't Know. (There are more constructive conversations than this which can unlock 75% common ground: teach it all, including the complexity and controversy)

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Freshwater Habitats Trust @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social · 20h

The new Red List for Vascular Plants published this week by @bsbibotany.bsky.social highlights the serious decline in Britain’s freshwater plants.

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BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 1d

Please also report dead or sick birds to BirdTrack via www.birdtrack.net for monitoring purposes.

Please share this message far and wide with friends and birding communities. Thank you.

BirdTrack | BTO

About BirdTrackBirdTrack allows volunteers to store and manage their own personal bird records, and uses these to support species conservation at local, regional, national and international scales.

www.birdtrack.net

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Richard Chambers @newschambers.bsky.social · 23h

The world’s first trillionaire initiated a move that has left more than half a million people dead, most of whom are children.

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Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 1d

Colours of the bog part 3: gold-tipped grasses in the morning sun and a curled up fox moth caterpillar

#bogs

A gold and black curled up fox moth caterpillar

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Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 2d

The colours are just amazing, aren't they?!

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caasbrey @caasbrey.bsky.social · 3d

Harvard Gazette:
Gazette: “You are the mother of two In ten years you have produced three novels and two short-story collections. Can you talk about your process and how you manage work and family?”
Groff: “I understand that this is a question of vital importance to a lot of people, particularly to other mothers who are artists trying to get their work done, and know that I feel for everyone in the struggle. But until I see a male writer asked that question, I am going to respectfully decline to answer it.”

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Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 2d

Colours of the bog part 2: the wine-red buds of bog myrtle in autumn. This has to be one of my favourite plants, although its wonderful aroma is sadly not as strong at this time of year
#bogs
#bogplants

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Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 3d

Colours of the bog part 1: the rhubarb and custard perfection of various Sphagnum mosses, offset by pale green strands of lichen
They may be on a much smaller scale scale than autumnal deciduous trees, but the colours are as stunning
#bogs
#bogcolours

Wine-red and golden coloured Sphagnum mosses

Red Sphagnum mosses next to pale green lichen strands

Red and gold Sphagnum mosses forming a cushion

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The Well-read Naturalist @wellreadnaturalist.bsky.social · 3d

If I have to explain to you why this young fellow who dedicates his time to sharing the wonders of #astronomy to all-comers for free is exactly the type of person the U.S. needs more of, I honestly don't think anything I say in attempting to do so would make a difference.

The 51st @51st.news · 5d

In Mount Pleasant, a tight-knit D.C. neighborhood where immigrants are deeply embedded into the social fabric, the Trump administration’s targeting of migrants has shaken the community.

From @samdelgado.bsky.social, here's one poignant example of the impact this loss is leaving:

Mount Pleasant’s sidewalk astronomer might have to leave his home

But Gael Gomez wants people to keep looking up — at the sky and in life.

51st.news

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Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 4d

My latest Bird of the Month post focuses on the kestrel, once the UK's commonest raptor, now displaced by the buzzard. Sadly, this lovely little falcon is no longer a familiar sight hovering over road verges and fields. Find out more over on my blog
#birds
birdsbloomsandbumbles.com/bird-of-the-...

Bird of the Month November 2025: Kestrel - Birds, Blooms and Bumbles

Bird of the Month November 2025: Kestrel, its appearance, disappearance from the countryside and family surprises

birdsbloomsandbumbles.com

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Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 4d

Staying on South Uist last week we discovered our accommodation was on the daily commute route of at least two white-tailed eagles. Amazing to not even have to leave the house to see these flying barn doors!
#birds
#eagles

Adult white-tailed eagle flying against a blue sky

Silhouette of an adult white-tailed eagle against a golden evening sky

Adult white-tailed eagle flying against a cloudy sky

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Zoë Grünewald @zoegrunewald.bsky.social · 4d

Farage, who was paid £189,000 in January to promote gold bullion in his spare time, is currently wanging on about how out of touch the Labour frontbench is. Ok

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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 7d

Pine martens are such gorgeous little animals, and as omnivores perform a great range of vital roles within the forest ecosystems that are their home, acting as predators, scavengers, seed dispersal agents, and more.

Their name in Irish is 'an cat crainn' – the tree cat.

Ian Denton @iand777.bsky.social · 7d

Where the wild things are - a Pine Marten in a ravine on the west coast of Scotland.
#pinemarten
Well worth a listen:
"Sometimes a wild god comes to the table.
He is awkward and does not know the ways
Of porcelain, of fork and mustard and silver"
Tom Hirons
soundcloud.com/tomhirons/so...

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Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 8d

Another set of fungi, these disintegrating much faster than the fly agarics I posted earlier. Shaggy inkcaps must be one our most ephemeral fungi, looking substantial and solid one day and a gloopy black mess the next. I love going back to see them over a few days.
#fungi
#inkcaps

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Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 8d

It's been a good year in my neck of the woods (ahem) for fly agaric fungi. As well as the classic red and white fresh fruiting bodies, I also love the pale cream disintegrating older specimens
#fungi

Bright red and white fly agaric fungus amongst pine cones and pine needles

Two fly agaric fungi, one still red and white, one cream and collapsing

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Pen Insole @birdsblooms.bsky.social · 9d

This lovely otter lives just a few miles from where I live in Easter Ross and I was chuffed to see it last week at a spot I've seen lots of spraint at but never the animal in question before!
#otters
#mustelids
#mammals

Otter's head and tail visible as it swims in water

Otter's head visible as it swims in water

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Ellie Chowns MP @elliechowns.bsky.social · 9d

Under the current criminalisation of protest, even the famous campaigners that we celebrate in the UK would be at risk of arrest simply for peacefully protesting.

The right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy; we cannot allow its restriction to go unchallenged.

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Sarah Lambert @sarahlambert7.bsky.social · 12d

Looking up into the crown of a much-loved ancient Small-leaved Lime coppice stool in Old Sulehay Forest on a gloomy grey day, the remaining leaves gradually changing from green to clear-yellow.

@wildlifebcn.org #wildflowerhour @bsbibotany.bsky.social

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Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 12d

Once you legitimise discrimination and hate-speech against one minority group, you open the floodgates for bigotry against all minorities.

James Leakyboots Batty @jamesbatty.bsky.social · 12d

"The nursing union has urged the government to stop using anti-migrant rhetoric, which it said was putting staff at
risk."

Disgusting that this is necessary. On my last hospital trip nurses were from Nigeria, Zambia, Scotland, & Botswana. All were terrific.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Racist incidents against UK nurses surge by 55%

Royal College of Nursing calls on government to stop using anti-migrant rhetoric, which it says emboldens racist behaviour

www.theguardian.com

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Bat Conservation Trust @batconservation.bsky.social · 11d

🦇 Amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill are likely to be discussed @houseoflords.parliament.uk today. The Bill ignores and disregards the need for evidence and will not benefit the economy, our natural heritage or society. Updated briefing here:

Planning and Infrastructure Bill - Biodiversity policy & advocacy - Bat Conservation Trust

The government published the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in March 2025, this outlined its proposals for reforming the planning process. Although th...

www.bats.org.uk

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