Dr Anke Marsh
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ankemarsh.bsky.social
Dr Anke Marsh
@ankemarsh.bsky.social
4.5K followers 3K following 2.6K posts
Palaeoecology, natural history, science, flora, fauna, microfossils. Researcher, writer, editor, photographer she/her

Also @lnhs.bsky.social for London based natural history
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ankemarsh.bsky.social
Look at this ball of floof!

#HolidayRobin #Birds #Photography #EastCoastKin
A photograph of a European robin. She is sitting on a lichen-covered branch, slightly turned to the right. She has brown wings and head, a grey belly and a bright orange chest. She is very round, clearly eating way too many mince worm pies!
November 27, 2025 at 8:35 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Today’s BotD is head shots, alt of swans. I’ve got: cattle egret (Hawai’i), swan goose (London rescue), mallard (Rye Meads) and this swan (Rye Meads). Oh. Head shots, not headless shots. My bad…

#BirdOfTheDay #Birds #Photography #EastCoastKin
A photograph of a cattle egret. In this case, a close up from lower neck up. It is all white, with and orange beak that is rather sturdy. Its eyes are yellow. It is a profile shot with the bird looking to the left. This guy came to pay his respects to my dad at his funeral. He kept hanging around and I spent some time taking photos and talking to him. My daughter did too. It helped us through a sad day. A photograph of a swan goose. Yes that’s correct hahahaha. They are originally from China. This one was at a rescue centre. The photograph shows him from the neck up. His neck is long, white on the side and brown on the top. It blew es into his smallish head, which has white cheeks and a brown crown. He has a black beak and a rather magnificent knob at the top of his beak, looking like it comes out of his forehead. There is a faint white line dividing the beak and knob from his head. He is in profile, looking to the left. A photograph of a mallard drake. It is a close up shot, showing his shoulders, neck and head. He is in profile, facing left. His shoulders are grey, his chest brown. There is a thin white line around his neck, then his head is a beautiful deep green colour. It beak is raincoat yellow. He’s looking a bit worried, probably wondering what that massive contraption is in my hands. A photograph of a swan. Or part of her anyway. This lovely mute swan was dunking for her dinner. So this photo shows her shoulders and very long neck, which is arched downwards. Her head is completely submerged under water.
November 27, 2025 at 8:29 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Today’s photo is this #HolidayRobin who’s #OnTheEdge

Taken today in London

#BirdOfTheDay #Birds #Photography #EastCoastKin
A photo of a European robin. The photo is mostly in shadow, the the dark part of the woods. A bit of sunlight is shining through in the right and some branches are highlighted in the light. The branches are coming out from the right as well. The left is pitch black. There is a wee robin perched on the very edge of one of the branches, also lit up by the sunlight. He is facing to the left.
November 26, 2025 at 6:32 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Sooo… pedestrians are supposed to go into the road?? 😳 (click and zoom in)

#RoadRepairs #Signs
A photograph of a street. On one side is a sign that says ‘Pedestrians’ with an arrow pointing to the left (towards the street. There is a ramp for wheelchairs. Glad they thought about less mobile people. On the opposite side of the street is an identical sign. Except that the arrow points right. To the street. I’m confused.
November 26, 2025 at 3:37 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
I’ve got one saying hello!

#HolidayRobin #Birds
A photograph of a robin. This robin was quite deep in the woods. I almost didn’t see him! Saw some movement and took a quick snap, only to realise that he was trying to say hello! He is perched on a branch from some dead wood. He is facing forward so that his bright orange chest is on show, against the grey belly. One wing is out to the left.
November 25, 2025 at 8:49 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Hanging around - birds at unusual angles - is today’s theme. I’ve got to use my dangling crow. This one regularly flies from her nest in the cedar to a neighbour’s aerial to do her acrowbatic routine. Great fun to watch :))

#BirdOfTheDay #Birds #Crows
A photograph of a crow. But not any crow doing everyday crow things. This bird loves flying over to a nearby aerial to hang off it. In this photo, she is hanging by one claw onto the lower rung of the aerial. The aerial is attached to a long pole and has three parts to it. She is on the lowest part. Same crow, different day. Here she, hanging on to the lower part of the aerial. She is upright but barely hanging on, with her wings straight out. Same crow, yet another day. At some point, I realised that she wasn’t a klutz who couldn’t sit on this thing without falling off. She was actually doing this on purpose! Anyway, here she is hanging onto that lowest rung. With her beak! As you do. And in this final photo, she is shown in free fall. Not flying. Just letting herself fall straight down. She is an adrenaline junkie.
November 25, 2025 at 8:45 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Apparently it’s #MallardMonday!

Here’s my contribution…

#Birds #LondonBirds #Splash! #EastCoastKin #Photography
A photograph of, erm, water splashes? Yep! The drakes had come out and decided to have baths and a good splash about. This is a shot taken about a millisecond after two drakes dove into the water. Yes, I was trying to get a photo of them actually diving but ho hum.
November 24, 2025 at 5:57 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
BotD theme is warblers, or alt any bird with yellow eyes. Will do one of each today - common white throat from the local reserve and a male goldeneye from London Wetlands Centre

#BirdOfTheDay #Birds #LondonBirds #Photography #EastCoastKin
A photograph of a common whitethroat on a thin oak branch. It is a small warbler, with grey feathers on top. Its wings also have some brown. Its underneath feathers are whiter, to very light grey. It’s perched on the branch, sideways, facing to the left. The leaves are light green and the sky is a light blue. The warbler has clocked me and doesn’t look too happy. A photograph of a goldeneye duck in the lake. It is mainly very very white, with black wings. There are white stripes (or maybe black stripes) along the wings. Its head is black but with pretty green iridescence on the top. He has a black beak and two perfectly round white spots on either side of his beak. His eyes are, you guessed it, golden! He is swimming towards me, and I’m feeling a bit judged by this bird.
November 24, 2025 at 5:33 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Enjoy these goofy mallards. They, and the other birbs of the lake, keep me sane 🥺
A photo of two mallard drakes in a lake. They are stretching upwards, wings out. Flapping away and looking kinda silly.
November 23, 2025 at 11:14 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Also this list is so good! Talking heads, joy division, Pretenders, Echo, B-52s, Devo, Tom Waites. Wow. Friend got me this shirt recently - yep, still listening to a lot from the 80s 🤣
Photo of a t shirt with a large red stylised lobster (rock lobster of course!). On one side it says DEVO and on the other, the B-52s.
November 23, 2025 at 10:43 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Mr & Mrs - male and female of the same kind - is the theme today.

Mallards (he’s happy because hehehe, but see next pic), crow family and parents regretting life choices, and two coots still in the honey moon phase

#BirdOfTheDay #UKBirding #Birds #Wetlands #LondonBirds #Photography #EastCoastKin
A photograph of a pair of mallards on a lake. The drake has grey wing feathers, edged with black, a brown chest and a colourful head of green and blue. His beak is very yellow. He’s all puffed up because he just has some fun with his Mrs. The female is mottled brown with black, with a vivid purple-blue patch on her wings. She is shaking her tail a bit, trying to clean up afterwards I guess. A family photo gone wrong. It is of four crows in a line on a cricket field. One parent is at the front, she’s stopped and listening to her two screaming teens. They are in the middle, yelling and slapping their wings in a huff only teens can manage. The dad is at the back, looking as if he’s about to fly off to hang with his buddies. A photograph of two coots on a lake. They are black wetlands birds with white beaks and face shields, and with bright red eyes. They are facing each other, their heads overlapping and almost making a heart shape.
November 23, 2025 at 6:50 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
She is plotting. I am terrified.

#Caturday
A photograph of a cat. But not just any cat. This one is plotting. She looks lovely, a black and white kitty, mostly white, with some black patches on her head. She’s wearing a collar with sheep on it. All seems normal and sweet. But then you see her expression and she looks haughtily over her nose. She is plotting. And I am scared.
November 22, 2025 at 10:34 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Bird of the day is a bird on a wire. My entry is this daredevil dunnock

#BirdOfTheDay #Birds #LondonBirds #EastCoastKin
A photograph of a bird on electricity wire. The bird is a dunnock, with a grey belly and brown wings that have some darker mottling. It is perched on a wire that goes diagonally across the frame, from bottom left to top right. The bird is facing away, singing his wee heart out. The background is a bright blue sky.
November 22, 2025 at 9:18 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Freshwater sponge spicule - about 100micrometres or so. Photo taken down the scope, then I had some fun in photoshop :))

Light microscopy at 400x

#BlueSkyArtShow #Small #Microscopy #Microfossils #EastCoastKin

@romanpalace.bsky.social - this is what freshwater sponges look like, with pizazz!
Four images of a microfossil are placed in a 2 by 2 grid. In each image is a long cylindrical object with tapered ends. This is a freshwater sponge spicule, made of silica. This one come from an archaeological site in Iraq and is about 4000yo. In the first block, the background is black with the sponge and a few other bits highlighted in white. In the second, everything is a tan colour, with the sponge highlighted in white. In the third block, the background is very white, the sponge has orange and yellow colouring. There are also other silica flecks in blues and purples. And finally the last block, the background is a garish pink. The sponge itself is bright green as are the other flecks of silica.
November 22, 2025 at 11:50 AM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Amsterdam of course has no shortage of canals. The water makes the city, beautiful, calming, inviting. And I really loved all of the houseboats, many of which were nicely decorated and adorned with plants

(Mix of iPhone and DSLR shots)

#CanalScapes #Scapes #Photography #Amsterdam
A photograph of a line of houseboats on a canal. Some are actual boats, others are houses on platforms in the water. Each one is unique. A photograph of a canal. Looking straight down, with a bridge up ahead, and Westerkerk ahead to the left. Houseboats lines the sides of the canal and a boat sails down. A photograph of another canal lol. This was off Rokin. A canal is on the right side, with some barges with bikes on them to the left. There are some buildings, narrow and all different colours in the background. And another photograph of a canal. The canal stretches off to the horizon. There are boats and houseboats on either side, with apartment buildings lining the streets.
November 21, 2025 at 9:34 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Ya mean, like this? 🤣🤣🤣
A photograph of two male mallards on a lake. They are both stretching upwards, flapping their wings wildly.
November 21, 2025 at 9:13 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Literally 5 minutes later and seven drakes come out of the vegetation and this happens 😒
A photograph of a big splash in a lake. Two drakes dove into the water at the same time. They aren’t visible, but the splash of water certainly is!
November 21, 2025 at 9:03 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Today’s bird of the day is gulls! Grounded gulls. Now the last photos I took of a grounded gull, well it was eating another bird 😳 Not sure if people want to see that? So will stick with this herring gull enjoying some fine dining in Amsterdam

#BirdOfTheDay #Birds #Gulls
A photograph of a juvenile herring gull. It is standing on the ground, surrounded by food rubbish, a bin and some feral pigeons. It is white with some darker mottling. The tips of the wing feathers are black.
November 21, 2025 at 8:59 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
The lake was so calm today

#Scape #EastCoastKin #PhotographersOfBluesky #Landscape #London #Photography
A photograph of my local lake. Today, the birds were all hiding in the vegetation and so the lake water was very still. I took this photo of the bank opposite. There are some tree trunks sticking out over the water, with very thin twigs completely bare of leaves. These branches are perfectly reflected in the water.
November 21, 2025 at 6:01 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Bridge

Somewhere between Belgium and the Netherlands

iPhone something or other, shot through the train window

#Photography #Mono #EastCoastKin #Bridges
A photograph of bridges. One that we are one, represented by a diagonal steel beam. It is going to the right. A second bridge - for cars - in mid- range and the. Another low bridge in the distance. All are spanning a large estuary. The photo is black and white. I desaturated it a little - basically between the grey skies and grey bridges, it pretty much already was in mono. Same bridge a little further down. Two steel beams are visible from the bridge we were on. Bothe diagonal, one going to the left, the other to the right. This photo is similar to the first except that the steel (or iron, I don’t know!) beam is going to the left.
November 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Today’s bird of the day is thrushes. Such lovely birds, with lovely songs 😍 I’ve got 4 of the 5 thrushes found here in the UK - blackbird, Fieldfare, redwing and song thrush

#BirdOfTheDay #Birds #LondonBirds #UKBirding #EastCoastKin #Photography 🦉📸
A photograph of a blackbird perched on a thin branch. He is all black except for his orange beak and orange ring around his eye. He is sitting sideways, facing the left. The branch is bare, and the sky behind him is grey. A photograph of three fieldfares in bare bushes. It is a photo taken far away, and before I got my zoom lens. Three small birds are sitting amongst the bare branches of a shrub. Behind them, the sky is rather grey. A photograph of a redwing perched on a thin branch. There is another branch, straight up, behind the bird, then a blurred tree trunk and vegetation in the background. The bird has brown wings and a white belly with brown dots. There is a hint of red under its wings. It has a white streak above its eye and some more white patches, maybe leucism, on its head and neck. A photograph of a son thrush standing on a branch. Behind it are some twigs with some budding leaves. The bird is brown on top and its belly is cream coloured with lots of small brown splodges.
November 20, 2025 at 5:57 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Sending strength and healing vibes your way. Living with constant pain sucks. I’m so sorry. This is a photo of one of my fave spots in London. I go at least once a week to look at that tree, and to visit the birds. I hope it helps
A photograph of a field with rust coloured plants - Dock and sorrel I believe - in the foreground. A dead tree trunk, gnarled and beautiful, is in the centre, surrounded by greener trees slowly losing their leaves. Except for one. It very proudly shows off its green.
November 19, 2025 at 10:44 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Kiddo and I took a quick trip to Amsterdam. I may have taken *some photos. It is such a photogenic city, so walkable (despite the anarcho-cyclists 🤣), so delicious (think I gained a few kilos). Will do a thread, starting with photos from the train :)

*British understatement

#Photography
It was so foggy as we crossed France, Belgium and the Netherlands. I grabbed my phone for a few shots. This first shot, my camera decided to macro focus on the window. Oof. But I kinda liked the effect. The photo is in mono, with a very blurred landscape of grass, grey sky and ghostly trees. What is in focus is in the foreground - scratches and dirt on the train window. It gives an effect of a really old, madly preserved photo. This next photo is a similar scene, but the landscape is actually in focus. The grass is a dull green, stretching into the horizon, meeting the grey sky. There is a line of trees, starting from the right and stretching back into the horizon. Everything is shrouded in fog. A mon photograph of a farmhouse. Everything was still foggy and a bit dark, giving a slightly spooky effect. I added some grain to make it a bit spookier.
November 19, 2025 at 10:27 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Round birbs is today’s BotD theme. Round floofy birbs 😍😍 I’ve got a portly pigeon from Amsterdam, a donut dunnock and a rotund robin from London, and a corpulent coot (last photo taken by my then 8yo)

#BirdOfTheDay #Birds
A photograph of a pigeon standing on the ground. It is various shades of grey, with lighter grey feathers on its belly and shoulders, darker feathers at the tips. Also a dark head with some purples and aqua. It is completely floofed up, keeping itself warm, and its head is tucked into his fluffed up neck. A photograph of a dunnock sitting on a tree trunk. It is tucked in the vegetation. It is a round, mainly brown bird. Its wings are slightly darker than its belly and there are darker streaks. Its head is grey. It is sitting sideways, facing the left. A photograph of a robin perched on a branch. It is perfectly round, with a bit of tail poking out at the back and its beak poking out at the front. Seriously, this is the roundest robin ever! The top portion is light brown, its abdomen is light grey. It has a bright orange chest and face. A photograph of a coot sitting in a nest. It is a very round black bird with a white front of head and beak. It is lying sideways, its head turned towards the camera.
November 19, 2025 at 7:18 PM
ankemarsh.bsky.social
Today’s bird of the day theme is mottled so here’s a lovely female mandarin duck showing off her mottling :)

#BirdOfTheDay #Birds #LondonBirds #EastCoastKin #BirdPhotography
A photograph of a duck standing on a tree trunk. The trunk is partially submerged in the lake and continues behind here. There is some green vegetation in the background. The mandarin duck is standing on one leg, facing forward, with her head to the side, beak resting on her shoulder. Her underbelly is an offshore/light grey. Her wing feathers are brown. Her chest is mottled with brown and white. Her head is brown, with lighter cheeks and a white stripe under her eye.
November 18, 2025 at 9:46 PM