Tony Gillie
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drtonygillie.bsky.social
Tony Gillie
@drtonygillie.bsky.social
1.1K followers 950 following 1.8K posts
Mostly photos of wildlife, otherwise an eclectic mix of this and that, from here and there...
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drtonygillie.bsky.social
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is (rather unkindly I thought) #AlansNemesis, Kingfishers. Sorry Alan, but here's a Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) from #Extremadura, SW Spain for you. 😀
#birds #WildlifePhotography #EastCoastKin @alan678.bsky.social
A close up of a small bird with a rufous chest and tummy, a long black beak, and blue back and head dotted with small white spots. It's facing the right, and is perched on a thin bent branch. The background is a diffuse light green with darker patches.
December 10, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
fishburgler.bsky.social
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #SideViews, so here's a sideways Dartford Warler!
December 9, 2025 at 1:41 PM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Another one for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #SideViews, a Nene (Branta sandvicensis), aka Nēnē or the Hawaiian goose. Once threatened with extinction, Sir Peter Scott brought them back from the brink with a captive breeding programme at Slimbridge where I photographed this one.
#birds #UKWildlife
A large mostly brown and white bird with a black face and top of head. It's facing to the left and has a green ring on its left leg and a metal ring on its right. It's standing on grass.
December 9, 2025 at 11:00 AM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #SideViews, so here's a Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) photographed in the #Monfragüe National Park in #Extremadura, SW Spain.
#birds #EastCoastKin #WildlifePhotography
A medium sized bird with long legs, a white breast and neck, with buff coloured back. It has a distinct black ring round its neck, and a black stripe covering its eye which has a yellow rim. It's facing the right standing on sandy soil. In the background blue of water with darker patches.
December 9, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
alexvont.bsky.social
So love wobbegongs. Everything is good about the wobbegong. Its name. Its flattened Oscar the Grouch face. Its frondy bits. Its lazy life as a hungry rug. And it’s a shark. Outstanding animal 10/10
jeffyoungblood.bsky.social Jeff Youngblood @jeffyoungblood.bsky.social · 4d
The Tasselled Wobbegong is a master of disguise that can eat a fish almost as big as itself in one gulp. It's classified as a shark, but when it lays on the sea floor it looks like a harmless rug if you manage to see it. But with powerful jaws and sharp teeth they are no fish to mess with.
December 8, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
brianbilston.bsky.social
Annual reminder to water your Christmas tree poems …
This poem is written in the shape of a Christmas tree (well, most of it is) … Needles I wrote a poem in the shape of a Christmas tree but then forgot to water it and only a few days later [but the words beyond this point are scattered around the bottom of the page, like needles which have fallen from a Xmas tree) there were words all over the carpet
December 7, 2025 at 10:50 AM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
#BirdsOnTwigs. I've got a few 😀
Was trying to photograph a Black Kite when this Iberian Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis) landed on a thin branch directly behind me and started singing! Closest I've ever been to one...
#birds #BirdOfTheDay #WildlifePhotography #EastCoastKin #Extremadura, SW Spain.
A long thin bird with a long tail dark tail. It's facing to the left, and has a light coloured breast with hints of pink. Its beak is black, and it has a black stripe running from its beak, over its eye and down the back of its head.
December 7, 2025 at 10:58 AM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BirdsOnTwigs, so here's a male Stonechat | Tarabilla común (Saxicola torquatus) in early morning light perched rather precariously on top of a thin twig.
#birds #EastCoastKin #WildlifePhotography
A small bird with red breast, black head and short tail perched at the very top of a thin twig. The background is light blue.
December 7, 2025 at 10:49 AM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #movement. I think this winter flock of Spanish sparrows (Passer hispaniolensis) in flight at Obando in #Extremadura, Spain fits the bill!
@alan678.bsky.social #birds #EastCoastKin #WildlifePhotography
A large group of small dark brown birds flying from right to left against a grey sky. At bottom right the tops of some leafless trees are just visible.
December 6, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
westenglandbylines.co.uk
As Oxford grapples with rising flood risks and strained green spaces, nature-based solutions offer a way to strengthen the city’s resilience | Steve Dawe
Nature-based solutions for Oxford
As Oxford grapples with rising flood risks and strained green spaces, nature-based solutions offer a way to strengthen the city’s resilience
westenglandbylines.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Slightly ethereal feel to the Valley this morning, as the low winter sun caught the mist rising from the fen. Totally magical!
#OxfordshireFens #FenRestoration
@judywebb.bsky.social
In the foreground a gently sloping fen with piles of cut reed, whilst in the background a number of trees with a band of thin mist in front of them. The sky is blue with a few wispy white clouds.
December 3, 2025 at 2:14 PM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
For today's #BirdOfTheDay theme of birds #LookingAtYou, here's a Griffon Vulture | Buitre leonado (Gyps fulvus) on the plains just outside #Trujillo in #Extremadura, SW Spain. Thankfully it had recently eaten... 🙂
#birds #WildlifePhotography
In the centre of the photo a large bird with brown plumage, a white neck and head is staring directly at the camera. Another vulture is behind and left. There is blurred green foliage either side of them, and a diffuse golden yellow background.
December 3, 2025 at 12:35 PM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #stripes. How about this Rock Sparrow | Gorrión chillón (Petronia petronia). An extremely rare visitor to the UK, they live at high altitudes in southern Europe. This one is from #Extremadura in SW Spain.
#birds #photography @alan678.bsky.social
A chunky sparrow sitting on a twig. It has a clear creamy stripe running over its eye, and its plumage is heavily streaked. It has a very strong looking beak.
December 2, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
On this day four years ago, we were treated to this fabulous sunset in the Lye Valley. Sadly we've not seen anything like it since!
#OxfordshireFens #AltoCumulousClouds #PhotoHour #Landscape #EastCoastKin @judywebb.bsky.social
The upper part of the photo shows blue sky filled with white fluffy clouds. Low down and to the right the sun is setting, with visible rays coming from it. The rest of the scene is a shallow valley with a boardwalk running from the foreground into the distance. There are trees on either side, and low green vegetation either side of the boardwalk.
December 2, 2025 at 8:05 AM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Reflections with the alternative of #LongTails. How about this Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) that manages to combine both?
A regular visitor to Oxford's Lye Valley, it seems to love the mud round the ponds.
@robcrank68.bsky.social #OX3 #birds #UKWildlife 📷
A smallish bird with a slate grey back, and black wing tips edged in white. Underneath it's mostly bright yellow with some cream in the middle. It has a long dark tail edges with white. There's a white streak on its head just above the eye. It's standing in shallow water with mud, small twigs and a couple of leaves, facing to the right, and has just lifted its left leg out of the water. Below it is a perfect reflection, even including the eye and white eye stripe.
December 1, 2025 at 2:21 PM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BerriesandBeaks.
Here's a Blackbird (Turdus merula) caught in the act of eating a Cotoneaster berry at Rock Edge, and a Redwing (Turdus iliacus) amongst Hawthorne berries in the Lye Valley. Both sites in urban East Oxford.
#birds #UKWildlife #Photography #UKBirding
A medium sized black bird is perched on top of a twig covered in red berries. It's facing to the left, with a single berry between its open yellow beak. The background is blue sky. A small brown and white mottled bird is perched on a thin branch with small green leaves and red berries. It's facing to the left. The background is a mass of defocused twigs and red berries.
November 30, 2025 at 9:13 AM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
So today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is Gannets (Morus bassanus). Here's a couple of photos from the large colony at @rspbengland.bsky.social's Bempton Cliffs.
#Birds #Photography #UKBirding #UKWildlife
A bright white bird with a golden tint to its head is perched on the edge of a cliff. It has black webbed feet with thin stripes. It has a long bluish tinged beak and is holding a small piece of green vegetation. Its wings are folded, and have black tips. The background is defocussed and has other Gannets which appear as white blobs. Photo shows the heads and long necks of two white birds with a golden tinge to the plumage at the back of their heads. They have long bluish beaks with black lines around them. Their eyes are blue. The tips of the beaks are almost touching.
November 29, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
tombedford.bsky.social
-3° in the Lye Valley, Oxford, this morning, but wintering warblers were the highlight. A record winter count of 6 Blackcaps, plus 2 Chiffchaffs, were present. Pyracantha berries were most popular with the Blackcaps.
@friendlyevalley.bsky.social
#patchbirding
#oxford #ukbirding
Two male Blackcaps Female type Blackcap Fox and Muntjac Deer A frozen Lye Valley boardwalk
November 20, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
It's remarkable how much #FenRestoration (and other #conservation work) comes down to the repetition of these two simple tasks. Scything and raking. Maybe not glamorous (especially the raking!), but vital to controlling rank vegetation and letting other plants thrive.
#OxfordshireFens #GreenSpaces 🌍
Roughly in the centre of the photo a man with wellies, light coloured trousers and shirt with a darker anorak is raking a large pile of cut reed down a slope towards him. In the background a large stand of reed waiting to be cut. Roughly in the centre of the photo a man facing to the left with dark trousers and wellies with a blue checked shirt is using a scythe to cut the reed in front of him. In the foreground a heap of material he has already cut, while on the left of the photo an area waiting to be cut. In the background is a mostly featureless area of short mostly greenish vegetation.
November 25, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
A very cold and frosty morning for our volunteers today, but at least we had sunshine!
#OxfordshireFens #FenRestoration #OX3 @judywebb.bsky.social
A landscape view down a shallow valley. Almost everything is covered with frost. Starting at the bottom right corner and snaking the full length of the valley is a boardwalk. Near bottom right a man in a hi-vis jacket and carrying a dark rucksack is walking away from the camera. At upper right and in the distance are a number of trees, some of which still have autumn coloured leaves. Low sunshine is hitting the right hand side and middle distance of the view. The sky is blue with a few low white clouds.
November 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
rutgerbregman.com
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
friendlyevalley.bsky.social
Autumn in the Lye Valley.
Our scything team have done a great job in cutting large parts of both the east and west SSSI. Lots still to do though, and we've now got a huge backlog of cut material waiting to be taken off the fen.
#OxfordshireFens #FenRestoration #OX3 🌍
A view looking south down a shallow valley. In the foreground scattered brownish cut material. Large parts of the Valley have short green vegetation, though some areas still have longer brown vegetation. On the right of the photo starting at the centre point and old Willow pollard with thin branches growing up. A brown boardwalk snakes through the centre of the Valley, while in the background are a number of trees, mostly without leaves, though a few have yellowish leaves still. The sky is grey with some darker clouds present.
November 20, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
ledbydonkeys.org
The real BBC bias story, narrated by Anna Ford
November 19, 2025 at 12:12 PM
drtonygillie.bsky.social
Another wonderful illustration of the difference between correlation and causation...
November 16, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Tony Gillie
coldwarsteve.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 5:03 PM