Tam
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eater-of-books.bsky.social
Tam
@eater-of-books.bsky.social
100 followers 140 following 61 posts
lapsed academic, avid reader, photographer (they/them)

was eater_of_books on the other place
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eater-of-books.bsky.social
decided to have a go at linocut for the first time, with an idea very loosely based on a photo I took last week. not perfect, but we’re learning!
a clean linocut block, with the intended outline of two snipe with their beaks crossed, in amongst reeds and water the finished print, including a row of little snipe from a test block that I did the original photo, with two snipe standing with crossed beaks
November 14, 2025 at 4:51 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
went to the lake district for a few days last week, saw some cool things
a barn owl flying over a grassy rise, with the blurry ruin of a castle in the background a bearded reedling, or bearded tit, perched on a wooden tray of birdseed a baby seal, slightly muddy, with their tongue poking out derwent water, seen from Keswick, with a flooded jetty in the foreground and hills in the background
November 10, 2025 at 10:00 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
seeing an owl in the wild is something close to a spiritual experience
a barn owl in flight, standing out pale against an autumn background of dark orange bracken a barn owl in flight, face turned towards the camera a barn owl in flight over the distant ruins of a castle a barn owl flying past its natural prey, a barn
November 4, 2025 at 9:53 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
*boing*
photograph of a kestrel landing on top of a telephone pole, wings folded, looking as though it has taken a jaunty little hop in the air with its hands in its pockets
November 1, 2025 at 11:08 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
outtakes, because I had my camera set up for mushroom photos and didn’t expect to suddenly switch to extremely small fast-moving birds
technically a photo of a goldcrest, more accurately described as a photo of a small blur with the vague suggestion of wings, though its eye and golden crown stripe are visible blurry photo of a goldcrest sitting on a branch, with its wings raised in the air very blurry photograph of a goldcrest in flight
October 19, 2025 at 7:56 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
mushrooms and a little goldcrest from a walk in the woods today
a partially-opened fly agaric mushroom, with a woodlouse crawling on its stem a cluster of small brown mushrooms with long thin stems erupting from a bed of moss a close up of the cap of a large ink cap mushroom a slightly blurry photograph of a goldcrest perched on a branch
October 19, 2025 at 7:52 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
I have launched a little print shop with a selection of photos, a mix of film and digital, which I aim to rotate regularly. I’m bad at self-promotion but please take a look:

ko-fi.com/certhia_phot...
a film photo of a covered bridge in Glasgow. The railings have a serpentine curve which draws the eye into the distance, and the photo is full of warm orange tones a black-and white photo of a jetty on derwent water, in the Lake District. There is a sleepy duck in the foreground, and snow-covered hills in the background a macro photo of water droplets on a fallen leaf a photo of a highland cow, with their tongue poking out
October 14, 2025 at 9:41 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
matching tonight’s read to my chocolate
the recent vintage classics rerelease of the novel Black Magic, by Marjorie Bowen. the cover features a photograph by the artist Claude Cahun, edited to have a background of brightly coloured stripes. propped against it is a bar of Tony’s chocolate, with a very loosely similar striped design
October 9, 2025 at 6:59 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
I have been in bed all week sick with covid, and today I am looking at the photos of highland cows I took a couple of weeks ago to cheer me up. look at their little faces!
a highland cow partly obscured by bushes, munching on some grass, the tip of her tongue just barely poking out as she looks directly into the camera The same highland cow from a sideways angle, poking her tongue out even further to reach some delicious leaves a different highland cow, with a darker rustier coat (said coat also has burrs stuck in it) seen from the side. We see over the cow’s shoulder to one rolling eye and a long tongue reaching out for leaves a lighter brown highland cow with magnificent horns and a very long fringe covering both eyes, scratching their chin on some dried stalks
October 7, 2025 at 3:56 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
some highlights from today’s outing with the camera
a frog’s head peering out through a mass of pondweed. he’s got very striking markings, including a bright green stripe down the middle of his head a dragonfly in flight a common lizard, curled into a spiral. a coppery-brown head and body fades into a verdigris tail, in a very pleasant colour gradient a hobby (medium-sized bird of prey similar to a kestrel) in flight
August 31, 2025 at 7:21 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
yesterday I spent so long trying to spot the sandwich terns in amongst the crowd of gulls at folkestone fossil beach that I missed my train home
two gulls in the foreground and a sandwich tern perched on a rock by the edge of the water. a small white gull-like bird with a black cap and a black bill with a yellow tip a sandwich tern in flight a (possibly juvenile?) sandwich tern perched on a rock a sandwich tern in flight
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 AM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
everyone say “good morning, printer paper”
a white cat (not my cat)(we call her printer paper) rolling in mud and leaves, a whimsical expression on her face a white cat (not my cat)(we call her printer paper) laying in mud and leaves, with her paw on a particularly large clump of mud and a pensive expression on her face a white cat (not my cat)(we call her printer paper) now resting her head on the aforementioned large clump of mud, for emotional support a white cat (not my cat)(we call her printer paper) licking one of her muddy paws. there are twigs and bits of leaf visible in her fur
August 22, 2025 at 7:43 AM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
it’s been a long time since I posted any photos, here’s some from the last few weeks. Galeon Andalucia, local RSPB reserve, and My Garden
a black-and-white view upwards through the rigging of a reconstruction of a spanish galleon a very grubby white cat laying in a pile of earth, a sleepy expression on her face as she’s warmed by dappled sunlight an emerald damselfly resting on a honeysuckle stem, with her wings half-spread, against a blue sky a willow warbler in amongst some reeds
August 18, 2025 at 5:50 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
a few more highlights from the day
a frog nestled in some underwater plants a marsh harrier circling in front of an electricity pylon a very fluffy little cygnet, looking right into the camera a red admiral butterfly, partly obscured by vegetation
June 13, 2025 at 5:14 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
this one could have been really cool if I’d lined it up properly
a tern, diving, moments before entering the water. it is almost perfectly lined up with its own reflection. unfortunately, it is right at the bottom of the frame because I was too slow with the camera when trying to follow the dive
June 13, 2025 at 5:11 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
my day today took a bit of an unexpected tern
a common tern in flight, silhouetted against a cloudy sky a common tern in a diving posture, its wings folded into v shapes, with a power line in the background a common tern in flight a common tern in flight
June 13, 2025 at 4:59 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
very dramatic skies in london today
the concrete core of a partially-constructed tower block, with a crane next to it and dramatic dark grey clouds behind
June 7, 2025 at 10:38 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
finished the Liveship Traders trilogy a few days ago and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. or been able to stop thinking about Paragon
the three novels in Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy- Ship of Magic, The Mad Ship, and Ship of Destiny. they are very chunky paperbacks, about 900 pages each
June 4, 2025 at 9:58 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
London wetlands centre a couple of weeks ago
an otter catching a piece of fish being dropped by a keeper, but the photo makes it look as though the otter is levitating the fish using wizard powers a parakeet perched precariously on a brick wall a very small fluffy gosling in long grass a close up of a common frog sat in shallow water
May 27, 2025 at 10:19 AM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
it’s been a while since I posted anything, have a butterfly
a brimstone butterfly, its underwings a bright pastel green colour, feeding on a dandelion
April 12, 2025 at 10:32 AM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
I just looked at that feed out of curiosity and the first post is a cat, so mine at least is working correctly
February 2, 2025 at 10:30 AM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
‘Tis the season
an old copy of the dark is rising, by Susan cooper, held up in front of a lit Christmas tree. The cover has quite a strange illustration of an antlered man with owl-like eyes
December 25, 2024 at 12:43 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
christmas eve means it’s Gawain And The Green Knight Night (watching the Rudkin and Lowery adaptations while I wrap the last of my presents)
Gawain, in the 1991 adaptation written by David Rudkin. He is cloaked in red, atop a horse in matching caparison. He is holding his helmet in both hands, and kissing it King Arthur, in the David Lowery adaptation, a sickly man in an elaborate crown with a sun disc behind it, holds Gawain by the arm and whispers to him “remember, it is only a game”.
December 24, 2024 at 9:51 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
9th of October - 12th of November. what a wild journey this book has been
a copy of The Books of Jacob, by Olga Tokarczuk, held up in front of a bookshelf. it is new, pristine, and 928 pages long the same copy of The Books of Jacob, by Olga Tokarczuk. it is now battered and worn, with a heavily curled spine
November 12, 2024 at 3:04 PM
eater-of-books.bsky.social
had some more film back from the developers, with only a minor light leak this time
December 10, 2023 at 6:07 PM