Andy Gell

YouTube video by Channel 4 News Secret filming uncovers illegal killings of rare birds in England

Superb, hard-hitting presentation (including further info about this infamous C4 News footage) for the @friendsofthedales.bsky.social ‘Eyes on the Skies’ initiative.
youtube.com/watch?v=VKVU...

🙏 @keasdenkate.bsky.social
@rspb.bsky.social

Find out more here:
friendsofthedales.org.uk

A Manxman played a significant role too and many others on other ships at Trafalgar. 🇮🇲 #IsleofMan

Open Letter to Defra Ministers Dear Minister Reynolds “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.” Mitchell 1970. These words were written to reflect man’s indifference to the consequences of …

A wonderful, heartfelt plea from Chairman of the Northern England Raptor Forum in an Open Letter to DEFRA Ministers:

raptorforum.wordpress.com/2025/10/21/o...

#birdsofprey #conservation #illegalpersecution #wildlifecrime

Another favorite bird to paint for me is the mighty Gyrfalcon. Here are some watercolour and acrylic paintings I did over the last few years. Gyrfalcons live here in Norway, far up north. They are the biggest, and according to to some, most powerful falcons in the world.
www.esthervanhulsen.com

Tomorrow 5.30pm and then on YouTube.

If you enjoyed reading Orbital you can now watch live footage from the ISS on Space Live from ITVX. #Booksky #Space #books

Some birds just show up more often in my art than others, because well, let´s be honest, they are just awesome. The peregrine falcon is one of those birds, it just makes such a wonderful subject for paintings and especially portraits! Here is some work done over the last few years.

“A lazy man’s load” my Dad used to say.

On Mull for my birthday a few years ago I had a pair of golden eagles thermalling with 2 ravens directly above me. Best present ever and a special moment I still cherish.

This is a great application for visualising the earth's #weather and ocean currents.
earth.nullschool.net

a graphic cream poster for Broken/Makeshift in the Gallery. The poster features an illustration of a wooden rocking horse with the back half of the wooden rocking horse shown. The front half is illustrated in solid pink. Over the whole there is a graphic line roughly outlining the shape. Text says Broken // Makeshift 11th October - 24th December 2025

A ceramic head in cream of a large-scale rocking horse sculpture by artist Megan Preston-Davies. The body is a stained and engraved wooden structure.

Our new exhibition Broken//Makeshift has opened celebrating contemporary craft by finding the beauty in everyday objects whilst exploring how our emotional attachment to them can survive a break, fracture or tear.

More info about the exhibition & artists: www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/arts/gallery...

Attended a fascinating Leeds Phil&Lit lecture at @ncas-uk.bsky.social yesterday where I learnt.
1. Henry VIII banned weather forecasting as sorcery.
2. Weather Apps use the same data but symbology makes their forecasts appear contradictory.
3. AI neural network forecasts are the future(~3yrs)

Chimney pot huddle.
@leemadgwick.bsky.social

I'm in the subject aircraft on my last flight in the RAF in 2004. Several years before I led a pair of Hawks and "loitered" at low level over and around Suilven before an attack at Loch Ewe. My wingman, a student of mine was ecstatic when we landed but he died in a Hawk crash shortly after. Hence❤️‍🩹

Here’s to the birdwatchers! Optimistic, slightly eccentric custodians of wonder and joy and passion and love At its heart, birdwatching is an act of quiet rebellion, says Natalie Kyriacou. It is the gentle act of noticing – the willingness to see the world around you

“At its heart, birdwatching is an act of quiet rebellion. It is the gentle act of noticing – the willingness to see the world around you. And this simple act is, in itself, revolutionary.”
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I see him.

I was interested in bird migration 50 years ago as this page from my primary school work book shows.

The Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) is not a native British tree but it is an autumn beauty.

bsky.app/profile/andy...

You are what you read. #Booksofbluesky #books

Enjoyed reading that. I have several emotional connections with Assynt and Suilven in particular but from an airborne perspective. I need to pay a visit on foot or maybe by packraft!

Don't care about the massive damage done to native ecosystems by the constant release of vast numbers of invasive pheasants for shooting?

Maybe you'll care about catching Lyme disease instead.

My interest in #birds goes back further than I thought. Another primary school book extract.

Eyes on the Skies - Campaign Launch Our powerful new campaign − Eyes on the Skies − calls for an end to criminal killing of birds of prey in the Yorkshire Dales, one of the UK’s...

"Eyes on the Skies − calls for an end to criminal killing of birds of prey in the Yorkshire Dales, one of the UK’s hotspots for this criminal activity." 👏 @friendsofthedales.bsky.social
www.trybooking.com/uk/events/la...

@yorkshirebylines.bsky.social

Everyone visiting or living in the @yorkshiredales.org.uk needs to be made aware of this. It's disgraceful and it needs to be stopped.
@friendsofthedales.bsky.social

Extracts from my primary school books reveal an early interest in #Space and rockets🚀.

Wife: Where are you going?
Me: Humberside Airport
#Thunderbirds #Space
BBC News - Thunderbird 3 owner 'thought he ordered model'
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Numbers of nesting hen harriers in England have risen slightly in 2025 By Matthew Heard, National Delivery Director Numbers of nesting hen harriers in England have risen slightly this year, according to data collected by Natural England and partners. Breeding figures and...

naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2025/10/01/n...