James Gilbert

Counted a group of 27 high above a field on the outskirts of town, 2-3 weeks ago. Saw 3 separate low screaming parties of 8-14 birds mid-June, east & west sides of town. Not keeping exact nos. but feeling is overall nos. no worse than last yr. No activity at the boxes on the church or at my house.

kestrel in low flight
quartering a wheatfield edge
sienna on gold

Thank you, Pam!

Really pleased that my poem found a place in @coastalpoet.bsky.social’s @poetryofwitness.bsky.social project. It means a good deal to me & I’m very grateful. Thank you, Evie.

Hi Evie, just to say I’m delighted that my poem has found a spot in your @poetryofwitness.bsky.social project. It means a good deal to me; I truly am very grateful.

Ah, bonfire smoke is not the most pleasant, to say the least (though the burning of garden waste has a definite nostalgic quality for me!).

late blackbird song
apples fall & ferment
winds tang of change

Thank you, Susanne.

Thanks, Richard.

Thanks, Pam.

Ha, yes — I appreciate there’s always someone worse off ;-)

I will look up that. Thank you.

Being bothered recently by the inevitable fact of growing older — increasingly so, as I move through middle age, at what feels like an ever faster rate.

“So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that
Life has just begun”

John Mayer

Central and southern Africa.

lonely is the sky
and my summer heart
now the swifts are gone

Too often now, I feel like I’m stranded in the wrong time; that my “eco-sentient” values are peripheral, irrelevant — incompatible with today’s system & society. A lost soul in a lost world.

Hi, I’m not seeing them I’m afraid! But thank you anyhow for reposting.

Thank you.

bracing whitecap winds
vastness beyond kestrel wings
sheer-drop urge to fly

Right, yes.

Thanks, Steve. My instinct (assumption — possibly wrong!) is that because it’s a relatively small-scale proposal it won’t excite many.

@markavery.bsky.social @laurindaluffman.bsky.social @brianecambs.bsky.social @sarahlambert7.bsky.social @steveormerod.bsky.social @robthomasbirds.bsky.social

Recommendations pls, for a solicitor w/ knowledge of nature conservation agreements wrt the shared private ownership of agricultural land & said owners having an intention to revive & rewild that land. Looking for expert advice &/or contacts that can help guide & setup such an agreement. Thank you.

Thank you, Evie.

great wads of thistledown
wholesale undone
clifftop gone
carried away by whitecap winds
to drift above young kestrel wings
out beyond the chalk face seams
& lost towards a gannet’s gleam

Did you have time to visit the nearby Wayland’s Smithy? And also those sarsen stones that litter the valley floor along which the B4000 runs, are a fascinating feature aren’t they?

(Pastureland in) Northamptonshire.

Thanks!

Thank you.
And that would be lovely!

Thank you.