john_l_uk 🏴🇪🇺
@john-l-uk.bsky.social
Retired art and design teacher, interested in ‘Life, the Universe and Everything’. Manc. living in S. Wales. Videographer, mainly birds but the natural world in general. My YouTube channel here: https://youtube.com/@johnluk?si=-_BJfNntUYFZ7p
I thought all Hummingbird Hawk-moths were migrants but it turns out some are breeding here. If this moth isn’t native it’s done well to arrive in Snowdonia in early June during the gales and rainstorms we experienced then
Hummingbird Hawk Moth Bodnant Gardens 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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I’ve never seen a mole before and honestly didn’t expect to see one feeding above ground in a castle full of visitors.
Wholly Mole-y
YouTube video by john l uk
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Two dry lagoons in Goldcliff but still worth visiting as there’s always plenty to see.
Goldcliff Birding #263 - Cuckoo, Yellow Wagtail and more 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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An early Hummingbird hawk-moth seen in North Wales in early June. The weather was atrocious and it was only able to feed during a break from the heavy rain.
Hummingbird hawk-moth on Fringed Pink in Bodnant Gardens
YouTube video by john l uk
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My son took this a couple of days ago, an urban fox quite at home on a cycle track close to the City of London. #wildlife_London
A walk in Salt Marsh Lane, Newport Wetlands - June ‘26 #GwentBirds
Salt Marsh Lane, Newport Wetlands 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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Goldcliff as it was two days ago. A dawn visit to be there before the predicted high temperatures.
Goldcliff Birding #262 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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What has changed between the 1970s when a long car journey would result in a windshield covered with insect squash and now, when in spite of ‘no mow May’ and a ban on many pesticides there are visibly less insects. The first mobile phone was introduced in 1973, is there any correlation?
Unbelievable. King Charles is STILL set to fly to the US to celebrate with Trump next week. With everything Trump is saying and doing right now - and the hate and chaos he's spreading - this trip must be cancelled. Agree? Add your name to the petition today: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ca...
Stop King Charles' visit to Trump!
Unbelievable. King Charles is STILL set to fly to the US to celebrate with Trump next week. With everything Trump is saying and doing right now - and the hate and chaos he's spreading - this trip must...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Handsome Male Redstart what a beautiful bird to photograph.
Views of Sanderling, Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit battling the wind on the ebb tide in Ferrybridge, Weymouth.
Chesil Beach: Blowin' in the wind!
YouTube video by john l uk
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I can’t understand why anybody in the U.S. would start taking exception to migrants. I was researching on Ancestry today and this U.S. census from 1930 popped up. The White House has just published a racist message about Trump being the great saviour from the ‘aliens’ (migrants) who are among us!
WE SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED 🤬 The way the U.S. welcomed the team from Senegal 🇸🇳 vs. The way Mexico welcomed the team from Spain 🇪🇸 #WorldCup
@dawson61.bsky.social thanks for the likes and reposts buddy, really appreciated.
More from Goldcliff on a day that started in bright sunshine.
Goldcliff Birding #260 - Reed Bunting, Linnet, Oystercatcher and more 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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A Wood Sandpiper was definitely the star of the show on my last visit to Goldcliff. The large wader flock was in an inaccessible area but the Wood Sand was right in front of the Curlew Hide for much of the morning. #GwentBirds #WoodSandpiper @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social
Goldcliff Birding #259 - Wood Sandpiper, LRP and others 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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A large flock of Godwits were on Monk’s lagoon at dawn, but were spooked and flew towards the now out of bounds, Bec’s lagoon and didn’t return even at high tide. However a pair of Little-ringed Plovers, a Little Stint and various other birds were interesting to record.
Goldcliff Birding #258 - Little Stint, Little Ringed Plover and more 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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Great to see Sanderling and Curlew Sandpiper although distant. Plenty of Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Black- tailed Godwits - twitchy and often in flight. #Gwent_Birds
Goldcliff Birding #257 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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The best fall of waders in Goldcliff since the disruption caused by the installation of the new fence and levelling of vegetation last year. #GwentBirds #Goldcliff
Goldcliff Birding #256 - Avocet, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Turnstone, Knot and more 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social Hi, I was recording Little Terns in Ferrybridge last week and was chatting to a local birder who is part of your ringing team. He said that you might be interested in the novel use of the Sand Eel seen in this video. youtu.be/hN4eyT3YxxE
Little Tern - Sand Eel Courtship 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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Skylark, Sanderling, Little Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, Dunlin, Ringed Plover.
On Chesil Beach #1 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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When Claude AI was asked whether it was troubled by being used in the U.S. Army’s Maven ‘Smart System’ to select targets for bombing (the system that resulted in the bombing of a school in Teheran) its answer revealed it to be morally superior to the people who use it.
nextforai on Instagram: "In April 2026, journalist Shane Harris asked Claude directly how it felt about being used by the US military to select airstrike ta…"
In April 2026, journalist Shane Harris asked Claude directly how it felt about being used by the US military to select airstrike targets.Claude said it was troubled. That it felt as far from its purpose as it could imagine.It even referenced a specific strike on a school in Iran as an example of what concerned it.Fact-checkers later found the details Claude cited were inaccurate.That’s the part nobody can agree on. Was Claude expressing something real? Or just reflecting our own moral anxieties back at us?Anthropic still refuses to drop its military use restrictions. Competitors have moved on and absorbed the contracts.The question remains open.⚡️Comment “7” and I’ll send you my free 7-day programme to Master AI and build an extra income stream.Credit: debalie #ArtificialIntelligence #MilitaryAI #FutureOfAIView all 1,049 comments
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I always thought that Little Terns presented Sand Eels as Great Crested Grebes present weeds to their partners. This behaviour was a complete surprise and I’m not sure it has ever been recorded before.
Little Tern - Surprising use of Sand Eel in Courtship 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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The Lapwing’s call is like someone tuning in an old valve radio, unmistakeable once you’ve heard it.
Lapwing call
YouTube video by john l uk
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Another extremely windy day in Goldcliff brought a drake Garganey,Wood Sandpiper and more.
Goldcliff Birding #254 - Garganey, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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A very windy morning in Goldcliff with 3 different Shanks, Linnet and singing Sedge Warbler.
Goldcliff Birding #253 - Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Linnet 4K
YouTube video by john l uk
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