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Flight Free UK

I just finished making a video of a presentation that Anna Hughes of Flight Free UK made for Sustainable St Albans Our Planet Our Future.

Dirk Maas

2025-03-21 10:55:07

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Flight Free UK


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Beavers, birds, and biodiversity—sometimes, nature really does know best. And our love for the natural world can be a powerful driver of climate action.

🌿 Good news: In the Czech Republic, a government dam project stalled for years… until a colony of beavers built a network of dams in the exact same spot. As one expert put it: “Beavers do it for free—one thousand times better than people.”

🐸 Not-so-good news: Amphibians are in hot water—literally. A new study shows that if temperatures rise 4°C, nearly 1 in 13 amphibian species could face extinction.

🐦 What you can do: Get outside and go birding! It’s a simple, joyful way to deepen your connection to the natural world. Paying attention to nature starts right in our own backyards.

Read more: talkingclimate.ca/p/critters-t…

Two beavers swimming. Text reads: Critters taking climate action. Beavers are saving the day, but amphibians can't take the heat - and how bird watching is a climate action

Critters taking climate action

Beavers are saving the day, but amphibians can’t take the heat—and how bird watching is a climate action
Katharine Hayhoe (Talking Climate)

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mastodon - Link to source
Saltmarsh planting day at the reservoir today- we do warn people that they will get muddy, no one seemed to mind, though some get muddier than others.
#saltmarsh #NatureScot #NatureRestorationFund #mud
A smiling person in a high vis vest, covered in mud, they are part of a larger group, also muddy, the photo was taken after a planting session
#mud #saltmarsh #NatureRestorationFund #NatureScot

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More saltmarsh harvesting today for our work with the University of St Andrews Transition group. Tomorrow we’ll be planting up the reservoir we started restoration planting last year.
Sunny, muddy fun.
#SaltmarshRestoration #NatureScot #NatureRestorationFund
People on the saltmarsh, harvesting Bolboshoenus maritimus from healthy saltmarsh. The sky is blue, the person closest to the camera is smiling, people are working in the distance, digging plugs and dragging sledges with plants on
#SaltmarshRestoration #NatureRestorationFund #NatureScot

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A girl holding a tissue to her nose while walking through a park. Text reads: Sneezing season is getting worse. Getting an induction stove is easier, longer allergy season, and honoring a climate hero

Sneezing season is getting worse

Katharine Hayhoe (Talking Climate)

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in reply to Dr. Katharine Hayhoe

Kevin Leecaster
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Kevin Leecaster
• •
In a minivan parked at a two-story home in the wealthy enclave of Piedmont, California, researchers watch as their instruments display rapid increases inside the home in carbon monoxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and nitrogen dioxide pollutant levels spike as soon as the stove is switched on.
ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/…
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A seascape from Dornoch Firth. It was taken at the end of a field day, as the tide was returning and the sun was setting. Such a beautiful place to work.
#MeerMittwoch #DornochFirth #NatureScot #NatureRestorationFund
setting sun over the Dornoch Firth through chestnut paling fencing. The sky is blue with white and grey clouds and reflected in the puddle of water on the mud flats.
#meermittwoch #NatureRestorationFund #NatureScot #dornochfirth

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More planting last week and a total of 800 polytunnel grown plants (these were from stock from the Eden estuary) planted over the two days.
Very happy to have had help from the regular polytunnel volunteers and the BioSoc society to get these plants into the Eden estuary, to help restore the saltmarsh, protect the coast, increase biodiversity and help store carbon.
#NatureScot #NatureRestorationFund #Satlmarsh #volunteers #plants
Three smiling people on mudflats, two have spades, there is a mostly buried fence behind them, it will protect the plants they have just planted from some of the force of the waves.
plant plugs on trays and trugs on a sandy ground, a pair of muddy gloves and muddy wellies are in the picture.
#plants #volunteers #NatureRestorationFund #NatureScot #satlmarsh

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in reply to Green Shores

Green Shores
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Green Shores
• •
Also delighted to have space in the polytunnel again, for more plant propagation!

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Florida
My brother-in-law took this photo in Florida. Nothing special about it, you’re thinking? Zoom in to the right of the base of the tree.

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Claude Malhuret, Senator of the French Republic, speaks the truth about what is happening in the US

(With English subtitles)

This is excellent.

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
youtu.be

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Rothamsted Research's Long-Term Experiments

I made a video of a talk given by a scientist from Rothamsted Research.

Dirk Maas

2025-03-07 04:22:28

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The Rothamsted Long-Term Experiments: From 19th Century Trials to 21st Century Science


The Rothamsted Long-Term Experiments, established by Lawes and Gilbert, are world-renowned and are as important to scientists now as they ever have been. Join Andy Gregory as he takes you on a 180-year journey of discovery, from fertilisers to fungi, from manures to microplastics, and from superphosphate to soil health.


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And we are off! First planting session for the year, 520 plant plugs in today, & another group are coming to plant tomorrow.
Saltmarsh restoration on the Eden Estuary today.
#saltmarsh #NatureScot #NatureRestorationFund
Group of smiling muddy people in a polytunnel
Some of the planters at work on mudflats , planting behind chestnut fencing, to reduce washout rates and help the plants establish.
#saltmarsh #NatureRestorationFund #NatureScot

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Image of a girl in a yellow raincoat walking in a rainy forest. Text reads, Our secret flood defense - trees! Trees protect us from floods, drinking water at risk, and Zanzibar's Solar Mamas

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in reply to Dr. Katharine Hayhoe

Marco van Burgsteden 🍋
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Marco van Burgsteden 🍋
• •
Reforestation as a panacea for big city problems was already pointed out by our professor of water management in the mid 1990s.
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Eden estuary saltmarsh, aster seed heads late last year when we took a group of University of St Andrews students to see one of the Green Shores saltmarsh restoration sites
#MarshMadness #SaltMarsh #NatureRestorationFund
Fluffy white seedhead in the foreground of grassy vegetation with dry brown grass stems. In the distance and out of focus a group of people are walking. The water in the estuary is just visible on the far left.
#saltmarsh #marshmadness #NatureRestorationFund

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Dornoch firth saltmarsh in January for #MarshMadness
#saltmarsh #NatureScot #NatureRestorationFund
View over saltmarsh at the Dornoch firth into a setting sun over the hills on the far shore. the colours in the blue and orange sky and clouds are reflected in the water
#saltmarsh #marshmadness #NatureRestorationFund #NatureScot

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The polytunnel volunteers have been working hard, we’re nearly out of space in the tunnel.
Fortunately we’ll be starting this year’s saltmarsh restoration planting next week, getting the plants out of the tunnel and into the estuary. Making more space for more propagation.
#saltmarsh #NatureRestorationFund #NatureScot
4 smiling people in a polytunnel with lots of trays of plants
Eden estuary with some fencing in place on mud flats by the coast. The fencing is laid out in v shapes with the wide open side facing the coast.
#saltmarsh #NatureRestorationFund #NatureScot

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friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Eating gels
Hi !cycling group,
I have a box of Clif Athlete Series Bloks Energy Chews. The "Recommendations for use" on the box say "Eat 3 to 6 pieces every hour during activity." There are 6 pieces in each wrapper. Eating 1 piece every 10 to 20 minutes seems like a lot to me. Are they just trying to get me to buy more of the product? Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Dirk
!cycling group
This entry was edited (3 months ago)

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friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Haddon Hall Courtyard
Here is another video, showing the courtyard that was used in the Princess Bride.

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Haddon Hall
When Deanna was here at Christmas, we did some sightseeing and one of the places we went was Haddon Hall. It was used in the filming of The Princess Bride, which is probably what brought it to our attention. We went for a "candlelight tour" and dinner. Approaching it at night, with the walls lit up, was very impressive. You cross a bridge over the River Wye on your way to the Hall, and that only adds to the atmosphere. Here's a quick video:

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Pirates of Penzance at the ENO

About a month ago we went to the London Coliseum to watch the English National Opera perform Pirates of Penzance. Of course they don't allow photos or videos to be taken during the performance, only during curtain calls. We got the tickets at a discount because of our National Rail railcard. Still expensive, but worth it! A very good performance (but my favorite is still Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt, and Rex Smith at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park in 1980). We will go back to the ENO.

#EnglishNationalOpera
#E N O

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Spring biking sportives

Tomorrow I’m participating in the Verulam Cycling Club’s annual Reliability Ride. VCC is based in St. Albans, the next town south of Harpenden. It seems like almost every town in the UK has a cycling club, and a lot of of them have spring rides like this one. They are called “sportives” which is a which is a term new to me, and the idea is to help people people get in shape for the summer racing season. I plan to do at least two more of these this spring to help me get ready for chase the Sun.

There are two routes tomorrow. The long route is 66 miles, and the short route is 41 miles. I plan on doing the longer route.


Verulam Reliability Ride

VERULAM RELIABILITY RIDESunday 23rd February 2025 Photos from last year: See here.Two classic routes:The long route is 105km (66 miles) with 1,371 meters (4,062ft) of ascent, whilst the short route is 66km...
verulamcc.org.uk
in reply to Lany

Dirk
friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Dirk
•
Thanks! It was difficult, but fun. There were a few places where I would have stopped to take photos if I hadn't been in such a hurry.
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