Tony Allen-Mills
banner
taminf.bsky.social
Tony Allen-Mills
@taminf.bsky.social
Former foreign correspondent retired to the mountains of France, where I’ve (mostly) hung up my pen and picked up a camera. Veteran traveller, now focused on landscapes, birds, dragon- and butterflies with the odd urban scene thrown in.
Pinned
Here for both #smallbirdsaturday and the #perfectperch theme of today's #BirdoftheDay by @alan678.bsky.social is a Diamond firetail finch. Frankly, any perch that offers such a clear view of a bird is perfect for me....

#photography #birds
I have to confess I don't have a lot of choice when it comes to today's #BirdoftheDay themes by @alan678.bsky.social. Not many #red birds and not many birds sitting on posts. But this Long-tailed tit sat up nicely on an old metal fence post in the garden. Consider it #posted

#photography #birds
February 8, 2026 at 10:15 AM
It's hard to look serene when you've got a large Oxpecker sitting on your nose, but I think this impala pulls it off nicely for the #serenity theme of today's #BirdoftheDay by @alan678.bsky.social...

#photography #birds
February 7, 2026 at 11:33 AM
For #SmallbirdSaturday by @javajanegallery.co.uk here's a true Clash of the Tit-ans. A Great tit prepares to evade an incoming Blue tit at the garden buffet.

#photography #birds
February 7, 2026 at 10:07 AM
I've only got one picture left that combines #birds&berries, today's theme by @alan678.bsky.social for #BirdoftheDay. It's a Greenfinch lurking at the back of our garden.

#photography #birds
February 6, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Yay once more for #FireHydrantFriday, the day we celebrate the life-saving powers of street furniture. Here's #48, basking in sunshine yet ready to serve.

#photography
February 6, 2026 at 8:12 AM
A winter bloom

#photography #nature
February 5, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Damn pigeon can't read. The sign says quite clearly: "NO FLYERS".

For the #Pigeons&Doves theme by @robcrank68.bsky.social for today's #BirdoftheDay

#photography #birds
February 5, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Is this a snack which I see before me,
Pointing toward my beak?
Come, let me clutch thee -
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

(Apologies to Shakespeare's Macbeth)

For the #BackyardBirds theme of today's #BirdoftheDay by @alan678.bsky.social

#photography #birds
February 4, 2026 at 8:18 AM
For today's #Reflections theme by @robcrank68.bsky.social for #BirdoftheDay, here's a Red-crested Pochard admiring itself on a still pond.

#photography #birds
February 3, 2026 at 11:18 AM
Welcome back @alan678.bsky.social, the land of the living was less lively without you. For your #openbeak theme today here's a female Merganser showing off a row of what looks like teeth (but they're not real teeth, just a saw-toothed edge to their beaks).

#BirdoftheDay #photography #birds
February 2, 2026 at 8:38 AM
Haven't been near a screen all day, but I don't want to miss #GullsinWater, today's theme for #BirdoftheDay by @robcrank68.bsky.social. Here's an elegant landing from Lake Geneva the other day.

#photography #birds
February 1, 2026 at 4:54 PM
For #smallbirdsaturday here's a White-throated sparrow in fluffed up winter mode. I think that's its breath you can just see escaping...

#photography #birds
January 31, 2026 at 12:02 PM
For the #ducks theme of today's #BirdoftheDay by @robcrank68.bsky.social, here's something I don't see too often: a pair of Wood ducks floating serenely across a pond teeming with Koi carp.

#photography #birds
January 31, 2026 at 11:43 AM
The theme for today's #BirdoftheDay is #Blue (by @robcrank68.bsky.social ). Here's a Vulturine guinea-fowl sporting its finest blue feathers.

#photography #birds
January 30, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Masses of snow around us so what better for #FireHydrantFriday than a rural model on the high plateau.

#photography #France #winter
January 30, 2026 at 7:43 AM
Hallo, everyone. I'm a juvenile ostrich and I hear that @alan678.bsky.social wants #eyecontact. So look me in the eye and tell me: I'm the #birdoftheday, right?

#photography #birds
January 29, 2026 at 12:20 PM
From a distance, a Merganser seems to have a black neck. If it flies right past you in the right light, you see that #iridescent shine. For today's #BirdoftheDay by @robcrank68.bsky.social

#photography #birds
January 28, 2026 at 9:25 AM
I've got very few owls in my archive but ol' Brown Eyes here, (aka a Eurasian Eagle-owl) seems to fit the #BrownisBeautiful theme of today's #BirdoftheDay by @alan678.bsky.social - even though he's caught in a downpour.

#photography #birds
January 27, 2026 at 2:22 PM
I hardly know where to start with the #BrownisBeautiful theme for today's #BirdoftheDay by @alan678.bsky.social, but here's a Ruddy shelduck filling out the space between a white head and a black tail with wings of glorious brown

#photography #birds
January 27, 2026 at 9:04 AM
I'm wondering whether this gull just likes the feel of water on its toes, or enjoys flaunting its reflection. Either way, it's my #paddling entry for today's #BirdoftheDay by @robcrank68.bsky.social

#photography #birds
January 26, 2026 at 9:55 AM
For today's #BirdoftheDay by @alan678.bsky.social, a Yellow-crowned night heron showing perfect crossed-leg #poise. It has also got #white bits for double points!

#photography #birds
January 25, 2026 at 8:45 AM
I know that @alan678.bsky.social is looking for Robin shots this week, so here's my garden tormentor luckily failing to notice me (for once) as he was out #walking in the snow. For today's #BirdoftheDay and #ForJanet

#photography #birds
January 23, 2026 at 9:59 AM
Yay, it's #FireHydrantFriday ! Here's another neglected French rural model bravely battling on despite the loss of its red covers. A fine display of internal plumbing.

#photography #eccentricobsession
January 23, 2026 at 9:40 AM
I'm late to #BirdoftheDay today but I like the #shuteye theme by @robcrank68.bsky.social. Here's a magnificent Crowned Victoria Pigeon. I suspect it was only pretending to sleep - you can just make out that fiery red slit of an eye....

#photography #birds
January 22, 2026 at 4:43 PM
For today's #PalacesandGardens theme of #ThroughtheFrame, here's a view from the Château du Clos Lucé, Leonardo da Vinci's home in Amboise, France.

#photography
January 21, 2026 at 3:17 PM