Helen Blair
@helsbirdy.bsky.social
Birding my patch in Gloucestershire, UK. Finding people I used to follow over on the other place. 🏳️🌈😷
Profile: woman surrounded by grass-covered sand dunes, looking through binoculars
Header: barn swallow perched on barbed wire fence
Profile: woman surrounded by grass-covered sand dunes, looking through binoculars
Header: barn swallow perched on barbed wire fence
Reposted by Helen Blair
What's changed?
Four years on from her column that challenged sexism and female safety within birding, Lucy McRobert asks if things have progressed:
Four years on from her column that challenged sexism and female safety within birding, Lucy McRobert asks if things have progressed:
Lucy McRobert: what's changed?
Four years on from her column that challenged sexism and female safety within birding, Lucy McRobert asks if things have progressed.
bit.ly
November 29, 2025 at 12:46 PM
What's changed?
Four years on from her column that challenged sexism and female safety within birding, Lucy McRobert asks if things have progressed:
Four years on from her column that challenged sexism and female safety within birding, Lucy McRobert asks if things have progressed:
Reposted by Helen Blair
Yes, "pregnant people" is inclusive language that describes pregnant cis women AS WELL AS trans men and nonbinary people, a lot of whom can get pregnant. But it also describes, like, 12-year-old girls who get pregnant. Do centrist pig-dogs think THEY are "women" too? Coz...bit of a red flag, that.
November 11, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Yes, "pregnant people" is inclusive language that describes pregnant cis women AS WELL AS trans men and nonbinary people, a lot of whom can get pregnant. But it also describes, like, 12-year-old girls who get pregnant. Do centrist pig-dogs think THEY are "women" too? Coz...bit of a red flag, that.
Reposted by Helen Blair
I don’t have any special medical excuses to offer, I have no health problems and I’d probably recover in a reasonable amount of time if I caught whatever virus is going around, I just really value not being sick
November 8, 2025 at 4:53 PM
I don’t have any special medical excuses to offer, I have no health problems and I’d probably recover in a reasonable amount of time if I caught whatever virus is going around, I just really value not being sick
Reposted by Helen Blair
Sometimes when people ask me why I’m wearing a mask I say I’m traveling or have some important thing soon and can’t afford to get sick and miss it and that’s pretty much always true but I think it would be nice if it were more normalized to just say “I don’t want to get sick” and leave it at that
November 8, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Sometimes when people ask me why I’m wearing a mask I say I’m traveling or have some important thing soon and can’t afford to get sick and miss it and that’s pretty much always true but I think it would be nice if it were more normalized to just say “I don’t want to get sick” and leave it at that
Reposted by Helen Blair
Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
November 2, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Reposted by Helen Blair
Sending love to everyone who needs it tonight. Love and Tom Holland.
Lip Sync Battle - Tom Holland
YouTube video by Comedy Central Latinoamérica
youtu.be
September 12, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Sending love to everyone who needs it tonight. Love and Tom Holland.
Reposted by Helen Blair
I am one of the 14 authors who chose to leave the Polari Prize, and I find myself frustrated and saddened at the way this entire story has been represented. 1/
John Boyne says LGBTQ+ fiction prize backlash brought him ‘close to the edge’
John Boyne says LGBTQ+ fiction prize backlash brought him ‘close to the edge’
Gender critical novelist urges writers to reenter prize they boycotted and may ask judges not to shortlist his novella
The gender critical Irish novelist John Boyne has said he has been brought “very close to the edge” by the backlash to his inclusion on the longlist for a literary prize for LGBTQ+ authors.
Ten authors and two judges withdrew from the Polari prize and more than 800 writers and publishing industry workers signed a petition calling on Polari to remove Boyne’s novella Earth from its longlist. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
August 15, 2025 at 9:58 AM
I am one of the 14 authors who chose to leave the Polari Prize, and I find myself frustrated and saddened at the way this entire story has been represented. 1/
Reposted by Helen Blair
the fundamental disconnect between the manosphere and reality is that they are incapable of understanding that this is - according to every woman I’ve ever met - the sexiest thing a man has ever done
eight years ago today we all watched the glory of zendaya falling madly in love with tom holland and the internet was never the same
May 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
the fundamental disconnect between the manosphere and reality is that they are incapable of understanding that this is - according to every woman I’ve ever met - the sexiest thing a man has ever done
Reposted by Helen Blair
I’m really only just getting into it but I genuinely love birding as a hobby. The entire goal is to look at the bird. Is there a bird? There is a bird! Look at the bird! If you are very keen you can learn what to call the bird so that you can properly thank it for the joy you feel when you see it. 🪶
May 4, 2025 at 1:00 PM
I’m really only just getting into it but I genuinely love birding as a hobby. The entire goal is to look at the bird. Is there a bird? There is a bird! Look at the bird! If you are very keen you can learn what to call the bird so that you can properly thank it for the joy you feel when you see it. 🪶
Reposted by Helen Blair
Hi there. A reminder to please alt text. Image descriptions not only help people with low vision but those of us who may need context for a meme or image. And it makes your images searchable (or avoidable if someone is muting certain words).
February 8, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Hi there. A reminder to please alt text. Image descriptions not only help people with low vision but those of us who may need context for a meme or image. And it makes your images searchable (or avoidable if someone is muting certain words).
Reposted by Helen Blair
I expensed my cab ride home. I'm tired so I put "korea coup" down in the expense code field.
December 3, 2024 at 7:17 PM
I expensed my cab ride home. I'm tired so I put "korea coup" down in the expense code field.
Reposted by Helen Blair
Yes, people will post pictures on social media of sleeping arrangements on Xmas Eve and I will once again attempt to leverage this to raise money for charity — just pinning this to my profile to head off the relentless (i.e. sporadic) enquiries
December 3, 2024 at 6:22 PM
Yes, people will post pictures on social media of sleeping arrangements on Xmas Eve and I will once again attempt to leverage this to raise money for charity — just pinning this to my profile to head off the relentless (i.e. sporadic) enquiries
RSPB Ham Wall and Catcott Nature Reserve today in sunshine and rain. New birds were Ring-necked Duck and Green-winged Teal. Great views of the Glossy Ibis feeding and in flight. Wigeon, Eurasian Teal and Tufted Ducks in good numbers.
#UKbirding
#UKbirding
November 17, 2024 at 9:40 PM
RSPB Ham Wall and Catcott Nature Reserve today in sunshine and rain. New birds were Ring-necked Duck and Green-winged Teal. Great views of the Glossy Ibis feeding and in flight. Wigeon, Eurasian Teal and Tufted Ducks in good numbers.
#UKbirding
#UKbirding
Not too far off 200 birds in UK for 2024. Long tailed duck just over the county border in Worcestershire got me one closer.
November 9, 2024 at 5:39 PM
Not too far off 200 birds in UK for 2024. Long tailed duck just over the county border in Worcestershire got me one closer.