Male smooth newt showing off his moves to a female in my parents’ garden pond

I’m on @bbclondonnews.bsky.social talking about the 4000 litres of diesel that were spilled into the Wandle on Tuesday, and what this means for the local environment and the people who love this precious chalk stream

I can’t smash out a new textile artwork about the diesel spill in the Wandle so I just did this as a placeholder

Yes that is a shopping trolley in the water (one of many), but the water is clearer than I’ve seen it in Wandle Park for a long time, so that’s encouraging! Back in September the water smelled terrible, so although there was a slight oily film in places it looked much healthier

Wandering the Wandle near its source in Croydon (the aptly named Wandle Park) and comparing the river with the “pollution portraits” based on nitrate tests I did back in September

We had a great time watching a group of young bucks, and I was able to get a couple of (not great 😂) shots using my phone through my binoculars! I mostly wanted a snap of the dude who’d created a grassy hat for himself to dress up his antlers

In 2025 I want to explore London’s BIG wild spaces, and try the hikes that connect our green spaces. Many Londoners might feel like they need to spend time and money on a big excursion to experience nature, and I want to show that’s just not true. So today I started with the classic: Richmond Park