For now, the European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) is my favorite bird on the continent. It flaunts beautiful vibrant colors, wears a cool and confident stare, is playful, and just shy enough to make chasing them an entertaining and informative challenge.
Continue reading18 Photos of the Southern French Alps from Isola 2000
Mostly of the southern French Alps.
Continue readingIn Transit: Nice to Zurich
Snow cover in the Southern French Alps on 6 February 2026.
Continue readingIlluminating the Darkness: Happy Birthday, Bob Marley
Bob Marley would have been 81 today. Some are taken from us much too soon.
Continue readingEurasian Blackcap, Nice
This is a recent snap of a male Eurasian Blackcap that I added to my small (but growing!) Eurasian Blackcap gallery today. We crossed paths at the Jardin Alsace Lorraine Park during a midday break one month ago. In this shot I really like how his colors are nearly identical to the branches he’s resting… Continue reading
Smiles du Jour – Edo, Nigeria
The infectiousness of laughter.
Continue readingTacen Sava River Loop – Ljubljana Birding
My favorite birding loop in Ljubljana. For now.
Continue readingAn Accordion Named Freedom
A street busker and his wife in front of the Centro Cultural Metropolitano in Quito.
Continue readingRivers in the Sky – 45 Seconds of Rosewood Zen
A mental health break courtesy of these beautifully sculpted Rosewoods, or Tipuana Tipu.
Continue readingSnowed Under, Isola
Yes, those are cars.
Continue readingWith Gandhi, in Geneva
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated 78 years ago today. Some are taken from us much too soon.
Continue readingHippos in the Kazinga Channel
You looking at me?
Continue readingShelfie in Marseille
A shelfie at the Librarie de la Bourse, one of the oldest bookstores in Marseille.
Continue readingYale Environment 360: Europe to Ramp Up Offshore Wind in Push for Energy Independence.
A group of European leaders pledged Monday to build 100 gigawatts of offshore wind,enough to power more than 50 million homes. As Europe faces a hostile Russia and an increasingly bellicose U.S., experts see deepening risks in its reliance on imported fossil fuels.
“Historically, interferences by the U.S. government in gas markets to exert pressure on Europe were considered unthinkable,” said Raffaele Piria, of the Ecologic Institute, a think tank based in Berlin. “In the current geopolitical context, this assumption is questionable.”
Willets, in North Carolina
A 22 image gallery.
Continue readingArbol Bandera, Tierra del Fuego
Trees shaped by the wind. I hugged the one on the right.
Continue readingLast Week in Nice – January 25, 2026
Eleven snaps taken while out and about, with rain the prevailing theme.
Continue readingRostro Sobre Hoja
Face on a leaf.
Continue readingBukowski, Calvino and Kerouac in Buenos Aires
If they were a band, what songs would they play?
Continue readingEmber Report: Wind and solar overtook fossil fuels for EU power generation in 2025, for the first time
We’re winning.
A study by the energy think tank Ember found that the EU’s electricity transition reached a new milestone in 2025 with wind and solar generating more power than fossil fuels for the first time. From the Guardian report:
Turbines spinning in the wind and photovoltaic panels lit up by the sun generated 30% of the EU’s electricity in 2025, according to an annual review. Power plants burning coal, oil and gas generated 29%.
EU solar generation reached a record 369 TWh in 2025, 20% higher than in 2025 and wind and solar generated more electricity than fossil fuels in 14 of the 27 EU countries.
The report, Ember’s 10th annual, is here.
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Today’s Pic du Jour, the site’s 18th (!) straight, was taken near Vienna-Schwechat Airport on 8 July 2018.