The Netherlands offers more than just its lively capital. I discovered the Aalsmeer Flower Auction, the world’s largest, just 17 km from Amsterdam. A 45-minute bus ride from Centraal Station takes you through flat fields and classic windmills 🌷 🌻 🌹 #saturdaymorning Roses come from Kenya, orchids from Thailand, peonies from France, and exotic blooms from South America. The auction house, one of the biggest in the world, overflows with flowers on trolleys 💶 Buyers can see information on big screens, including origin, freshness, and quality. In the Dutch auction, prices start high and drop until someone bids, closing deals in seconds 🔨 Next, I travelled to Alkmaar to visit its cheese market. It took just 40 minutes by train from Amsterdam Zuid, winding through quiet towns and lush fields 🧀 Alkmaar is charming with its canals, cobbled streets, and old houses featuring large windows, wooden shutters, and colourful flower boxes 🏠 Every Friday, the cheese market transforms the town square. Wheels of cheese are stacked in rows, and 'kaasdragers' in white outfits transport them on wooden barrows 💃 🕺 🪩 Traders haggle by clapping their hands, blending business with performance. Stalls offer samples of Gouda and Edam cheese, served with bread and mustard 🤝 Quaint cafés, historic buildings, and small museums enhance the experience. Sipping coffee by the canals is a lovely way to enjoy the slower pace ☕️ Aalsmeer marries business with beauty, while Alkmaar preserves its history. Together, they showcase a country that blends old customs with modern efficiency ♥️

Wetlands are vital ecosystems where land and water converge, forming marshes and swamps that support diverse plants and wildlife. They filter pollutants, boost local economies via fishing and tourism, and serve as key habitats 🌿 #theme_pic_india_wildlife For bird photography, a boat with a long lens (e.g., 500 mm) is ideal for eye-level snaps of waders 🦆 Kumbhargaon is 5 hours from Mumbai. It offers boat trips through Agnipankh, and naturalists lead wildlife trails Chambal’s low human activity helps its ecosystem. Here, skilled predators like hyenas maintain the balance 🐊 🐢 Bharatpur, once a royal reserve, is a great spot for birdwatching. You can get there by train or fly to Jaipur (then a 3-hour drive) or Delhi (a 5-hour drive) Early mornings and late evenings offer the best light. Use single-point autofocus on the bird’s eye, with burst mode (10+ fps) for dynamic pics. Wide apertures help blur distractions. RAW format makes post-processing easier, allowing for precise colour and lens corrections. Carry extra batteries and fast memory cards ☀️🔋 Wetlands host diverse life, from insects to unique plants. Exploring wetlands fosters a deeper connection to nature and its calming benefits 🫧 You can see more of my photos on my website, and even learn photography from me: girishmenon.com

Novak Djokovic’s had some fine words for Musetti 🎾

Monday 10 November Today’s Daily Picture Theme is ‘Journey' RT or reply with your own photo Tomorrow’s theme will be ‘Knob' #DailyPictureTheme #MondayMorning Something quite unexpected is happening in this photo, but I am keeping it secret for now. Look closely at the scene. What do you think is going on here? 👀 Share your guesses in the comments. Let us see who figures it out first 😃

Nature ♥️ #MondayMood Nature is not asking for likes, but it is quietly inviting you to show up 🫴 Step outside, breathe in the air, listen to the birds, and watch how light changes everything 🐦 No screen can match that. Go see it for yourself 🌿

🌼 A flower for Monday.. 🌸 Show me yours…. #MondayVibes Do you see the tiny flowers? The bird is a Montagu’s harrier. They glide like they own the sky, yet somehow always looks mildly surprised to be there 🪶 Ever spotted one doing that low, wobbly flight over a field?

OMG, like, this fox is totally my fave ever! Reminds me of those super cute foxes I saw, like, a couple years ago, duh 🦊 #FoxOfTheDay I’m, like, obsessed with how nature totally camouflages all these birds and animals in their habitats... it's, like, such a major wonder, right ♥️ I tried to highlight that in my photos 📸 The best wildlife photos come from slowing down and observing quietly. That’s when nature starts revealing itself. You’ll find many more tips like this in my book, "Do It For the Bokeh" available on Kindle: a.co/d/b7aA0CZ 📖

We need more photogaphers on 𝕏 If you agree, post a picture you took 😍 #mondaythoughts Is this a moustache or a national treasure 🪙 Does he need a comb or a full-time caretaker for it 💇‍♂️ How many hours of daily maintenance are we talking about here ⏰ And most importantly, does it have its own postal code 🤣 🤣 🤣

Post a photo you love… #MondayVibes The Indian fox always looks like it knows your secrets but will not spill them unless you forget to share your snacks 🦊 🤣 Seen one in the wild? Please tell me where! 👇

After listening to The Fate of Ophelia, I had to sit in silence for a minute. Taylor Swift takes a story you thought you knew and turns it inside out. It's not just a song... it feels like a mirror held up to every moment you loved too much, too deeply, too soon 💃 🪩 #MondayMotivation There's something haunting about how she gives Ophelia her own voice, her own fate. It made me think about how often we romanticise pain when all we really want is peace ♥️ @taylorswift13

Sophie Ecclestone and Amanda-Jade Wellington have played together for the Manchester Originals in @thehundred a few seasons ago 🤝 Now they're teammates once again for the @StrikersBBL 💃 💃 in #WBBL11 #CricketTwitter ♥️

Classic Carlos Alcaraz... handles 200 km/h serves and flirty questions with the same composure 🤣 “I’m free, I’m free, I’m free” sounds like a man announcing a new world tour, not his relationship status 🕺 💃 🪩 #MondayMorning

Elena Rybakina looked like someone had just told her she’d won a free sandwich 🥪 not over five million dollars 💰 Absolute queen of calm reactions 😃 #WTAFinalsRiyadh

Did you know Michael Jackson’s Thriller almost had a very different name? It was first called Starlight… yes, Starlight… and the chorus went “Give me some starlight, starlight tonight.” Hard to imagine dancing to that on Halloween, right? 🕺 💃 🪩 #SundayMorning Then Rod Temperton, the songwriter, had a flash of genius on a taxi ride. He scribbled down “Thriller” and the rest became history. The song went on to become the world’s best-selling single, the music video changed pop forever, and zombies have been dancing ever since 🧟 🧟‍♂️ 🧟‍♀️ Sometimes a good idea really does strike on the way to work 🚕 🚖 What is your favourite part of Thriller... the beat, the dance, or Vincent Price’s laugh 👓

It was very cold in January at the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan. I wore thermal clothing, a shirt, and two jackets, but it was still cold. My hands felt like ice. But the soft light was perfect for taking pictures ❄️ #sundayvibes There weren't many birds because of the cold. Then, a little "chiff chaff" sound. I saw a restless chiffchaff moving quickly from twig to twig 🌿 Set the ISO to 6400 and the shutter speed to 1/3200s. The pics had lots of noise, but tools today can fix that later. I saw it grooming itself with its wings at strange angles. I laughed and said, "Too much coffee" ☕️ There was a "tsik, tsik" sound in the background. Cisticolas in a field in Pune, Maharashtra. I smiled... this little bird made the field come alive 🐦 Close-up: a lark with an insect in its mouth, standing tall and proud. A hunter and a survivor. I wasn't looking for a lark that morning; it found me. I was lucky to see it in action 🐛 Wagtails are common here, and their tails always wag as they walk. In the late morning, the farmer from Kumbhargaon watered his pomegranate field. Water rushed into the canals, and wagtails drank, bathed, and danced 🥽

Quote tweet with yellow for #YellowSunday Yellow is the colour that never whispers… it glows, it hums, it fills every space with warmth. It is the first colour I notice when the sun rises and the last one that leaves the sky at dusk ☀️ What is your yellow today? Post a photo or a thought below 💛

From dusk to dawn, show us what you’ve got!! #SundayHSR There is something about that hour when the light begins to fade… when the sun hangs low and the world softens for a moment. Colours shift from gold to amber to deep orange… and for a few quiet minutes, everything feels still 🌞 Sunset reminds us that beauty does not last forever… and that is what makes it special ♥️ What does sunset look like where you are right now? Share your view below

Share something green from your gallery, please 🥬 #sundaythoughts The rock bush quail is one of those birds you only spot if you slow down and look. They move in little groups called coveys… quick steps, soft calls, then silence again We find them across India, they love rocky grasslands and open scrub. Sometimes, the quietest creatures tell the best stories about a place. 👉 Have you ever spotted one? Share your encounter below #BirdsOfIndia

Last year, at the ripe old age of 15, Caoimhe Bray bowled Deandra Dottin and hit the winning runs on her @WBBL debut 🏏 Today, at 16, she takes a blinder 😲 ♥️

Thanks for this post. I didn't know turtles could be this huge. I once watched an Indian tent turtle sunbathing along the banks of the Chambal River in India 🐢 #sundaythoughts It is a small river turtle. Adults reach roughly twenty-seven centimetres across the shell 🫧 The IUCN lists it as least concern, but threats remain. Illegal trade and river loss chip away at local groups. Who will watch the muddy pools if not us. Protect the river and you protect this gentle, tent-shaped turtle ♥️