Spring is gaining momentum across Scotland. 🌱 Cumulative budburst across the transect has now passed 40%, driven by a surge of activity at our northern sites in recent days. While the North is waking up, the South continues to lead the way in terms of first leaf emergence. #Phenology #Spring2026

The first week of the 2026 field season is underway, and Storm Dave has provided a chilly – but atmospheric – start. ❄️🏔 63 blue tit nests initiated, so far, with 4 lined. Looking like a later start for us compared to elsewhere in the UK/Western Europe. #phenology

1/🧵My first preprint!🐛🌡️ We examine how environmental effects experienced during one life-history stage persist and modulate environmental responses in later life-history stages. With Lea Beaupere, @sheldonbirds.bsky.social, @rona-learmonth.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Most detected bird species thus far: Eurasian wren and – perhaps unsurprisingly – blue tit! Really excited to see what we can learn from these data long-term.

🚨🚨 Breaking news from Wytham Woods: The 80th year of data collection of the long-term tit study officially started today with this nest with 3 Blue Tit eggs (pic: @mcmahok.bsky.social). First egg inferred 23 March which is our earliest EVER nest - beating the previous record of 26 March by 3 days!🚨🚨

Many congratulations to Shane Butt on the publication of his first paper as part of his PhD on @rumdeerresearch.bsky.social . Three decades of satellite remote sensing (Landsat & MODIS) + long-term field data = better insights into red deer ecology. 🌿🦌 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

We (Pat White, @jayofthetriffids.bsky.social & I) were commissioned by Forestry Commission to produce a series of case studies on #treeprotection challenges and solutions. The first, on Burrator Forest in Devon, is out now and covers #livestock #grazing, #virtualfencing & benefits of #beavers 🐮🌳 👇

#ornithology nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

📣 Hot off the press! 🔥🧪 'Population density drives increased parasitism via greater exposure and reduced resource availability in wild red deer @rumdeerresearch.bsky.social'. Proud to have played a small role on this one with an amazing team led by @hasikadam.bsky.social! 🦌🌱🪱 Read about it here 👇

New research on Edinburgh's urban Sparrowhawks has been published in Bird Study. Lead by Mike Thornton, SOC representative on Scottish Raptor Monitoring Group, the study looks at changes to Sparrowhawk diet and links to clutch size. doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2025.2513542 #RaptorResearch #ornithology

This morning's bird ringing highlight: a male Grasshopper Warbler! After over four weeks of hearing one reeling at this site, it was great to finally catch it in the net. (A first for me). @btobirds.bsky.social #ukbirding

Absolutely worth the 03:00 am start. Last week, I helped to ring and process 46 Sand Martins 🪶 — under licence from the BTO — including 6 retraps that had safely returned to East Lothian from their overwintering grounds in W. Africa. All wrapped up with a beautiful sunrise over the Forth. 🌅

And we're off! Our first blue tit egg was laid on 3 April 2025 - making this, by some margin, the earliest start to a season in the 12 years of our project! 🪺 #phenology #ukbirding #ornithology 🪶

Looks like being a very early spring for us. We already have over 60 blue tit nests and didn’t reach similar numbers ‘til around April 10th last year. This sycamore is already in leaf, and last year it didn’t reach a similar stage for another three weeks. When will we get our first eggs?

The 12th phenoweb.org field season is underway! What a beautiful couple of days spent rambling around the Scottish Highlands checking nest boxes 🪹!

We're hiring a fieldworker to help with some of our projects in Wytham Woods this spring. Wonderful place to work (and live), especially in the spring. Get in touch if you'd like to know more.

Do apply and get paid to watch spring unfold across the Scottish highlands. 🌳-->🐛-->🐣 #ornithology #birds #ukbirding

Final 2024/25 @btobirds.bsky.social winter ringing session in East Lothian. A good haul of 141 birds, and I *finally* got my hands on a siskin! All birds handled and ringed under licence.

There are many studies of phenology of components of the tri-trophic tree-insect-bird system, a useful model for understanding effects of climate change. But how do different measures relate to each other? We compared 5 methods, deriving 9 metrics, across 6 tree spp www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Check out our new contribution, a massive collaboration brilliantly led by @danielwanoble.bsky.social. Full of interesting insights such as "What's the average time between the first manuscript submission to its acceptance in a scientific journal?" Go figure that and more at doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

#HeathrowExpansion won’t deliver growth. Business demand is falling & more tourists leave than arrive. But it *will* trash climate commitments, drive more extreme weather, noise & air pollution & only benefit frequent flying super-emitters - the 15% who take 75% of flights. Labour should be better

Staggering #AttackOnNature by Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP. What on earth has happened to the UK Labour Party since moving into government?!

❗ | Due to the red weather warning in place for Friday 24 Jan, we have made the decision to close our campuses tomorrow for student and colleague safety. Full details for students ➡️ orlo.uk/Qe4jU For colleagues ➡️ orlo.uk/G5y6y Thanks for your understanding and please take care. #MustBeNapier

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Excellent start to 2025! A total of 215 new #birds ringed (+5 retraps) from 14 species, including: lesser redpoll, yellowhammer, house and tree sparrow, and more than 50 chaffinch! All handled and ringed under licence from @btobirds.bsky.social. #birdringing #birdbanding #ornithology #UKbirding

Wow, I am so happy to see that cOnr is still going well! He was born in the ANBG back in the 2017/18 breeding season (4 Jan. 2018, so he'll soon be celebrating his 7th birthday!) 🎁 #ornithology #longtermstudy #superbfairywrens

Helpers-at-the nest mitigate the costs of cowbird brood parasitism in brown-and-yellow marshbirds | link.springer.com/ar... | Ornithology Research | #ornithology 🪶

Fantastic #PhD position at @scienceanu.bsky.social working on unquestionably the coolest honeyeater - the noisy friarbird! Kind of makes me want to go back to Australia to do a second PhD!

Another fantastic morning #birdringing ( #birdbanding ) w/ Lothian Ringing Group. 64 birds ringed (+30 retraps) from 13 species. Highlights included: reed bunting, siskin, and redwing. All birds handled and ringed under licence from @btobirds.bsky.social #ukbirding #ornithology

📢If you manage #woodlands or #treescapes in the #UK — whether for #timber production, nature #conservation, recreation, #agroforestry, or other purposes — we would love to hear from you. 🌳🧪 Please complete our short questionnaire (5-10 minutes): survey.napier.ac.uk/n/treeprotec... 1/4