Seven Coot received colour rings at London’s Serpentine yesterday @bh-wlbirding.bsky.social #birdringing #UKbirding

Hand-catching at the Serpentine today resulted in 17 birds ringed under licence, including the first Grey Heron in the 10 winters of @bh-wlbirding.bsky.social’s Royal Parks waterbird project! #birdringing

Distant gulls in rainy gloom. Leigh-on-Sea produced a Caspian yesterday and three Little Gulls today. #EssexBirding

Of today’s three Firecrests at Gunners Park, two had been ringed there on 13 December. The other was a new individual. #EssexBirding #BirdRinging

Gunners Park today: Greater Scaup, 10 Black-necked Grebe, Dartford Warbler & 3 Firecrest #EssexBirding

Yellow-throated Warbler in Calotmul, Yucatán, on 24 December 🇲🇽🪶

Willet and Royal Tern cruising the shoreline of Río Lagartos on 25 December 🇲🇽🪶

The pools at Río Lagartos offered close views of Greater Yellowlegs and Least Sandpiper on 25 December 🇲🇽🪶

I’ve always enjoyed watching Black-and-white Warblers. This one in Zona Arqueológica de Cobá on 27 December was no exception! 🇲🇽🪶

Adult and second-winter Common Gull caught by hand and colour-ringed at London’s Round Pond yesterday with @bh-wlbirding.bsky.social. Check out the difference in bare parts! #birdringing #UKbirding

Nice to be ringing in Kensington Gardens with @bh-wlbirding.bsky.social & co. yesterday. Hand-caught ducks included Gadwall and Tufted Duck. The former is the 6th to be ringed in 10 winters of the project. #birdringing #UKbirding

Sea Otter off the Bedford Islands during a seabird survey on Wednesday; one of only a handful around the southern tip of Vancouver Island #MarineLife

Ring-necked Duck and Lesser Scaup were both amidst this week’s Mallard melee at King’s Pond in Victoria #CanadianBirding

Think urban park Mallards don’t travel and are all feral? Think again! I’ve read eight rings this week in Victoria, British Columbia. Seven were from a local rehabilitation centre, but this female was ringed 1975 km away, near Northway, Alaska! 🌎🧪 #birdringing

A mind-blowing encounter with a matriline of Bigg’s Orca just south of Salt Spring Island on Friday! #MarineLife

Drake Wood Duck in Victoria last week #CanadianBirding

Surf’s up! Surf Scoters were a common sight in the Haro Strait on Friday. 🌊🪶

A feeding frenzy a kilometre south of the Trial Islands on Friday attracted a pair of Bald Eagles. One attempted to predate a Brandt’s Cormorant, who managed to wriggle free! 🪶🇨🇦

Calm seas yesterday enabled a seabird survey by boat in the Haro Strait. A few hundred Ancient Murrelets proved very enjoyable! #CanadianBirding

Canada’s first Taiga Flycatcher remains in Vancouver, >9000 km from its normal wintering range. Photos from last weekend, with a bonus Barrow’s Goldeneye. 🪶🇨🇦

Exceptional views of American Wigeon in Victoria yesterday! 🪶🇨🇦

Drake Ring-necked Duck in Victoria yesterday #CanadianBirding

American Wigeon x Green-winged Teal hybrid in Victoria’s Gyro Park this afternoon, along with both parent species #CanadianBirding

The Yucatán Peninsula yielded three species of trogon at the end of December: Black-headed, Slaty-tailed and Gartered Violaceous 🪶🇲🇽

I enjoyed spending time with this foraging male Hooded Warbler in Zona Arqueológica de Cobá on 27 December! 🪶🇲🇽

I spent two weeks birding in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula over the turn of the year. With 217 species seen, I have plenty of photos to share. Here’s a Green Heron for starters. 🪶🇲🇽

Vancouver offered good views of American Wigeon on Saturday, along with a Glaucous-winged Gull whose ringing history I’m awaiting #CanadianBirding

My 45-page report on migration monitoring at Rocky Point Bird Observatory in autumn 2025 is now available: rpbo.org/wp-content/u... #ornithology 🧪🌎🇨🇦

California Scrub-Jay has a tenuous foothold in Canada, occurring only in southern British Columbia, where it was first confirmed breeding in 2014. After some searching, I was pleased to see a pair in Vancouver yesterday. #CanadianBirding

Post-holiday desk work is a little easier when Varied Thrushes are eating berries outside my window! #CanadianBirding

Millions of bats spiralled up out of their roost as trillions of raindrops lashed down this evening in Calakmul! 🇲🇽🦇 #mammals

Black-headed Gull sightings just in. I ringed 2N05 in Southend-on-Sea on 03 January 2025. It was seen from April to June in a colony at Zwillbrocker Venn in Germany, just a whisker from the Dutch border. It had returned to Southend by August. 🧪🌍 #EssexBirding

Barrow’s Goldeneye and assorted geese from today’s Christmas Bird Count on the Saanich Peninsula #CanadianBirding

North American River Otter munching on a crab in North Saanich this afternoon #mammals

Ringing recovery: a Rufous Hummingbird I ringed in Metchosin, British Columbia, on 22 June was found in Angell, Arizona, on 12 August. The 1773 km between encounters is potentially less than 30% of the distance it should’ve covered, having been killed by a cat. 🧪🌎 #birdringing

Epic recovery report just received! ⚠️ A Turnstone I trapped using a homemade walk-in trap has been recaptured in the 🌍 world’s 🌎 northernmost continuously inhabited settlement. Ringed on 12 February 2024 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex 🇬🇧, it was re-trapped on 08 June 2025 in Alert, Nunavut… 🇨🇦 (🧵 1/2)

Female Varied Thrush ringed today 🇨🇦🪶

Red-breasted Nuthatch today. Or a miniature badger…? 🦡🪶🇨🇦

Male Red-shafted (Northern) Flicker ringed on southern Vancouver Island today. I always appreciate the intricate patterns of their tail coverts. 🇨🇦🪶

It was a record autumn for Spotted Towhee at Rocky Point, with 438 ringed. That’s 17 kg of biomass! Two subspecies were encountered: oregonus (common) and arcticus (rare). A key difference is that arcticus has more extensive white in the scapulars. 🇨🇦🪶🧪🌎

Varied Thrushes are everywhere at the moment! I saw at least 30 on my afternoon forest outing. This male was one of three ringed. #birdingBC

The travels of 2N04 continue. I ringed this Black-headed Gull in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, on 03 January. It spent July to September in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, before visiting Datchet, Berkshire, on 26 November. #EssexBirding

Many Northern Saw-whet Owls pass through Vancouver Island on their autumn migration to lower latitudes, but some will remain for the winter. This individual, trapped last night, was ringed here on 01 October. 🇨🇦🦉🧪🌎

Sixty Black Turnstones were feeding on the Whiffin Spit shoreline this evening 🇨🇦🪶

Owl feathers contain porphyrins, which fluoresce pink under ultraviolet light. Recently grown feathers fluoresce, while older feathers don’t, as porphyrins fade with age. First-year (1 flight feather generation) and second-year (2 generations) Northern Saw-whet Owls are pictured. 🇨🇦🧪🌎 #birdringing

It’s always nice to see a Bufflehead. These chaps were feeding in the Haro Straight on Wednesday. 🇨🇦🪶

Tidepooling in Victoria tonight produced a handful of nudibranchs, including this Spotted Leopard Dorid (Diaulula odonoghuei) 🇨🇦🌊🦑

I wrote an article on last month’s Salish Sea boat trip for the latest edition of BCnature magazine 🇨🇦🌊

Harlequin Duck enjoying the view of Mount Baker from southern Vancouver Island this afternoon 🇨🇦🪶

Goosing Canada style! 2K ‘white-cheeked geese’ to sift through at Martindale Flats on Vancouver Island today. Bulk of Ridgway's Cackling and Dusky Canada (22 neck collars read), with a single Snow. #CanadianBirding