It's not every day you find a new native species for Scotland! Day 22 of my botanical #adventcalendar is Shiny Glasswort - a nationally rare plant never recorded in Scotland before Growing in a salt pan on the Forth Estuary - branching pattern, colour and flower size the ID clues #wildflowerhour

One to keep a sharp eye out for whenever you're in north-west Scotland. Distinguishing Narrow-leaved Marsh-orchid from the hybrids that often accompany this and other members of the genus can be a whole extra challenge though!

Two interesting recoveries of Puffins ringed on the Isle of May and reported from the Faroe islands in the last week. The blog has the story: isleofmaynnr.wordpress.com

GREAT NEWS in #conservation: the government of New Zealand has announced that they will include feral cats in their PredatorFree 2050 strategy, aiming to benefit #seabirds and landbirds across NZ by removing feral cats:

Hey seabird folks - have you ever thought "*ANOTHER* talk about <species X>?!" So did we. So we reviewed 3000 conference abstracts to see which species get the spotlight. Huge work from @ingridpollet.bsky.social with me and @seabirdsentinel.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Very cool new #seabird paper showing no difference in breeding success between healthy and black-eyed gannets, but a worrying overall decline in productivity following the #avianflu outbreak. 🦠🐣 Read the paper here 👉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #seabirds #ornithology

Still my favourite strand line discovery to date - a female Phronima sedentaria (‘monster in a barrel’) - Isles of Scilly, October 2023! An amphipod crustacean, she parasitises salps, devouring them from the inside, forming a vessel to raise her young 👽 #MarineLife 🦑 #ukwildlife

Great to find flowering Water Lobelia in a Scottish West Coast loch. A very rare species to find let alone during its flowering period. A really nice species to find! 🌿 #bsbi #aquaticplants #botany

No more Beewashing please! Why beekeeping doesn't help conserve bees. Pls RT if you agree. youtu.be/fiBYBmlKSYU

Boat guide, Sophie, captured this fantastic moment on the Isle of May last week - a razorbill chick being fed a (rather large!) fish🐟 Right now is the best time to see seabird chicks, with razorbills, guillemots, gannets & more all feeding their young regularly🍽️ 📷©️S Wilson

Had an amazing time on Eilean Nan Ròn last week as part of the BTO Seabird Grant 🌊 It was a great learning experience. Many Storm Petrels were ringed, Gull chicks and some other nice species. I can’t wait for more Island ringing in future 😊@btobirds.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social

New #UKCEH dataset published on how breeding seabirds spend their time and energy. These data will help us to model the potential impacts of any changes in seabird behaviour in response to new offshore windfarms catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/documents/07...

New study reveals albatrosses make distinct flight hops that are almost exclusively seen when following a vessel It could help manage bycatch risk for 'hidden' fisheries 👇 bit.ly/3G86yuN @mcem-oxford.bsky.social w/ @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social @marescience.bsky.social in @jappliedecology.bsky.social

🦆 Eider Update! 🐣 The Bird Team have been busy over the past 2 months monitoring our breeding Eiders. They’ve been mapping nests, recording clutch size and catching the females as part of a long-term project. So far this season they’ve found 76 nests, predominantly in bracken and heather… 1/4

Lovely to find lots of Transparent Burnet moths on cliff edges amongst Wild Thyme and other wildflowers in the Kintyre Peninsula whilst out doing fieldwork! ☺️ Such lovely moths!

Beach season open! 🐠💦 This is an encounter I had with a young cormorant last summer, I think I spent 3 days talking about it 😁. Impatient for what I will discover this year! I'll upload it all to minka-sdg.org #cormorant #birds #nature #wildlife #beach #birdlovers #birding #seabirds #ocean #explore

Breeding Eiders are starting to pick up on the Calf of Man now with females starting to lay across the island. Slowly getting my eye in to this rather cryptic species #ukbirding

Yesterday’s ‘star bird’ was this control Spotted Flycatcher, which had been ringed in Norway 🐦🇳🇴An amazing record!! #ukbirding #ManxNature

Found my 5th pipefish today (#speciesaday no. 581 is Snake Pipefish). A quick blog celebrating these 5 species here... analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2025/04/pipe...

The Svalbard ringed Purple Sandpiper at Redcar yesterday, now in its 11th year. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social @waderquest.bsky.social @northyorksbirds.bsky.social

Now this is exciting. Antonin and his team have just published a study showing that the number of migrating hoverflies through Czechia are positively correlated with the numbers of birds! Suggests that the birds are using the flies as fuel on migration. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....

Interested in seal diet, population size and haul out behaviour in Ireland? Funded PhD position at University College Cork. www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacanc... Application deadline 31st Jan.

Tysties aka The Black Guillemot in Oban, West Coast of Scotland ☺️ One of my favourite Seabirds. #Seabirdsunday #Blackguillemot

Please report all sightings of dead birds for possible testing for Avian Influenza. 📌In England, Wales & Scotland: www.gov.uk/guidance/rep... 📌In Northern Ireland: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/services/dae... 📌In Republic of Ireland: aviancheck.apps.services.agriculture.gov.ie/report #Ornithology #UKBirding

1/ Great news! 🎉BTO, JNCC and RSPB are making decades of Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data freely available for everyone in the conservation and research community. This includes over 7 million records! 📝 Find out more ⬇️ or read the paper➡️ bit.ly/_BBSData #Ornithology #UKBirding

Delighted that my #PhD #research at University of Stirling @stir.ac.uk features in this uplifting @theguardian.com article! Wonderful recognition of 30+ years of restoration action for montane willows across Scotland, spotlighting Ben Lawers @n-t-s.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The fluffiest European Storm Petrel Chick being weighed a few months ago in September on Nolsoy, Faroe Islands. 😍 #Seabirdsunday #StormPetrel #Seabirds

Exit polls With the recent news that redpolls are to be lumped into a single species, David Campbell reflects on these charming birds and the joy the rarer forms bring:

NE Scotland is vitally important for Mountain Hares - it's why we chose it as our logo! After a wild weekend, the weather looks quieter this week ahead - ideal for some surveying! Choose casual transects or dedicated square surveys: mammal.org.uk/current-rese... #mammals @btobirds.bsky.social

PhD Opportunity!! Come work with us (University of Exeter, RSPB & BTO) Diagnosing population decline in insectivorous birds. Inkd.in/eG58dQxs Contact me for more details ([email protected]). Please Share @britishbirds.bsky.social @ibisjournal.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social

Wisdom's still alive, she's back at her breeding grounds! This season she'll turn at least 74 years old. 🎉🎊💃

🌨️ Crunching through snow, wrapped up against the elements & feeling confident in your skills... Walking Scotland's hills in winter can be 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠, but it's vital to be prepared!🏔️ Here's our vice-president @snoweider.bsky.social's advice for fun winter days out: www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking-h...

Decades of artificial nests towards African penguin conservation—Have they made a difference? | besjournals.onlineli... | Ecological Solutions and Evidence | #ornithology #seabirds 🪶

Fluff ball update! Our last two Storm-petrel chicks in the nest boxes on Nólsoy (Faroe Islands) are SO CLOSE to fledging now. Here's some pics from Jens-kjeld on 28th November. Will they fledge this week?? Fledglings have been seen on Christmas Day before in the Faroes! #TeamPetrel #PetrelPhD

Two tree legends of Arran. These two are my real-life heroes. 💚🌳😍 www.heraldscotland.com/news/2476659...

‘I hope people will see my artwork and remember to protect nature!‘ Hi Bluesky 👋🦋 This is Benji and his mum Nish. We hope we can find our friends old and new 🥰 If you see this, we’d be so grateful if you’d like to share and say hello so we can find you 🙏 (All artwork by Benji, admin by Nish ☺️)

One very cute Frog on a comfy carpet of Reindeer moss 🌿 🐸

Found a bunch of lovely Snipe feathers amongst some heather bushes in a boggy habitat yesterday 🪶 🤩 #feathertreasure #feathercollector #snipe

Interested in cognition, conservation and choughs? This fully funded PhD opportunity is for you! @uniofexeter.bsky.social with me, Alex Thornton, Malcolm Nicoll, Liz Corry, Malcolm Burgess in collab with Wildwood Trust & @paradiseparkhayle.bsky.social. Apply: tinyurl.com/58s9kb4k

Meet the white-necked petrel (Pterodroma cervicalis). There’s a small population of 30-40 pairs that nest on Phillip Island (Norfolk Island 🇳🇫). The rest are in the Kermadec Islands. #Seabirds

This cover of the latest Butterfly Conservation magazine hit me hard. It’s a perfect backdrop for a meadow brown or common blue, but your eye frantically looks for any sign of life in this picture. Where have all the butterflies gone? 😔 #bigbutterflycount

Live #seabirds #shearwaters continue to wash up in eastern #Australia. This means the #wreck event is ongoing. Please send us your #BeachedBird #CitizenScience data! Here’s how ➡️ adriftlab.org/news/reporti...

Bog Pimpernel, Lysimachia tenella. Vegetative features. Round, ungrooved, slender stems. Stems root at the nodes. Leaves usually opposite, up to 5mm, three-veined. Short petioles.

As the season of giving approaches, may I suggest to all parents and grandparents that they give their budding little scientists the best gift of all - a x10 hand lens. I got my first one when I was around ten years old and it opened up a whole world of wonder. It's a weapon of mass education...

Fulmars & Puffins 💫 🌊 #seabirdsunday #seabirds #Fulmar #Puffin

Cute content warning 📣 Orford Ness has welcomed its first grey seal pup of the year 🦭 Read more about it in the news here 🗞️https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyd008py4no And here's our handy guide to learning more🧵 👇

This is the first bird extinction in mainland Europe in 500 years. 1400 birds are globally threatened with extinction. 230 are Critically Endangered. The Slender-billed Curlew is just the latest in over 200 bird extinctions since 1500. 😢🪶🧪

Super cool research from @wildcru.bsky.social - Ethiopian wolves doing pollination work. Wolfination work. esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 🧪 🦊 🐝 🌸

We're recruiting for an exciting new #PhD project in #mountain #woodland restoration! "The genetic diversity & adaptive potential of mountain birch in Scotland for high-altitude nature recovery" hosted by CEH, University of Stirling & Forest Research. Apply here: iapetus2.ac.uk/studentships...