Our new paper in PNAS, led by Megan Power: a large-scale study of telomere shortening in relation to reproductive costs in bats. Photo of one of the greater horseshoe bats we studied at Woodchester mansion by Hetty Metcalfe.

The female blue-winged teal on the Hayle Estuary showed well today.

A dream send off organised by my former PhD students, with people travelling from as far as Boston MA and Poland, and videos from Australia and NZ. I am so proud of them.

At least 2 snow bunting on the Island at St Ives recently, and the drake lesser scaup at Helston Boating Pond.

A privilege to receive a Distinguished Service Award for 40 years of continuous service at the University of Bristol.

Photoshop's AI did a decent job of removing a barbed wire fence above the bird's head and a fencepost close to its tail.

Interesting subspecies: steppe grey shrike and Greenland white-fronted goose in Cornwall. Only 15,000 geese remain after being hit by climate change. The shrike's taxonomy is debated, though is currently recognised as conspecific with the great grey shrike.

Some good birds in Cornwall at present including photogenic lesser yellowlegs and ring-necked duck.

Great sea watch from St Ives on Saturday with great views of at least 6 first-cycle long-tailed skuas.

Chysauster Ancient Village was great to see and hosted a splendid wryneck.

Great to see two phalarope species close up on the same pool.

Ones to watch our for in the future: glossy ibis (29), osprey and white-tailed eagle at Chew Valley Lake.

Smart red-belted clearwing in the garden today.

New paper from the lab led by Raphael Reinegger: surveying macaques by using thermal cameras on drones. Raphael's work was covered by Science in March. www.science.org/content/arti...

RIsso’s dolphins.

Alpine accentor in beard lichen, Aire Point, West Cornwall.

Sparrowhawk eating a feral pigeon, Lyme Regis.

My last practical class! A great one to finish with and a gift of coasters containing vole bones in resin from the tech team. A peregrine did a flyby as I left the building. I'm not going yet - a new research project on ageing started on the same day.

A splendid male hawfinch.

The Cornwall booted eagle showing its 'landing lights' when viewed front-on.

Congratulations to Roger Ransome! www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2024/de...

How to deter bats from smooth surfaces (that might include solar panels) led by Hungarian colleagues Nor Amira Abdul Rahman and Sándor Zsebők, with the graph showing stronger echoes when strings are placed over a smooth surface making the surface more apparent to echolocating bats.

I was privileged to write an invited commentary on a 3-volume biography of the remarkable Donald Griffin by Carolyn Ristau. Photo is of Griffin at the Symposium Jurine in Geneva, 1994.

New paper led by Ana Margarida Augusto and involving collaborations with 3 former PhD students who are all now leading academics in the field. Describing the optimal landscape for suppression of pine processionary moths by bats.

Pipits at Marazion. First two are of a splendid water pipit, showing the white outer tail feathers nicely. Last photo is of a rock pipit for comparison.

Great to see choughs on The Island in St Ives. One seems to be swallowing a leatherjacket. Slavonian grebe off Marazion too.

Black-necked grebes.

The standout Azorean gull at Newlyn, the long-staying snow bunting at Longrock, and dolphin calves in St Ives bay.

Our new paper, part of Lizy Tinsley's PhD thesis, shows how solar farms are sited in England with regard to protected areas and priority habitats, emphasising the importance of careful planning regulations. So much still to do in making solar farms more friendly to biodiversity!

Azorean gull, Newlyn Harbour with reflections of fishing boats.

My first Bluesky post - snow bunting and turtle dove in Cornwall.