So lovely to meet our new cohort of marine biology and ecology undergraduates @universityofessex.bsky.social. What a lovely bunch! And deff winning the highest jump there Michael Steinke!!

Response on the captive Turtle Dove releases from Operation Turtle Dove #conservation operationturtledove.org/captive-rele...

UK rice fields - I aired this idea for diversification a decade ago - with alternative motives 🦆https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1wgeq702dyo.amp

Great article in Harvard Business Review on the emergence of 'AI-generated workslop'. Marking student work, reviewing grants, papers etc now takes much longer as I can no longer assume that cited references a) exist or b) are relevant to a potentially spurious case study share.google/GVKpoOVe48Rb...

1/ The Wild Bird Indicators, using BTO data, have been updated today by Defra! ⬇️ Sadly, the ‘all bird species’ index, comprising the population trends of 130 species, has been in a slow continuous decline in the UK since the 1970s, down by 18% and by 4% in the last five years. 📉 #Ornithology

It's absolutely astonishing: In just about 13 years, Norway has skyrocketed from virtually no sales of zero-emission battery electric vehicles to nearly 100% of all new passenger car purchases.

New issue of #BirdStudy out today! Birds on solar farms Numbers of released Pheasants & Partridges Woodlarks & Meadow Pipits in Central Europe Hawfinch supplementary feeding Black-billed Cuckoo diet Serengeti Secretarybirds Tracking Lesser Flamingos www.tandfonline.com/toc/tbis20/c... #ornithology

Is male aggression good or bad for populations under heatwaves? Find out in our recently published article onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

@neelamporwal.bsky.social has just published this work on interacting eco-evo feedbacks between heatwaves and sensual selection on population dynamics - first output from an exciting project with a team inc @jacek-radwan.bsky.social @robknell.bsky.social #ecology #evolution

A tad early to not be out in the field, but I have #book company, off to @anglianwater.bsky.social #partnerships day #water #wildlife #people #wetlands

Today was my last Abberton visit until 10th October & it wasn't bad despite a bit of a clear-out. Glossy Ibis, albeit distant, in Wigborough bay was new and also on site today 8 Curlew Sands, 13 Spot Reds, 3 Dunlin, 31 Spoonbill, 26 Ruff, 3 Hobby, 2 LR Plover & all the usual wildfowl #essexbirding

Calling all nature enthusiasts! 🐦 Sign up to our newsletter for #Birds in Greenspaces, our exciting new project that launches next Spring and focuses on publicly accessible greenspaces! 😀 Sign up to our newsletter for the latest updates and resources ➡️ www.bto.org/get-involved... #Ornithology

How freakosystems are becoming the norm #ecology #nature theweek.com/environment/...

Aberdeen Becomes UK’s First City to Welcome Back Red Squirrels — Conservation Efforts Pay Off thescottishfeed.substack.com/p/aberdeen-b...

Started this a few weeks back, loved the way concepts and examples are outlined, will post some excerpts as I tread along 🤗🤗

Fully funded PhD working on insectivorous bird declines with a broad range of stakeholders. Starting ASAP #ornithology #zoology #biodiversity #science #ecology www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...

@neelamporwal.bsky.social ‘s talk about estimating extinction risks under sexual selection using simulations, at PEC2025 won the first prize for the best student talk. So, should animals swipe right for survival?🐧

There wasn't much new at Abberton today, but still plenty to see. Wigborough Church had 2 Spot Flies and at the reservoir 35 Curlew Sand, 5 Little Stint, 45 Ruff, 26 Spoonbill, LR Plover, 400 Sand Martin, Hobby, Peregrine & all the expected wildfowl #essexbirding

The @conservatives.bsky.social have a new #Nature and #Environment #policy strategy - "Paradise Regained" - all-party support is required for Nature recovery so this is welcome - the title might play to nationalism trends - but paragraph 5 of the intro is not helpful www.cen.uk.com/paradise-reg...

Unexplained pivot from INNS to rewilding but ... Introduced large herbivores more negative than positive on native biodiversity #ecology www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The day paradise put up a parking lot This local semi-wild riverside meadow being despoiled with artificial surfaces Apparently to help people walk & cycle through nature

Conservation is not a simple solution to climate change “ecological benefits of rewetting drained boreal peatland forests come at a climate cost restoration is unlikely to mitigate climate change” Stopping emissions is the only failsafe solution link.springer.com/article/10.1...

It was rough at Abberton today to say the least, but with persistence there were some good birds to see, including a very distant Grey Phalarope in hide bay. Also 50 Spoonbill, 38 Curlew Sandpiper, 7 Little Stint, 7 Greenshank, 32 Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Dunlin, 2 Hobby, 95 Common Tern & Raven.

More evidence of the scale of human impacts: new study documents 220 extinctions (incl. 27 birds) on Macaronesia (Azores, Madeira, Canaries, Cape Verde etc). Post-human colonisation extinction rate >12 times higher. Paper doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf215. Story: www.birdguides.com/articles/ext...

Well done Mary for bringing the issues in your books mainstream - but note Foxes are culled extensively and those protecting Curlew suggest better effort management, and considering special licence for badgers may be needed #ecology #conservation #predation www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Russian drones violated Polish airspace on the night of Sept 9/10 in what NATO & European officials have suggested was an intentional Russian incursion.The large number of Russian drones that violated Polish airspace suggests that this was likely an intentional Russian effort. understandingwar.org

#BirdStudy welcomes submissions on all aspects of #ornithology, eg. distribution/abundance patterns; movements/dispersal; habitat effects; census, marking & tracking, behaviour; conservation. Main focus Europe, Atlantic, Afro-Palearctic Flyway, N Africa, but useful papers considered from any region.

The Great British Beach Clean is back! 🐚This nationwide event brings thousands together to clean up beaches and collect vital data on marine litter. In 2024, over 764,000 pieces of litter were removed by volunteers. Support cleaner beaches, healthier oceans, and stronger environmental action.

Does civil disobdedience work? Fascinating report on the effectiveness of the Swedish Restore Wetlands campaign, which "successfully transformed a relatively unknown environmental issue into a national talking point through strategic civil disobedience" www.socialchangelab.org/restore-wetl...

Many millions of oyster (spat) to be returned to the wash and and north sea - many wont survive and that is a serious barrier but iblike the ambition #seawilding www.fakenhamtimes.co.uk/news/2545326...

#Wildlife population counts are only population size estimates, always wrong but some more than others - here technology suggests 50% out! www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-09...

Since this is apparently a resigning matter, I’ll just leave this here… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

What a great and welcoming community at #BESMove2025! Was a real pleasure to share a cultural perspective on #bird #migration based on field and tracking studies of raptors and shorebirds.

To defend against Russia - consider #wetland #restoration www.france24.com/en/europe/20...

The simplistic idea that we can just add certain species - soil inoculation, reintroductions for rewilding - and the ecosystem will be restored, is rife but we need to change the game, not just the players

*Special issue contribution* Eurasian curlews strongly avoid nesting near a major road passing through the study site, despite the habitat being suitable for breeding, underscoring how human-altered landscape features can override habitat suitability. ➡️ vist.ly/44urj #ornithology #birds 🪶

Great trip to #Bergen to see my brother and follow up on tip off on fast emerging sea Bass populations in Fana, Bergen and further north Fjords #Norway - turns out this has been happening some 20+ years but now more common - plan to be working with IMS and UiB and of course @otolithgirl.bsky.social

In talking about nature recovery, we have to remember how much has been lost in a very short time Our map of loss of chalk grassland, heathland & woodland in Dorset over less than a century doi.org/10.1111/ecog...

Rewetting peat, burning for breaks and misinformation - its got it all this one #uplands #fire #land #ecology www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

One a year could maybe be a threshold, but not a maximum, we sit on so much unpublished valuable work already www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-worl...

Aedes mosquitoes are widely predicted to feature during UK spring/summer by 2050...other species of ticks and biting insects will join them. Chikungunya, Zika, dengue, malaria, Orupouche, CCHF, West Nile... Antivirals and vaccines desperately needed. www.bbc.com/news/article...

I put it to you that deer #hunting, and consumption on vension, whether deer are over populated or not IS NOT controversial 😱 and is fully compatible with nsture revovery and #conservation @itvnews.bsky.social www.itv.com/news/channel...

This is a lino cut from @richardallenart.bsky.social of one of my favourite birds - the whistling wigeon - today began the journey of a new project on this species I am very excited about - #PhD opportunities - watch this space - artwork available here buyart.mallgalleries.org.uk/recent-exhib...

How robust is current hunting bag data, and can we rely on it to manage sustainable harvest of UK waterbirds? For most species, it's pretty good, but released mallard🦆🦆can confuse the picture Recent collaboration with @ecoevoenviro.bsky.social and Matt Ellis

Working with wildcats 🥾 Despite instances of gamebird disturbance by wildcats, we're very grateful for the cooperation of many gamekeepers, who support with land access and monitoring 📷 This year, @naturescot.bsky.social produced crucial guidance for land managers ➡️ bit.ly/GamebirdGuidance

Despite the heat, there were birds to see at Abberton today. Best were a Wood & 10 Green Sandpiper, 6 Ruff, 255 Blackwit, 4 Greenshank, 4 Ringed & 8 LR Plover, Snipe, 95 Little & 26 GW Egret, lots of Chiffs & Whitethroats, 3 Grey & 40+ Yellow Wagtails #essexbirding

New #OA paper showing the importance of anadromous trout for recruitment-and in turn-for keeping our #rivers connected! Combines #kinship analysis with SNPs with a new method for identifying maternal strategy using carbon #isotopes in the eye #lens core. 1/4 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Out last week - our #evidence review and assessment for @jncc.bsky.social of the #data and methods for assessing #sustainability of wild waterbird #harvest from recreational #hunting in the United Kingdom #wildlife #people led by @jomadden.bsky.social with Matt Ellis & myself #ecology #policy

Time to #sackJFK #JFKyourefired