Now and the next 4 weeks are the very best time of year to find Willow Tits, which are paired and defending territories. They're at their most vocal and obvious until the leaves come out. Report all certain sightings to county recorder and @birdtrack.bsky.social to help monitor remaining populations

First confirmed cases of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza Virus (HPAIV) on Gough Island represent one of the most geographically isolated detections of HPAIV to date. But how did it get there? Read on for a summary Full paper: doi.org/10.1080/2222... 🧪🪶🌍 #seabirds

Last night we fitted new tracking tech to Jack Snipe @StaffsWildlife Cuckoo Bank. The tags are Cellular Tracking Tech (CTT) and enable us to get live movements as they go. A big thanks to @pulsarvisionukroi.bsky.social who sponsored our first tag. This is a huge step for this species and us.

Wessex Stone-curlew Project Officer - RSPB - environmentjob.co.uk/jobs/109267-...

When your social media team have really lived life...

Happy Valentine’s Day, from us to you. Tag your exes. Xoxox

The RSPB is looking for surveyors to census the UK’s largest Storm Petrel colony on Mousa, Shetland. We need 2-4 volunteers who are comfortable working and camping in a remote location with limited facilities, to help complete playback surveys during mid-July 2026. 🪺🏝️🏕️

Please help to end the senseless harvesting of Gannets. It’s a ‘tradition’ that needs stopping. Please sign the petition which is already over 80,000 and I’m told the highest signed petition ever for a Scottish Parliament petition. #birdingScotland

There are few Baikal Teal (Sibirionetta formosa 花脸鸭 Huāliǎn yā) wintering at the Yellow River estuary in Shandong Province. Photo by "菜小hua". #birds #china #yellowriver

BREAKING: A Gamekeeper has pleaded guilty in England’s first-ever Hen Harrier persecution case. Covert video and audio gathered lawfully by the RSPB Investigations team has helped expose the deliberate targeting of a Hen Harrier, leading to a landmark guilty plea: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 👈

Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously! 4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE ⁦‪ MARK RUSKELL MSP‬⁩ ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!

Well today is a HUGE DAY for swifts in Scotland. I’ve travelled with my swift brick to witness Scottish Parliament in action & to thank ⁦‪@markruskell‬⁩ in person for his leadership. This evening swift bricks will be put to a vote. Will they pass into law? Watch this space!!

Bird Camps are back! 🙌 Apply for a FREE place now ➡️ www.bto.org/birdcamps If you’re a nature lover aged 11-17 (12-16 in Scotland) join us and fellow nature enthusiasts for a weekend of birding, exploring and nature-based activities. 🐦🦋 @scottishbirding.bsky.social

2025 has been confirmed as the third warmest year on record, following 2024 and 2023, in a series stretching back to 1850. Data from the Met Office, @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social and @ncas-uk.bsky.social shows 2025 was 1.41 °C above the average for 1850-1900. Read more 👉 bit.ly/3NkfQH9

Country diary 1926: Hunting the tide wrack for ringed birds

Siskins! 2024 was an ‘influx year’ & bird ringers caught & ringed 63,815 across the UK! This was the highest number ever recorded. 😮 Among birds caught in the UK were Siskins previously ringed as far away as Russia & the Czech Republic. 📖 www.bto.org/ringing-... 📷 Siskin by Graham Catley / BTO

Hear from Dr Ellie Leech, Head of our Ringing & Nest Recording Team, as she talks about positive breeding success for 14 species, and the value of data gathered by BTO bird ringers. #Ornithology

If there was ever a map to demonstrate how important the UK is for wintering wildfowl, this is it!

1/2 Thanks to all who visited their Heathland Birds Survey sites to record Woodlark, Dartford Warbler and Nightjar. An impressive 5,600 sites were allocated across the three species, providing us with a valuable update of their current breeding populations and distribution.

It's telling, isn't it, that Protection Officers are still required for Hen Harriers in northern England. Good opportunity here for some important raptor conservation fieldwork. Closing date for applications: 30 Jan 2026. #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/01/07/j...

Also true for ringed/banded birds at least in the Northern Hemisphere. Happy birthday to birds!

Tried my luck at various goose friendly fields around Bridport today in the hope of something other than the 13 Canada Goose that I saw... nothing ventured, nothing gained! 4 juv Mute Swan were a local bird though.

The Nanjizal 2025 summary is now online. The year had the second highest annual ringing total since ringing started 30 years ago @kesteraw.bsky.social nanjizalbirds.wordpress.com/2025/12/30/2...

We're hiring! Seasonal Research Assistant and Senior Research Assistant positions for 2026 🪶 Deadline: 11th Jan 26 Apply here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...

Absolutely shocking. We're offering an overall award of £10k for information that leads to a conviction in these cases. We need to make raptor persecution a thing of the past.

It's great when farmers do something for birds and then it works! Saw at least 12 Woodcock tonight and mostly in a stubble field which was left specifically for birds. Probably my favourite bird and a privilege to see up close. All ringed and released under @btobirds.bsky.social license.

A win for Swifts! Thanks to your support, Scotland might become the first UK country to require Swift nesting bricks in all new buildings. Today MSPs voted to include this in the Natural Environment Bill – now we must make sure it stays in the Bill through the final stage.

£54 million! 😮 That’s the estimated financial value of our incredible volunteers’ efforts in 2024. They contributed an estimated over 2.6 million hours to BTO work. 📝 A huge thank you to our amazing volunteers! #InternationalVolunteerDay 📷 Ben Igglesden / BTO

Good news! Earlier this year I shared reports that the land around the Cerne Abbas Giant was up for sale I’m delighted that, after lots of conversations, the land has now been bought by the National Trust (who already own the Giant): www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... bsky.app/profile/guys...

Are you an MSc student based at a UK university? Or do you know one? RSPB @rspbscience.bsky.social have just released their list of research projects for 2026: www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu... #ornithology #conservationscience 🌍

Huge thanks to Ian and the other ringers involved with colour ringing Cirl Buntings! So much to learn and please keep an eye out. Details on how to report here - cr-birding.org/node/7187

Pine Bunting seen briefly with mobile Yellowhammer flock at St Aldhelm's Head Quarry at 1030hrs & not relocated as of 1250hrs. Ltd parking available in Renscombe car park, otherwise park in Worth Mattravers village car park and walk down, staying out of private fields @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

For months, ministers have been pushing a false choice between nature and growth. Now, new research shows just how out of touch they are. With data from More In Common, it's time to set the record straight. 👇

I bought these old RSPB magazines for their CF Tunnicliffe cover pictures. They look so good together (with that delicious typeface!)

Worrying reports of bird flu (avian influenza) are coming in, including an outbreak in Whooper Swans in the Fens. Other waterbirds are also being affected, and cases are rising. 📷 Sick Whooper Swan by Kane Brides #UKBirding #BirdingWales #BirdingScotland

Last night, Peers voted against Swift bricks: rejecting a simple, proven way to help one of our fastest declining birds recover. ❌ We share @hannahbournetaylor.bsky.social's disappointment & frustration. The vote came late, but with government refusing to back it, its fate was already sealed.

This is VERY good news - the massive loophole that allows grouse moor owners & their gamekeepers to avoid sanction for killing birds of prey is about to be closed. #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime Discussion at @revivecoalition.bsky.social conf this w/e raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/03/b...

Our November e-Bulletin should be arriving in Member's inboxes this evening. Lots to enjoy and discover. Nature's Recovery, news of 3 firsts for Dorset and more. Not a member yet? Join here dorsetbirds.co.uk/membership/ Tx @joestockwell.bsky.social for the pic

Our colour ringing season at Lytchett Bay is off to a great start with 5 Water Pipit & 5 Rock Pipit marked (under license) already. Please look out for yellow (Water) and white (Rock) marked birds and report all sightings 🙏 #Dorsetbirds

Yesterday we trapped a Norwegian ringed Goldfinch, which was originally ringed on 6th August this year at Jomfruland Fuglestajion by a young girl, pictured with the bird. The map shows Fair Isle in blue & Jomfruland in red, a movement of over 600km! 📸 Alex Penn & Ola Nordsteien

Brilliant piece debunking the nonsense claim in the Daily Telegraph. But it’s dangerous nonsense, polarising attitudes & whipping up prejudice. The DTelegraph is such a shit newspaper. Oh, and the photo? Staged - captive eagle, already-dead lamb.

Take Swifts. Their numbers have plummeted by 68% in just 28 years. We're proud to stand with @hannahbournetaylor.bsky.social in calling for Swift bricks. Nesting spaces built into new homes would give these remarkable birds a future. Amendment 245: simple fix, huge impact. Surely a no-brainer?

Good news on Dorset Cirl Buntings continues to arrive. Early data from the breeding season confirms they are continuing to re-establish a population in the county. Please submit any outstanding records now. 🙏 In winter our focus switches to feeding flocks - please send us all sightings. 🙏

Thrilled to have the first Cirl Bunting colour ringed on Portland as part of a Dorset wide project to understand more about the species spread across the county. Please keep a look out and report any sightings. And huge thanks to all the ringers involved 💚. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part in the Heathland Birds Survey! 🙌 All remaining survey returns are urgently required, before 30th November, to inform future conservation action. If you need any help submitting your records please email [email protected]. Thank you!

Exasperated. Gutted. Furious. Terrified. Sometimes swear words are the only ones that fit. Our delightful government - who we put our trust in - is u-turning on THE easiest Nature action *ever*. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A quiet morning for ringing on the farm (nr Bridport) with grounded migrants starting to dwindle as the autumn goes on. But a few Goldcrest always brighten up a morning though. All 5 grammes of them!

Baikal Teal at Abbotsbury Swannery this afternoon with 500+ Teal. Flock very mobile. Swannery open 10am tomorrow. No entry before 10am. Doubtfully viewable from rights of way other than grounds. There is no right of way SE of tank traps on beach. If you walk beyond fence there everything will flush!

Announcing an exciting new event 🤩 🌿 Be the Future of Nature’s Recovery in Dorset & Beyond 📍 Bournemouth Uni 🗓️ Sat 22 Nov 1–6pm A free @btobirds.bsky.social x @bournemouthuni.bsky.social conference with Megan McCubbin, Paul Morton, Katiana Saleiko & more! 🙌🏻 More info👉🏻 www.bto.org/our-work/eve...

Confused by gulls? 🤔 Join our online Gull ID training sessions in November ➡️ www.bto.org/training Our two-part, online Gull ID course run by our expert team helps you build knowledge and confidence to make gull ID easier! #UKBirding #Ornithology