Want to learn what birds are singing? Join our Bird Sound ID in Early Spring training course ➡️ www.bto.org/training #Ornithology

February brings us closer to the return of bumblebees – you might be lucky enough to see some this month 🤞 Bumblebee queens emerge from hibernation in spring. Keep your eyes peeled this month for early emerging Tree and Buff-tailed bumblebees 👀 Have you spotted your first bumblebee of 2026?

Not surprised to see House Sparrow in top spot for our @bto-gbw.bsky.social last year (100% recording rate!). Such an easy way to get involved with citizen science, and knowing that our records are making a difference (we had Greenfinch for the first time last year!) @hughhanmer.bsky.social #ukbirds

1/ Spotted Flycatchers are in trouble, declining by 92% in the UK between 1967 and 2020. New work led by @cateden91.bsky.social & involving BTO has revealed the importance of rivers for the survival of this Red-listed migratory species. ⬇️ #Ornithology 📖 www.bto.org/Spotted-Flyc...

For all the #nightjar enthusiasts out there - www.globalnightjar.org/post/size-ma...

(1/) This week’s featured square is a difficult one to get to! It is a two hour walk from the closest civilisation, and if the tide isn’t right, it is a much longer walk! Read on to find out more… @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social

(1/) This week’s featured vacant BBS square is situated just northwest of Buckingham in Buckinghamshire. There are plenty of similar vacant squares across the UK at present, so please read on to find out more! @btobirds.bsky.social JNCC RSPB Science #Ornithology

📢 We're looking for a PhD student to focus on habitat use of wintering Curlew in and around coastal SPAs. Apply now ➡️ bit.ly/CurlewPhD The student will be based at @ljmuofficial.bsky.social and BTO, starting in October 2026 for four years. 📆 Deadline to apply: Wednesday 18 February #Ornithology

We're looking for some help to classify the final images for our project with Mammal Web. You'll be asked to identify species in gardens during our NE pilot study to help monitor garden wildlife using camera traps. Plus there's a chance of winning a camera trap. Each image counts as one entry!

Back out doing some @btobirds.bsky.social #BirdRinging this morning. Nice variety on a steady morning, and the woofs did a good job supervising as always. Thanks to @arcanelove.bsky.social and @hughhanmer.bsky.social for running the session. All birds ringed under licence.

Large-scale #acoustic surveys across 448 European #hedgerows showed tall, tree-rich, well-connected hedges boost bat 🦇 activity. Low-intensity trimming (like pollarding) outperforms heavy coppicing benefiting #biodiversity across farms 🌍 Paper: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...

Can you help us fill the remaining vacant sites for the International Swan Census on 17-18 January? 🦢 Find and request a site at app.bto.org/gsmp/public/... Thank you! #UKBirding

First bird of 2026 was a Woodpigeon stomping around our holiday garden in the Lakes. Having found some seed in the cupboard, we put some out to see who else we might attract. Very sad this isn't my @bto-gbw.bsky.social garden, clocked up 12 species in a short time. @hughhanmer.bsky.social #UKBirding

Who says Christmas is just for human families? Today we met up with Freya's dad and brother (Wish's half brother and nephew). Here they are after our beach walk taking in some WW2 history in north Cumbria #BorderColliesOnTour

Was not expecting to spend Christmas Eve in glorious sunshine! Having a fab few days up north exploring, some new places and some I've been to many years ago! #Birds seen today include Tysties, Hoodies and Loons, but the Beavers are still staying hidden! @hughhanmer.bsky.social

Visit up north and popped in to see the World's tallest bedded Christmas Tree! Fab day with the "almost-in-laws" @hughhanmer.bsky.social Well done @nationaltrust.org.uk for a superb Christmas display!

Join us for the Welsh Raptor Convention in January! Find out more and book a space at www.bto.org/RaptorConvention2026

BTO Archives hold a range of material relating to the work and history of BTO and UK ornithology, plus personal papers and photographic material from key figures in ornithology and bird photography. 🐦 This includes Ronald M. Garnett’s notebooks & archives of the Reverend Maurice Bird (1857–1924).

We are delighted to see the GCSE in Natural History highlighted in the just-published government’s Environment Improvement Plan. Never has it been more important than to teach the next generation about the natural world. We protect what we love, we love what we know and we know what we are taught.

I'll be closing my jewellery order book tmrw at 10pm- LAST CHANCE to order my individually handmade silver casts of real flowers & tiny wearable sculptures of birds in time for🌲(I ship to the US too) Designs include blackbird, snowdrop,wild carrot, bluebell, jay feather: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/silv...

1/ The UK Biodiversity Indicators, some using BTO data, have been updated by Defra and @jncc.bsky.social ➡️ jncc.gov.uk/our-work/uk-... Here’s how BTO contributes to these indicators, which show the state of #biodiversity, its pressures and conservation responses. ⬇️

Emma Turner (1867-1940) was a pioneering bird photographer, and the only woman to put her name to a letter published in The Times announcing the formation of the BTO in July 1933. This #ExploreYourArchive day is #pets themed, and Emma Turner kept dogs throughout most of her life. 🐾

It would be so helpful if you could RT my post above about last🌲orders for my casts of real flowers & tiny bird jewellery in my etsy shop. The algorithm isn't so kind to small businesses here & a RT will help me put my Etsy shop in front of more eyes. I'd appreciate it so much, thankyou 🌿

We’re looking for keynote speaker nominations for the #BOU Avian Disease Ecology conference in 2027. Please share widely! 🪶🧪 bou.org.uk/event/avian-...

GBW data has been used in many scientific papers over the past 30 years. Blackcaps now frequently overwinter in the UK. A paper published in 2015, using GBW data, connected the provision of winter food to both behavioural & phenotypical changes. Read more at bit.ly/WileyGBW 📷 Philip Croft / BTO

Discover more about our work monitoring raptors and Ravens in Wales and how you can get involved at www.bto.org/get-involved...

Such an amazing place to work from!

📢Looking for counters for the International Swan Census (ISC) on the weekend of 17th-18th January 2026 in West Inverness/Wester Ross and the Isle of Skye. @btoscotland.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social #UKBirding

So proud of @hughhanmer.bsky.social who passed the Silver Good Citizen Award with Wish, after only attending 3 training sessions! Freya also passed (not sure how!) #BorderCollie #DogTraining

The world of natural history #museums is a surprisingly strange one. What goes on behind the scenes? Why do they mostly display the same things? Where did they get all their stuff? How do they help save the world? Have a watch of my talk about my book, #NaturesMemory here!👇

1/ 📢Looking for counters and a Local Organiser for the International Swan Census (ISC) on the weekend of 17th-18th January 2026 in Nottinghamshire. Visit the vacant site map to request a site near you: app.bto.org/gsmp/public/... #UKBirding #Ornithology

Looks like we’re not the only ones that think #DefyingGravity is cool with #Wicked For Good hitting cinemas!🧙✨ While Elphaba uses a broomstick, #Birds have impressive physical attributes, such as streamlined bodies & lightweight skeletons, so they can take to the sky. ➡️ www.bto.org/learn/ab...#DefyingGravity

📣 #Manchester! Join @mcsuk.bsky.social for a FREE community screening of #Ocean with David Attenborough 🌊 📍 The Whitworth, M15 6ER 📆 3 December 2025 🕔 From 17:00 All ages welcome - book your ticket below and email [email protected] with any access needs 👇 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ocean-with...

We're now starting to get reports of dead Whooper Swans with rings. If you find a dead bird & feel comfortable doing so - check for rings using the below @btobirds.bsky.social advice 👇🏻 Collecting information on ringed birds helps better understand the impact on different age groups.

From one of the largest, to the smallest birds we ringed today! Nice to ring with other people, learning new and sharing skills. All birds ringed under @btobirds.bsky.social licence, with @hughhanmer.bsky.social #BirdRinging

If you’re thinking of a job in the outdoors, in science, wanting to make a difference then this one could be for you. For #GreenCareersWeek discover more about the amazing work experience placements offered by @btobirds.bsky.social c-js.uk/49ebCtk

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

Join BTO Youth and the Essex Birdwatching Society for a brilliant and FREE bird ringing demonstration at Wat Tyler Country Park on 15 November. www.bto.org/our-work/eve... #ornithology #ukbirds 📷Robin by Alice Marlow / BTO (bird handled under licence)

🚨 Only 30 places left for #NBNconf25 ! With 2 weeks to go, we’re nearly full — book now to join us in Bristol! 🐝🌿 🎤 Programme & speakers: bit.ly/NBNconf25 #Biodiversity #Data #Networking

One exhausted girly! Only our second #Obedience show, and another place! We then had an overdue catch up with a friend, so she spent the afternoon being sociable. #CleverCollies Hilariously, the show was down as Diss Obedience Show 🤣

One of my favourite garden birds! If you have them visiting your garden, please sign up to @bto-gbw.bsky.social to help monitor their population in your area.

Have you booked your place yet? Grab your ticket to our 2026 Annual Conference & join us for a full day of inspiring talks on a range of topics, from Nightjars and Curlews, to Blackbirds and seabirds. We'd love to see you there! 😀 #Ornithology Find out more and book ➡️ www.bto.org/our-work...#Ornithology

We are looking for new footage & photographs of Curlews to use to help us create engaging and beautiful information to share far and wide! If you have some bits you wouldn't mind us using with credit, please get in touch and we will add your photos to our Curlew database!

So well deserved! Both these individuals have played a part in where I am today - Heather via her amazing work on the Welsh Ringing Course (which I attended many moons ago!) and Geoff for entrusting me to monitor his Pied Flycatcher boxes until I relocated to East Anglia.

Diolch i @birdsinwales.bsky.social for letting me return to my Welsh roots and speak about @bto-gbw.bsky.social today. Great to catch up with folks and learn more about #WelshBird recording and how everyone can contribute!

Traffic jams meant I missed the #Starlings this evening in #Aberystwyth. Chattering away while I waited for my chips though! Looking forward to catching up with folks at the @birdsinwales.bsky.social conference tomorrow!

Lovely to finally make an effort to ring the local House Sparrow population in our garden. 19 of the 30+ flock now have some bling! Whether we ever catch them again remains to be seen! 😜 All ringing under licence and supervised by @hughhanmer.bsky.social #SuffolkBirds

Congrats to all the winners at the @btobirds.bsky.social Marsh Awards this evening! #Birds

Baby #Hedgehog found out in the open at lunchtime today. Taken to local rescue as far too small to be out and about, and a dead sibling also found 😥. Then, girls just found another bigger one! Max count 1 for @bto-gbw.bsky.social this week, but that's 4 (as we had a big one a few days ago too!)

(1/) Hi, I’m David, and I help to run the BBS social media channels. This #DyslexiaAwarenessWeek, I am sharing something about myself, rather than the usual BBS posts, in order to raise awareness of my mild learning difficulties.