61 Bar-tailed Godwits in high tide roost at Bran Sands (rocks nr Paddy's Hole). Eider, Merganser, Red-throated Diver, Guillemot and an influx of Shags in river mouth. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social .

Grey Herons of Locke Park, Redcar (1/2) @teesbirds.bsky.social @teeswildlife.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

Saltholme PM: Barnacle, White-fronted & Tundra Bean geese, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Cetti's Warbler @teesbirds.bsky.social

Climate crisis = wetter winters for Britain. 6 of 10 wettest winters in past 250 yrs have been this century. Every 1C temperature rise = 7% more atmospheric moisture. By 2050, 1 in 4 properties & half rail network at risk from flooding. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Avocet, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, Great White Egret, Water Pipit: Saltholme area 14.00 @teesbirds.bsky.social

Today was the first time this year when spring felt it might be on its way. At Locke Park lake, Redcar, the Grey Herons have begun repairing their nests and the Gadwall are looking particularly dapper. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social @teeswildlife.bsky.social

At least 5 territorial Cetti's Warblers at Bowesfield NR as well as the Scaup @teesbirds.bsky.social

The most Reform UK X bio ever?

The weather was calmer today but weeks of rough seas whipped up by easterly winds have punched a hole in the Heugh breakwater at Hartlepool Headland.

2 Short-eared Owls, Cowpen Bewley Road 13:20 @teesbirds.bsky.social

Hartlepool Headland 10.00-11.30; good scattering of Red-throated Divers (20+), GC Grebes, Guillemots on sea, a couple of Shags now with crests, a few Eider but v little moving. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Spread out dolphin pod moving v slowly N, Hartlepool Headland 10.30 @teesbirds.bsky.social

Not discussed here👇 is the risk attached to introducing novel predators to habitats of international importance for invertebrates, eg Norfolk 'pingos'. Frog fanatics tend to be v single-minded about 'their' species but potential impact on 100s of others, many highly threatened, must be considered.

New poll finds Labour’s anti-nature rhetoric is costing voter trust. After Keir Starmer called environmental protections misguided, 19% of 2024 Labour voters are less likely to vote Labour again. Attacking wildlife protections is not a winning strategy. www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/anti-na...

We don’t need crypto

The remains of Neville Castle, a late medieval hunting lodge at Manor Vale, Kirkbymoorside, N Yorkshire. The surrounding ancient woodland has a rich flora with Toothwort, Lily-of-the-Valley and Green Hellebore.

For the sake of balance, maybe we should remain open to the possibility that replacing grass with blades of plastic coated in chemicals linked to cancer, thyroid, liver + kidney disease, + inviting our children to play on it is a good idea?

Bishopthorpe Parish Council want to sell a small wildlife oasis hosting rare wildflowers like Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem to a developer. This field belongs to the people of Bish who cherish its wildlife. Please sign this petition to stop them doing this. Thanks 😊 c.org/syGKBRcGBY

Our Biological Flora on Wood Crane's-bill is out in @journalofecology.bsky.social. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... A team effort w/ @ruthsk.bsky.social @sandravarga.bsky.social @spp-rich.bsky.social @duncanwestbury.bsky.social, irina Tatarenko & artist Lucy Hulmes on pen and ink.

Rough sea and little moving at Hartlepool Headland late morning. Small numbers of Gannets, handful of Kittiwakes, Red-throated Divers, Common Scoter. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Cormorant, Albert Park, Middlesbrough. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

Cloud inversion from Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire, today. Almost as if the sea had come back to this ancient reef.

My contribution the growing collection of Albert Park Otter photos. Apparently 3 different animals there today! This one was catching one Roach after another. @teesbirds.bsky.social @teeswildlife.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

Reform candidate in Redcar council byelection withdraws following "racist, antisemitic, xenophobic" social media posts. Whoever would have guessed such people are drawn to Reform UK? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Measly fine for the ex head keeper of Conistone and Grassington Estate for illegal persecution of Hen Harriers. Needs lifetime shotgun ban, better still vicarious liability so that estates where this goes on can be held accountable. www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/2580861...

2 Water Pipits from screen nr Saltholme hide, 14.30 @teesbirds.bsky.social

Hartlepool Headland 11-12: 13 Red-throated Divers, 10 Great Crested Grebes on sea; not much passing, v small numbers Common Scoter, Shag, Kittiwake. Harbour Porpoise, Harbour Seal. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Just received 2 vols of Queney & Prevost's Coléoptères Aquatiques de France via Pemberley Books. Text French but superb, clear photos of both whole insect and diagnostic features. Tome 2 covers families for which there isn't a modern @royentsoc.bsky.social key, including Hydraenidae & Dryopidae.

I know I keep writing about this,but the level of delusion is staggering. How do so many people think Reform will 'save the country' when it’s led by defected Tories from the worst cabinet in UK history?It’s not change, just same failures,new logo,and people cheering like it’s a revival,not a rerun.

Suella only defected to Reform because the Vlad The Impaler Flay 'Em Alive And Burn Their Entrails Party hasn't been invented yet.

One of the Otters was being incredibly obliging on Albert Park Lake, M'bro, at lunchtime, popping up a few metres from the bank. I forgot the camera, so here's a couple of Cormorants instead. Also Goosander x2, Gadwall. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

Among all the other madness this is going completely under the radar. Trump has thrown the Syrian Kurds under the bus again, enabling jihadist forces to besiege Kurdish enclaves during brutal winter weather. The people of Kobane turned tide against ISIS in 2015 but have been abandoned by the west.

Hartlepool Headland 12.30 to 14.30: decent movement of seabirds southwards. Steady stream of Razorbills and Guillemots, 30+ Gannets, 1 Great Northern Diver, 14 Red-throated. Small numbers Fulmar, Kittiwake, GC Grebe, Common Scoter. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Little Auk S past Hartlepool Headland 12.40 with group of Razorbills @teesbirds.bsky.social

Spoonbill, Little Egret, Black-tailed Godwit at Tidal Pool 11.15 @teesbirds.bsky.social

Sleazy Ben, who gave away 90% of Teesworks after more than £500 million public investment in the site, says he won't defect to Reform because he's concerned about their "economic competence" 🤣.

Help us make hope normal again. Join the Green Party now.

Chiffchaff in scrub line leading to viewpoint at Coatham Marsh NR 13.10. Elusive but calling. Little else except unseen Water Rail calling. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

Water Pipit right in front of Saltholme Pools hide 12:00 @teesbirds.bsky.social

Albert Park is close to the centre of Boro, surrounded by urban development and roads. A small beck enclosed by concrete walls runs by the lake but it goes through extensive culverts (underground pipes) both upstream and downstream. Shows how adaptable Otters can be!

Part of the Line Ponds on Skipwith Common in Vale of York. These are where flax would be retted (soaked) to extract the fibre for spinning into linen. Retting flax or hemp was a polluting activity, kept away from village water supplies. 'Tow dykes' elsewhere on the Common had a similar function.

Missed the White-tailed Eagle but had an enjoyable couple of hours at North Duffield Carrs in the wonderful Lower Derwent Valley today, with Whooper Swan, Pink-footed Goose, Scaup, Spotted Redshank, Peregrine & Marsh Harrier among many other birds. @nybirdnews.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

2 Corn Buntings singing by A19 just N of Thormanby nr Thirsk. @nybirdnews.bsky.social

How about some good news? We got some indications that offshore windfarms can actually improve underwater ecosystems and diversify aquatic life. 🧪🌊 Link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The Norwegian government is staying fairly quiet for now, but as a sign of the shifting vibe here the former head of Norway’s armed forces has come out and called the US a “neo-fascist banana republic” and a “hostile great power without norms”. www.dn.no/politikk/tid...

If you're yet to order our new book 'The Birds of the Lower Derwent Valley' please use the e-mail address below to place a pre-order and secure yourself a copy 📖🐦🦉🦆, with all proceeds to go directly into the Friends of the #LDV charity @yorkbirding.bsky.social [email protected]

A real shame if this photo went viral again today.

Donald Trump treats the international stage like a schoolyard playground, attempting to bully and brute force other countries into compliance with his imperialist agenda. The UK cannot continue to appease an erratic, unreliable leader under the guise of a "special relationship."

14.30 Bydales: 10 Red-throated Divers, 33 Eider, 11 Common Scoter, 3 Red-breasted Merganser @teesbirds.bsky.social

3 drake Goosander on Stewart Park lower lake @teesbirds.bsky.social