Tonight I'll be sleeping soundly knowing a Grey Heron is watching over me...

✈️ On my way to Shanghai! Excited to work with the Chinese Academy of Sciences — giving lectures and developing new collaborative studies. Then to the 2nd International Symposium on Swan Conservation, sharing our latest results and connecting researchers across the East Asian–Australasian Flyway

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.

If you're out doing your @webs-gsmp.bsky.social counts this weekend, remember to record & report any dead or sick birds you find (info in the link). Bird flu cases are rising. www.bto.org/our-work/new... 📷 Dead Whooper Swan, by Kane Brides #UKbirding

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.

A recent outbreak of bird flu in Britain is causing concern among scientists:

Ahead of the Core Count weekend, don't forget to record any dead birds you see on your WeBS Count on the data entry form in WeBS Online, as well as reporting to Defra for possible collection

Please keep an eye open for dead & dying Whooper Swans (and other waterbirds), see thread below on how to report for possible sampling & please also report to @birdtrack.bsky.social so we can start to build a comprehensive picture of the spread 👇🏻

Please also report dead or sick birds to BirdTrack via www.birdtrack.net for monitoring purposes. Please share this message far and wide with friends and birding communities. Thank you.

⚠️ Please report sightings of dead birds for possible testing for bird flu via the forms below ⬇️ 📌 In England, Wales & Scotland: www.gov.uk/guidance/rep... 📌 In Northern Ireland: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/.../daera-de.... 📌 In Republic of Ireland: aviancheck.apps.services.agriculture.gov.ie/report

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

At first glance, The Fens may appear a flat, endless patchwork of farmland. But this low-lying region hides some of Britain’s most dramatic winter birding spectacles, when the landscape transforms into a magnet for wildfowl, raptors and roosting flocks:

🦢 What a swan’s 570km U-turn could tell us about water, wetlands, and a changing climate.... www.linkedin.com/posts/kane-b...

A pretty depressing day counting sick & dead Whooper Swans. Avian influenza is within the population. Please report all dead birds for possible collection & testing. In 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 & 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 this is Defra gov.uk/guidance/repor… Reporting to @birdtrack.bsky.social also helps with monitoring.

I've been updating our collaborative #CootStudy database. I started the study 17 years ago & thanks to a network of bird ringers across Britain & Ireland we've now colour-marked 4,400 Coot & received over 13,000 re-sightings. Pretty cool for a bird you hardly see in flight! #Ornithology #BirdRinging

My apps that visualise trends in the BTO annual ringing and NRS reports have been updated to include the 2024 data, which was released yesterday. Change over time plots: stephenvickers.shinyapps.io/ringing_tota... Spatial trends maps (ringing only): stephenvickers.shinyapps.io/ringing_map/

Any Abberton Reservoir birders on here notice any Whooper Swans there today?? #Birding #Essex

I'm excited to be leading the International Swan Census again in January 2026 for the Iceland Whoopers! Check out 👇🏻 to get involved & visit the vacant site map. Every record counts to understanding the bigger picture. #Monitoring

Large citizen science datasets are powerful tools for biodiversity science, but they may have biases. Nice new paper from @louisbackstrom.bsky.social et al. showing that for eBird and Birdtrack lists there is a tendency for rare species to be over-represented onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

JOB ALERT: We have an exciting Senior Research Assistant post available for a project tracking predators and prey simultaneously starting early 2026. We need someone with experience tagging adult raptors or wader chicks. This you? app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...

A week on from #StormAmy 🌬️ data from our tagged Whooper Swans show both storm assistance & storm displacement. Some birds made rapid migrations, others battled the elements – some out at sea for 55 hrs! As North Atlantic storms grow more frequent, understanding their impact is vital. 🦢 #Ornithology

Our new open access study on human-nature connectedness is now online. We show that engaging in outdoor environmental activities increases human-nature connectedness, with mindfulness and encounters with wildlife showing the largest increases. Full paper here: doi.org/10.1016/j.pe... 🌍 🧪 🦤

🦢The International Swan Census involves counters to carry out a one-off count on the weekend of 17th-18th January 2026. This involves counting Whooper and Bewick’s Swans, as well as recording age assessments and habitat. Visit the vacant site map⬇️ app.bto.org/gsmp/public/... #Ornithology

Our Whooper Swan expedition has been a blur of hauling zodiacs over tundra, coaxing engines through salt spray & dancing with Iceland’s untamed waves. While our waterproofs are still drying, we’ve gathered the stories data & moments that made this trip 👇🦢 www.linkedin.com/pulse/icelan...

A successful few days deploying GPS tags on Whooper Swans in the highlands of Iceland to check whether the wetlands they depend on in Britain & Ireland are still doing the job in a changing climate. #Iceland #Wetlands #ProtectedSites #Ornithology

22 papers across two issues document the impact of #AvianInfluenza and assess effectiveness of management responses. They show the unprecedented scale of the outbreak, decimating populations across Europe, Africa, North and South America to the South Atlantic. 📚 bit.ly/bird-study-h... #Ornithology

Lovely day yesterday catching up with staff. A day of assessing recruitment of Curlews to the Dartmoor breeding population, discussing headstart post release monitoring & of course seeing the 2025 cohort of headstarts! 😊

Interesting few days working on behalf of Natural England in advising the UK Great Bustard Group on developing & trialling a protocol to monitor great bustard productivity. The trip also facilitated knowledge transfer between national experts in species monitoring. #SpeciesRecoveryProgramme

Slimbridge Greylags currently starting to appear at Strathclyde Loch and Hogganfield for their annual moult migration, among them, unusually, this one ringed at Windermere @kanebrides.bsky.social #clydebirding

📢 Calling PhD students 📢 we want to hear from you! Help shape the future of PhD education. Take our survey to tell us all about your experiences https://go.nature.com/42ZB3vq

Rather satisfying loading up to @movebank.bsky.social 1,679,731 Bewick's Swan tracking data points ✨️👌🏻 #Ornithology

Annual paddle in the Lake District for Barnacle Goose nest counting & monitoring. Lots of nests found, GPS'd, colour-marked adults identified & lots of eggs counted, measured, and weighed. Fun day with @cateden91.bsky.social #monitoring

Do UK hatched Whooper Swans go to Iceland? These two hatched at WWT Welney last year & today were in Northumberland with other migrating Whoopers. Hopefully, we'll get sightings of them in Iceland 🤞

Obituary in IBIS Mike Harris (1939 - 2023) doi.org/10.1111/ibi.... One of the world's best known, most loved and most outstanding seabird biologists #ornithology

Lovely day at Matsalu Bay in Estonia watching thousands of Barnacle & White-fronted geese. Decent numbers of Bewick's swans, too. Smaller numbers of Whooper swans & Bean geese. Wildfowl heaven 😍

Listen up anyone working in the Irish Sea this summer! We tagged a bunch of kitts in Liverpool Bay and want to gather as many resightings as we can. If you spot these yellow colour rings please give me a shout ([email protected]) 🐦💍💛 (Modelled by our very own VIP 😌👑) #Seabirds #IrishSea

Lovely day in the Severn & Avon Vales for Curlew tagging. Several birds caught and data already being uploaded 👌🏻

The 106th time of running out onto the balcony to check for migrating Osprey...

Several meetings this week regarding new species & habitat restoration projects on/around the Severn estuary! Excited to work on these & happy to call the estuary (& this view) home. Looking forward to deploying species monitoring, capture & tagging skills on WWT's new Saltmarsh Solutions project!

🧵1/7 What do massive insect crashes mean for insectivorous birds? And can aquatic habitats help? Today at #BOU2025 I'm exploring how aquatic habitats might help to buffer declining insectivore populations, using the Spotted Flycatcher as an example. #ornithology

Any day now, ducklings will begin to appear, and we need your help to monitor them. We are asking for records of mallard broods anywhere in the UK this year to help us understand how many ducklings make it to adulthood. Submit your sightings here: citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch Please share!

Do any UK sugar beet farmers follow me on here?! Or do you know a sugar beet farmer who'd be up for spending 30 mins or so chatting to me? 😊

Since crossing back from the Netherlands en route to Iceland & since being picked up by #nocmic by @wheatear9.bsky.social in Suffolk, this bird is now in Dumfries & Galloway. Wonder how many other of our GPS tagged Whoopers have been picked up by #nocmic?! @simongillings.bsky.social

Love that not only did GPS tracking allow us to document this Whooper Swan's crossing back from the Netherlands to England, but @wheatear9.bsky.social picked it up by #nocmig just minutes before it's tag took a GPS fix near to his location. #Migration #Bioacoustics #Gold 💫

She'll be home within the hour! That time of year, as Whoopers crisscross the country heading home to Iceland. Always leaves me happy with a hint of sadness! Watching AAF's migration playing out on my laptop, a glimpse into her life, is such a privilege, she's got 30km to go 💛

Interesting new report from @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social and partners on the benefits and costs of natural flood management. "Wildlife Trust natural flood management schemes deliver £10 of benefits for every £1 invested" www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/new-res... 🌍 🧪 🦤

Home time for the Whoopers 🥲 Beautiful cross country track under the cover of darkness for this one last night! Nene Washes to Keilder Water, Northumberland in 4 hours. #Ornithology

Back home in Manchester for #BTOConference25, yesterday. Was such a privilege to speak about @waterbirdcm.bsky.social & to meet/chat to so many people! Best talk was John Callion's on his work on Dotterel in Cumbria - totally inspirational & such a lovely man. Thx you John & @btobirds.bsky.social !

The Whoopers are starting to move and will soon be back on their Icelandic breeding grounds! Since @waterbirdcm.bsky.social started ringing Whooper Swans in 2023, we've tagged >600 inds. and gathered >750 sightings. Please keep an eye out and continue to report any sightings to us as they leave!

Important editorial in @britishwildlife.bsky.social by @wwtworldwide.bsky.social Research Fellow Ruth Cromie, as @welshgovernment.bsky.social, Scottish Government and Defra could finally end the poisoning of wildlife with lead ammo. See Alt Text Help make lead history act.wwt.org.uk/page/160992/...