Yellow weather warnings for the SW seem to come along every other day at the moment.

Picked up a bug at least four weeks ago resulting in a chest infection, which has now cleared. Garmin is doing a good job of tracking how I feel. Been a bit of a yo-yo recovery, probably because I cannot help but try to run it out when I can (not helped by a 100 mile race on the horizon in April)

My run home from Dawlish Warren was always going to include some #birding opportunities. Dawlish Warren: 3 Common Scoters Powerham sea wall: 3 Stonechats Exminster Marshes: 1 Pochard, 2 Marsh Harriers Home: 2 Firecrests Lovely slow #run with only one rain shower. And a wade through the flood.

Ran 16k home from Dawlish Warren and found a big puddle. Forgot the road at Powderham was flooded, as are all other nearby routes home. Avoiding flood water would have added another 10k. A long walk through waist high water. #Running

Late afternoon 7k run from home listening to the 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 rugby. Advantage of bone conducting headphones is that I heard a singing Firecrest near Sandy Park. A new 1km square for my local Firecrest map. #Running #Birding

Out around Powderham for a walk this afternoon. As expected, no shortage of flood water. Four Egyptian Geese in the park.

Slow morning. Grateful for the views from home. Eight Euro White-fronted Geese scoped from the bedroom window. #Birding #Topsham #Devon

2/3 - More on the topic of speaking out here 👇🏻 (article by @melcoate.bsky.social ) thegreenrunners.com/creating-a-n...

Love this! 😍 RunUltra chat with Darren Evans, one of our co-founders. @pair-ups.bsky.social His “infectious energy shines thru as he shares how & why he came to care so deeply, not just about protecting the environment, but about approaching life with joy, purpose & positivity.” #BeMoreLikeDarren

Have written about a week where the hypocrisy of much of the media was laid bare (and address mine). I also write about the truth Starmer cannot say: he appointed Mandelson to the court of Trump not in spite of the Epstein connection but in a sense, because of it. open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...

Back through the puddles for a 6k run in a gap between downpours. Stopped to listen to two Firecrests singing against each other. Now time for coffee and back to the desk. #Running #Birding

1/3 Another wet day in Devon. Pre-work dog walk around Topsham on the rising tide. An afternoon walk at Parke with heavy rain showers & a fast flowing river. A damp late pm 8k run. Now trying to dry kit before I do it all again tomorrow.

1/2- IOC President responses to petition signed by more than 21k people who want to stop fossil fuel companies from sponsoring winter sports. Great to see #SportsWashing called out. Would love to see a stronger response from the President. “It's really nice athletes have a platform to speak up.”

🛑 LATEST: Shock in UK News Studio After USA🇺🇸 Rant. 👇🏻 Please watch & share this report from #BrokenNews youtu.be/TWPOfVdmYig?...

Top evening at the Exeter Comedy Festival Gala. Great variety of acts. Bring on the festival 3 - 6 June. www.exetercomedyfestival.com

My understanding of Mistle Thrush declines is that they are closely linked to arable landscapes - the species is now scarce in my old S Lincolnshire hants but remains widespread in the NW, even in C Manchester. Biocide impacts would be my first guess... see differences between Wales & Eng #UKBirding

2/3 By normalise conversations on #HowWeMove (Travel), #HowWeKitUp (Gear) & #HowWeFuel (Food) & engaging with brands, organisations & policymakers, we encourage decision makers to adopt greener practices. 🏔️✨

1/3 "The most important thing we can do is to make climate breakdown a normal conversation." 🗣️ @ultradamo.bsky.social believes #HowWeSpeakOut is our most powerful tool. It’s about progress, not perfection, and using our collective voice to demand change. 🌍

Here in the UK it is cold and wet but there is at least the positive that the days are getting longer quite rapidly now. At 51 degrees north where I live we will gain an extra 24 minutes of daylight this week as this #dataviz shows.

Murky morning for the pre work walk. Water everywhere. One Med Gull among 1,000s of BH Gulls feeding on the water logged marshes. #Topsham #Devon

Recovery run - 13k run back from Exmouth. Starting to feel a bit more normal. A cold east wind, so over dressed as per usual (not helped by a cold walk immediately prior to running home). Layers soon came off. Ring-necked Parakeet was new for the year. #Running #Birding

Featuring the running, birding el Coati, inspiring Jonnies to get in training for an ultra running #FootIt in 2027. Run bird repeat.

Fancy a quick bit of #HowWeSpeakOut action this Sunday evening? You might want to support & share this petition to Ofcom calling for an end to climate misinformation across our UK TV channels. climatemisinformation.goodlawproject.org/email-to-tar...

Ok, let’s do this🙄 We’ll start with an explainer covering: 🕒What is a 15-minute city 🏫What on Earth is going on with Oxford 👽Where the conspiracy theories have come from And then we’ll look at the Telegraph article 🧵 1/25

#FootIt 2026 is over. Thanks to the @footit.bsky.social crew for the inspiration & motivation. Challenge was to see or hear as many species of birds in January, all on foot from home (Topsham, Devon). I walked & ran 390km, taking 425,000 steps around the Exe Estuary. Total number of species = 107

Good morning Foot It'ers on this - the last day of the '26 competition! ♠️ Get out there... dare to be great like @lymnocryptes.bsky.social and @melcoate.bsky.social I am not going home/ pub till I hit tripple digits #FootIt @footit.bsky.social @uforthbirder.bsky.social @jonnybirder.bsky.social

If you're a victim of repeated flooding, you need to start looking at land use upstream. One of these sponges up vast amounts of water, releasing it slowly, the other does not. One reduces flooding, the other *increases* it. Without addressing this core driver, it'll just keep on getting worse.

Huge news for Scotland’s nature! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🌳🦅🪱 🍄 The Natural Environment Bill has officially been voted into law, marking a landmark victory for people and nature. 🧵 (1/4)

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

People are fed up with fossil ads & sponsorship in sport - and that includes organised races such as major marathons and the like. Call it out where you see it and let the organisers know how you feel. #SportsWashing #GreenWashing

🔴Keir Starmer’s Labour Government Is Much Better Than the Media Admits There is a deep disconnect between the Government’s actions to improve the country and its standing in the polls, argues @prfchrispainter.bsky.social bylinetimes.com/2026/01/29/k...

📝🎿What do people think about fossil ads in winter sports?  We asked people in Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Canada and the UK, and the result was clear – people want to stop fossil ads in winter sports.  www.badverts.org/latest/new-p...

As a climate scientist I am quite sure I could use this reply at least two dozen times per week.

Today was supposed to be the dry day of the week, ahead of the next yellow weather warning. It rained. But not all day, so I suppose that’s something.

1/3 The planet is changing: will we be the generation that just watched it happen? 📉 We're using #HowWeSpeakOut to ask race organisers for better environmental standards. Our four pillars help us take action today to protect our trails for the next generation.

Today has been another grim day of heavy rain & strong winds. The river Exe is in flood and no doubt the waters are very murky. This Kingfisher took shelter next to our tiny pond. It was present for around 30 minutes & is only my 2nd sighting of a Kingfisher in the garden in over 20 years. 😍

Please please vaccinate your child against measles. This is from our @independentsage.bsky.social report from last year, led by @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social & @helensalisbury.bsky.social independentsage.org/wp-content/u...

Storm Chandra has been named and will bring heavy rain to the UK this evening and tomorrow. But how is climate change influencing extreme events like this in the UK? www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/cli...

Your #FootIt '26 update pod is live! ♠️ One more week to drop miles / seek out any remaining targets... @uforthbirder.bsky.social @jonnybirder.bsky.social @footit.bsky.social www.podbean.com/eas/pb-qsjcp...

How’s your week in #footit been going? What is your total? What’s been your best bird / find so far? Have you walked for the killdeer or either grackles? Any other too rares you’ve walked for? Any epic over-nighters? What are your hopes for the last week? We will run through the past week.

3/3 How we speak out matters. Individual & collective action is needed if we are to bring about sustainable change. We’ve published a number of blogs on this topic. Here’s one for starters. #HowWeSpeakOut thegreenrunners.com/creating-a-n...

1/3 Great thread from our friends at Badvertising highlighting the harm that high-carbon sponsors cause. The likes of Stellantis are keen to use sports, including athletics & running, to create a green smoke screen. All while actively lobbying to water down climate & environmental legislation.

Unexpected dash up to the commons - we were heading to bed when Kathryn started to notice aurora photos on Facebook. Not able to see north from home, we headed up to the commons. The aurora was only just visible with the naked eye. Our phones however showed us what our eyes couldn’t see. Amazing.

Beef has a huge environmental cost. And the only real fix is to consume less of it. drawdown.org/insights/gre...

Your #FootIt update pod is live! ♠️ @uforthbirder.bsky.social is once again our responsible adult and there are actual statistics - plus A LOT of duck chat from @jonnybirder.bsky.social @footit.bsky.social Available on most podcast platforms 🍎🐞🫘 music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/ea5...

Slow day.

Tony’s birthday walk - perfect day for a walk at Exmouth. In my head I thought I’d walk the 30k there & back as there was lots of coastal #FootIt potential. As it was I only had enough in the tank for the coastal stretch due to the damn bug. #FootIt will need to wait.

Where are the trees? We have A LOT of this landscape and less than 4% native woodland. This should be a rich mosaic of habitats, moor, bog, woodland, montane scrub…We force it to remain in this artificial state. We don’t need to give every inch of our uplands over to sheep, grouse and deer stalking.

Until the end of the month, Franco Manca - who do very nice pizzas - will give you £1 off for every kilometre you run (as long as your run is in the shape of a pizza). Ultra runners could be eating a lot of free pizza this January! www.francomanca.co.uk/stories-and-...