This #InternationalMensDay we’re reminded that suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50 in the UK. We all have mental health, and talking about it matters. Check in with the men in your life. Reach out. A small conversation can make a big difference.

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

Whooper Swan have been a scarce bird in the mid-Yare Valley over the last decade or so, therefore very pleased to find these two at Limpenhoe Marshes this afternoon. #NorfolkBirding

My harrier roost walks at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen are booking up quick and far in advance! Know anyone interested? Recommend booking quick before the places are gone. #NorfolkBirding #Birds #UKBirding events.rspb.org.uk/browse?filte...

2025 has been a record year for BBS coverage! 4,054 visits to BBS squares have been made this year. This beats the 2018 record of 4,048. Thanks so much to all of the BBS volunteers across the UK who have contributed to this! @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social

Great weekend in Sussex celebrating a friend's 30th birthday. Some wildlife highlights of finding a Vagrant Emperor at Beachy Head plus many, many Firecrest! Also twitched the Isabelline-type Shrike on the way home. #SussexBirding

Great to drop in on the Brown Shrike at Upper Hollesley Common on Friday on the way down south. It was still attracting plenty of admirers. #SuffolkBirding

A rather sad one as this Gannet flew in off sea at Cromer last week while tangled in rope! It circled the church there before heading south-east. This same bird was later brought into the Runham Wildlife Rescue Centre! Hopefully it's stay there was short and successful. #NorfolkBirding #Birds

Very entertaining watching a couple of first-winter Caspian Gull around Cromer Pier last week. This one was scrapping for leftovers from visitors that had been crabbing. #NorfolkBirding

A quieter sea-watch off Cromer this morning, where a single Black Guillemot and a Little Gull were the highlights, before an amble around Beeston Regis that held a few common migrants like Brambling and Chiffchaff. Anyone else noticed Rock Pipit everywhere along the coast this year? #NorfolkBirding

A week off in North Norfolk with @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social, so far featured Dusky, Barred and YB Warblers, Ruddy Shelduck and an arrival of classic autumn migrants like Brambling and Redwing. Also a strong passage of ducks out at sea including Velvet Scoter, Eider and Goosander. #NorfolkBirding

Birders across the UK are being encouraged to take part in the BTO's new Winter Bird Survey, designed to provide a clearer picture of how the nation's birds are faring outside the breeding season:

Carrying on my streak of Shrikes in East Anglia, today I dropped in on the Red-tailed Shrike at Dunwich Heath. Showed fantastically in the morning sun, well worth the trip.

Argh! The one that got away? Saw a ringtail Harrier sp. over the @btobirds.bsky.social HQ this lunchtime which whipped low over my head and out of view over the treeline. Looked small, slim, long-tailed and very plain buff underneath but little more to go on. All too brief. 😵‍💫 #NorfolkBirding

Unexpected surprise encountering a Ruddy Duck distantly at Abberton Reservoir yesterday during a work team away day! I wonder whether this is the same bird that was in Lowestoft a couple of weeks ago? Was hard to pick out in the masses of wildfowl and Coot. #EssexBirding

The first-winter Isabelline / Red-tailed Shrike at Happisburgh showed very nicely for me and @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social late afternoon in the gardens behind the beach car park. Hides well in the buddliea at times. #NorfolkBirding

A wholesome day at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen that included attending the annual volunteer thank you event. A pleasure to be part of the team of such wonderful and dedicated people! #NorfolkBirding #Nature #Wildlife

A brand NEW event I'm trialing at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen this autumn. If you'd like to discover a different side of this awesome reserve, why not come along. #NorfolkBirding #Birds events.rspb.org.uk/events/13167...

We had a great Regional Network meeting at Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve at the weekend, discussing upcoming BTO projects and of course we slotted in some time for birding. 🐦 A huge thanks to our brilliant volunteers for joining us and for all the incredible work they do to support BTO! 😀

We have made some changes to the list of species requiring descriptions. From immediate effect Leach’s Petrel and Rough-legged Buzzard has been added Limosa Black-tailed Godwit removed

A few shots from patch yesterday. Swallowtail still on the wing at Strumpshaw Fen, and lots of waders passing through Buckenham too. #NorfolkBirding

A top lunchtime bonus courtesy of the @btobirds.bsky.social Nunnery Lakes Reserve - a juv Purple Heron! It's a skittish bird but gave some quality flight views at times. A great excuse to take a break from the desk. #NorfolkBirding

A lovely sunny day at Winterton Dunes with @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social where there may have been a shortage of migrant birds (an understatement) but still a couple of smart Lesser Emperor Dragonfly and a juv Caspian Gull to see. Bring on autumn! #NorfolkBirding 😎

Patching has been relatively quiet in the mid-Yare Valley recently (aside from finding a small flock of Wood Sandpiper a couple of weeks ago) but the insects have been brilliant! So many Swallowtail at Strumpshaw today and a fantastic Hummingbird Hawkmoth too. #NorfolkBirding

Great to see this with @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social on Sunday afternoon. Congratulations to the finder! 😁👏

Blog post to mark today's achievements. ♠️ #SuffolkBirding #ThreeTonBadLad #Glory #Monumental thewrongtimebirding.blogspot.com/2025/08/rju-...

I'm meant to be flying to India today for a birding holiday, but sadly fell victim to their awful e-visa system (😔). To cheer me up, I'll reflect on a great experience last weekend with @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social when we spent a night at the wonderful yet stormy Whipsnade Zoo! Lucky to have her! 😊

Today!!! 👇😄

Going to #GlobalBirdfair? ➡️ Sat 12 July (10am) - Plover Lecture Stage - 'Scarcities & Swallowtails: Celebrating 50 years of RSPB Strumpshaw Fen'. ✅ Learn about this amazing reserve, now in its 50th year, from the perspective of its most addicted patch-birder... me! #birds #NorfolkBirding 😎

A major strategy to revive Cambridgeshire's struggling natural habitats is set to go before the public:

Today’s distraction while bittern watching. Purple emperor is a rare butterfly in Norfolk and this one actually in the hide at Strumpshaw fen. #norfolkbutterflies #butterflies

As always, RSPB Minsmere was quality for @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social and I yesterday where we were treated to not one, not two, but three (!) Roseate Tern, a couple of which displayed high over our heads and out to sea. Also 9 Spotshank and an adorable Green-eyed Flower Bee! #SuffolkBirding 😎

Going to #GlobalBirdfair? ➡️ Sat 12 July (10am) - Plover Lecture Stage - 'Scarcities & Swallowtails: Celebrating 50 years of RSPB Strumpshaw Fen'. ✅ Learn about this amazing reserve, now in its 50th year, from the perspective of its most addicted patch-birder... me! #birds #NorfolkBirding 😎

Well then, what do we think of this? Very exciting to find my first ever mid-Yare Valley Smew this afternoon which (being unringed, fully winged and wary) looks the part, aside from the fact it's June!!! Stranger things have happened though a brilliant bird all the same. #NorfolkBirding 😄

Cracking find today by Drew @djlbirding.bsky.social at Buckenham Marshes - a red-head Smew! Very random but very cool to see on a sweltering June day

I may have been a 'zero hero' for the BTO Woodlark survey, but last night's Nightjar survey was a different ball game entirely with seven churring males! Also incredible to see several Silver-studded Blue Butterfly communal roosts. #NorfolkBirding 😲 @btobirds.bsky.social @norfolknats.bsky.social

New research has documented Red-footed Falcons frequently stealing prey from Lesser Kestrels in Italy's Po Valley – the only region in Europe where the two species nest side by side:

One of my favourite lunchtime wildlife encounters for a while as this young Grass Snake swam over a sluice ditch in front of me at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen. 😍

A spot of dusk birding in the mid-Yare Valley featured a couple of drake Garganey and some fantastic Glow Worm action! #NorfolkBirding 🤩

A dose of RSPB Strumpshaw Fen doing what it does best today, featuring Osprey and fan favourites of Otter, Bittern, Swallowtail, Bearded Tit, Kingfisher and a gorgeous Common Lizard. The reserve was the busiest I've ever seen it, but lots of happy visitors! #NorfolkBirding 😄

Still plenty of Swallowtail action at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen today, despite the weather. Was on the reserve all of 30 seconds when @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social spotted this one on the nectar garden. Also exciting to find a pale-morph male Honey Buzzard over! #NorfolkBirding

Ridiculous views of a Bittern at RSPB Minsmere from Island Mere last Saturday. It later went on to skewer and eat an adult Moorhen! #SuffolkBirding 😲

Last Sunday, for some insane reason, @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social and I walked up Blakeney Point in the wind. Few migrants up there but we did see Spotted Flycatcher and Chiffchaff. A beautiful and wild place to be though. Just one other birder up there (no prizes for guessing who). #NorfolkBirding

A few images from brief patch visits to RSPB Strumpshaw Fen this week including Cuckoo, Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret and Norfolk Hawker. #NorfolkBirding 🤩

Birthday birding with my love! There is a purple heron in amongst the reeds, I promise 😂

Purple Heron still showing at Island Mere Hide at RSPB Minsmere (3.55pm). Also Crane, while a drake Garganey on East Scrape and a Little Gull at South Scrape this morning. #SuffolkBirding @birdguides.bsky.social 😄

RSPB Strumpshaw Fen has a very cooperative Kingfisher from reception hide again this spring. Well worth a trip to see him if you haven't already. 🤩 #NorfolkBirding

Slightly botched the photos but it's fair to say I didn't think I'd be watching a Booted Eagle in Norfolk while guiding today. Took a bit of time / stress to connect but eventually caught up with it at Bayfield. What a result! #NorfolkBirding 😲

The latest Breeding Bird Survey report for 2024 reveals a mixed picture for the UK's birds: