As a mainly land-locked birder, I love coming to Skye for the "unfamiliar" - eagles, divers, gulls and, best of all, Gannets. As much fun though is the familiar doing unfamiliar (to me) things. Why shouldn't a Dipper pick over seaweed or Bullfinch eat heather seed? #Highlandbirds #ukbirding

Another year I’ve not seen Hen harriers in the #YorkshireDales in breeding season. Dales habitat looks like successful Bowland habitat though. No records ever in May & June. July records likely “brood managed” birds 2021. Orange dots on zero are all the dates without HH. @raptorpersuk.bsky.social

Fun birding back in Harris for a few days - here looking from North Harris into Lewis. Golden eagles over the peaks, White-tailed eagles over the sea. Great northern divers on the sea and Golden plover & Ringed plover feeding on the machair. Great skua from the ferry coming over. #Highlandbirds

First coach trip y'day of the new @rspbleedslocalgr.bsky.social season - to Teesmouth and RSPB Saltholme. Curlew sandpiper the best bird of the day - a first for ~1/3 of us, inc me. Fun checking the ID and picking them out from Dunlin. 71 spp on the bird-list for the day. Swift was a surprise.

Few Ring ouzel records in Aug & Sep – @birdtrack.bsky.social reporting rate graph. Hard to find in the #YorkshireDales too – my all-time data below. 3 Ring ouzel in a Hawthorn in a wooded ghyll last w/e suggests I need to look in places away from the short-grazed turf of spring habitat. #ukbirding

Wheatear and Whinchat at the weekend in areas of the #YorkshireDales I'd not seen them during spring & summer. Spotted flycatcher in the city. Reminds me of the "Nature Notes" article I wrote last year about "Migrant bird surprises". www.wharfedale-nats.org.uk/post/migrant...

After seeing no waders for weeks around the #YorkshireDales, pleased to get Lapwing, Common sandpiper and Snipe for my Wetland Bird Survey today. @webs-gsmp.bsky.social. Surprised to get 6 Greenshank drop in, calling loudly, just as I was packing up - a new species for this (under-recorded) site.

Yesterday in the #YorkshireDales, the sun appeared briefly when I was near some Creeping thistle - bringing out butterflies. I had Painted lady (pic) as exotic, but I've seen them regularly in the hills the last few weeks. 7 species for the day-list. @bcyorkshire.bsky.social @yorkshiredales.org.uk

Swallows flying through my Woodhouse Moor park patch this morning plus a Willow warbler. Spotted flycatchers, again - the same 3 as last week or new ones? 🤷‍♂️ Tricky finding birds with only Robins singing and few calls from anything else. Still a respectable 27 spp for the week. ✔️ #patchbirding

Spotted flycatcher the best of last week's walking-to-work birding. Three birds equalling my record count over the years in the park. Matching the peak in Yorkshire reporting rate (orange line). Tawny owl back at it's roost in a broken tree. 27 spp for the week. #patchbirding #ukbirding

Our next indoor meeting is taking place on Wednesday 17th September starting at 7:30pm. The speaker is Dennis Atherton who will be talking about The Biggest Week in American Birding. The meeting will also include The Group's AGM. All welcome! #Leeds

Spotted flycatcher passed through my Leeds patch ~10 days ago. Still birds on territory in the #YorkshireDales today. This juvenile bird with adults in Hubberholme churchyard. Spot fly the only bird I've seen eat butterflies - here's one bashing the wings off a Red admiral. #ukbirding

Bonus visit to my @webs-gsmp.bsky.social in the #YorkshireDales. A few Lapwing the only wader. Everyone else has the plovers, sandpipers, 'shanks... Surprised to get a Whinchat (with Stonechat) but shouldn't have been - pic of adult and juvenile on @birdtrack.bsky.social reporting rate graph.

I've loved getting to grips with identifying Green-veined white (pic) in the #YorkshireDales. Even on a cool, cloudy day yesterday, 8 butterfly species including Small copper, Small heath, Painted lady and Wall. @bcyorkshire.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

This is fun - wish for a bird, see the bird. Spotted flycatcher on cue this week, seen on two days. Kingfisher and Common gull but no Swifts now. 26 spp for the week of walking-to-work birding. #patchbirding #ukbirding

It’s the #inglorious12th when toffs and City bankers start the grouse shooting season, dressing up in tweed and paying up to £5000 per day for the privilege. Moorland heather will have been burnt, many animals, raptors and corvids killed, all to boost grouse numbers. #raptorpersecution See ALT

Coming up to the peak time for Spotted flycatcher passing through my Woodhouse Moor patch in Leeds - mid/late August into September. Graph of peak count in each week over 12 years. None seen last year so big effort required to be sure to not miss them this year. #ukbirding #ornithology

Another breeding season when I've not seen Hen harrier in the #YorkshireDales despite checking lots of good looking habitat. Oh well, perhaps I'll find another one wintering in the Dales, like the one in this clip. The best of birds we should see more of. @raptorpersuk.bsky.social #ukbirding

My contribution to the Nature Notes column for the Wharfedale Naturalists in the Ilkley Gazette last week - learning to ID some butterflies. From the brown Ringlet to bright orange Small copper. On cue, I find a Wall butterfly this weekend. @bcyorkshire.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

It's been quiet for birds in recent weeks in the #YorkshireDales. Ring ouzel is a great bird at any time, but especially in August. This one dropping into a pot-hole with a beak full of food for young 'uns out of sight, just a few '00 metres from the 3 Peaks route. #ukbirding

After a quiet July, August changed things. Kingfisher along the Beck - first of the year here. More Black-headed gulls and juveniles in the park. Fewer Mallard, Mandarin and Moorhen along the Beck - also dispersing, or something to do with a Fox I spotted one evening? #patchbirding #Yorkshire

Pleased/relieved to see a juvenile Curlew near the In-laws place, after years of them being on the wrong end of mowing for silage and of Lesser black-backed gulls. Phone-scoped image of 1 of 2 surviving from a brood of 4. Adults still chasing off Buzzards. @curlewaction.bsky.social #ukbirding

This is a critical moment. Let’s choose a future where nature thrives, not one where we look back and wish we’d acted sooner.

Super day on Saturday looking for butterflies in Wharfedale #YorkshireDales with the Wharfedale Naturalists. 16 species including this lucky flight shot of a Dark-green fritillary. Also this very, very worn Northern brown argus, I'm reliably informed. @bcyorkshire.bsky.social

This juvenile Jay the best of this week's walking-to-work birding. No sign of Jays through spring and this bird couldn't fly. Perhaps even Jays can be unobtrusive and breed in the park without me seeing them. 27 spp for the week & 8 butterfly spp, including White-letter hairstreak. #patchbirding

More breeding evidence this week. First Moorhen chicks. ✔️ Breeding late or perhaps only successful later in the season, when the Grey herons have gone. Another brood of Mandarin ducklings. ✔️ More Starling juveniles begging for food. ✔️ 29 spp this week. #patchbirding #ukbirding

Big jump in Swift numbers this week, presuming fledged young 'uns. Matching the peak number from last year but a few weeks earlier. Been a good year for Swifts? Mallard and Mandarin juveniles getting bigger. 27 species from the week of walking-to-work birding. #patchbirding #ukbirding

Mandarin duck the best of this week's walking-to-work birding, with a female and 4 small juveniles along the Beck. Starlings and their juveniles already looked to have pushed off elsewhere. Lots of butterflies inc Large skipper and Meadow brown joining the regular Speckled woods. #ukbirding

Birding in Upper Wharfedale last week. #YorkshireDales This beautiful Golden plover one of a few on the fell top. Spotted flycatcher and Redstart down by the river. Cuckoo and Wheatear on the fell sides. #yorkshirebirding #ukbirding

Quiet for a Wetland bird survey at a reservoir in the #YorkshireDales. Greylag & Canada geese with goslings. Just 2 Mallard and a Tuftie. Few waders - Oycs, redshank and a drumming Snipe. This common sandpiper was pretty noisy though but no sign of chicks. #Yorkshirebirding @webs-gsmp.bsky.social

Breeding bird survey late visits in Leeds this week - around Leeds Uni/city centre & in east Leeds. @bbs-birds.bsky.social Swifts back at the east Leeds site after none last year 🎉 Record Magpie count in the city 🤷. Lots more ups and downs in numbers. Peregrine near the University obvs (pic).

Breeding bird survey late visit in the #YorkshireDales for @bbs-birds.bsky.social. Mipits, Skylark, Wheatear & Curlew. LB gull becoming the most regular gull. 13 spp over both visits. This ball of beetle bits suggests another bird is in the area - the Little owl seen a few years ago? #ornithology

Chiffchaff carrying food is a more convincing level of breeding evidence than "singing male". More Blackcaps singing - ahead of second broods? BH and Lbb gulls in the park perhaps the start of summer movement. Rain & leaves reducing the amount of birding and birds - 24 spp for the week. #ukbirding

Loving the resilience of plants - this one at least growing into the rock. Yesterday in Wharfedale #YorkshireDales I'm thinking English hawkweed Hieracium anglicum rather than Northern Hawksbeard. Happy to be corrected. #wildflowerhour

Today up in Wharfedale #YorkshireDales Angry Redshanks (pic) but no sign of chicks. Plus Curlew, Lapwing, Oycs & Common sandpiper. Swallow, Sand martin, House martin & Swifts ✔️ 60+ Starling - already a post-breeding flock? Lesser black-backed gull the most common gull. #ukbirding

Mallard chicks survive another week with broods of 10 and 4 still along the Beck. Moorhen, Grey wagtail and female Mandarin duck. Chiffchaff and Blackcap gone quiet so hopefully getting on with business. 25 spp from this week's walking-to-work birding. #Leeds #ukbirding

Proper breeding evidence this week with two broods of Mallard chicks along the Beck. This Heron I think also pleased to see them, but not in a good way. Starling juveniles in the park already feeding themselves. 26 spp for the week of walking-to-work birding. #Leeds #ukbirding #birds

RSPB wader survey in the Forest of Bowland y'day. Lapwing, Curlew & Oystercatcher on the farm. Lots of challenges for them - including Stoats. This one making off with an egg across a field, but I think Red-legged partridge. Oyks + chick, Redshank & Common sand on the river nearby. #ukbirding

Colour-ringed birds from RSPB Leighton Moss April 26th. Avocet ringed as a chick in 2022, now breeding at Leighton Moss. Late summer seen in Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Thanks @ianrhartley.bsky.social for info. Black-tailed godwit - awaiting info. Orange over black left leg @wadertales.bsky.social

The birds delivered this morning for an ID training session with The Friends of Ilkley Moor. Good views of Sparrowhawk & silhouettes of Red Kite & Buzzard. Carrion crow & Raven scrapping. Mipits, Dunnock, Wren & Willow warbler for a set of LBJs. Bonus Cuckoo mobbed by Mipits. #yorkshirebirding

Super session today looking for butterflies with Wharfedale Naturalists at Sun Lane NR. Best of the day some Small copper butterflies (pic). Plus Orange tip, Green-veined white, Small white & Speckled wood. Amazing how sun, or none, turns on/off butterfly activity. @bcyorkshire.bsky.social

Swifts back over Woodhouse Moor this week - 3 on Tuesday, 7 today. 12 days ahead of the average arrival date of May 10th (8th - 13th first dates over 9 years). Lots of aphids and hoverflies around for them. Lots of Blackcap in song. 31 spp for the walking-to-work birding week. #ukbirding

Another super trip with @rspbleedslocalgr.bsky.social, this month to @rspbleightonmoss.bsky.social. Nine wader species, some changing into breeding plumage including these (Red) Knot & a Spotted redshank, (pics) plus Black-tailed & Bar-tailed godwits. Colour-ringed godwit and Avocet... #ukbirding

Just a Mallard in a city centre water feature at the end of my Breeding Bird Survey visit in Leeds. @bbs-birds.bsky.social Blackcaps singing from two corners of scrubby bushes. 22 species about the usual number. The post-lockdown colonisation by rabbits continues with a record count. #ukbirding

Golden plover looking lovely in Wharfedale last weekend, hanging around before heading to breeding grounds. The highlight of my walk for Wharfedale Naturalists, kicking off their summer programme of events. Curlew, Lapwing and Redshank too. A pair of Teal always a bonus. #yorkshirebirding

Mallard ducklings on the Beck the best of this week's walking-to-work birding. Just one brood - hoping for more. Willow warbler singing as it passes through - arrival date within 1 day of a 12-year average. Also a Swallow zipping through. 30 spp for the week #Leeds #yorkshirebirding #ukbirding

Usutu virus arrived in GB in 2020, affecting Blackbirds. Can I see an effect in my data from an urban park in the north of England? Graphs of peak count each week. Before 2020, there are counts of >10, after 2020 fewer counts >10. What do you think @birdtrack.bsky.social? #ornithology #ukbirding

Our next indoor meeting is taking place THIS WEDNESDAY starting at 7:30pm. The speaker is Simon Warwick who will be talking about Nosterfield Nature Reserve - A Stepping Stone in the Landscape. All welcome! #Leeds

Grey wagtail pair, along Meanwood Beck, the best of this week's walking-to-work birding. Fingers crossed for breeding and also for Mallard ducklings. Chiffchaff & Blackcap singing. No BH or Common gull, Redwing & just one Pied wagtail left of winter visitors. 29 spp for the week. #Leeds #ukbirding

Wheatear, Swallows and Mallard back in the hills yesterday. #YorkshireDales No Fieldfare or Common gull but still a large flock of Golden plover - probably the same birds as the pic from last month. Peacock, Small tortoiseshell & a few Green hairstreak for butterflies. #yorkshirebirding