Fresh off the Challenger expedition to the Canyons MPA along the shelf edge at the limits of UK territory, we seem to have broken new ground with the status of Band-rumped Storm-petrels. A handful on the first two days were great, but on the third day, the cup truly runneth over, and 84 were...

Memories of last weekends Scilly pelagics still in the mind, and a mountain of photos to go through. I like this one, giving a sense of the big seas and a Cory's in wave rider mode #ukbirding

Its hotting up for 2nd place in the eBird garden year list as we head into what could be a very productive period for several participants. I aim to get 100 sp per year, hopefully on track for that. A certain Spurn birder is aiming for 200 from his garden this year, the difference a Humber can make!

Hybridization boosts survival of Europe's most threatened seabird share.google/gdJ3gWKogMec... 'Population on Menorca is genetically closer to Yelkouan'. If it looks like a duck, its not surprising that it quacks like a duck!

Just finished an epic long weekend with @scillypelagics.bsky.social, and what a fantastic 4 trips we had. Near constant views of Great & Corys, plus regular Wilsons and super confiding Sabines Gulls, Grey Phals and Long-t Skuas, but the icing on the cake for me was this Scopoli's Shearwater.

This could be a big win for conservation, its just a shame it takes the threat of imminent annihilation to kick start it. 'To defend against Russian tanks, Finland and Poland consider restoring wetlands' share.google/HVq4vHMR8Txw...

We have a (short) list of birds that we've missed for the garden list but know we could have had. Glossy Ibis is one of those, after we saw one fly over our house while we were watching an Isabelline Wheatear in 2016 - i can sense your sympathy!! But, finally, nearly 9 years later, we finally...

Also new for garden were these beasts, Long-winged Coneheads. Its caused a bit of a dilemma, as the Typha they are in is marked for removal, the roots have punctured the pond liner. Think we'll have to dig a new home for it (and hopefully its egg load of coneheads), very carefully.

Along with the headline wasp, we had a long-hoped for garden tick with Willow Emerald today, mere minutes before it became apparent there was an unprecedented arrival of them (60+) in the Spurn area. A Migrant Hawker in the same bush showed nicely too.

Its not every day you find an apparent 1st for Spurn, so I was pleased to finally nail pictures of a Median Wasp (Dolichovespula media) in the garden. Thanks to @hwitts.bsky.social for the ID.

Maybe the best experience at Withfleet tonight were these two Short-eared Owls, totally checking me out and flying in circles around me after sunset. Filmed at 1x on my phone.

Withfleet Outstrays is just a great place to be at the moment. 7 Spoonbills tonight were nice, over 1000 Curlew again, 150+ Avocet, Curlew Sand, Spotshank, a lost Guillemot! Its developing nicely.

The two Cranes still on Withfleet Outstrays this evening, although one remained stubbornly behind reeds. They seem to like it here. #yorksbirds

2 Great Shears first thing were a big surprise off Easington, even better they were followed a few mins later by a close in Corys. 3 Sooties, a Puffin and a 'playful' Arctic Skua completed a great pre-work watch #Yorksbirding

Its amazing to think that any vagrant from the far east of Russia may already be on its way to us. Perhaps working its way the 'wrong way' along the Lena River, or already bouncing along a shoreline of the Laptev Sea.

Two White-rumped Sandpipers still at Beacon Ponds this evening, this one is the more sum plum of the two. Plus a nice Spotted Redshank among 1210 Redshanks #spurnbirds

I spent Friday evening watching the terns at Beacon Ponds, and was happy to find an adult Roseate Tern. Little did I know that what appears to be a second adult was captured by the camera when I was taking random shots of the birds! Just goes to show, bird by bins, not by camera #spurnbirds

This Treecreeper at Terminal Copse, Easington is the latest in a good run of them in the #spurnbirds recording area this year. It cannot have come too far, and I just hope I didn't miss a breeding pair on my patch, which would be rather embarrassing!!

The fabled Kilnsea Wetlands are not so wet at the moment, but perhaps this Grey Heron is a good omen. A sign that things will change and that water is incoming. Or perhaps not. Still, with the Humber and Beacon Ponds to look at, we don't do badly here.

Having never seen a Willow Emerald before, and being determined to find my own rather than twitch one, I'll have to settle for an assist being stood next to @clickbeetle85.bsky.social when she found not one, but three of the wee beauties sunning themselves at Terminal Copse, Easington.

The 2 Cranes from Withfleet made a welcome sojourn to Meridian Outstrays (Pat Haven as was) and onto my WeBS count this morning. Silly numbers of Shelduck (4600) and a Spoonbill too #Yorkshirebirding

Sedge Warbler today was my first in the garden, although I've heard tales that there was a previous record...

Another cracking evening at Beacon Ponds, where the tern assemblage in the evening light is just gorgeous. Three Black Terns, two Arctic Terns and at least one Roseate Tern were the highlights, with several Little Gulls and the White-rumped Sandpiper also there. Distant views of wife #spurnbirds

Pleasant evening at Beacon Ponds, lots of Common Terns stopping to brush up before heading to roost. Plus an all too brief ad Roseate, ad Black Tern, and a juv Arctic Tern vying with the Little Terns for 'cutest tern' award. Spot the mystery intruder... #spurnbirds

Its a shame the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia (OSME) is not on bluesky, but that won't stop me saying what an achievement this is, two recent giant editions of their biannual publication, 'Sandgrouse' highlighting the status of Great and Little Bustards.

Early this morning #Whimbrel POTSKAR landed in Guinea, W Africa, after flying 7000+km from St-Petersburg, Russia. It took POTSKAR 5.5 days of NON-STOP flight, varying altitude from 10s of meters over the Baltic and the Med, to >5km over land. #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

The Stone Curlew still on Withfleet Outstrays this afternoon, at the east (Skeffling) end as usual. @birdguides.bsky.social

Cracking morning at Withfleet Outstrays; the Stone Curlew still present and looking daft (before its little trip to Sammys Point), but nigh on 500 Little Gulls prob my highlight. Plus Wood Sand, 2 Spoonbills, 123 Avocets etc #Yorkshirebirding

Crikey, is Stone Curlew undervalued, or is Razorbill overvalued? And why did I forget about Great Spotted Woodpecker for 6 months, they're a regular on my nuts! #PWC2025

"I've got a Stone-Curlew" are not everyday words from Mrs French, but today was that day!! Local mega on the new Withfleet Outstrays realignment, at the Skeffling end.

We've been lucky to have a nest of sparrowhawks close to us, but they are incredibly secretive when nesting. I've seen them far less than usual, and I can actually see part of the nest from here! I assume they hunt more away from nest area and sneak in. Happily they have managed to get at least one

JULY ISSUE UPDATE: The July issue has now been printed and is on its way to subscribers. The delay in printing and delivery was caused by the printers that we used going into administration at the end of June. You can read more here: www.britishbirds.co.uk/news/print-d...

Turtle Doves in the news, #BirdStudy has published some key #ornithology science: First UK survey (2021), 2092 territories left: doi.org/10.1080/0006... (open access). Which farmland habitats are important? doi.org/10.1080/0006... Nesting success hasn't declined: doi.org/10.1080/0006...

What is going on with Baer's Pochards? Here's the eBird map for Mongolian records from 1970-2020. There are zero records. In reality there are records, but clearly not many and probably mainly from the very-underwatched far east/Dornod area e.g. eaaflyway.net/baers-pochar...

What a difference a few days make! No garden ticks since October, then two in two days! My predictions for next garden ticks doing rather well at the moment, while @clickbeetle85.bsky.social is torn between being happy at seeing Cranes and being annoyed that I'm in the lead 😂

First blood on the great garden list competition 2025! A team effort, G phoned me to say the Cattle Egret had left beacon ponds, it then flew past the garden with Little egrets. She may regret phoning me... 🤣🤣

All this talk of lumps and new lists makes me realise how much i like the Lynx illustrated checklist. It may be static and weigh a ton, but it's gorgeous and so much more visual. A single World checklist is important (although less so than you think, as i suspect governments just use Birdlife, ..

John Crossland, the owner of the carpark at Thornwick Cafe opened it free of charge yesterday for the Song Sparrow twitch when there is normally a fee. For everyone who came, please consider donating to John's JustGiving page supporting Alzheimer's Research UK. www.justgiving.com/fundraising/...

And lo, just as the World's avian taxonomy was beginning to settle down, and taxonomists everywhere were thinking of what to do with themselves, along comes Avilist and the lumping of lots of recently split species. avibase.bsc-eoc.org/compare.jsp?...

Despite some great shots of the Song Sparrow, its a skulking wee blighter! Yesterday evening, views were mainly restricted to seeing it creep on the ground in among the dense nettles and bindweed, only coming up in full view a couple of times. Nice when it did though #YorkshireBirding #RareBirdsUK

Massive outbreaks of HPAI in Senegal, Gambia in 2023, none of which captured in WAHIS. >10,000 dead African Crested Terns, >400 Caspian Terns, >2000 Grey-headed Gulls, >200 Sandwich Tern 👉 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

www.raptoridentification.com/a-focus-on-j... I have been glacially slow at pulling these thoughts together on the vagrancy/ID of these Nearctic Hare-footed Stunners. I hope it’s of use to some very lucky person one day somewhere in Europe. thanks for your time.

Possibly the most common and widespead species in Eurasia that we "never get". This one was in off this morning, spent an hour or so on Kilnsea wetlands and then departed up the Humber. As they often seem to do! @mickturton.bsky.social

Suddenly, the whole dinosaur footprint scenario is not the worst confusion of animal and mineral in recent Shetland history @danbrownnature.bsky.social @billaspin.bsky.social

What a glorious thing a rosefinch is, even in the drizzle of a dull Holderness morning. This one proved incredibly elusive in the garden today, seen just twice all day and even then was skulking like a good'un. Cracking year tick following the first on 4th Jun 2021 #SpurnBirds

Excitement turned to disappointment this afternoon, as a cracking Peregrine went low over the house, only for photos to show that its wearing falconers anklets. A Greenfinch among the greenery cheered me up #SpurnBirds

A ringtail harrier so distant it went in and out of the haze as it disappeared towards Norfolk was the disappointing lowlight of the day, but the Cattle Egret trying to give the cow some shelter from the strong westerly was amusing!!

Today's Melodious Wblr at Spurn did the decent thing and stuck around for me, although it was flighty and views were usually pretty distant. Another "rarity" down the peninsular showed a tad better, and while its tempting to fantasise they travelled together, I think we all know better! #Spurnbirds

A few Dunlin around on the Humber at the moment, its been great appreciating just how stunning some of the alpina are. Among them have been a couple of birds like this one. Enough here for arctica? Not a ssp I know at all, would appreciate a west coast view #UKBirding www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9wO...

County recorders will get sent a WiP file once as many records as possible are in the system and assessed. A good number of 2025 submissions are coming in already, which is very pleasing and definitely makes things easier for us. Thank you!