male White-winged Scoter @ Buckhaven, Snow Bunting @ West Sands, Little Auk @ Earlsferry 08/02/26

A walk up a saturated Blithe Bay at Blithfield Reservior morning. 2 Scaup (drake + female), c175 Pochard, redhead Goosander, Ruddy Shelduck, 2 Oystercatcher, c40 Common Gull, Raven, 6 Stonechat, Ring-necked Parakeet 🙄, only 5 Geese! (4 Canada + 1 Egyptian) @staffsbirdnews.bsky.social

Source: The Guardian search.app/QpBvG

Lottie "trilogy" - garden wildlife, Argyll

male White-winged Scoter @ Leven, Black-necked Grebe @ Dalgety Bay, Great White Egret commuting between Angle Park & Birnie Loch. No sign of last weekend’s Walrus @ Shell Bay 07/02/26

Source: The Times search.app/m8GxU

BLOG - Today I publish my annual Rural Land Market report examining land sales in 2024. For the first time, I reveal the prices paid for 21 properties which were concealed from public view. Do have a read - only 9 pages (the blog is worth your time too) andywightman.scot/2026/02/rura...

It would be remiss of me not to point out that Dalmatian Pelicans were neither "very common" in Brtitain nor were they a "very good source of food" per Benedict here 🪶 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Source: The Times search.app/m8GxU

Biodiversity conservation has an evidence problem ⬇️ Yet the main causes of biodiversity loss are well known & well understood. As Sandra Díaz says “The existing evidence pointing to where to start is massive; what is lacking is the will to act on its basis.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Overwintering Blackcap, the hard to find female in sunshine type. #Birds

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com/2026/02/1495... #BirdingScotland #NatureWriting An attempt to get Little Gull and Little Auk for my 2026 Dundee150 list a few weeks ago down at the river, on yet another cold, wet and windy day.

Nine whitefronts today with 127 greylags at same location , 2 first winter birds probably missed one of them on Wednesday @clydesoc-grapevine.bsky.social #Scottishbirding #Clydebirding

Despite the poor weather & a bit of a dodgy belly, I decided to get some fresh air mid-afternoon. A wee quick once-around at City Quay, Dundee got me number 101 for my 2026 Dundee150 list, - a Guillemot. Had been hoping for a Slavonian Grebe, but happy enough to get something. #BirdingScotland

Unsurprisingly successional change was highlighted in various studies. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Feb 5. Urban bird walk Queen's Park #glasgow (19 species) highlight was Ring-necked Duck @btoscotland.bsky.social @clydesoc-grapevine.bsky.social #BirdingScotland

Feb 5. Birdwalk Frankfield & Hogganfield Lochs (38 species) Highlights Red-necked Grebe at Frankfield & Great Crested Grebes at Hogganfield Lochs. Also, nice views of Coot (90+)with nesting material (?) and Grey Herons (9) @btoscotland.bsky.social @clydesoc-grapevine.bsky.social #BirdingScotland

8 Russian whitefronts in a mixed group of c220 geese predominantly greylag opp Coventry Fencing yard near Carstairs today. Group included 2 well marked adults and 1 first winter bird @clydesoc-grapevine.bsky.social #Clydebirds #Scottishbirding

“When we see the hazel catkins turn yellow, we know that spring is not far off” Writer: EL Grant Watson Artist: CF Tunnicliffe

'Looking for signs of Spring' by contemporary UK painter Dee Nickerson #WomensArt #February

#OwlishMonday Barn Owl Artist - Archibald Thorburn

Disturbance of wintering waders seems to be an obvious problem but where's the evidence that it really matters? Blog about important paper by Mark Whittingham et al was published on 3 Feb 2020 🎂5️⃣ wadertales.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/d... #ornithology

'Red on the Cuillins' by Pam Carter, painter who was known for her Scottish landscapes #WomensArt

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

Goldfinches feeding on Teasel heads at sunset. You had admired the teasels with their heads of purple haze flowers in June & there they still are at the start of winter. A larder of seeds for the charms. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social #goldfinches #nature 🦉

I tried to call in hare coursing observed from train last week and got an even briefer shut down of my info. Feels utterly pointless trying to report stuff

3/3 him to look at the evidence I recorded - it lasted 4hrs! Within that time he twice got the location wrong of where I was reporting the incident from. His sole intention in calling me was to close the case down. No professional curiosity whatsoever. @markavery.bsky.social @ruthtingay.bsky.social

2/3 'No, I saw a hare being chased but I didn't pick the camera up in time' 'Then I'm going to record the incident as closed. 'Do you want to see the clips? - it clearly identifies those involved & I have car reg nos' 'No' The call lasted 9mins 8secs & most of that time I was trying to persuade

1/3 This was hare hunting by my cottage a wk last Saturday - I phoned 999 & they didn't respond. I eventually got a call on Saturday, a wk later - at 8am in the morning. 'Is it a convenient time to talk?' 'Not really' 'Then I'll make it brief, you have no footage of a hare actually being killed?"

youtu.be/Hsple5GpLos?... Hunting foxes happens at least twice a week in my area of North Dorset.

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com/2026/02/1494... I finally found some time to go after a couple of target species along the northern edges of the city. #naturewriting #BirdingScotland

A wander round county woodland & its margins produced 6 year ticks: singles of Hawfinch, Goshawk & Crossbill. 2 Marsh tit in a mixed flock. Redpolls & Treecreepers. Surprise Witches' butter seeming to grow from the ground. I gave it a bit of a nudge & it appeared securely tethered. #UKBirding #Fungi

Looking through the local gull flock by Gairloch yesterday I thought the Bonaparte's Gull looked different from the one I've been seeing. After looking through a video that I took I can see that there are at least 2 of them! Video grab attached #highlandbirds

Feb 2. Bird walk Prora, N Berwick (18 species) Whooper (55+) & Mute (2) Swan, Greylag (83+) & Pink-footed (1) Goose... but no White-fronted Geese ... more Swans & Geese further down the field??? @btoscotland.bsky.social @birdinglothian.bsky.social #BirdingLothian #BirdingScotland

As governments bend over backwards to make it easier for big firms to hide which hazardous chemicals they're using, it's leaving investors "flying blind", unable to tell if the firms they're investing in are at risk of major lawsuits, says @group.bnpparibas @clientearth.bsky.social

UK also has massive issue of SGAR poisoning: virtually every barn owl, kite, kestrel ingests rat poison. If invented today they'd never be licensed. But they're not banned because food/hygiene industries can't yet do without them. But to have them available in supermarkets/garden centres is insane.

Whilst working on a house in Paignton town centre, I picked up on a Yellow- browed Warbler call at the rear of the property. Thankfully I managed to capture a few seconds of video. #UKBirding

Mist on the fields, Whithorn. #blackandwhitephotography #Scotland #Galloway

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com/2026/02/1493... I'm a wee bit behind with blog-posts. A third attempt at getting the Glaucous Gull at Tayport, from Broughty Ferry. #naturewriting #BirdingScotland

“This isn’t a question of if we run out of water - it’s when.” - James Wallace, CEO of River Action This is not a scarcity problem. It’s a water security crisis driven by a system that leaks BILLIONS of litres, pollutes rivers & over-abstracts from the environment.👇 www.lbc.co.uk/article/wate...

New post Parkswatchscotland: Want nature restoration at speed and at scale? https://parkswatchscotland.co.uk/?p=32268

60 species around a dank Branston GPs first thing - nothing spectacular but tardy year ticks with Green Woodpecker, Yellow-legged Gull + Bullfinch. On to Whitemoor Haye - juv Marsh Harrier, 2 Slavonian Grebe, 3+ Grey Partridge + Barnacle Goose. @staffsbirdnews.bsky.social @alrewasbirder.bsky.social

Started the month with 2 Russian whitefront now finished month with same. Again distant but good enough images to show belly patterns are different despite only c800m from first birds, with 700 pinks at The Meetings Carnwath today. @clydesoc-grapevine.bsky.social #Scottishbirding #Clydebirding

Black Grouse by Amulree, Perthshire

Every day, just here, I talk to two dear friends whose binoculars will never again be lifted. This morning there’s a belting song thrush, alder catkins are blushing aubergine and I’ve seen a fluff-bummed sparrowhawk. In a world of human insanity, I tell them, nature is about her business.

the invariably inverted Nuthatch. #Birds

Black Grouse by Amulree, Perthshire

On this day in 2014, #Scotspine became Scotland's national tree 🌲 These iconic trees form the backbone of Scotland’s Caledonian #pinewoods, one of our richest habitats. Discover how we're saving Scotland's wild pine fragments👉 treesforlife.org.uk/about-us/wha... @wtscotsocial.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.

Red head smew showing a bit closer today, seems to enjoy it's own company keeping well clear of all the other ducks frequenting the loch @clydesoc-grapevine.bsky.social #Scottishbirding #Clydebirding