Brown Hare by Crinan Ferry Road, Argyll

Kestrel over rough pasture, Glen Clova, Rottal Estate, Angus

Good to see that it's been business as usual at the #weedypond while I've been away. Still so many Greenfinches & Chiffchaffs about. The pond is preparing to receive the Redwings & Fieldfares of late autumn - then things really start to get busy. #nature #wildlifephotography #birds 🌿

FYI & action @moorlandassoc.bsky.social @nfuscotland.bsky.social @gwct.org.uk

New consultation on Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs): your opportunity to tell the HSE how damaging these are to raptors & other wildlife raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/09/28/n...

Red Grouse in autumn light, Perthshire

They might look amazing, but on a per head basis, feral goats are THE most ecologically destructive herbivore in Ireland. These are ecosystem killers par *excellence*.

🎂 WaderTales is 🔟 today 🎂 150 blogs wadertales.wordpress.com/about/ 310,000 reads Thank you to all of the scientists, bird ringers and colour-ring readers who have contributed to the science described in the tales! Thread with highlights: bsky.app/profile/wade... #ornithology

Brown Hare by Crinan Ferry Road, Argyll

When a native rainforest is overgrazed, leaving only mosses, not only does it stop the trees from regenerating and strip out the diverse flora, it prepares the ground for invasive plants like rhodo to seed in by the million. The rhodo is largely just a *byproduct* of the core problem: overgrazing.

Hen Harrier by Moine Mhor, Argyll

Hen Harrier by Moine Mhor, Argyll

Someone's pet cat with the native wild red squirrel it just killed. Most cat owners have no idea of, or don't want to know, how much wildlife is slaughtered annually by domestic or feral cats. But it runs to 10s, possibly 100s, of BILLIONS of animals per year, and is a serious driver of extinction.

This month, WaderTales will be ten years old. I'm going to create a thread that highlights some of the research findings that have surprised me. Plenty of "Wow!" & "I didn't know that!" moments. Here's a link to the catalogue of 150 blogs wadertales.wordpress.com/about/ #ornithology

“They’re perfectly capable of breeding & recolonising their former range, over a relatively short space of time, IF, and only IF, their survival isn’t curtailed by grouse moor gamekeepers shooting, trapping and poisoning them, pulling off their heads and legs, or stamping on their eggs and chicks.”

Marsh Harrier over reedbeds, Loch of Kinnordy, Kirriemuir, Angus

Marsh Harrier by Loch of Kinnordy, Kirriemuir, Angus

Shockingly awful - and largely down to farming. Just dreadful. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

80% of Scottish people think their government should have policies to support rewilding, but are still having to fight to make it happen. Why? Because vested interests are opposed. Rewilding will always be more bottom up than top down. news.stv.tv/scotland/sco...

72% of people support lynx reintroduction in Kielder Forest - this is the result of a local (not national) survey The consultation has seen 10,000 people visit its touring exhibition and included one-to-one interviews with stakeholders www.countryfile.com/wildlife/lyn...

"“[Some cattle and sheep farmers] will tell you that that grassland is sequestering as much carbon as a rainforest – it’s absolutely fucking tosh but it doesn’t stop them saying it,” he [Guy] says." 🔥🔥🔥 I'm going to share this blog again: theconversation.com/livestock-gr...

A combination of two alien invasive species, sika deer and rhododendron, are killing this beautiful native forest in Lauragh, Kerry. The trees can't regenerate due to the overgrazing, and as they age and die, only the proliferating rhodo remains. Invasives are a *top* driver of global nature loss.

Fifty years after the birth of the band that made his name, the frontman talks about optimism, why empathy is the new punk and whether they will get back together

Black Grouse by Amulree, Strathbraan, Perthshire

Black Grouse by Amulree, Strathbraan, Perthshire

Great to see this. My new book on the ecology of the Merlin is due to be published on 29 July by Pelagic Publishing. 😍

Merlin fly-by at speed towards River Add ! ... I struggled to keep up

Six days until my book on the ecology of the Merlin is published by Pelagic. If you think you know all about the Merlin, think again 🤔

Hen Harrier hunting by Crinan Ferry Road, Argyll

Agroecological farming promotes yield & biodiversity but may require subsidy to be profitable 🌾🌏 Suggests that the transition to more sustainable farming systems needs to overcome economic constraints with new policy interventions 📑🧪 🔗

This is the kinda footage I got when I was all consumed 😂 #pinemartens #trailcameras Looks really amazing, even to me.🤗

I'd a visitor as well, he was left in peace though.

I used to great marten footage, when I'd more time. youtube.com/watch?v=bsO0...

Hen Harrier "dancing" by Crinan Ferry Road, Argyll

I wonder if Troy has been ousted by this young male. He's been around for a year. I haven't seen Troy for a little while but, he'll be chasing the ladies to mate with them. We'll see what unfolds in the coming weeks. #troypm #pinemartens

Let's talk about these two department store owners: brother and sister Louis Bamberger and Caroline Bamberger Fuld. From Newark, New Jersey. They are random people, basically. But in the late 1920s, with fascism taking over Europe, they made a choice that profoundly changed the world: 🧵

Hen Harrier hunting by Crinan Ferry Road, Argyll

Spent the entire morning snorkelling - a morning well spent 🦀🪼🐟 🦑 #Cornwall

With thanks to @markavery.bsky.social, my guest blog on Mark’s website has been published. “Whither Reintroductions?” Comments welcome.

Guest blog by @parliamentarygoose.bsky.social Reintroductions markavery.info/2025/07/11/g...

"How is [the government] willing to stand like a frightened bunny and watch ecosystems and fishing communities collapse and do nothing about it?" Excellent piece by @whittledaway.bsky.social on the shameless FFG u-turn on long-promised Marine Protected Areas. www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

This looks excellent 👏

Good news on lead - but why did it take such a long time? I'm not really sure markavery.info/2025/07/11/g... #Pb #lead #toxic #waterfowl #shooting #food #BASC #willfulblindness

Sedge warbler by rough grazing, Knapdale, Argyll

'Habitat shot' - White-tailed Eagle soaring over some classic terrain in the Scottish Highlands. #Highlandbirds

Have you heard Swift screaming parties? ✋😀Our historical @birdtrack.bsky.social data shows in July we reach peak Swift records! Come August, birds will begin their migration to their non-breeding grounds in Africa. 🌍 📷 Swift by Graham Catley/BTO

@carladenyer.bsky.social @adrianramsay.bsky.social haven't any Green MPs attended the Ban Driven Grouse Shooting Westminster debate? If not, why not? I know you are few but still, 3 more than lone MP @carolinelucas.bsky.social who managed to attend a previous BDGS Westminster debate

Thoroughly enjoyed this brilliant book about the authors home village of Gabhsann and the importance of Place. I highly recommend the book to anyone with an interest in Ecology, Ornithology, Botany, Local History, Geography and Community. @frankrennie.bsky.social

Destructive bottom trawling is STILL legal in most UK marine protected areas. It's obscene 😡❌ The govt has proposed bans in 41 sites, but it's not final. They want to hear from the public first. 🗣️ That means we have a chance to END this. 👉 WE NEED YOUR VOICE: only.one/act/uk-mpa-c...

Beaver by the River Ericht, Perthshire