Staggeringly beautiful colours from the Silver Birches during the golden hour at #RSPBLakenheathFen

Hoopoes bred in Leicestershire & Rutland in 2023, the first confirmed breeding record in the UK since 1996. Here’s the family - parents and three offspring. Can you see them all? Read more about rare breeding birds in 2023 at rbbp.org.uk/2023-report-... 📸 Carl Baggott

This is absolutely appalling. "The UK will not contribute to a flagship fund for the world’s remaining tropical forests, in a bitter blow to the Brazilian hosts on the eve of the Cop30 climate summit." Absolutely pathetic. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A Red-legged Partridge from #RSPBLakenheathFen yesterday. Not a regular bird on the reserve. #SuffolkBirding #UKBirding

👉 Last chance to influence the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Yes, I know, you may be sick of reading about this or feel you’ve already written to your MP several times or are running out of energy on this long running saga - BUT - please, for nature’s sake, write one more time. 1/3

The eBird taxonomic reshuffle is still underway, but Lagopus has been processed, and Red Grouse is now a UK species-level endemic #UKBirding macaulaylibrary.org/asset/609783...

Cetti's Warblers never perch up in the open! #UKBirding

Whilst unloading the moth trap at #RSPBLakenheathFen I was thoroughly distracted by this Ichnuemon Wasp, which I think is Eutanyacra picta, with only 1 confirmed UK record on the NBN atlas! #PSL #PanSpeciesListing

The Planning Bill is back in the Lords today - and it still falls short of the win-win for nature the Government says it wants. We’re grateful to the Peers that have stepped up with vital fixes. But today’s votes help decide whether this Bill truly delivers for nature & people. 👇

Check out the ovipositor on that! A sizeable Dolichomitus wasp seen at #RSPBLakenheathFen today.

A new proposal from a group of peers could disarm the most damaging aspect of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and reduce the risks that it currently poses to the UK's wildlife:

Today, the Planning Bill returns to the Lords. And the future of nature in England’s planning system is on the line. 🌳⚠️ Peers must back the amendments* that protect wildlife, ensure accountability, and build nature back into our homes & communities. *130, 140 & 245, 114, 148

Captured this fly-by from a second-winter Mediterranean Gull on Bryher, Isles of Scilly. Maybe not as pure white-winged as an adult but still a very smart plumage #UKBirding #IoSBirding #IslesofScillyBirding

Lots of these Large Willow Aphids (Tuberolachnus salignus) roosting on willow branches at #RSPBLakenheathFen lately

New hope for the Antipodean Albatross. 💫 @globalbirdfair.bsky.social has donated a record-breaking US $140,000 to support our Safeguarding Ocean Species project! A huge thank you to the entire Global Birdfair community for their generous support. 🙏💙 Read more: www.birdlife.org/news/2025/10...

Whilst so intently looking for doves on St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, last week we enjoyed superb views of this European Turtle Dove @sophieshrike.bsky.social #IoSBirding #IslesofScillyBirding #UKBirding

Strong autumn feeling at #RSPBLakenheathFen yesterday with Woodlark, Brambling and hundreds of Redwings over. #SuffolkBirding #UKBirding

An already bad bill just got a whole lot worse for wildlife. This dreadful government's attitude towards nature is contemptuous. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Conservation Pays Off for England's Smallest Seabird RSPB projects and local volunteers deliver the strongest breeding results for Little Terns in over half a century. @Natures_Voice #seabirds www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/C...

"The Treasury....plans to gut green rules with amendments to its planning and infrastructure bill – ditching the precautionary principle, slashing species protections and curbing legal challenges" Indefensible This must be fought tooth and nail www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

As the mist lifted this morning at RSPB Lakenheath these three (there were others!) Whooper Swans took flight along the River Little Ouse which marks the boundary between two counties! #Norfolkbirds #SuffolkBirds #UKBirding

Couldn't believe it when we found a Death's-head Hawkmoth caterpillar on the Isles of Scilly. A serious wildlife ambition achieved! @sophieshrike.bsky.social #TeamMoth

Deep breath. OTD 40 years ago: Probably my purplest of purple patches. Literally ran (I could do that on those days) from I.o.S. airfield to get the Yellow-rumped Warbler ✅ at the school. Then ran back up the hill, as an American Golden Plover ✅ had just been found there…1/

It's not a trip to the Isles of Scilly without a Longstones cream tea. Tried the Devonian method today, such a heathen but it works! Followed by the Holy Vale experience, replete with Yellow-browed Warbler and Firecrests. #UKBirding #IoSBirding

What frightens me most about Halloween cobwebs isn’t how they look…..it’s that they catch the living. Enjoy the season, but keep the plastic webs indoors; or skip them altogether.

A Kestrel appeared in our garden on the #islesofScilly early morning, hunting moths around the moth trap #UKBirding #IoSBirding

NEW JOB in #ornithology with @RSPBScience to oversee research in #Wales with #seabirds and #waders: buff.ly/qkTVU6m

Well, it's official. After our paper last year (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....), the Slender-billed Curlew is officially declared Extinct today. Scientists dream of describing new species, not writing their obituary and epitaph, knowing that they are gone forever #ornithology

Great to see Least Adder's Tongue (Ophioglossum lusitanicum) on Wingletang Down, St Agnes! Must have walked past it lots of times in the past without realising 😅 @sophieshrike.bsky.social #WildflowerHour #BSBI

A slightly better shot of the Mourning Dove yesterday on St Agnes. Thanks to the landowner and birders for allowing and arranging access. This was not only a first for the Scillies but also a first for England! #UKBirding #RareBirdsUK #IoSBirding #IslesofScillyBirding

After two frustrating days the secrets of the St. Agnes mourning dove were finally revealed today! First for Scilly, first for England, sixth for Britain! A real heavyweight nearctic mega to get the pulses racing, and a very classy little bird it is too! #ScillyBirds

Fascinating, while at the same time somewhat nightmarish: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

American Mourning Dove finally in the bag!!! 3 days of searching put to rest. Tiny little thing. #UKBirding #RareBirdsUK #IoSBirding #IslesofScillyBirding @sophieshrike.bsky.social

Here's some of what I picked up before the clouds rolled in. This is 9 minutes of migrating birds played back at 20x speed with trails to emphasize their movements. So many birds up there - this is a pretty narrow field of view! #birds

Another no-show from the American Mourning Dove on St Agnes so we paid homage to the long-staying Spotted Sandpiper before leaving #RareBirdsUK #UKBirding #IoSBirding #IslesofScillyBirding @sophieshrike.bsky.social

No sign of the American Mourning Dove yesterday on St Agnes so we'll try again today. A Hoopoe was nice compensation though! @sophieshrike.bsky.social #IoSBirding #IslesofScillyBirding #UKBirding #RareBirdsUK

Appalled to hear this government describe our beleaguered nature in this way. Nature is a necessity, not a nuisance. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The Red-necked Phalarope at St Gothian Sands NR capped off a good day around Cornwall before heading over to the Scillies #CornwallBirding #UKBirding @sophieshrike.bsky.social

An unexpectedly sunny walk down the legendary Nanquidno Valley, Cornwall, produced half a dozen Firecrests and a passage of Buzzards, but not the hoped for yank! @sophieshrike.bsky.social #UKBirding

Early morning seawatch off Pendeen, Cornwall. Winds calmer following the storm but still tens of thousands of birds passing, mostly Razorbills #UKBirding @sophieshrike.bsky.social

Blimey, a proper seawatch off Estaca de Bares yesterday with 2 Black-capped Petrel, 2 Zino’s Petrel and a bunch of other good stuff #seawatching ebird.org/checklist/S2...

When the team at Lakenheath go ‘Wow! What’s that?’ You know it’s going to be good. Despite having about 6 different names, which confused the situation a bit, it got worked out to be a NFM Scarce Bordered Straw. I think it might have been new for all concerned. #teammoth

Celebrating the life of a conservation legend. 🕊️ Today, we reflect on the extraordinary life of Dame Jane Goodall (1934 - 2025). Jane was a world-renowned expert on chimpanzees and a passionate advocate for community-led conservation action. 🌿 Read more here: www.birdlife.org/news/2025/10...

Exciting news! We’re planning the upcoming Bird Atlas 2027-31, and have met with @birdwatchireland.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social and @birdsinwales.bsky.social to discuss how we can work together on what we hope will be the most productive Atlas yet. #Ornithology #UKBirding

The Fenland Flora - Survival against the odds webinar 17 November 1-2pm Join renowned botanist Owen Mountford, co-author of the soon to be published Fenland Flora, to find out about the fascinating history and present status of wild plants in Fenland. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-fenlan...

In one of the most nature-depleted corners of this battered planet, with #biodiversity in freefall

A chilly morning at #RSPBLakenheathFen with lots of birds fresh in. 2 Pintail, Ringed Plover, 2 Mistle Thrush, Meadow Pipits, Siskins and Reed Buntings on the move. @rspbengland.bsky.social @suffolkbirdgroup.bsky.social #UKBirding #SuffolkBirding

The Wasp Spider's steady progress north and west continues, with much consolidation of its occupancy of the south east as well:

1/ New study! #Seabirds are among the most threatened groups of birds globally, and a new study looked at how emerging technologies can be optimally harnessed in seabird monitoring. ➡️ www.bto.org/new-tech-seabird-monitoring #Ornithology

Yellow-browed Bunting trapped, ringed and released at the Swannery. It's flown to the hedge which runs alongside the Swannery grounds and the bird may be viewable from the permissive path heading west from Grove Lane.