#ChardRes is well & truly flooded at present, the highest level I've seen for decades & that's before tonights deluge from #StormChandra Many birds seem to move on when it's like this! @somersetbirds.bsky.social

A rare day off patch today to see the Killdeer at Ripley, Hampshire, always distant & with the sun behind, but nice views thru scope! Had to wait for the Great-tailed Grackle at Holbury to appear, but what a character 'Bluey' is! #HantsBirds

Despite more than 86,000 people backing the fourth most signed petition in the Scottish Parliament’s history, the Scottish Government has confirmed it will not change the law to outlaw the Guga hunt.

An across-government technical assessment published today recognises that "nature is the foundation of national security" and that "every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse". A rational response to this would be to get very serious about nature recovery. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Sign here to voice your disgust at the annual Guga slaughter. Gannets are magnificent and this old ‘tradition’ needs to end. petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE...

Patch gold with this superb drake Goldeneye at #ChardRes today (less than annual here) Bit of waterfowl movement with 5 Wigeon & 5 drake Shoveler also present + 9 'local' Tufties. #PWC2026 @somersetbirds.bsky.social

A few hrs spent on the Devon/Somerset border today & pleased to find a couple Brambling in a Chaffinch flock, also 140+ Linnet & 955 Lapwing. No GP with them today, but 75+ seen recently. Good to see several fields sown with winter bird food crops & supplementary seed feeders #DevonBirds #PWC2026

Watched & listened to this Dipper in full song for several minutes as it perched above a very swollen River Axe near my Dorset patch this afternoon. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social #PWC2026

Red Kite over my house in Chard at 13:00 today in overcast weather. The local Starlings didn't like much! @somersetbirds.bsky.social

The thaw in the weather had a few things moving today. Pair Pintail & a GWE at the Dorset patch & 7 Wigeon at #ChardRes @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social & @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Fluffed-up Stonechat on a frosty morning at the Dorset patch today. 90% of the lakes are still completely frozen, meaning most waterfowl have moved on, just 6 Teal, 8 Tufties, pair Mandarin & a Little Grebe braving it out. 12 LT Tit seeming to find food in the willows. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

A new trade deal with South America called the EU-Mercosur deal would bring more food grown with banned pesticides into Europe, threatening our health and the livelihood of European farmers. Act NOW to protect Europe’s food standards #StopMercosur action.wemove.eu/sign/2025-02...

The UK's single largest carbon emitter, Drax, has applied for Government support to use its tree burning to power an AI data centre in Yorkshire. 🌳🔥🏭 Please call on your MP to say NO to Drax's AI data centre bid: actionnetwork.org/letters/urge... 👍🌳🔥 #StopBurningTrees #AxeDrax

Adult Mediterranean Gull at #ChardRes this morning. NFY #PWC2026 Also GWE still present, 15 Tufties, 30+ Mandarin & GC Grebe are slowly returning after the freeze, now 22 from a low of just 5 (39 present before freeze) @somersetbirds.bsky.social @patchbirding.bsky.social

GW Egret at #ChardRes for its' forth day. At least 4 Blackcap feeding on Mistletoe berries in this impressive tree near Donyatt. Exploring Dowlish Wake STW gave at least 19 Chiffchaff & set-a-side fields held 2 Stonechat, c.100 Linnet, 40+ Chaffinch, Greenfinch & Siskin @somersetbirds.bsky.social

A couple hours spent at my Dorset 3km #PWC2026 patch gave a cracking Firecrest & Redpoll (both NFY). Teal have increased to 63; a flock of 16 Lapwing over; Water Rail heard & Marsh Tit very vocal, also this Fox seen in a still frozen landscape. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @patchbirding.bsky.social

80% of the lakes at my Dorset 3km #PWC2026 are frozen over & covered by overnight snow grains, looks pretty but all wildfowl are crammed on the last open water inc 44 Teal, 4 Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 11 Tufties, 4 Lt Grebe & 21 Canadas! @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @patchbirding.bsky.social

Nice afternoon spent on the South Levels, with 4 Tundra Bean Geese at Curry Moor; 5 Bewick's Swan, 17 Egyptian Geese & a Ruddy Shelduck at Muchelney Level; 52 White-fronted Geese & Marsh Harrier at West Sedgemoor & a few Cranes at Southlake Moor. @somersetbirds.bsky.social

The moment you've all been waiting for, the #PWC2026 Sign Up Sheet is here! We look forward to seeing how many patches take part next year and don't forget to encourage your friends to sign up to keep the challenge alive. We hope that it is a fun year's birding! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Redhead Goosander at the Dorset patch yesterday (only the 3rd record here this year) & what was probably the same bird, seen briefly just over the border in Somerset at Perry Street Pond the day before. #PWC2025 @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social & @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Sunrise over Chard, South Somerset today. #sunrise

A rewarding day of #LocalPatchBirding visiting several sites all within 5 miles of home gave 2 Jack Snipe & 12 Common Snipe; 2 female Blackcap; a Firecrest & a total of 15+ Chiffchaff at two WWTW. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social & @somersetbirds.bsky.social @patchbirding.bsky.social

A couple of hours spent on The Blackdowns, Somerset today, gave close views of Dipper & Grey Wagtail, also Kingfisher & a pair of Wigeon, but only 4 Teal. Nearby 2 Stonechat, 6 Skylark & a good count of 34 Snipe, but no Golden Plover or winter thrushes seen! @somersetbirds.bsky.social

An important read for anyone who cares about nature in the UK!

youtu.be/LVLhbtVVVTk Spectacular Starling murmuration over my Dorset patch after Storm Bram cleared through. Anyone care to estimate numbers? #PWC2025 @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Decided to try the moth trap last night (7/12) as it was so mild, but only a Rusty-dot Pearl & 2 December Moth for the effort! South Somerset VC5 #Teammoth

The photos not going to win any prizes, but the Dawlish Warren Lesser Crested Tern was my first British tick since the Baikal Teal in 2022 (I don't twitch much these days!) #DevonBirds

Lesser Crested Tern still at Dawlish Warren, settled on mud, best viewed from hide 10:50 @birdguides.bsky.social

Now two Redhead & a drake Goosander at #ChardRes Photo taken at dusk this evening. @somersetbirds.bsky.social

A rather tatty Red Admiral in my garden in Chard today 3rd Dec! @savebutterflies.bsky.social

A rather dapper Peregrine enjoying the sun after the earlier frost at the Dorset patch today. #PWC2025 @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

The drake & Redhead Goosander showed quite well from the dam at #ChardRes early this am, shame the light was so poor! #PWC2025 @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Red Kite over the Dorset patch this am, also Brambling heard inflight. Dipper on a Somerset stream near Chard late this pm. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @somersetbirds.bsky.social

No sign of Scaup this am. Didn't realise the significance of my find yesterday...this is the first record at #ChardRes for 24 years & the largest group since the 1950's! #PWC2025Mega @patchbirding.bsky.social #LocalPatchBirding

3 Scaup still present at #ChardRes at dusk. Also drake & redhead Goosander & 14 Tufties. @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Planning and Infrastructure Bill - sadly about to clear its final hurdle. With disastrous implications for our already nature-depleted land #Biodiversity #Planning

The Desert Wheatear at Wyke Regis was a Dorset tick & 8 years since my last, the showy Thurlstone bird in South Devon in Jan 2017. Thx to Brett @luvaducksbutt.bsky.social @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Desert Wheatear still showing at Bridging Camp, Wyke Regis....but we've just been told to move on by the camp security! @birdguides.bsky.social @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Red Admiral still visiting my Orange Ball Buddleia daily... 23rd November & after several hard frosts! Chard, South Somerset. #inverts @savebutterflies.bsky.social

At least 41 Great Crested Grebe at #ChardRes this am in awful weather. Redhead Goosander also still present (photo taken yesterday in much better conditions!) #PWC2025 @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Redhead Goosander again at #ChardRes this morning. #PWC2025 @somersetbirds.bsky.social

Very productive EuCan Conservation Workday yesterday at my Dorset patch, with meadows & glades brush-cut. 15 Ash dieback felled, 5 Oak with major squirrel damage, 4 large leaning willow soon to block footpath & a few Silver Birch. Also several Hazel coppiced to allow more light. Thx to 11 volunteers

Female Pintail on the Dorset patch this morning, only the second record this year after a pair in February (which were the first for 5 years at the site!) #PWC2025 @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Just received details of this bird from Roy Dennis Foundation: G834 a male that fledged from a nest in Dorset this year! Thx for the very quick reply Zoe Smith at RDF.

It might be just 3 Pochard, but they're the first of the year on my 10km #PWC2024 !! Seen at #ChardRes this morning. 131st species for the patch to date (153 points) @somersetbirds.bsky.social @patchbirding.bsky.social

WTE drifted slowly south, high over my inland Dorset patch at Chard Junction at 11:00 this am. My second record here. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @patchbirding.bsky.social #PWC2025

Probably my last moth trap of the year gave 9 species, singles of Rusty-dot Pearl, Dark Arches, Red & Yellow-line Quakers, Beautiful Plume, Epirrita sp & 2 Feathered Thorn. Chard, Somerset VC5 #Teammoth @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

Just 5 moths in last nights' trap, this White-point, plus Large Pale Masoner, Yellow-line Quaker, Common Plume & LBAM. Chard VC5 #Teammoth @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

Surprised to see this Comma nectaring on Orange Ball Buddleia in my Somerset garden today in total cloud cover, still mild though at 14C! @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Spectacular aerial display by these two Goshawk this morning in glorious sunshine! An adult & juvenile/immature?