New issue of #BirdStudy out today! Birds on solar farms Numbers of released Pheasants & Partridges Woodlarks & Meadow Pipits in Central Europe Hawfinch supplementary feeding Black-billed Cuckoo diet Serengeti Secretarybirds Tracking Lesser Flamingos www.tandfonline.com/toc/tbis20/c... #ornithology

Fully funded PhD working on insectivorous bird declines with a broad range of stakeholders. Starting ASAP #ornithology #zoology #biodiversity #science #ecology www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...

New job alert: An amazing opportunity - our International science team are hiring for a 2yr position (initially) for an experienced scientist to work on tropical forest conservation 🌍🧪 Full details here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car... 📷Nick Williams/RSPB

Very firm statement on releases of captive-bred Turtle Doves, from Operation Turtle Dove inc @rspb.bsky.social & @naturalengland.bsky.social: *Doesn't meet IUCN guidelines *Risk of disease/genetic pollution *Irresponsible aims operationturtledove.org/captive-rele... 1/2 #ornithology #ukbirding

👀 Green Sandpiper and Kingfisher on the Allan Water, just before it joins the Forth. Bit of a mess down there - loads of giant hogweed and Himalayan Balsam, also lots of cow muck washing into the river from the fields behind the prison #birdingScotland

We're hiring!🧪🪶 Join our Conservation Science Technical team and help design and develop field equipment for research activities such as tracking and monitoring Full details here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...

I really like this paper, which models patterns and drivers of occupancy change across GB for 1252 insect species. Especially like Fig 5 which shows the most important negative and positive drivers for each grid square #conservationscience 🌍 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Nice story of a 'European' Roller - equipped with a satellite tag over winter in South Africa, tracked up the east coast of Africa and across the Gulfs of Adan and Oman, to breed in north-west China - where it was eventually found by local ornithologists www.birdlife.org/news/2025/08...

Check out the graphical abstract for a paper recently published in Ecological Modelling. I have papers published in Ecological Modelling. Never again, I guess.

This is a good paper, but I think the "the potential of natural climate solutions related to ecosystem restoration is close to zero" conclusion is bad. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

My first ‘careers’ style blog post.

🔊 VACANCY Enjoy #theBOUblog? Join us as Blog Editor! You'll be responsible for sourcing, editing and publishing content on #theBOUblog & will receive an annual honorarium Check out the details & apply: bou.org.uk/about-the...#theBOUblog?#theBOUblog⏰ Deadline: 29 August #ornithology 🪶

Is Swift-screaming mainly a nest site thing? I heard some quite excited ones around the old pines at the west end of Loch an Eilein last weekend.

Long-term experiments in Scotland’s Flow Country show enhanced forest-to-bog restoration boosts early peatland recovery - vital for climate & biodiversity 🧪🌏 @rob-hughes-birder.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social 🔗

I tried quite hard to agree with this essay, which pushes back against the idea that agricultural productivity is important for "feeding the world" spectrejournal.com/the-enduring...

I tried quite hard to agree with this essay, which pushes back against the idea that agricultural productivity is important for "feeding the world" spectrejournal.com/the-enduring...

To be fair, I think we should be able to find enough space for wind farms in the lowlands that we don't need to touch any (peaty?) moorlands. Trade-offs though: more landowners, more expensive land, less wind?

2000 years ago: the Romans would let an aqueduct destroy the Gardon Valley. We need clean water, but at what cost?

And Melissa Minter et al. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Featuring work from Alix Syder et al. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Our piece in @lunz-hub.bsky.social blog on combining stakeholder visioning and spatially explicit land-use scenario planning to understand opportunities for treescape expansion🌳research from @uktreescapes.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social STAND project lunzhub.com/resources/op...

The central message from Chris Thomas is that global conservation needs to focus on tackling causes at the relevant scales (e.g. food production systems) rather than treating symptoms (e.g. local nature reserves) #BESMacro2025

🔥🪵 Biomass isn’t as "renewable" as advertised, and it isn’t clean. Burning virgin wood (UK's #1 source) can be more polluting than coal. We need to prioritise use of would-be-waste biomass for hard to decarbonise sectors and phase out forest biomass for power. Full briefing: buff.ly/7RSZTE3

Whimbrel are flying south from Iceland to West Africa, a five-day journey across the open Atlantic Ocean: wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/m... Research by Camilo Carneiro et al 👇Global map of Whimbrel tracks from 'Global Wader'👇 wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/m... #ConservationScience🌎

Bring on +4C!

From the comfort of my sofa I can watch Swifts plummeting out of their nest hole before disappearing into the gloaming. No subscription required

1. At the Tipping Points conference in Exeter yesterday, I spoke about the likelihood of food system collapse: a massive existential threat few people's radar. If you want a handle on the issue, here's the submission I made to a parliamentary committee. + 🧵 www.monbiot.com/2023/03/09/t...

In case you missed this last week - our latest paper exploring net zero futures for UK land, and the potential trade-offs / co-benefits. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

👋 First post here! Excited to share our new paper just published in Scientific Reports: “Randomised land use pathway generation allows efficient multi-outcome appraisal” 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41... A quick thread on what we did and why it matters 👇

Follow the new Bluesky account of the BTO’s #ornithology science journal: Bird Study @birdstudy.bsky.social

Yesterday's progress report from the Committee on Climate Change was cautiously positive about recent woodland creation rates...

We have a new paper out, in which we use brute force to identify combinations of land use/management changes which navigate the triple challenge of climate change, biodiversity conservation and food production: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #ConservationScience 🌍 @rspbscience.bsky.social 1/

A couple years ago, I was approached by some scientists at The Nature Conservancy with a proposal: Would I help them create a better global restoration opportunity map? The resulting paper is now out, and I will explain my view of it in this thread. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I get annoyed at the narrative that all the awareness and work on climate change hasn't done anything. Yes, global CO₂ emissions indeed continue to climb, but we don't know the counterfactual. When I was in grad school, we were on track for 5°C of warming. Now it's below 3°C. That's progress.

Seems optimistic #ornithology www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Swifts! Nesting In Our House

This would be very bad, and would likely exacerbate climate change by stimulating agricultural expansion.

Is burning food and feed crops good for water quality, wildlife habitat, or addressing inequalities in rural communities? No. But is it at least good for the climate? Also no. 🧪

Two photos taken from the same location. No comment needed.

Realistic models of the potential for global reforestation suggest that it could absorb roughly 5% of human CO2 emissions. This is still worthwhile but nowhere near a solution on its own. New paper just published 🧪🌏🌐

Oops, #BirdingScotland. Western Ochils

Saw a Merlin a couple of times on the local hill tonight, chasing Meadow Pipits. First I've since anywhere since 2019. A few minutes later, a Short-eared Owl - first of the year, and first time ever in the local area. Then a Tawny Owl! 😍

I mean, come on. The Global Methane Pledge doesn’t say “hold global human-caused methane emissions constant so our methane emissions won’t contribute to any more warming.” It says “reduce methane emissions 30% by 2030” because methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas.

We are on the Isle of Jura prepping for the fell race. The hills are brutal and stunning. Beinn Shiantaidh has this amazing "fossil rock glacier" spreading down its east face. The bog cotton is out in force, as are the cuckoos (and midges, obvs)

Great night to be up our local hill, here casting its shadow on the haze of the Carse of Forth

Good job we don't have an aging population!!

Our local woodland creation project self-identifies as a nature-based solution. I'm torn as to whether 'forest operations' belong here. There was a Curlew calling. Won't be here much longer, but that was probably true even before this project was conceived

"Elk could return to UK after 3,000 years in rewilding project". Didn't realise rewilding had been going on so long. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Swifts! Over Bridge of Allan this morning has I hung out the laundry #lowcarbonbirding #BirdingScotland

Had to check this story wasn't decades old