The BBS Team is currently busy verifying 2025 data. For the next couple of weeks, we are going to share some species info from 2024. This week, we share the 10 most numerous species recorded on BBS squares across the UK in 2024! @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social

Wild seabirds are more likely to split up in windy weather, new Edinburgh Napier-led research with UKCEH & @bioss.bsky.social shows. This is significant as climate change is bringing windier weather conditions. UKCEH's Francis Daunt spoke to BBC Scotland (~1hr 27m) www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... 🧪

Importantly, birds that remained with the same partner tended to lay eggs earlier, which is strongly tied to how many chicks they rear 🐣. See our news story: ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... Read the full paper: sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #seabirds #ClimateChange 🧪

📣 New publication in the journal Animal Behaviour from our Adam Butler led by @edinburghnapier.bsky.social in collaboration with @ukceh.bsky.social. 📰 Read the summary here: www.bioss.ac.uk/case-studies... 📕 Read the full paper here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🐦‍⬛ | Wild seabirds are more likely to split up in windy weather, according to a newly published study led by #EdNapier. The paper reveals that environmental conditions before the breeding season appear to have an impact on mate faithfulness. Full story ➡️ orlo.uk/Zfiqf #MustBeNapier

📸- Richard Barlett #MustBeNapier | #ENUDifferenceMakers

Today’s #AutumnArrivalSpotlight shines on the Starling! Forget fireworks...Autumn’s skies come alive with magnificent murmurations: vast, swirling clouds of Starlings dancing at dusk. One of nature's greatest spectacles. 😍

NEW on #theBOUblog from Sue Lewis After the outbreak: how gannets bounce back from bird flu bou.org.uk/blog-lewi... Based on this IBIS paper doi.org/10.1111/ibi....#theBOUblog #ornithology 🪶

EARLY VIEW in IBIS Effect of a previous high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAIV) infection on the breeding success of Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) | onlinelibrary.wiley.... Sue Lewis et al | #ornithology 🪶

Paper can be found here: doi.org/10.1111/ibi....

New @edinburghnapier.bsky.social study suggests that exposure to #avianflu does not affect breeding success in gannets, but shows worrying declines in breeding productivity over all. We're very proud to be part of this vital research project. Learn more↙️ www.napier.ac.uk/about-us/new... 📷J Lane

🪹 | Seabirds that survived recent bird flu outbreaks have continued to reproduce, although overall breeding performance remains notably low, according to a new study. The study has looked at breeding success in Northern Gannets at two locations during 2023. 🔗 orlo.uk/44CaS 📸 Dave Pressland

The paper, led by #EdNapier's Dr Sue Lewis, in a collaboration with conservation scientists and staff from the @rspb.bsky.social, the @seabirdcentre.bsky.social and the @ukceh.bsky.social has been published by the international avian science journal Ibis. 📸 James Glossop

Find out more in our new blog: www.seabird.org/blog/2024-ba... 📷©️Greg Macvean

So, while the news in 2024 isn’t exactly what we were hoping for, the absence of new flu cases during 2024 and improved survey methods are promising signs. With continued monitoring and care, there’s still hope that this spectacular seabird colony can bounce back in the years ahead. 📷©️J McDermaid

But there is some good news. The 2024 survey didn’t turn up many signs of ongoing illness, suggesting that the avian flu did not return during 2024. Also, the presence of so many chicks implies that foraging conditions were good, allowing parents to feed their young successfully. 📷©️Greg Macvean

Although these figures are estimates (so should be treated with caution) these results suggest that the gannet population has not yet started to recover from the impact of the avian flu outbreak in 2022.

From this, we estimated the total number of AOS (apparently occupied sites) on Bass Rock in 2024 to be around 46,045. This indicates a 6.7% decrease compared with the last survey completed in 2023 & comparison of the estimated total population between 2023 & 2024 indicates a decrease of around 11%.

The 2024 Bass Rock Gannet Count is complete✅ A high-resolution drone survey - carried out in partnership with @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social School of Geosciences, @ukceh.bsky.social & @edinburghnapier.bsky.social in July 2024 - provided a detailed new look at the Bass Rock gannet colony. 📷©️G Macvean

Just 1 teaspoon of neonicotinoids can kill 1.25 BILLION bees. Yesterday, over 1 million voices told the UK Government: stop allowing banned pesticides in our countryside. DEFRA, it’s time to end ‘emergency’ use. Protect pollinators vital to nature's recovery & our food security.

Please ALSO report any sightings of dead and sick birds to BirdTrack through www.birdtrack.net for monitoring purposes. Thank you.

We humbly interrupt your scroll to bring you the news that Wisdom—the world's oldest known wild bird—is breeding again, age 74. Go on girl. 😍

Need tips to identify birds of prey? Check out this animated bird guide by @willrose.bsky.social. These videos are supporting Cudyll Cymru, a BTO project in Wales, which asks volunteers to record birds of prey. Sign up to take part ➡️ bit.ly/CudyllCymru

Brrr! With temperatures plunging, here's how we can help wildlife weather the cold. ❄️

Today’s #AutumnArrivalSpotlight is the Scaup, the UK’s rarest breeding duck! 🦆 Numbers build in winter as birds arrive from Iceland and Scandinavia, gracing our coastal waters. Look for their striking plumage and rounded heads as they dive in search of mussels & crustaceans.