That moment when you find a semi rarity on a commercial bird survey and you have no knowledge of the BTO code. 🤣 Turns out Little Bunting does have a 2-letter code. FYI it's LJ. The alt 5-letter code is LITBU @btobirds.bsky.social @hesitantweasel.bsky.social @bucktonbirder.bsky.social

Nature is never static, declines and increases are a constant. Great to see the revival of Eurasian Teal numbers wintering on the upper Mersey Estuary has continued. Nearly 1000 birds on today's Low Tide Count. @hesitantweasel.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social @haltonbc.bsky.social

I've just payed in a further £80.01 to @birdlifemarine.bsky.social towards #savingseabirdsglobally following donations at my recent talks. Every penny makes a difference. @rspb.bsky.social

Scarcely believable but a truly damning illustration of the vested interests controlling Parliament. Baroness Young should explain herself to RSPB members!

Peregrine Falcon giving me a look of contempt, as it whipped along the cliffs at Buckton heading toward Jubilee Corner, earlier this morning. @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social

Our local Eurasian (Common) Kestrels Falco tinnunculus seem to have had a successful breeding season in the @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social and Buckton area. A scan from a good vantage point often reveals 6, or more, in the air at any one time. @bucktonbirder.bsky.social @bemptonbirder.bsky.social

Despite lots of suitable habitat, it's taken a surprisingly long time for me to add Common Stonechat to my Buckton patch list. @bucktonbirder.bsky.social @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social

A new blog featuring the perilous lives of the young raptors found along the coastal fields and cliffs of Flamborough Head. www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/attrition @flamboroughbird.bsky.social @bucktonbirder.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social @bemptonbirder.bsky.social

The bushes of Buckton and Bempton are still hosting plenty of these beautiful little bandits (Lesser Whitethroats Curruca curruca), feasting on the elderberries to fuel their migrations. @bucktonbirder.bsky.social @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social Photo from this morning along Hoddy Cows Lane.

I get sick of hearing people, who should know better, indulge in in RSPB bashing. Get over yourselves! No organisation is perfect but the RSPB, in my lifetime, has done more than any other body in the UK to protect our wildlife. @rspb.bsky.social Thank you! Here's a Marsh Harrier to celebrate you.

By now (31st July) most UK breeding warblers have started their migratory return to favoured wintering grounds. This Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) at Buckton seems to have elected to cram in an extra brood. Still feeding the fledglings today. @flamboroughbird.bsky.social

I spent an enjoyable half-hour playing peek-a-boo with the Lesser Whitethroats along Hoddy Cows Lane yesterday evening. @bucktonbirder.bsky.social @flamboroughbird.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social @hesitantweasel.bsky.social

Has anyone else every seen the curlew tribe 'anting'? In Iceland I watched this Eurasian Whimbrel pick ants off the plants & place them deliberately on different part of its plumage. @btobirds.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @aba.org @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social @birdsnewzealand.bsky.social

Sowerby's Beaked Whale is an infrequently observed cetacean. Here's my blog about a recent fantastic encounter in the Iceland Basin www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/rolling... With plenty of instructive and thought-provoking images. @whalesorg.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social

Celebrating #WorldOceansDay on the East Yorkshire coast at @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social and Buckton. Taken this morning at this sensational seabird city.

My local Peregrine tiercel was on a favoured perch calling to his partner early this morning. It's usually the falcon I see perched there so it made a change.

Our now resident 2nd calendar year Peregrine Falcon was back on her favourite perch along the Yorkshire coast this evening. If you want to know more about this interesting bird you can read my latest blog here. www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/the-wan...

The illegal persecution of raptors continues unabated in the UK. When was the last time you found successfully nesting Peregrine Falcons on, or near, a grouse moor? This blog celebrates this charismatic predator. Long live the Peregrine! www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/the-wan...

The significant majority of Columba livia resident on the cliffs of @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social and at Buckton are pure looking Rock Doves and act like it, at a location they would have bred at naturally for millenia. For me they are Rock Doves even if a percentage of birds show 'feral traits'.

The Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra, is a 'poster-child' for the decimation of biodiversity caused by modern farming intensification and the overuse of pesticides. From abundant farmland bird to largely absent in 40 years. @rspb.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social

I'm in the chair for Naturewatch this Saturday 3rd May. Approx. 7:20am on BBC Merseyside 95.8fm or online. I'll be joining Paul Beesley's Breakfast Show. We'll be discussing insect declines, meadows & the dawn chorus. Join us. @beezoradio.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @hesitantweasel.bsky.social

Could hardly believe my eyes when looking out of the window very early this morning. This stunning male Hawfinch was bouncing around underneath the garden feeders in Buckton @bucktonbirder.bsky.social @hesitantweasel.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @flamboroughbird.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social

A few nights ago I gave my Antipodes - Edge of the Abyss talk to Hudds&Halifax RSPB group. Many thanks for the donation of £48.11 towards #SavingSeabirdsGlobally @rspb.bsky.social

My contribution to #worldcurlewday a Hudsonian Whimbrel I photographed in Arica, Chile during a gig for Ocean Wildlife Encounters.

The Buckton Barn Owl finally gave me a close-up. Pity the light wasn't quite right. Wildlife photographers do nothing but moan! 😂 @bucktonbirder.bsky.social

Another Happy Hare Day at Buckton. Always fun trying to capture the moment when all four legs are off the ground.

Sometimes we need to be inspired to get off our backsides and take action. We live on the most extraordinary planet in the galaxy. Defend it! Go outside and listen to birds singing. www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/birdsong Vote wisely, spend strategically!

I often carry my camera on my Buckton 'local patch' sojourns, often to no avail. Every now and again you get lucky. Today I got eye-to-eye with a beautiful Brown Hare. @bucktonbirder.bsky.social

A Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis sings on Astmoor saltmarsh in Runcorn, UK 19th March 2025. It's sitting on a piece of WWII human history. The steel post has a hole through which a steel hauser would pass. A line of defence protecting a deadly secret. @hesitantweasel.bsky.social

Razorbills have been making periodic returns to their breeding cliffs @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social in the past couple of weeks. Egg laying still weeks off, but lots of reaffirming of pair bonds, in this case 'allopreening'. This pair photographed on the Buckton section on Sunday 9th March 2025.

Given that we have known for years, after scientifically proven trials, that painting at least one of the blades of a wind turbine black, significantly reduces the bird strike risk (72%) Why is it taking so long to get this done @btobirds.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @naturalengland.bsky.social ?

Something beautiful to cling to in an increasingly insane world. www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/_tide

Since 2016 I've rescued & repatriated over 80 seabirds, of 21 different species, from cruise ships, where I work as a Wildlife Speaker for two or three cruise per year. My latest blog reflects these encounters. www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/stranded @rspb.bsky.social @birdlifemarine.bsky.social

When the world is going insane I recommend you go birding. On that note: Just posted a new blog, it should appeal to those with a yearning for the 'big blue' and a passion for pelagic birding. www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/eremita @hesitantweasel.bsky.social

I've been highlighting this for over 20 years. Yet more evidence of the environmental armageddon bring unleashed by pesticides on our precious biodiversity. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Late afternoon sunshine at Buckton. Trying to capture the chestnut rump on a Yellowhammer. A bird to lift the spirits in a troubling world. @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social

I've just posted my latest blog. I think it will strike a chord with many of my birding contemporaries. www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/key-cha... @rspb.bsky.social @rspbbemptoncliffs.bsky.social

Two pictures taken in October last year from roughly the same place in Meols (Wirral).

My new blog about lists. Just a bit of fun. www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/to-list... What lists do you keep?

It's Penguin Awareness Day. Here's the Usain Bolt of the penguin world, Gentoo. It can swim at 36kph (22.4mph).

All spoonbills (this is Yellow-billed spoonbill) have remarkable reaction times & bill sensitivity. Scything their partially open bill through the water, it instantly snaps shut on detected prey. Look carefully to see a waterbug going down the gullet. @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social

A bit more detail in my new blog about the singing female Lyrebird. www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/the-un-... Intriguing and definitely one for the feminists!

My first ever Superb Lyrebird and it has a history. We thought it was either an immature male, or a female. Later we were conviced it was a female. She was colour banded (ringed), so sent off the details and this is what came back this morning. A lot more to this story that I'll put in a blog.

One of the more unusual shots from my recent sojourn down-under. A Black-faced Cormorant mid-leap in Hobart harbour.

Apparently it's 'Seabird Sunday' So here's one of my favourite's, Buller's Shearwater splaying it's wedge-shaped tail. A feature that's seldom visible

My latest blog on connecting the dots of nature through Citizen Science. www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/ring-le...

You can read my latest 'Connecting to Nature' blog here www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/body-mods

Had a brief encounter today with this Least Weasel Mustela nivalis, it paused just long enough for me to rattle of a few frames, no time to set the camera up, just point and shoot. At least the head was in focus 😂

Just posted my next blog www.jeffclarkenature.com/post/a-taste... I had the good fortune of being guided by Tim Dolby when I took two of these photographs. Hope you find the blog interesting.

I recently returned from a wildlife speaker gig on a cruise ship crossing the Tasman Sea. East of Coromandel Peninsula in NZ I had the chance to photo challenging Cookilaria petrels. The bird on the left is Cook's, but I consider the bird on the right to be Pycroft's. Happy to hear your views.