Simon Mitchell
@perilsofbirding.bsky.social
Birder, Ecological surveyor, Bird tour leader, Academic Researcher and Conservationist
Reform UK wants to shut this down. If it did so, it would throw a million people out of work. Why? because it is beholden to the fossil fuel industry. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
UK’s growing green economy worth more than £100bn a year, research finds
Net zero industry accounts for more than a million jobs and benefits whole country, according to CBI Economics
theguardian.com
So Lammy and Starmer lied to the British people that UK reconnoissance flights were being used to inform the indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Gaza. Now they’ve let slip that we’ve effectively gone to war with Iran.
Saul Staniforth@saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 6mo agoLammy is asked if UK forces are attacking sites in Iran. He confirms that yes, if we anticipate being attacked by Iran, we can attack sites there See how it works. We 'defensively' stop Iran retaliating after being attacked by the US/Israel, they respond so we start bombing them
Since he’s been cheerleading US & Israeli bombing in Iran (which resulted in 150 dead at a girls primary school today), I thought now would be a good time to out @zootherabirding.bsky.social as the virulent racist that he is. Wouldn’t be caught in a million miles of a Zoothera birding tour!
I'm not exaggerating, almost every dog owner I know would be just fine with this. When I suggest they should consider wildlife when out walking their dog they look at me as though I'm mad.
Trevor Codlin@trevorcodlin.bsky.social · 6mo agoThat was until this spaniel ran through the roost and flushed everything. I missed the first and main flush, this was the aftermath, with smaller groups still being flushed. We have a strategy in place in Hampshire to protect these birds from disturbance, but it’s just not working.
A dapper wintering Bluetail at @wendlingbeck.bsky.social continues to show on & off today. Bird on private land & owners are keen for birders to be help not hinderance to the community. Therefore, I've been asked to organise a donation pot for St Mary's Church upkeep. ko-fi.com/simonleomitc...
We are going to irreversibly degrade the biosphere for the sake of people asking 'Grok' to explain simple memes and/or generating pictures of cats that look like Hitler.
Seth Klein@sethdklein.bsky.social · 9mo agoEXCLUSIVE: O’Leary’s Gas-Powered Data Centre Emissions Could Wipe Out Alberta’s Coal Phaseout Gains www.theenergymix.com/exclusive-ol...
Incredible a'noon at Caister. First a Pallas's flitting through in a huge tit flock. Then another glimpsed warbler, silent & elusive. After a heard only bird at Thornham y'day I wondered if I just hallucinate Hume's Warblers. Till it popped up calling. And a Dusky calling too!
Yomping the Norfolk coast. Blackbirds everywhere; 'tseeping' from under every hedge. Woodcocks errupting at my feet. A Short-eared Owl winging in over brown waves at Cart Gap. Then in the gathering gloom a glowing rump and seven illuminated stripes. What late autumn is all about.
Very happy to find this Pallid Swift at Cromer this a'noon - a typical chameleon in different light conditions, it gradually shifted towards East Runton after being repeatedly mobbed by a Pied Wag(!) Also marks my most-wanted birding milestone - my 300th species self-found in Britain and Ireland!
"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...
The Guardian view on Labour targeting nature: the problem isn’t snails, but a broken housing model | Editorial
Editorial: Rachel Reeves’s drive to speed up development is beginning to treat wildlife and the environment as expendable. Voters want homes built, but not at any cost
theguardian.com
Global pet food emissions rival those of a small country. Switching dogs to plant-based foods could slash emissions tenfold—without sacrificing nutrition.
Researchers compare the footprint of meat vs. plant-based dog foods. The differences were staggering.
Global pet food emissions rival those of a small country. A new UK study reveals that switching dogs to plant-based foods could slash emissions tenfold—without sacrificing nutrition.
anthropocenemagazine.org
A great thread dismantling the latest 'conservation populism' to be floated in Britain. With funding available for species recovery, this is business for some. We'll see more of this pitching for commercial projects that scientists & species experts think is useless. #ornithology #ukbirding
Alexander Lees@alexanderlees.bsky.social · 11mo agoMore ill thought out 'conservation' translocations 🌍 www.theguardian.com/environment/... - so much to unpack here #Ornithology #UKBirding 🧵
Interesting set of conditions for displacing migrants across NE North America over the last few days serve as a potential insight into the extend that ‘initial conditions’ vs ‘conveyance conditions’ impact vagrancy of American land birds - thread.
'Following the science' is fundamental to uphold, whether combatting climate change denial by populist political parties, or ecological denial by populist 'conservation' groups, both of which have coincidentally right wing backers. Rejecting science & expertise seems integral to the world view.
BirdGuides@birdguides.bsky.social · 11mo agoOperation Turtle Dove has issued an official statement expressing their disapproval over the captive breeding and releasing of European Turtle Dove in the UK:
I've just finished revising my free Birding Cadiz Guide (but donations via my Just Giving page to Alzheimer's Society are very welcome). No major changes, just minor updates (corrections are also posted on my blog - birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...)
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.
After 25+ miles walked in better conditions along the Norfolk coast this month it felt sort of ironic that the first bird I lifted my bins for on a family outing at Happisburgh this afternoon was this lovely 1w Isabelline (Daurian) Shrike.
One of a brace of nice obvious 2cy Caspian Gulls on Norwich Waterworks this morning @rarebirder.bsky.social
Didnt expect my (long overdue), self found Glossy Ibis to be a flock of 22 which took off from a hidden ditch at Buckenham! Terrible phone photo as they headed SSE over the Yare
