📖 Published📖 Magnetic geolocation is a viable complementary tool for tracking small avian species, particularly in contexts where pressure-based methods cannot be used🐦️ 🌏️ 🧪 buff.ly/qjJvgZt

🎨🐦 Calling all creative seabird enthusiasts! 🐦🎨 We’re launching 'Creative Seabird Pursuits', a newsletter feature celebrating seabird-inspired art, photography, writing, sculpture, cooking & more! Send your work to newsletter@seabirdgroup.org.uk (subject line 'Creative Seabirds') to be featured!

Huge thanks to co-authors @heyjooode.bsky.social @keithchamer.bsky.social @timgbenton.bsky.social and others not on here. This work was part of my PhD, supported by Jesper Kyed Larsen & Vattenfall. 📄 Read the paper (open access): doi.org/10.1186/s404... #MovementEcology #Seabirds #Gannets #IBM 5/5

Movement simulations reveal both memory and social information drive individual foraging site fidelity in gannets - Movement Ecology

Background Alongside their direct perceptions of prey, Northern gannets (Morus bassanus) likely derive foraging cues from memory of previously successful foraging areas (private information), and from conspecifics (public information). Together these mechanisms are likely to underpin emergent Individual foraging site fidelity (IFSF) patterns, characterised by individual consistency in foraging area use. Where observation methods are inadequate in helping us determine IFSF properties, simulation experiments can help decipher the implicit foraging strategies present in an organism’s movements. Methods We began by developing a movement simulation model to simulate spatially explicit foraging trips of chick-rearing gannets at Bass Rock, capturing direct perception of prey only. Once confidence in the foundational model was achieved, we made modifications to the model to incorporate various implementations of public and private information use in foraging strategies. The model outputs from simulations experiments, encompassing a wide range of complexity, were compared to several empirically derived patterns at the individual and population level, to gain insight into which mechanisms may be driving IFSF patterns and the potential consequences on a population’s space use. Results Patterns observed in standalone foraging trips were well represented by our movement simulations, permitting further developments to include public and private information use. Mechanisms using private information, namely memory based reuse of previously successful departure directions, were the primary drivers of IFSF. Incorporating social information refined these patterns, improving alignment with prey distributions and enhancing realism at the population-level, irrespective of the private information employed. However, mechanisms that best reproduced emergent individual and population level spatial patterns were associated with reduced foraging efficiency, inferred from longer trip durations and greater travel distances, indicating a trade-off between spatial segregation and short-term efficiency. Conclusion Our results support the idea that IFSF can emerge from hierarchical foraging strategies in which long-term private information structures broad-scale space use, while social information modulates fine-scale movements. By linking behavioural mechanisms to emergent movement patterns in a spatially explicit environment, our study illustrates how individual-based models can move beyond description to generate mechanistic and predictive insights into animal movement, improving our ability to anticipate responses to environmental change.

doi.org

Together, this points to a hierarchical strategy: memory picks the general area, and social information helps refine and maintain it. By establishing the mechanisms by which gannets occupy space, this framework can robustly predict responses under climate and offshore wind farm scenarios. 4/5

New paper! We simulated foraging trips of Northern gannets at Bass Rock to decipher what information individuals use to keep returning to the same foraging patches. Memory was the strongest driver, but it wasn't the whole story. 🧵👇 doi.org/10.1186/s404... 1/5

We have lift off! The first Pufflings are now leaving the Isle of May as birds are now independent. This is a big moment as they’ve never flown and not seen the sea before! Good luck :)

Lesser black-backed gulls avoid offshore wind farms - but not because they are attracted by the fishing boats outside of those windfarms New article on #seabirds #ornithology besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @robvanbemmelen.bsky.social, @judyshamounb.bsky.social

Offshore wind farm avoidance by a discard‐feeding seabird is independent of local fishing activity

Fishing is not allowed within wind farms; therefore, discard-feeding seabirds may appear to avoid wind farm areas. We found that most Lesser Black-backed Gulls avoided the wind farm area, but not eac....

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Fancy seeing a paper come out on Gannets on world sea bird day - just a happy coincidence @heyjooode.bsky.social ? #worldseabirdday Saw some great gannets at the weekend at Bempton cliffs so feels right day share pic of them too

RSPB Science@rspbscience.bsky.social · last mo.

Two of the world’s largest Gannet colonies may not recover from the impact of bird flu until 2041 at the earliest, study finds Read a summary: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... Full paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.111887 #seabirds #hpai 🪶 🧪

This study was made possible by long-term monitoring. These long-term datasets are vital for understanding how events like an HPAI outbreak affect seabird populations - not just immediately, but over decades. 🐦📈📉 #avianflu #seabirds

RSPB Science@rspbscience.bsky.social · last mo.

Two of the world’s largest Gannet colonies may not recover from the impact of bird flu until 2041 at the earliest, study finds Read a summary: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... Full paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.111887 #seabirds #hpai 🪶 🧪

We built a hotel for roof-breeding kittiwakes on Røst and share our first experiences in a paper now published in SEABIRD, with recommendations for those attempting a similar project. High attendance but few breeding attempts in the first year. doi.org/10.61350/sbj... 📷 T Anker-Nilssen

New research by the University of Leeds and the RSPB reveals that moorland burning exposes millions to unsafe air pollution. Find out more: environment.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/news... @universityofleeds.bsky.social

Moorland burning exposes millions to unsafe air pollution

Managed burning on moorland in the UK led to millions of people being exposed to unsafe levels of fine particulate pollution, according to research led by the University of Leeds and the RSPB.

environment.leeds.ac.uk

What happens when you travel all the way back home from Africa to find your sweetheart with another bird?! 💔 That’s what happened to poor old Mart this week who returned home only to find his beloved Martha had found a new partner! Keep up with all the drama here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaB...

Come & learn more about our butterflies from Francesca from Nature Rich Miterdale. @leedsleaf.bsky.social @forestryengland.bsky.social @nationaltrust.org.uk @ukbutterflies.bsky.social

Our new research shows that HPAI increased Northern Gannet mortality by a factor of ~6 and ~4 at two of the world’s largest colonies. We predict this impact will take almost two decades to recover from. #biologicalconservation #seabirds #hpai Full paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.111887

New research gives insight into European Storm-petrel movements and behaviour at sea. Read on for a summary Full paper: doi.org/10.3354/meps... @one-cardiffuni.bsky.social @robthomasbirds.bsky.social @meps-ir.bsky.social 🧪 🌎️ 🪶 #seabirds

Our Spring residential is next weekend, and thanks to generous support from @northernmonk.bsky.social we'll have free beer at this one (and 2000 trees to plant). One ticket left ⤵️ 🌳🍻 @envleeds.bsky.social @leedsleaf.bsky.social www.trybooking.com/uk/FMUB

Spring Residential Weekend 13 - 15/16 March, 2026

Join us for a weekend's volunteering staying in the Birks Centre in the heart of Hardknott Forest. The centre has fantastic views over the site,...

trybooking.com

We are currently hiring for a range of #seabird jobs at @birdwatchireland.bsky.social , with a deadline of 22nd March. If you'd like to join our Seabird team this summer see birdwatchireland.ie/get-involved...

UK Government confirms ban on sale and use of toxic lead ammunition for live quarry shooting from 1st April 2029. Good news for the environment & wildlife (especially raptors!) New blog ⬇️ #RaptorResearch raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/05/u...

UK Government confirms ban on sale & use of toxic lead ammunition for ‘live quarry shooting’ from 1st April 2029

Following the announcement from Defra in July 2025 that the Government aimed to introduce legislation by the summer of 2026 to ban the sale and use of toxic lead ammunition for ‘live quarry s…

raptorpersecutionuk.org

Big week for us at @peatfree.bsky.social - we're taking the petition to Downing Street 💚 over 16.200 people have now signed - smashing our original 10k target 🎉 solid proof of the public support we always knew was there 4 legislation to #endpeatsales actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

Sign the petition to end peat sales!

No more delays: Let's get peat out of gardens once and for all. The time for uncertainty has ended.

actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk

Three legal reforms to stop the criminal killing of birds of prey - new petition to UK Minister from @friendsofthedales.bsky.social Details & link to petition in blog 🔽 #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime 🌍 raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/02/19/t...

Three reforms to stop the criminal killing of birds of prey – new petition to UK Minister from Friends of the Dales

A new petition has been launched calling on the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Mary Creagh MP) to bring in legal reform to help stop the illegal persecution of birds of prey. The petiti…

raptorpersecutionuk.org

Come along and join us this Sunday for a discussion on how BSL can highlight the interesting features of ten key seabird species. This is a free event and includes free entry to the Discovery Experience and to the Scottish Seabird Photography Competition Exhibition.

🔊 KEYNOTE NOMINATIONS Who would you like to see deliver a keynote at #BOU2027 ? Avian disease ecology | 6 - 8 April 2027 | Nottingham, UK & Zoom & Bluesky Nominate via link ⬇️ bou.org.uk/event/avi... #ornithology 🪶

NEW JOB in #ornithology chasing #nutcrackers in Switzerland to understand seed dispersal patterns: buff.ly/Cx0OOQy

In this work led by Josh Wilson, we labelled 4824 drone-based images containing 49990 birds from 101 species and trained a bird detection and ID model. The model achieved precision = 0.91 for detection & 0.65 for species/age/sex classification. zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Big Bird: A global dataset of birds in drone imagery annotated to species level

Drones are a valuable tool for surveying birds, but manually detecting and identifying birds in drone images is costly. We assembled a diverse dataset of 23 865 images of birds captured with 21 diffe...

zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Puffins and Shags seem to have been hit hardest by recent storms, with many reports of birds washed ashore. This includes one Isle of May Puffin that was ringed as an adult in 1995, making it at least 34 years old! #stormChandra #seabirds #winterstorms www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Puffin aged 34 dies after being washed up in stormy weather

Staff at an Aberdeenshire rescue centre were able to trace its history thanks to a ring on its foot.

bbc.co.uk

UKCEHseabirds@ukcehseabirds.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Lots of reports of dead seabirds in the aftermath of recent storms. Please keep an eye out for any dead colour ringed Shags and send details to shags@ceh.ac.uk #seabirds #ornithology #winterstorm

My story for @biographic.bsky.social on the aftermath of HPAI in Northern Gannett colonies was picked up by Smithsonian Magazine! A nice thing to see while resurfacing briefly during another round of kid sick days...

After a Devastating Bird Flu Outbreak, Scotland's Seabirds Are Slowly Recovering—and So Are the Scientists Who Witnessed Their Decline

The world’s largest colony of northern gannets was decimated by bird flu in 2022. Now, as their numbers climb again, researchers are collecting data to understand the virus’ lasting effects

smithsonianmag.com

One ticket left!

Restoring Hardknott Forest 🌎@hardknottforest.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Just 2 tickets left for our residential conservation weekend in March. Thanks to generous support from @northernmonk.bsky.social we'll have FREE BEER at this one. And long-time supporter & volunteer Tony has just sent through some FANCY COFFEE for us too! Booking link ⤵️ www.trybooking.com/uk/FMUB

Come for the Barkleys and @keithdunn.bsky.social’s brilliant commentary. Stay for The Green Runners, whose co-founders include Jasmin Paris & Damian Hall @ultradamo.bsky.social thegreenrunners.com

Running, without the footprint - The Green Runners CIC

We are The Green Runners - a community making changes for a fitter planet. Help us win the race against the climate emergency.

thegreenrunners.com

Last chance to apply for this PhD opportunity ➡️ bit.ly/CurlewPhD Closing date: Wednesday 18 February #Ornithology

BTO | British Trust for Ornithology@btobirds.bsky.social · 7mo ago

📢 We're looking for a PhD student to focus on habitat use of wintering Curlew in and around coastal SPAs. Apply now ➡️ bit.ly/CurlewPhD The student will be based at @ljmuofficial.bsky.social and BTO, starting in October 2026 for four years. 📆 Deadline to apply: Wednesday 18 February #Ornithology

We're looking for volunteers to join us on Mousa, Shetland this July! 🌊⛺🔊 Feel free to get in touch if you'd like to know more. And perhaps worth looking into @theseabirdgroup.bsky.social's 2026 Training Grants if you need financial support: www.seabirdgroup.org.uk/grants 🔗

The Seabird Group@theseabirdgroup.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The RSPB is looking for surveyors to census the UK’s largest Storm Petrel colony on Mousa, Shetland. We need 2-4 volunteers who are comfortable working and camping in a remote location with limited facilities, to help complete playback surveys during mid-July 2026. 🪺🏝️🏕️