Tessera
Folgen

Martin George

@jannerbirder.bsky.social

Bird nerd, patch worker and BTO surveyor. MSc Ornithology (mostly a seabirds thing). Proud Devonian currently exiled to North Shropshire. I also run the #Shropshirebirds feed.

2108 Posts1798 Follower1631 Folgt
Portland Bird Observatory@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Fascinating example of the workings of modern social media, togging and AI 'editing': the same photo of a Turtle Dove that's clearly been run through AI in some way before being posted on two different Facebook groups three days apart by two apparently different people (we've blanked out the names)

BildBildBild
Martin George@jannerbirder.bsky.social · 5d ago

The Swallows are gathering on the wires, and the local patch had a desiccated feel to it this evening, apart from one area where a major field drain seems to be backed up. No passage waders, sadly, just lots of corvids: around 260 Jackdaws, 300 Rooks and at least ten Carrion Crows. #ShropshireBirds

(Barn) Swallows gathering on the lines/overhead power cables.A silvery, thistle dominated pasture bathed in light from the low sun that is shining through broken cloud. Unedited image, despite the apparent sepia effect.A brown, parched pasture with brown cows and calves in the distance, against a backdrop of mature deciduous trees. A concrete drain surrounded by surface is just visible, along with massed black dots which are part of a large aggregation of corvids. Around 260 Jackdaws, 300 Rooks and at least ten Carrion Crows.Low sun over one of the last wheat fields to be harvested locally, with the round bales of straw still scattered where they fell. Above the tree-lined horizon a low sun is shining through gaps in low clouds, with blue sky still showing.
Alexander Lees@alexanderlees.bsky.social · last wk.

Just to note that there will be new app functionality to facilitate editing and uploading Merlin recordings into eBird checklists but not a free flow of Merlin data (and false positives) into eBird as seems to be intimated here #UKbirding #Ornithology www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Birdsong data from Merlin ID app to help global biodiversity project

Cornell Lab for Ornithology plans data linkup between app and population monitoring on eBird platform

theguardian.com

Julian Hughes@penrhynbirder.bsky.social · last wk.

Welcome news about a #seabird whose Welsh population has probably never been higher. This week's @northwaleslive.bsky.social BirdNotes, with some recent sightings on land too. #BirdingWales @rspbcymru.bsky.social @btocymru.bsky.social @smp-seabirds.bsky.social www.birdnotes.wales/blog/black-g...

Black Guillemot: a seabird on the up

At a time when many of Wales’ breeding seabirds are in trouble, meriting the launch of a conservation strategy to which the new Plaid Cymru government committed in its election manifesto, some good...

birdnotes.wales

Julian Hughes@penrhynbirder.bsky.social · 2w ago

Da iawn Scotland. The previous Welsh Government blew the chance to be first despite cross-party support in the Senedd. Can a new Government do better, @plaidcymru.bsky.social @llyrgruffydd.bsky.social?

ANJEC@anjec.bsky.social · 2w ago

Scotland has just done something quietly brilliant for its birds. New buildings across the country will now have to include "swift bricks", hollow bricks built straight into the walls that give birds a safe place to nest. Scotland is the first country in the UK to write this into law.

Martin George@jannerbirder.bsky.social · 2w ago

Another two Quail evening with a gorgeous sunset just a fifteen-minute walk from home in North Shropshire. Wonderful! The field pool isn't looking so good, sadly, it has been reduced to little more than a cattle wallow. The hoped for Wood Sandpiper is looking less likely 🙂 #ShropshireBirds

An orange sunset with clouds and vapour trails low over the skyline of mature trees.An orange sunset with clouds and vapour trails low over the skyline of mature trees. A mature hedgerow frames the left side of the image, with the foreground being a harvest ready wheat crop.The muddy remains of a field pool in sun-blasted pasture with mature hedges and trees beyond.
Martin George@jannerbirder.bsky.social · 2w ago

“Do you want a say in how people access the great outdoors in Shropshire? Then please take part in the annual Shropshire Great Outdoors Survey 2026”… And mention birdwatching as an activity to let the SGO team include us in their management as well as dog walkers, ramblers etc. #ShropshireBirds

Have your say in the Shropshire Great Outdoors Annual Survey 2026 - Shropshire Council Newsroom

Have your say in the Great Outdoors Survey 2026

newsroom.shropshire.gov.uk

Martin George@jannerbirder.bsky.social · 2w ago

Al-altered images on birdwatching forums putting research at risk. “The idea that we could maybe use those [Facebook] photos to help us understand where species are in space and time is very difficult”, said @alexanderlees.bsky.social in the science journal Nature.

Al-altered images on birdwatching forums putting research at risk

Experts warn increase in enhanced photos on birding platforms creating fake sightings, threatening credibility of tool used by scientists

theguardian.com

Martin George@jannerbirder.bsky.social · 2w ago

There are still some Quail in North Shropshire, but enjoy them while you can, they will soon leave us to head south. Towards the end of this clip you will hear the distinctive "wet my lips" call of one of two birds calling from barley fields off Crosemere Lane in Cockshutt. #ShropshireBirds

Alice Risely@alice-risely.bsky.social · 3w ago

People who call urban gulls “flying rats” fail to realise that they are more like cats - they undoubtedly provide serious rodent control in cities. This one in Liverpool grabbed this young rat from under our bench and proceeded to thoroughly kill it in front of us. #urbangulls

Bild
Martin George@jannerbirder.bsky.social · 3w ago

Yesterday's harvest time* walk around the local patch. Highlight was the four Oystercatchers that flew past me, calling loudly, as I overlooked Crose Mere from the site of the Bronze Age settlement, and another calling Quail. *Reckoned to be three weeks early by two local farmers.

West Midlands Ringing Group@westmidlandsrg.bsky.social · 3w ago

A disappointing visit to our Common Tern rafts @SthStaffsWater Blithfield Res A site that usually produces around 50 chicks per raft had just a total of 10 chicks this year after a late start to breeding our poorest season here in the last 5 years. Here’s hoping for a better 2027

Bild
Martin George@jannerbirder.bsky.social · 3w ago

Here at the cutting edge of field ornithology it's important to stay sharp and informed. I've just been checking this essential reference in a local hide and it's the latest, 1973, edition, significantly updated since the first edition of 1955 😉

A photo of an old, hardback field guide on the wooden shelf of a bird hide. The dust jacket is red with an inset colour painting of a Goldfinch. The book's title is Bird Spotting.
Katharine Hayhoe@katharinehayhoe.com · 3w ago

Scan your local news today. How many stories are about something climate change is making worse...without saying so? I counted 8 of those in my feed today, vs just 1 that named climate change directly. Why does this matter? Research shows that making this connection changes how people see it.

Nine screenshots of my google news page today, each describing issues that are directly impacted by climate change, from more dangerous wildfire to changing flood policies.