An enjoyable visit to Quy Fen yesterday to check out the newly discovered breeding population of Southern Emerald Damselflies (superbly found by Andrew Maddocks), as well as entertaining views of a noisy juvenile Cuckoo being fed by Reed Warblers @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

If you remember Bill Oddie for one thing, let it be for this 4 minutes of magic. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuY9...

Starling Magic

YouTube video by arcadeium

youtube.com

Stourbridge Common in Cambridge is still attracting a nice assortment of Gulls, with 2 Mediterranean Gulls seen yesterday. Good to see that the one lingering around today is indeed different to the one on Sunday, with more white speckling on its head and a ring on the left leg.

Simon Gillings@simongillings.bsky.social · 3w ago

After a fleeting view of an adult Mediterranean Gull from a moving car earlier in the week, it was nice to catch up with it properly today, feeding on insects on Stourbridge Common, 5 mins walk from home @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social #UKBirding

Last week's heatwave came too soon for the Milton CP Black-headed Gull chicks, which jumped off the raft before they were ready to fly. The Common Tern chicks seemed to be more resilient to the heat and this week were making their first practice flights @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

and a wee bit of video of the Woodcock with chicks in tow! #highlandbirds 🪶

Reform UK councillors have introduced a motion to rescind King's Lynn and West Norfolk's climate emergency declaration and deprioritise decarbonisation efforts The council were going to vote on it on Thursday But the meeting has been postponed due to extreme heat

Very disappointing to see this continued profit-over-wildlife campaign from a major birdfood producer and seller. The RSPB/BTO guidance is very clear - do not put out seeds and peanuts between May and October. Not reduce, but stop. It is killing wild birds by the millions. #ukbirding

1/ The latest Winter Gull Survey revealed that over the two decades since the last count, the total number of gulls wintering in the UK has decreased from 3.9 million to just under 2.5 million! 📉 #Ornithology #Seabirds 📖 Read the report www.bto.org/WinGSReport

Some birds from the weekend in Cambs: a very late Tundra Bean Goose at Fen Drayton Lakes, and the party of Dotterel near Gamlingay had grown to 13 birds - I think the largest group in the county for over 20 years @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

1/ Sad news from Cambridge: the well-known female peregrine falcon of Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits has died. For years she nested on the reserve’s chalk face, raising chicks watched by thousands of visitors, birders, volunteers and local residents.

🦉Birdwatching is now the second fastest growing hobby for Gen Z! Among millennials it has risen by 216% alongside a 66% increase in gen X birders. Welcome to a world of wonder! www.theguardian.com/environment/... #nature #birds

Gen Z leads birdwatching boom as more Britons reach for the binoculars

Birdwatching no longer niche, old-fashioned pastime, says RSPB as research shows 47% increase in hobby since 2018

theguardian.com

Some local birding highlights from the last week. Really good to have spring migration in full flow @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

6 Wheatears and a Whinchat at Tev Fen this evening. After a really poor spring last year it has been great to have such a strong passage of Wheatears locally @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

Really pleased that @simongillings.bsky.social's Ring Ouzel hung around another day. It was showing really well late morning, viewed from the busy towpath at Chesterton Fen @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

Some nice views of a Weasel at Milton CP this morning - and for once, it actually stayed still long enough for a few photos!

Good to see some more movement on garden bird feeding but ultimately we need a rethink, not just because of disease but because making common birds commoner can make rare ones rarer #Ornithology #UKBirding www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Feeding birds in our gardens is a joy – but it may be harming weaker species | Alexander C Lees

By boosting dominant species such as great tits, human-provided food can make life harder for many woodland birds, says conservationist Alexander C Lees

theguardian.com

RSPB@rspb.bsky.social · 4mo ago

To reduce disease, we all need to make some urgent but simple changes to how we feed our garden birds. See our website for the latest guidance: brnw.ch/21x1t4w

What better way is there to spend the Easter 🐣 🐣🐣 weekend than birdwatching, and hopefully finding and recording rare breeding birds to help their conservation? There’s lots to look for in April, so here’s some ideas from RBBP Secretary @markaeaton.bsky.social #ornithology #UKbirding

Lots of raptors soaring in the spring sunshine at Tev Fen earlier on. This Raven circling with Buzzards gave a nice size comparison @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

After going missing for a week I thought the long-staying drake Scaup had finally moved on from Milton CP. However today it was back with the remaining handful of Tufted Ducks. I wonder where it had gone in between? @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

The BEST most hopeful news to wake to this morning! Bravo Hannah Spencer MP, bravo @westberksgreens.bsky.social who went up to support & are building members here. Thank you Gorton & Denton, @zackpolanski.bsky.social Hope over hate, community over protecting power & wealth, politics is changing!

The Green Party of England & Wales@greenparty.org.uk · 5mo ago

Introducing Hannah Spencer MP 💚

Records of Rough-legged Buzzard in Cambs stopped abruptly in 2019; before then it was pretty much annual in winter. Is the county's first Black-winged Kite now the more likely of the two raptors to occur...

Alexander Lees@alexanderlees.bsky.social · 6mo ago

No UK eBird records of Rough-legged Buzzard from 2026 yet (below); this species will likely be rarer nationally than Black-winged Kite in future. Both very visible signs of climate (and land-use) driven range shifts #UKBirding #Ornithology

No UK eBird records of Rough-legged Buzzard from 2026 yet (below); this species will likely be rarer nationally than Black-winged Kite in future. Both very visible signs of climate (and land-use) driven range shifts #UKBirding #Ornithology

@garywright62.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The Hickling Black- winged Kite was pretty reliable over the Brograve Levels throughout most of January. I managed to catch up with it on a rare sunny day in January

Great to see RBBP data being used in work led by @btobirds.bsky.social that improves our knowledge on the status of Little Egrets in the UK… there are more than we thought!

Inside Ecology@insideecology.bsky.social · 7mo ago

BTO research sheds light on the numbers and geographical spread of the Little Egret #rewilding #nature #wildlife #biodiversity #ecology #environment #habitats #conservation #climatechange #birds insideecology.com/2026/01/19/b...

A drake Ferruginous Duck at Milton CP today was a real surprise, whatever its origin, and topped off an excellent few days of local birding @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social #ukbirding

A four Aythya lunchbreak - as well as Tufted Duck and Pochard, drake Scaup and Ferruginous Duck at Milton Country Park. Top find by @jonheath.bsky.social #UKBirding

An excellent #patch tick with 2 Greater White-fronted Geese showing well at the Cambridge Research Park this morning. Many thanks to @jonheath.bsky.social for finding. An adult female Goosander also present #birds #PWC2026 #photography @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

A drake Scaup late this afternoon on a small ice free area of Todd's Lake at Milton CP. After being well out of finding form recently it was nice to get something good on patch for a change @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social #ukbirding

Happy New Year! Some of the best birds seen and favourite pics from locally around Cambs this year. One of my highlights was recording over 100 species in April at my Tev Fen patch, though the habitat there and then interesting birds soon dried up @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

Great day out in Norfolk yesterday. After a bit of a wait the Black-winged Kite started hunting at Ludham Bridge and quickly caught a vole. Later on the Eastern Black Redstart showed brilliantly in the winter sunshine at Sheringham @mrm27.bsky.social #ukbirding

Good visit to Norfolk today, 30/12/25, for the Black-winged Kite with @jonheath.bsky.social and a nameless friend, good views, then a bit of a seawatch at Sheringham with the E Black Redstart as an incentive, finishing with some nice wild swans. #birds 🪶🐦