Haven't done a #CrapBirdPhotoOfTheDay for ages - so here's a Goosander's bum 😂

++BREAKING++ The UK and Spanish governments have issued a joint statement overnight: "[We] agreed that this summer’s wildfires demonstrated that climate change was now a national security emergency facing Europe and threatening our way of life." www.gov.uk/government/n...

Big Butterfly Count 2026 done ✅ Not a massive haul - but 1 Large White, 2 Small White and a Red Admiral. It only takes 15 mins and can be done any day between now and 9 August. 🦋 butterfly-conservation.org/.../take-par....

Playing peekabo with the lodgers! Babies in both occupied boxes this year which is such a joy and such a privilege! #Swifts @hannahbournetaylor.bsky.social

A depressing topic - but great to be able to present and discuss more compelling evidence on the urgent need for action to license gamebird shooting - thanks so much to @joemorrismp.bsky.social for hosting

RSPB Action@rspbaction.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Great to present the RSPB’s Patterns of Persecution report in Westminster yesterday, hosted by Curlew Champion @joemorrismp.bsky.social The message was clear: England needs a licensing system for gamebird shooting to protect our birds of prey. www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wi...

This weekend I did my second breeding wader survey of the year for the @rspbengland.bsky.social Bowland #Curlew recovery #ClaphamCluster. The first Curlew chicks of the spring on this farm 🥳. And for fans of #CrapBirdPhotoOfTheDay - I bring you a pair of Curlew and a Lapwing chick out in the open

Shocking and profoundly sad to see the illegal destruction of protected areas happening in real time in #Albania yesterday - the Wild West ahead of accession to the EU, while the EU turns a blind eye? 🤬😱😭

Ariel Brunner@arielbrunner.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Have just been on site, with @birdlifeeurope.bsky.social Partners from across Europe, in Albania's Vjosa delta-Narta lagoon "protected" area. It is being devastated as we speak by the construction of an airport and a massive luxury tourism complex promoted by Jared Kushner.

First @rspbengland.bsky.social @forestofbowlandnl.bsky.social #ClaphamCluster breeding wader survey of the year for me - it's looking busy on the farm🥳🤞and the #Curlew nest fencing team have already been out 💪

NEW REPORT: Today we publish Unprotected Nature, a report revealing Natural England's failure to designate any new protected sites. Read about it in the Guardian here: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

England wildlife watchdog ‘has stopped designating special sites for protection’

Exclusive: Report finds Natural England has created no new SSSIs, which protect areas from development, since 2023

theguardian.com

Two years on from a Westminster Government commitment to reform the purposes & governance of England's protected landscapes⏲️ 👀, this new CNP report makes recommendations for what a more nature-focussed, equitable and effective future for the governance of our #NationalParks should look like.

Campaign for National Parks@campaign4parks.bsky.social · 4mo ago

It’s time to transform National Park governance 💪 Our new report - Leading National Parks into the future: modernising National Park Authority governance, sets out clear and achievable recommendations, grounded in evidence Read the report 👉 www.cnp.org.uk/news/new-rep...

The ban on poisonous lead ammunition in outdoor shooting is law! Thank you to the thousands who spoke up. We’ve thrown wildlife a lifeline. Now, 100,000 waterbirds will be saved every single year. When we raise our voices together - we make change happen 👇 www.wwt.org.uk/about-us/new...

Time is almost up for toxic lead ammunition

Legislation to ban poisonous lead ammunition comes into force in England, Scotland and Wales on 1 April 2026.

wwt.org.uk

Great to see coordinated proposals from Westminster, Scottish and Welsh govts for stronger restrictions on shooting rare and Red-listed birds including Pochards, Goldeneyes and Woodcocks. UK-wide, joined up action will be critical for their recovery. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Shooting restricted for six British wild birds to halt population decline

Woodcocks and pochard, pintail and goldeneye ducks among threatened species protected by proposals

theguardian.com

The science is clear, and the public’s concern for nature is undeniable. Pulling back from the most extreme recommendations today has averted disaster. Now it’s time for the Prime Minister to follow the evidence, back up his words with real action, and ensure nature and growth succeed together.

For decades these laws have guided development away from the places wildlife depends on. And for good reason. Nature is not, and never has been, a blocker to growth. It is flood protection. It is food security. It is health and wellbeing. It is economic stability. It is national security.

Today, the Government stepped back from the most damaging recommendations that threatened to gut the laws protecting our most precious places for nature. With wildlife already in crisis, anything else would have been reckless. But avoiding the worst is not enough. Nature needs ambitious action.

I've called on the UK Government to license gamebird shooting in England and give Hen Harriers the protection they deserve. Please help spread the word - contact your MP today and help stop the illegal killing of these incredible birds! action.rspb.org.uk/page/185536/...

Save Our Hen Harriers!

It’s time for the UK Government to license gamebird shooting in England and give Hen Harriers the protection they deserve. Contact your MP today and help stop the illegal killing of these incredible ...

action.rspb.org.uk

Second @rspb.bsky.social #BigGardenBirdWatch of the weekend complete - Mum's garden this time! We saw 20 individuals of 9 species - so a bit better than I did at mine!

We know what needs to be done to help nature recover – what we need is the UK Government to take positive action now – for the sake of nature – and of our futures.

A National Security Assessment highlighted nature as a national security risk earlier this week. Yet yesterday’s Habitats Regulations report shows many of England’s most important habitats are rapidly declining. Just 3% are in good condition. And half are in an unfavourable and worsening state 🧵

One @rspb.bsky.social #BigGardenBirdwatch complete! I'd like to thank the 14 individuals of 8 different species who showed up. And as for the rest of my regular visitors, including the c30 Starlings who flew over but failed to land - I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed! 😉🤣

Yet another appalling case of bird of prey persecution🤬, another ludicrously light penalty & yet another reminder of why licensing of shooting across the UK is so urgently needed! Prosecution once again based on evidence provided by @rspbinvestigations.bsky.social 🙏 www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen...

Police investigate after white-tailed eagles go missing across UK

Police investigate after white-tailed eagles go missing across UK

Conservationists appeal to public for help after rare birds disappear in suspicious circumstances One of the first white-tailed eagles to fledge in England for hundreds of years has vanished in suspicious circumstances, alongside two more “devastating” disappearances of the reintroduced raptor. Police are appealing for public help as they investigate the disappearances, which is a setback to the bird’s successful reintroduction. Their disappearance is being investigated by several police forces and the National Wildlife Crime Unit. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

A sign of our (deeply depressing) times! 😔👇https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/05/street-names-birds-britain-rise-populations-plummet?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Streets named after birds in Britain on rise as species’ populations plummet

RSPB says growing trend for honouring species that are in decline is not matched by action on conservation

theguardian.com

📢 The IUCN National Committee UK's Protected Areas Working Group response to yesterday's report on protected areas in England by The Office for Environmental Protection: @ruthchambers.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @jncc-ceo.bsky.social @naturalengland.bsky.social @tonyjuniper.bsky.social

Without legally binding targets, proper funding and urgent delivery, the Government’s own goals won’t be met and nature will pay the price.⚠️ Protected sites are the frontline of recovery but only if Government chooses to make them so. Fail nature here, and you fail everywhere.

The Office for Environmental Protection says stronger, statutory targets are needed for protected sites. We agree. Yet the Government’s revised “Environmental Improvement Plan”, published earlier this week, did the opposite: weakening targets & slowing the action nature needs.

England’s most important nature sites are being failed.❌ Protected sites can and should be driving nature’s recovery. But today’s OEP report exposes the real problem: years of weak delivery, underfunding and political drift have left them unable to do the job the law intended.

Thankyou to @keasdenkate.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social for launching our new campaign #EyesontheSkies speaking out against the very illegal #persecution of #BirdsofPrey & thank you all that attended & supported🤩 Sign up to our enews for all future plans & events: www.friendsofthedales.org.uk

"if, the Government is serious about tackling bird of prey persecution connected to the game shooting industry, now is the time to introduce licensing, for both upland and lowland game bird shooting" @friendsofthedales.bsky.social @bucktonbirder.bsky.social

Raptor Persecution UK@raptorpersuk.bsky.social · 10mo ago

NERF Chair Steve Downing points out 20 years of Govt failure in tackling the illegal killing of birds of prey on gamebird shooting estates in the UK. #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/10/24/a...

Final call for tonight's launch! @friendsofthedales.bsky.social

Friends of the Dales@friendsofthedales.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Still time to book 4 launch of #EyesontheSkies - our new #campaign - calling for an end to #birdsofpreypersecution - with Kate Jennings, UK Head of Site Conservation & Species Policy @rspb.bsky.social Book at: friendsofthedales.org.uk