Quail singing in farmland nr Old Nunthorpe this morning @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

"The village's fire-fighting pond has dried up again". I wonder if English village ponds were maintained as fire-fighting reservoirs in the age of timber and thatched buildings? I've never heard this specifically mentioned but it would make sense.

Akrotelm 🌾@akrotelm.bsky.social · 6d ago

Jo, der Feuerlöschteich des Dorfes ist dann mal wieder ausgetrocknet. Die Gemeinde hat, nachdem es 2018 das erste Mal passiert ist, auf Unterflur-Löschtanks umgestellt, insofern ist das Löschwasser 🚒 gesichert. Der #Landschaftswasserhaushalt 💧 hingegen bleibt kaputt...

Interesting to hear NFU president Tom Bradshaw saying water security is critical to food (and therefore national) security and "too much water that could be collected during winter was instead being pumped out into the North Sea." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

HartlepoolHeadland 8.30-11.00: v quiet. 9 Manx Shearwater, 1 juv Mediterranean Gull, Harbour Porpoise, Harbour Seal. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Hartlepool Headland 8.45-11.45: I'm sure others will post photos of the v obliging Cory's Shearwater present mid-morning but otherwise little movement. 3 Manx Shearwaters, 1 Whimbrel, 340 Common Scoter, 2 Shoveler, a Kestrel appeared to come in off the sea. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Fulmar on sea during @yorkscoastnature.bsky.social pelagic from Staithes today. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

EPCN Photo of the Month is from #Italy, submitted by Davide Taurozzi. A #temporary #pond at over 1,600 m in the Monti della Laga National Park, highlighting the remarkable diversity of European #mountain #freshwater habitats. 🏔️💧 Submissions are now open for next month’s Photo of the Month! 📸

Marine scientists warn that continued warming of UK waters is likely to cause major changes to plankton, the tiny drifting plants and animals that form the foundation of marine food webs and feed the fish that end up on our plates. www.mba.ac.uk/uk-seas-face... #MarineBiology

UK seas face major food chain disruption as plankton shift, scientists predict | Marine Biological Association

Marine scientists warn that continued warming of UK waters is likely to cause major changes to plankton, the tiny drifting plants and animals that form the foundation of marine food webs and feed the ...

mba.ac.uk

Incredibly, some retailers continue to sell disposable BBQs despite the extreme fire danger.

Hartlepool Headland 8.45-10.30: 300+ auks on sea inc many juveniles. Almost nothing moving offshore - no shearwaters or skuas. 3 Arctics among terns. Just 7 Common Scoter. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Rubbish phone photo but after visiting 8 ponds today and finding every single one dried-up, here's Alternate Water-milfoil and Shoreweed for #WildflowerHour #wetlandplants. From Lockwood Beck reservoir, North-east Yorks.

Turtle Dove this evening, at the regular site near Thirsk. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

When the story of why humanity didn't stop climate change is written, it will feature front pages like this. Even as the skies blacken with climate change-induced wildfires, right wing media continue their relentless crusade against measures to tackle it.

2 Roseate and 3 or 4 Arctic Terns among the Common & Sandwich at Seaton Snook roost, 20.15 @teesbirds.bsky.social

Wow under 6% of this afternoon's electricity is from fossil fuels! #NetZero #LoveNetZero

Apocalyptic sun through smoke clouds from the horrific fires burning across Spain.

Miguel Clavero@chikichanka.bsky.social · 2w ago

El cielo sobre Villanueva del Pardillo

12.45, flock of 56 Whimbrel on South Gare rocks - most I've ever seen together. Usual small waders, a dozen Little Terns. @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social

Hartlepool Headland 8.30-11.00 v quiet. 1 Red-throated Diver, 3 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Arctic Terns, a few Puffins past. A 1st summer Mediterranean Gull. Razorbills with young on sea increasing. @teesbirds.bsky.social

42% of UK garden space has been paved over & that's building urban heat, robbing wildlife of homes + surging runoff into drains, increasing flood risk + sewage discharge. De-pave Your Garden says even just using planting strips on your drive can make a huge difference. share.google/Dkb3FOi35hqp...

How the trend for turning front gardens into driveways is adding to night-time heat

There’s a growing trend to pave over front gardens.

share.google

OOA but 2 of the 4 Black-crowned Night Herons showing reasonably well at YWT Bolton-on-Swale this morning, roosting in the bushes below the Cormorant trees. Also female Red-crested Pochard. @teesbirds.bsky.social

The reintroduced population of nationally-endangered Greater Water-parsnip is flourishing at @teeswildlife.bsky.social Coatham Marsh reserve, Redcar. Planted Nov 2023, now many flowering plants with some spread. Also flowering for first time at second location on reserve. @astridbiddle.bsky.social

Hartlepool Headland 8.30-11.00; 1 Arctic Skua, 6 Manx Shearwater, 3 Whimbrel, 211 CommonScoter. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Hartlepool Headland 8.15-10.45: Quiet but 679 Common Scoter past. Also 2 Manx Shearwater S, 1 Red-throated Diver, 8 Little Terns, 1 Arctic Tern, 4 Dunlin, 1 Whimbrel. Several dolphins 8.30. @teesbirds.bsky.social

Bumblebees struggle in heatwaves. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

UK's furry bumblebees 'keeling over' in heatwaves

The furry bodies of UK bumblebees are specially adapted for cold weather - making heatwaves a struggle.

bbc.co.uk

Restharrow #StillFlowering in parched coastal grassland at Coatham Green, Redcar. #WildflowerHour

All I hear is news about fires burning, temperatures rising, heatwave deaths increasing and climate change happening far faster than scientists expected. Yet politicians, newspapers and trade union leaders like Sharon Graham are calling for more oil and gas extraction.

Air pollution impacts on wildlife habitats are rarely discussed. Though widely pervasive, the most severe concentrations of ammonia (L) & N (right) are localised. Central N Yorks, between Moors and Dales, is among worst-hit areas, alongside Brecks, Cheshire. www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/huge-im...

Suffolk is currently under a hosepipe ban and drought, with farmers reporting no effective rainfall for 11 weeks, poor crop yields, reservoirs nearly empty, and they're terrified of their combines bursting into flames. www.eadt.co.uk/news/2626620...

Caroline Goldsmith@goldcaro.bsky.social · 3w ago

Great news everyone. Our Reform-led county council has solved the problem.

Approving new oil and gas drilling would be environmentally disastrous and economically illiterate.

Hartlepool Headland 8.45-11: chilly! 1 Arctic Skua S, 6 Manx Shearwaters N, 13 Puffins (some on sea), 80+ Guillemots (a few with small young on sea), 4 Fulmars, 102 Gannets, 61 Common Scoter, 12 Teal, 2 Arctic Terns, a few juveniles among the Kittiwakes. @teesbirds.bsky.social