The garden ducks have attracted a Reeve's Pheasant, new garden bird but possibly a deliberate release. I've found feathers locally last year, so it's not a one-off. @oxonbirder.bsky.social

Somewhere over 36C, and it's eerily quiet. Sky is empty. No birds flying or calling, no insects visible. Everything seeking shade, or perishing. 'Dead heat'.

Currently hotter in my garden than in Algiers, Ankara, Athens or Damascus.

Met Office - weather and climate@metoffice.gov.uk · 20h ago

Temperatures have now provisionally exceeded 37°C 🌡️ Before 2026, the UK had recorded 37°C or higher on only six occasions. This year alone, we've already reached that mark three times.

Casualty promo pic 1986 v Casualty promo pic 2026

Well that's the best I could do, using binoculars to shine it onto a book cover, at 7:12 in Oxfordshire.

There are so many reasons to despise the industrial scale of pheasant shooting. This list is just devastating.

Jon Moses@jon-moses.bsky.social · 2d ago

This motorcyclist is described as being "incredibly unlucky" after he died when a pheasant flew into him. In fact, it seems relatively common. There's were two other (non-fatal) cases reported just this year and have been many more in recent years.

One of my satellite-tagged eagles, making one of the best decisions of its life....leaving the Angus Glens on the eve of the #Inglorious12th and heading west as fast as it can. Smart eagle.

My #Risograph prints are popular at present! Designed by me (a real human) and printed on recycled paper in Margate. ♻️ I have Woodpigeons, Long-tailed Tits and Green Woodpeckers. All very reasonably priced and ready to fly to you today! katiefullerart.etsy.com

And they'll be run like the water companies...

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 3d ago

This is now the inevitable next stage of the British university crisis - private education groups will buy up the distressed assets. That is base case now. The stage after that will be different and more malign equity groups. www.ft.com/content/f094...

US Stand Up for Science movement expands to Europe "There will likely be “spillover” to Europe from what the Trump administration is attempting in the US, said Colette Delawalla, chief executive of Stand Up for Science..European scientists need to prepare now for similar assaults."

US Stand Up for Science movement expands to Europe

A grassroots movement by scientists in the US pushing back against threats to academic freedom is setting up a Swiss outpost to take the movement global.

sciencebusiness.net

The "disturbances" here include forestry & woodland management, such as logging, thinning, sanitation, clear-felling, coppicing. Reducing the biomass depletes the carbon store. Burning big piles of brash sends the carbon straight back into the atmosphere, instead of locked away in wood, soil, biota.

Annie Leymarie@annieleymarie.bsky.social · 3d ago

"The capacity of European forests to absorb and store carbon is likely to have decreased by 39% in the period 2010 to 2030. This is due to disturbances that far outpace the ability of forests to naturally regrow and recover. Europe can increase its forest area but still lose carbon sink capacity."

23 years ago we wrote a paper on PCBs in British Kestrels & Sparrowhawks. Merseyside really stood out as a hotspot of PCB contamination in local raptors. Also the Wash and Clyde. We suspected it was related to PCBs in soils/estuary sediments getting into prey. 1/2 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Michael Sheen investigates cancer concern around chemical dumping

The Hollywood actor investigates claims cancer-causing chemicals were dumped across Wales.

bbc.co.uk

Disinformation by the rightwing press that rewilding has led to wildfires Has led to the defensive counter that rewilding hinders wildfires - but this is also simplistic & depends on the type of rewilding But, fire can be part of a healthy rewilded system www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

What is the role of fire in rewilding? Synthesising peer-reviewed literature into four thematic discourses

Current conservation strategies must acknowledge the multifaceted role of fire as a key ecosystem process and a socioecological threat. Understanding …

sciencedirect.com

Unidentified item in the moth-bagging area.

David Steel@steelyseabirder.bsky.social · 4d ago

The last of our Pufflings on the Isle of May are leaving although it was still a surprise to find this little fella in the moth trap! I soon released it successfully into the North Sea

The Met Office weather station at Monks Wood: May 2019 vs last weekend.

Very good summary of where we're at and what we're facing for the foreseeable future - the drought is not ending any time soon, and is going to last for months yet.

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)@ukceh.bsky.social · 4d ago

After record low July rainfall, what's next for UK river flows? Below normal to exceptionally low flows across England, Wales & NE Scotland will continue with record lows anticipated for August & drought impacts into the autumn. 🎥 Dr Katie Facer-Childs with the latest UK Hydrological Outlook.

When I was a kid we were taught that emissions were warming up the atmosphere, increasing the probability of things like wild fires, even in chilly old Britain. We drew pictures. We wrote to MPs. This was my neighbourhood yesterday My anger at the deniers, obstructionists & shills knows no bounds

Gannet clubbing, seal clubbing, pilot whale butchering. All North Atlantic barbarism where they claim traditional killing is so important, but don't mind moving with the times and using modern motorised boats, clothing and equipment for the slaughter. Politicised performative cruelty.

Alastair McIntosh@alastairmci.bsky.social · 5d ago

With some trepidation, I have written in the Sunday National about the Guga (gannet) Hunt in my home Isle of Lewis - on ‘the implicit meaning of local practices’, on community agency, cohesion and ‘dùthchas’, and what makes fox hunting etc. a false equivalence. www.thenational.scot/comment/2644...

This was a common sight in the 1980s, flocks of hundreds of House Sparrows feeding on ripening wheat. I haven't seen it for decades.

Helen Day@lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 5d ago

“When the corn is ripe, flocks of sparrows raid the heavy-grain ears.” Writer: EL Grant Watson Artist: CF Tunnicliffe

A Texas oil company called "Greenland Energy" (The nerve!?) is bringing drilling equipment to Greenland without permission, even as Greenland for environmental reasons does not allow drilling, and Dr. Phil, yes, that Dr. Phil, is supposed to make a documentary about drilling for oil in Greenland. 😵‍💫

Greenland issues ‘strong warning’ as Trump-linked oil firm prepares to drill

Island’s government says no approval given after Greenland Energy brings kit ashore for exploratory drilling

theguardian.com

40 years of natural colonisation or passive rewilding, far from woodland seed sources. No forest trees yet, but a mosaic of shrubland, grassland & spontaneous wetland pools, very biodiverse among intensive arable & urbanisation. Great Crested Newts & Marsh Harriers. Linnets galore.

What does ecosystem collapse look like? This heathland wildfire was extreme in extent & the fact that the organic soil layer was burnt through over large areas This constrains recovery & as wind and heavy winter rain erodes the soil further we could get complete loss of vegetation & bare sand

200 ha of grade 2 agricultural land in Yorkshire Fens. Unfarmable for the past 6 years due to climate change: repeated winter flooding followed by summer droughts. Currently for sale with no buyers.

Pretty sure this is the invasive Armenian/Himalayan Bramble (chunky ribbed stems, red thorns). Contrary to what I've read, the fruits are sensational.

I love them all the more when in focus! And they love our Salvias.

Richard K Broughton@richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 2w ago

I just love them! Even when out of focus on my stupid old phone.

Lovely pics. Marsh Tits feed a lot in the herb layer in summer, especially on seeds of e.g. Knapweed, thistles and Hemp Nettle. Flowery margins and glades are really important for them. But they also feed low down when insects get scarce. More in the book: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/marsh-tit...

Josh’s Wildlife@joshswildlife.bsky.social · 2w ago

Nice to see my second ever Marsh Tits today at @rspbleightonmoss.bsky.social. Only ever had a brief glimpse of this species before so nice to get more satisfactory views! Brings my year list to 194 ✅ #birds #birding #BirdsSeenIn2026

Noctules flying about making very loud & audible pop-pop-popping calls. Canada Geese flocks commuting from the Thames to stubble fields, heralding power-cut season when juveniles learn where the pylons and cables are, the hard way. Soundscape ruined by Egyptian Geese, like a fart through a trumpet.

Presumably Clarkson doesn't think that farmers like him should send a weekly thank-you email to taxpayers for the £3billion in annual subsidy (an average of £28k in benefits per farm)?

Nettlecake@nettlecake.bsky.social · 2w ago

Brilliant letter from Stuart Thompson to Jeremy Clarkson about his comments that benefit claimants should write weekly thank you letters to tax payers detailing how they spend their benefits each week.

Lesson of the week: try and live your life so that, at the end of it, you get a response like Bill Oddie, and not like Rod Liddle.

NatureScot are not issuing a licence for a Guga (Gannet chick) hunt in 2026 #Seabirds www.nature.scot/latest-guga-...

Latest guga hunt statement

NatureScot's latest guga hunt statement, updated on 3 August 2026.

nature.scot