Our @bto-gbw.bsky.social holiday count so far is pretty good. Family parties of Wren, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Swallow, with regular Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird and Song Thrush, and a plethora of bumblebees and butterflies too! Oh, and daily visits from the farm pigs!

My garden robin just had an ‘everything’ bath-watch to the end bc she’s drenched, spiky haired & in need of towelling down. One academic study shows that when we watch footage of ‘cute’* animals it dials down stress levels-my small pal’s bathtime is for yr brain. *actual word used in the experiment:

🐝 Spotted a bumblebee nest in Norfolk? Help Garden BirdWatch, the University of East Anglia & the Bumblebee Conservation Trust learn more about where bumblebees nest. Report your sighting: 📧 bumblebee.nest@uea.ac.uk or send us a message! #Bumblebees #CitizenScience

www.suffolkbirdgroup.org/post/big-suf... SBG are running a series of walks and watchpoints for the Big Suffolk Bird Watch this coming Sunday - all welcome #SuffolkBirding

Big Suffolk Bird Watch - 21 June 2026

On Sunday 21 June Suffolk Bird Group are doing a day of birdwatching activities – either walks or from watch points to showcase some of the birds we have in the county. With the date selected to coinc...

suffolkbirdgroup.org

Dream job alert 🎉 Are you a talented videographer with a passion for nature? Join our team! Apply online ➡️ www.bto.org/jobs 📆 Full time. 📝 £33,954 per annum. 📍 Thetford, Norfolk (Hybrid). ⚠️ Application deadline: 5 July.

Volunteers are at the heart of BTO. 🐦 We couldn't achieve what we do for birds, science & people without you. Thank you! Here's a snapshot of what some of our survey volunteers have achieved 🙌 From Regional Reps to BTO Youth, there's a variety of volunteer roles at BTO➡️ www.bto.org/volunteer

This Common Blue Damselfly had a kink in the body, presumably caused during emergence? Nice to get my first odonata recorded for @bto-gbw.bsky.social over the weekend (we also had a Four-Spot Chaser, but it didn't stop for a photo!) @britishdragonflies.bsky.social

While competing at obedience today at the World Horse Welfare Centre, saw loads of Painted Ladies, and heard a few Curlew calling across the paddocks. Freya did well, with a 2nd and 6th place in her classes. Thanks Bernice for the photo.

Eagles poisoned. Hen Harriers shot. Buzzards beaten to death. Birds of prey have been legally protected for over 60 years, but the law is still failing them. Our new report reveals 921 confirmed persecution incidents across the UK between 2015–2024. Read more: brnw.ch/21x2Rir

First Painted Lady of the year seen visiting the @btobirds.bsky.social stand at Suffolk Show today! @bc-suffolk.bsky.social

After 4 and a half years living on a suburban housing estate, @hughhanmer.bsky.social and I have finally #HeardAnOwl! Now if someone could kindly tell it to go hoot somewhere else so we can get some sleep, that would be great! 😉😴

Are you a skilled birder and want to help others to improve their skills? 🐦 Apply for our Training Officer role via www.bto.org/jobs The successful candidate will join the team at BTO HQ in Norfolk who deliver courses, both in person and online. Application deadline: Sunday 5 April. #Ornithology

Duckling season has begun, and DucklingWatch is back for another year! Please submit your mallard brood sightings in GB to citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch and share this post to spread the word 🦆

Saw this piece at the weekend and it is AMAZING!

Rachel Taylor@fidhw.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Just completed, after quite a dilemma over what size and material the stand base should be (clearly Goshawks are opinionated about these things!). She/he (colour shifting Lamberts glass) is available immediately, DM for details. But, y’know, I’m not in a hurry… #stainedglass #goshawk

Rare and Sensitive Breeding Birds. Please avoid posting photos of rare and sensitive breeding birds and divulging their location and nest sites from 1st March to 31 July. #CornwallBirds #BirdsInCornwall #CBWPS #Bird #Birds #Birdwatching #ConnectWithNature #WildIsles #BritishWildlife #WildCornwall

Success! Finally had Goldfinches on the Teasel in the garden! 6 of them counted for @bto-gbw.bsky.social this morning, along with the first frogspawn of the year!

📢 Job Alert: Monitoring officer I am looking for an experienced ornithological fieldworker to join the team this spring to lead on the monitoring of Black tailed godwits at WWT Welney. Closing date: 6 March 2026 Apply ➡️ vacancies.wwt.org.uk/vacancies/77...

Join our our expert team to learn bird songs & calls.🐦 #Ornithology Events are taking place at ⬇️ 📍 RSPB Rye Meads, Hertfordshire ➡️ bit.ly/BirdSongsHerts 📍 Irchester Country Park, Northamptonshire ➡️ bit.ly/BirdSongsNort... 📍 Ascott Estate, Bedfordshire ➡️ bit.ly/BirdSongsBedf...

📢 Our new Birds in Greenspaces app icon is … the Woodpigeon! 🎉 Thank you to everyone who voted, here’s how the top birds scored. 1️⃣ Woodpigeon – 802 votes. 2️⃣ Goldfinch – 749 votes. 3️⃣ Pied Wagtail – 549 votes. 🎨 Artwork by Will Rose

Want to learn what birds are singing? Join our Bird Sound ID in Early Spring training course ➡️ www.bto.org/training #Ornithology

February brings us closer to the return of bumblebees – you might be lucky enough to see some this month 🤞 Bumblebee queens emerge from hibernation in spring. Keep your eyes peeled this month for early emerging Tree and Buff-tailed bumblebees 👀 Have you spotted your first bumblebee of 2026?

Not surprised to see House Sparrow in top spot for our @bto-gbw.bsky.social last year (100% recording rate!). Such an easy way to get involved with citizen science, and knowing that our records are making a difference (we had Greenfinch for the first time last year!) @hughhanmer.bsky.social #ukbirds

1/ Spotted Flycatchers are in trouble, declining by 92% in the UK between 1967 and 2020. New work led by @cateden91.bsky.social & involving BTO has revealed the importance of rivers for the survival of this Red-listed migratory species. ⬇️ #Ornithology 📖 www.bto.org/Spotted-Flyc...

For all the #nightjar enthusiasts out there - www.globalnightjar.org/post/size-ma...

Size matters – at least for the Nightjars

A study on how white patches convey the quality of male European NightjarsBy Richard Schnürmacher • Many avian species sport bright, contrasting colours, but what about the birds active at night? • V...

globalnightjar.org

(1/) This week’s featured square is a difficult one to get to! It is a two hour walk from the closest civilisation, and if the tide isn’t right, it is a much longer walk! Read on to find out more… @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social

(1/) This week’s featured vacant BBS square is situated just northwest of Buckingham in Buckinghamshire. There are plenty of similar vacant squares across the UK at present, so please read on to find out more! @btobirds.bsky.social JNCC RSPB Science #Ornithology

📢 We're looking for a PhD student to focus on habitat use of wintering Curlew in and around coastal SPAs. Apply now ➡️ bit.ly/CurlewPhD The student will be based at @ljmuofficial.bsky.social and BTO, starting in October 2026 for four years. 📆 Deadline to apply: Wednesday 18 February #Ornithology

We're looking for some help to classify the final images for our project with Mammal Web. You'll be asked to identify species in gardens during our NE pilot study to help monitor garden wildlife using camera traps. Plus there's a chance of winning a camera trap. Each image counts as one entry!

MammalWeb

Upload and classify images and video from camera traps

mammalweb.org

Back out doing some @btobirds.bsky.social #BirdRinging this morning. Nice variety on a steady morning, and the woofs did a good job supervising as always. Thanks to @arcanelove.bsky.social and @hughhanmer.bsky.social for running the session. All birds ringed under licence.

Large-scale #acoustic surveys across 448 European #hedgerows showed tall, tree-rich, well-connected hedges boost bat 🦇 activity. Low-intensity trimming (like pollarding) outperforms heavy coppicing benefiting #biodiversity across farms 🌍 Paper: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...