Back from a great @lesserspotnet.bsky.social weekend in Kent discussing the monitoring, ecology and conservation of our smallest woodpecker. Infectious enthusiasm and a wealth of skills and experience shared, topped off by actually seeing them! xeno-canto.org/1086062 #ornithology
Male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Kent
Female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Kent
Had a superb weekend in Kent courtesy of @lesserspotnet.bsky.social’s workshop, hearing of all the exciting developments in Lesser Spotted Woodpecker monitoring & research, topped by great views of the birds themselves 😍 - my first for a decade!
4+ Water Pipits commuting between cut reedbeds at Westbere and the water meadows to the south this evening, as viewed from the north bank of the Stour #kentbirding
Beaver
Beaver
What a thrill, my first 🇬🇧 Beavers! Saw two along the River Stour east of Fordwich, Kent this evening - located in the darkness by the loud wood-munching sounds! #ukmammals #uknature
Success! Lesser spotted woodpeckers, a male and female pair. The morning after the lesser spotted woodpecker workshop. @ukrbbp.bsky.social @lesserspotnet.bsky.social
It’s nearly March, spring is springing, and the Rare Breeding Birds Panel has emerged from hibernation again to encourage you to get out recording rare breeding birds #UKbirding #ornithology
Bossenden Wood last couple of days: Lesser Spot, Great Spot, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Firecrest, Goldcrest, Stock Dove, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Blue Tits, Great Tits and LT Tits. #kentbirding
And we’re off! With conditions less than favourable so far, it was good to get out to the Blean. Between 5-6 birds, including drumming and two territorial females ‘chittering’ started the LSW season off nicely #kentbirding @lesserspotnet.bsky.social
I’ve now set up a YouTube channel called Kent Birding with some poorly taken videos of some things I have seen, very rough no editing. Here is my latest uploaded, follow if you like! #kentbirding
youtu.be/6ejXbcCjfMI?...
This Thursday evening’s talk at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory is about wardening for a year on the island of Bardsey
All are welcome
#kentbirding
New book on rewilding!
A curated collection of 27 articles published in British Wildlife over the last 5 yrs
So, accessible & nicely produced for a broad readership
And I’m one of the authors. Cheap at the price (£16.99)!
www.britishwildlife.com/wilding/
Seawatching from King George Park got that more lively when this brute of a Glaucous Gull(!) materialised from the melee of gulls. Meanwhile two of each Little Gulls and Red-breasted Mergansers were highlights between hundreds of birds #PWC2026 ebird.org/checklist/S2...
marsh tit, www.garthpeacock.co.uk
Very pleased to share #OpenAccess paper, which we think is important to understand woodland bird declines and impact of forestry on native ancient woodland in Britain.
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #ornithology @ukceh.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @mizpas.bsky.social
🧵1/n
Smooth pale juvenile apparent hybrid Glaucous x Herring Gull or Viking Gull
Smooth pale-winged juvenile apparent hybrid Glaucous x Herring Gull or Viking Gull
Smooth translucent-winged juvenile apparent hybrid Glaucous x Herring Gull or Viking Gull
I normally err towards pale northern Herring, but this beauty on the north side of Shrewsbury this morning looked smooth, pale and Glaucy enough to be a Viking #lovegulls #shropshirebirding
Lesser Whitethroat on a Sunflower chip feeder
Lesser Whitethroat sun bathing on a trellis
Lesser Whitethroat on a Camelia leaf
Lesser Whitethroat chilling.
The Lesser Whitethroat (Halimodendri) still thriving in my small garden for its 26th day.
#UKBirding
It was only 200 metres more to Surrey 🧐🫣😎. Kent and LNHS won though 🫣🤗. Red-flanked Bluetail found by Will Oliver yesterday afternoon and very very elusive . Still difficult today but a few saw it well with patience . Also in the area, Woodcock, Brambling, Crossbills
A flooded Stour Valley, and tons of beaver field evidence. Suprise flock of bewick's flew over, 3 egret species, raptors, ducks and water pipit.
Great to see this article published in @peopleandnature.bsky.social.
The paper presents valuable perspectives on #rewilding from a discussion among scientists & practitioners during the @britishecologicalsociety.org Policy Training workshop.
👉 tinyurl.com/ykwfrjmh
NEW JOB in #ornithology and #conservation with @rspb.bsky.social to plan and support #island restoration projects in the UK Overseas Territories: buff.ly/yQfjqWI
No. 8 in our Top 10 highlights of wildlife seen on our 2025 tours was the superpod of White-beaked Dolphins off the coast of Shetland - the 6th species of cetacean we saw that week!
Aerial footage by @hughharrop.bsky.social
#MarineLife #MarineMammals #CetaceansUK #UKWildlife
📢 APPLY NOW
For BOU Member Conference Attendance Grants
Now funding member attendance at any #ornithology conference
Low-carbon travel encouraged
⏰ Deadline: 5 January 2026
bou.org.uk/funding/m...
Our paper in December's @britishbirds.bsky.social describes success in using sound recording for detecting Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. We found Lesser Spots still present in woodlands where they have not been seen/heard for years. This is very exciting www.woodpecker-network.org.uk/index.php/ne...
This time, the washes were ready! 🦢✅
After a 570km U-turn north to Aberdeenshire, likely due to low water at the Ouse Washes, the same swan has migrated south again & arrived to restored, higher levels. A real-world example of landscape-scale habitat assessment by migratory birds.
Goldeneye from a gloomy afternoon (15/11/25) Coldharbour Lagoon, Reculver. A nice suprise. #kentbirding
Highlight this morning, two black redstart and tree sparrow. Reculver. #kentbirding
Lush! I bet you're still smiling. Top work.
Wonderful self-found suprise today in the form of this wryneck, at Chambers Wall, Reculver. Fair few birds around, but had to scoot for a 10am meeting. #kentbirding #selffoundbirding.
As a county bird recorder I can honestly say that the best and easiest way for you to make your birding count, is to upload them to either eBird or BirdTrack. Doing so contributes directly to #ornithology and bird #conservation at both local and national levels.
#birdingScotland #birdingWales
Blimey, a proper seawatch off Estaca de Bares yesterday with 2 Black-capped Petrel, 2 Zino’s Petrel and a bunch of other good stuff #seawatching
ebird.org/checklist/S2...
A powerful tool, a potentially creative tool, one that uses vast amounts of energy. Does it connect to the human soul? Does it lead to a simple life connected to nature? For fun, my next ask will be about trying to find rare birds.... Or I could just try finding some instead (easterlies are coming).
