1825: Heard the Nightingale for the first time this season in Royce wood

Book Cover to Birds and Woods by W B Yapp.

Talk about timing. This mornings book post has the most gorgeous cover by Charles Tunnicliffe. It’s perfect scene for this time of year as the Pied Flycatchers have just arrived and the Sessile Oak leaves are slowly unfurling

‘How much have we missed?’: book tunes in to overlooked world of female birdsong Authors set out to correct under-representation of female sounds – and found some surprising revelations

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

For 11 months of the year, jays sound exclusively as though they were having a difficult poo.

In late March and April they become the freakiest imitators and ventriloquists.

Hen Grey Wagtail sitting on nest.

Grey Wagtail nest with five eggs.

If it wasn’t for the flash of yellow on the hens cocked tail I wouldn’t have seen this Grey Wagtail sitting tightly. It’s a rather exposed nest considering they are usually concealed like the other found today jammed into the brickwork of a bridge, little more than a cup.

Hen Grey Wagtail sitting on nest.

Grey Wagtail nest with five eggs

If it wasn’t for the flash of yellow on the hens cocked tail I wouldn’t have seen this Grey Wagtail sitting tightly. It’s a rather exposed nest considering they are usually concealed like the other found today jammed into the brickwork of a bridge, little more than a cup.

Poor Trinia glauca, who flowers once & then dies: so sad!
And so rare: check out the #PlantAtlas2020 page for more info about this little beauty, lost from several sites in recent decades due to lack of grazing or (possibly) to scrub encroachment: plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...

Mackenzie Crook’s magical suburban folk tale, #SmallProphets published by #PenguinBooks and #PuffinBooks down the years. A 🧵
1/

We’re off! First Brimstone of the year a gorgeous buttery male followed by a female and two Peacock.

A European storm petrel nesting among rocks in Mousa, Shetland.

The RSPB is looking for surveyors to census the UK’s largest Storm Petrel colony on Mousa, Shetland.

We need 2-4 volunteers who are comfortable working and camping in a remote location with limited facilities, to help complete playback surveys during mid-July 2026. 🪺🏝️🏕️

The Shooting Times feature writer Simon Garnham seems to have a problem with the "destruction Woodpigeons wreak" on... ivy berries. Wilful ignorance, deliberate misinformation, or just ecological illiteracy from a 'countryman' with a gun?

“The cat on the path is looking at the blue-tits, as cats do at birds they cannot reach”

Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Writer: EL GrantWatson

Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously!
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE ⁦‪ MARK RUSKELL MSP‬⁩ ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿by emailing PlanningPolicyConsultation@communities.gov.uk now!WOOP!

Red and yellow poppies illustration

Campion family of plants illustration

Viola family of plants illustration.

Day 24 of my ‘getting through January vintage floral plates from books’, illustrations from Wild flowers of the British isles Isobel Adams 1904
#botanical-illustration. I feel very lucky to own a volume of this book with beautiful paintings. Extra images today because the weathers been so awful.

Several male Surf Scoters swimming in a line. These scoters are recognizable by their large, brightly coloured beaks of red, orange white and black. The adult male also has a large white spot on its forehead and the back of its neck (not visible in this shot).

Feeling unusually organized today, NOT, but I do have all my ducks in a row!
Surf Scoter, Dipper Harbour, #NewBrunswick, #Canada
#birds #nature #wildlife #birdphotography

Perfect! Saturday morning on the bus up town (Dudley) with me Nan.

The front covers of the two books which are guides to better understanding the design and features of British churches

Two lesser known books today, both
illustrated by Ronald Lampitt (1972)

How falcon thieves are targeting the UK’s protected birds In this week’s newsletter: Conservationists have seen nests raided around the country to match demand from the Middle East

How falcon thieves are targeting the UK’s protected birds

Penda’s Fen reinvents Mercia for the modern age How an experimental British 1970s television play pioneered a folk horror revival

The excellent @birminghamdispatch.bsky.social (which has done such great reporting on the flag epidemic over the last few months) delivers the goods again today with this deep dive into the Midlands mythology of Penda's Fen.

One of the endpaper decorations of my first edition copy of 'The Owl Service' by Alan Garner. It shows the design round one of the plates, stylised flowers which in places form an owl-like face.

"I'll lay knife and fork and we'll see how you manages a pear."
"A pear, Mam?"
"It takes a gentleman to eat a pear proper," said Nancy. "He had it on the floor in no time - oh, I made him look a fool!"
- The housekeeper in 'The Owl Service' by Alan Garner derides her new employer
#BookologyThursday

This is the Fall I need today. Ta, Mr Whiteside.

How demand for elite falcons in the Middle East is driving illegal trade of British birds Exclusive: data reveals hundreds of UK nests have been raided in the past decade amid growing appetite to own prized birds for racing and breeding

Fascinating, troubling story. (I missed this earlier in the week - sharing it in case you did too!) www.theguardian.com/environment/...

UK’s warmest spring on record led to rise in songbirds breeding, data shows Dry and warm 2025 spring gave glimmer of hope for threatened wild birds but many remain in long-term decline

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Shooting hares in England to be banned for most of the year Exclusive: Ministers also expected to announce trail-hunting ban in sweeping changes to animal welfare law

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

The Ministry of Justice is still refusing to meet with the lawyers or families of hunger strikers being held on remand.

This is a shambolic dereliction of duty.

I have written to David Lammy, again, imploring him to do the right thing before it is too late.

Leader of Reform-run council accused of ‘authoritarian’ attempt to silence opposition Worcestershire council leader Jo Monk sent city councillor Ed Kimberley a cease and desist letter over his criticism of her

Leader of Reform-run council accused of ‘authoritarian’ attempt to silence opposition. Worcestershire council leader Jo Monk sent city councillor Ed Kimberley a cease and desist letter over his criticism of her.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Two of Ronald M. Garnett's notebooks are laid out. One shows a coloured drawing of a Hawfinch on the left-hand page with detailed handwritten notes on the right-hand page. Above this is a landscape pencil drawing of two Spoonbill on a page of a second notebook.

An old book is open showing handwritten notes by Reverend Maurice Bird. The spine of another book is seen in the top of the image.

BTO Archives hold a range of material relating to the work and history of BTO and UK ornithology, plus personal papers and photographic material from key figures in ornithology and bird photography. 🐦 This includes Ronald M. Garnett’s notebooks & archives of the Reverend Maurice Bird (1857–1924).

Kate Bush - December Will Be Magic Again (Remastered) YouTube video by Memory Lane

youtu.be/jI7Gx1J17Wk

Puffins in the news today, but no mention of the 90% decline in numbers the BTO predict by 2050, caused by rising sea surface temperatures affecting prey and therefore chick survival… 🤷‍♂️🙄

Don’t look up!

www.mpa-management.eu/wp-content/u...

The Echo of Crowd by Phil Rickman a castle window opening onto a ruined turret

The saddest book is when you know it’s the last one an author ever wrote. The last Merrily Watkins take The Echo of Crows by Phil Rickman