Stunning looking Black Grouse
Female Black Grouse, with perfect camouflage
A few Black Grouse showing off!
Distant view of the Black Grouse Lek with some of the 20+ Males
A new lifer for me with @yorkbirding.bsky.social on an outing to Langdon Beck.
An early start to see the fabulous Black Grouse lek, produced 20+ males and several females showing really well.
Seven Wheatears in fields on the east side of Heslington Tillmire this afternoon.
@yorkbirding.bsky.social
(1/) The 2026 BBS season begins in a week’s time! In celebration of this, we are very pleased to share our new BBS videos. They are designed to tell people more about the survey, and how to take part in it: youtu.be/vBt-KH_TwqU @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social
An illustrated artwork of a Woodpigeon by Will Rose on a pale background. Wording alongside reads: Birds in Greenspaces. Tell BTO what birds you encounter in your local greenspace. www.bto.org/greenspaces
Have you signed up for our Birds in Greenspaces project yet? ➡️ www.bto.org/greenspaces
Starting 1 April, we'd love to know the birds that use your local greenspaces, whether it’s a single species record or complete list, so we can discover their importance for nature and people. 🌳 🪶
Thanks to your fantastic support and the sales, this money will help the Friends of the #LDV to deliver more for birds (and other wildlife) that use the reserve. If you're yet to purchase a copy but would still like one, please contact Lucy.Murgatroyd@naturalengland.org.uk 📖 @yorkbirding.bsky.social
Our first indoor meeting of 2026 is on Tuesday 3rd March when Vaughan Grantham will be talking about 'Birding in Cape May'
We are at St Olave's Church Hall, Marygate, York YO30 7BJ.
Doors open at 7pm & the meeting starts at 7.30pm. There is a charge of £2 (£4 for non-members).
12 Tundra Bean Geese, 11 Russian White-fronted Geese and 3 Scaup among the highlights at North Duffield Carrs this morning. @yorkbirding.bsky.social @ldvnnr.bsky.social
@yorkbirding.bsky.social
This book is available at the price of £25 with all funds going to the Friends of the #LDV and towards supporting conservation/research projects across the reserve 🐦🦆🪶 If you'd like to pre-order yourself a copy please contact Lucy.Murgatroyd@naturalengland.org.uk, thank you @yorkbirding.bsky.social
The countdown is over! 🎉 Blog #100 in our #YorkshireIn100Species series is now live on our website, completing the project! For our final instalment, we have an uplifting conservation success story from Reserve Manager Craig Ralston, starring the elusive Corncrake: www.neyedc.org.uk/100-species/...
It's December and time for your next Winter Bird Survey visit! Here are some thoughts from James Heywood, @bbs-birds.bsky.social and WINBS Organiser, after his second visit.
Discover more ➡️ www.bto.org/winbs
Survey guidance ➡️ www.bto.org/get-involved...
Thank you to all our WINBS surveyors!
Such a tranquil place and a haven for wildlife. This should not be happening. Please repost :-)
www.ywt.org.uk/news/derwent...
A Brent Goose on saltmarsh with its head raised, while the head of another goose appears in the picture on the right hand side foraging.
Did you know that the two Light-bellied Brent Goose populations – from Canada and Svalbard – largely winter on Strangford Lough and Lindisfarne respectively, while the birds wintering elsewhere in Britain come from the Russian Dark-bellied population?
📷 Philip Croft / BTO
Graph and image showing the best year of BBS coverage across the UK yet.
2025 has been a record year for BBS coverage! 4,054 visits to BBS squares have been made this year. This beats the 2018 record of 4,048. Thanks so much to all of the BBS volunteers across the UK who have contributed to this! @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social
A Dartford Warbler perches on top of a gorse bush. Wording above reads: Heathland Birds Survey. Submit your data. The BTO logo is top right of the image.
We'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part in the Heathland Birds Survey! 🙌
All remaining survey returns are urgently required, before 30th November, to inform future conservation action. If you need any help submitting your records please email heathlandbirds@bto.org. Thank you!
@yorkbirding.bsky.social
Our first indoor meeting of the autumn/winter season is on Tuesday 2nd September at St Olave's Church, Marygate, when Andrew Tiffany will be talking about St Aidan’s Nature Park.
Doors at 7pm & the meeting starts at 7.30pm. There is a charge of £2 (£4 for non-members) for talks, payable at the door
With a large passage of swallows and warblers also moving through the site @yorkbirding.bsky.social
A singing Dunnock.
There are now three weeks to go to submit your 2025 BBS and WBBS data! You can do so online or by submitting the data to us on paper forms, scanned by email or posted to us. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology #CitizenScience
An image with some participation statistics for the Breeding Bird Survey.
Now that the BBS & WBBS survey season is over, we would like to thank all of our volunteers for their time and effort this year! We are going to have a break from posting for a while, so see you soon. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology #CitizenScience
A woodland habitat.
There are just under two weeks to go to fit in your ‘Late’ visit to your Breeding Bird Survey or Waterways Breeding Bird Survey stretch. If you are unable to do it, please let your Regional Organiser know! @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology #CitizenScience
The BTO/RSPB/NE Nightjar Survey is well-underway and there are still a few vacant 1-km squares to cover (yellow). If you can spare two evenings, please check out the BTO website for more information: www.bto.org/get-involved...
#YorkshireBirding
BTO are looking for volunteers to cover 1-km squares to look for Nightjar. It's a really simple survey to take part in, just two evening visits
Find out more: www.bto.org/get-involved...
#YorkshireBirding
A reminder, our next indoor meeting is Tuesday 6th May at St Olave's Church Hall, Marygate, YO30 7BJ at 7.30pm. Dave Tate on Breeding Birds of Skipwith Common, sharing his expert knowledge of this key York birding site & NNNR
Parking nearby in Marygate car park & there is a charge.
If you've not checked out the BirdTrack mobile app for a few years then it's definitely worth having a look. It is incredibly simple to use and I love the stats, pinpoint function and how well sensitive species are handled.
(4/) In order to survey a BBS square, you need to be able to identify the bird species that are typically found on that square by sight, song and call. This varies between squares. More details here: www.bto.org/our-science/...
A map of a BBS square.
(3/) Last but not least, SE7970, which is in Norton-On-Derwent, was first surveyed in 1996. Since then, a total of 64 bid species and three mammal species have been recorded in the square.
A map of a BBS square.
(2/) SE7060 is situated near Claxton. A total of 65 bird species and eight mammal species have been recorded in it since 2005. #Ornithology #CitizenScience #UKBirding
A map of a BBS square.
(1/) There are currently several vacant BBS squares in the Vale of York. SE6071 for example is near Brandsby. Since it was first surveyed in 1994, a total of 76 bird species and 16 mammal species have been recorded in the square. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social
As the breeding season starts, a reminder to think carefully before reporting/sharing pictures of rare breeding species on social media. They are vulnerable to disturbance & persecution. If in doubt, keep it quiet & contact local/county recorders instead.
yorkbirding.org.uk/reporting-ra...
