France records some of the highest seabird bycatch figuresin Europe, impacting species such as the Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), the Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) and the Common Guillemot (Uria aalge).
#Seabirds
www.clientearth.org/latest/press...
"Almost every feather sample tested from five common species of UK garden birds contained either permethrin, imidacloprid or fipronil – all insecticides that are banned for agricultural use but still common in pet tick and flea treatments."
Excellent, Rhys 🙂
I don’t think I got within 300 metres on Saturday! In the rain 🤦♂️😀
The Sound Approach to Birding 2 aims to properly explain female birdsong.
Female birds sing for territorial displays, to ward off other females and to attract extra males, according to Lucy McRobert, a writer and researcher who studied the issue for the guidebook.
A stretcher laden with kit bags being wheeled away from the open tail doors of a bright red Midlands Air Ambulance by a Critical Care Paramedic in a red and yellow flight suit.
A small pool amid sheep pasture with trees beyond under a clear sky. Just visible beyond the pool are white dots that were nine Mute Swans feeding on a winter wheat crop.
An usual "new for year" for me today: Garden Warbler singing near the Midlands Air Ambulance landing pad at Cosford. No drama, it was a CPD afternoon...
Back home the firsts continued with a patch tick Whimbrel and a singing Corn Bunting near Crose Mere.
#ShropshireBirding
Stopped in Castro Verde #Portugal this afternoon, a town full of House Martins. There must have been 150 nests on the Post Office alone, stacked up to four deep, with a few House Sparrows among them.
#HouseMartins #NowThatsWhatICallQuiteGood #Niche80sMusicHashtag
What a morning up the Great Orme! Vismig Green Woodpecker, Redpolls, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wheatears, Whitethroat, Siskins, Hirundines + Pipits on the move. Offshore the 2000+ Common Scoter flock contained a drake Surf Scoter and drake Velvet Scoter! A classic morning ☺️👍 #ukbirding #birdingwales
ICYMI @pilning.bsky.social
It must be a bizarre sight! Can't be very comfortable for the bird though. Thank you for contacting Jim, I suspect it will be of interest even if the study is over.
I'm very jealous of that Pallas's Warbler, they're a bogey bird for me. We're off to Scilly soon, so I live in hope!
That gull appears to have a sublingual oral fistula. I don't know if Dr Jim Reynolds at Birmingham is still collecting records but he may appreciate an email. Details in the link 🙂
www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/act...
The reed-lined edge of the mere (lake) with a stand of bare trees behind and two swimming Mute Swans in the foreground.
The mere, framed by bare trees with reeds in the foreground and the setting sun shining rays of light from behind a low line of cumulus cloud.
A pasture with a receding flood (extensive muddy margins) with the trees of Lloyd's Wood/Sweat Mere beyond under a sky of grey cumulus clouds.
Enjoyed a nice walk down to Crose Mere after work. Lots of hirundines over the mere, but the highlight was the rapidly receding field flood which held two Shelducks, two Oystercatchers, five(!) Little Ringed Plovers, 23 Pied Wagtails and one gorgeously bright Yellow Wagtail.
#ShropshireBirds
Our new paper on the cover of PNAS, led by Anderson Bueno and Chase Mendenhall, shows that that terrestrial matrices and higher nearby tree cover reduce bird extirpations and boost species richness in forest remnants #ornithology www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🪶🌍
The BirdTrack reporting rate for Yellow Wagtails in England, showing twin peaks of migration in late April and late August.
We’re approaching peak spring passage of Yellow Wagtails. Look out for them in arable areas, particularly where potatoes are grown, or around livestock in damp grassland, and don’t forget to add details of any you see to @birdtrack.bsky.social please, with highest breeding evidence if you can 🙂
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After the long, grey months of winter the brightness of the first returning Yellow Wagtails almost hurts, as Rhys shows so well in this lovely image 😎
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Very much this...
I spend just a couple of minutes at the end of my walk zipping through the list and adding the highest breeding evidence I can for each species. Find it more efficient and reduces the likelihood of missing the next bird if staring at my phone more than necessary while birding.
You take some great photos, Rhys 🙂 The first returning Yellow Wagtails are always special.
Because detail is important, it was mozzarella. I needed to know that 🙂
"The adult soon descended to the front step and waited patiently while the homeowner retrieved mozzarella cheese from his refrigerator".
It relates to a Facebook post (from 1 April...), see
www.facebook.com/share/p/1ETi...
I feel better now!
Google's AI says it relates to a 2019 report by Trevor MacLaurin that "documented a surprising case of a Eurasian Oystercatcher feeding on cheese in Muscat, Oman."
Intriguing, but members only. Any chance of a one sentence summary please?! 🙂
White Stork along the edge of ploughed field
Both feet seen and no rings just above them nor above the 'knees'. Plumage not stained like the recent bird in Monts so either faded or a different bird
Flew and dropped to next field closer to the village where it was watched in field being ploughed. All seem to be regarded as suspected reintroduction birds or escapes these days but wild ones obviously still occur, spring is the time and this is about as good as we could expect in Shropshire. Ave it!
White Stork by A5 at Shotatton this morning, thanks to Reevesy for the refind. It moved just S of the village to fields being ploughed. No sign of rings and not the recent bird in Staffs? as primaries all present and correct. All suspect but as good as we could get these days. #shropshirebirding 🪶
Sadly we’re afflicted with many unintended consequences, just ask a plant health person.
Very interesting, Kev, I had no idea about the used tyre imports. The talk on Usutu Virus at this year’s BTO conference was very sobering. The research seems to be getting funded because of concerns that the next novel, mosquito-vectored disease may affect humans or livestock rather than Blackbirds.
My tyre-shaped rabbit hole for today:
Non-native Mozzies in the UK.
Aedes japonicus (a West Nile virus carrier) "..now a significant invasive mosquito species in Europe.. spread mainly because of commercial activities, like the international trade in used tyres." 🤔
Spread by what now?
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😆😆🤞
😆😆 Perhaps you should focus on something like Stonechats and let the Green Woodpeckers photo bomb!
Strange how we all get bogey birds. I can't seem to find a Purple Sandpiper, at least not over the last two winters, despite several dips at known sites.
Do you ever go to RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands? There are often GWs in the field at Burton Point, as well as all the other goodies.
Many years ago Chris Packham, who was then better known as a wildlife photographer, said that they day he was totally happy with an image would be the day that he stopped, because there would no longer be anything left to aspire to. He liked lots of his images, but always knew he could do better!
Well done, Rhys, and a great image, too! The bird has that "newly arrived" vibe! 🙂
Male Redstart on a large tree branch, singing
First Redstart of the season, Attingham Park #photography #birds #Nature #wildlife #ukwildlife #shropshirebirds #birdphotography #UKBirding #NationalTrust
A Robin perched on a branch, its beak full of food and other material.
To reduce disease, we all need to make some urgent but simple changes to how we feed our garden birds.
See our website for the latest guidance: brnw.ch/21x1t4w
