Barry Yates

A Ruddy Turnstone washing in a fresh water puddle for the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #WaterDroplets

A Common Tern in August at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve for #BirdOfTheDay theme of #WingsOverWater
@sussexwildlife.bsky.social

A deceased Puffin lies on its back on the ground. Wording above reads: Please report sightings of all dead birds. A graphic showing an exclamation mark in a triangle features.

⚠️ We've had reports of seabirds washing up. Please report ALL species of dead birds ⬇️

📍 In England, Wales & Scotland: www.gov.uk/guidance/...
📍 In Northern Ireland: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/...
📍 In Republic of Ireland: aviancheck.apps.serv...

#UKBirding #BirdingWales #BirdingScotland

Britain’s Labour government feels the heat over Palantir contracts The U.S. data company is taking fresh flak in the U.K. — as the country’s reliance on U.S. tech firms shoots up the political agenda.

Exactly right @sianberry.bsky.social: UK has “sleepwalked into a situation that carries enormous risk” by relying on U.S. tech companies"

www.politico.eu/article/brit...

This morning was one of those rare occasions when the Pett Level Curlew came close to the road, and the light was perfect.
@sussexornitholo.bsky.social
@curlewaction.bsky.social
#curlew

Wider deer culling planned for England to protect trees and crops The government unveils a long awaited 10-year deer management plan that will identify priority culling areas.

"The government said that current deer management had failed, with 33% of English woodlands now classed as being in an "unfavourable condition" due to excessive trampling and grazing by deer, up from 24% in the early 2000s."

Black-headed Gulls march for hours across wet grassland looking for worms near the surface.
They will be liking this wet weather.
@sussexornitholo.bsky.social
#gull

🌿 It’s publication day!

Where to Watch Wildlife in Britain is here – your low‑carbon guide to 100+ wildlife sites across the UK, all reachable by train, bus, bike or on foot.

@meganshersby.bsky.social @heatherdevey.bsky.social @rebeccaonthewing.bsky.social

New on the blog! Read a sample chapter of Pan-Species Listing by @graemelyons.bsky.social 📖

Take a look 👀➡️ https://tinyurl.com/uye72vtd

#panspecies #identification #species #taxonomy

A Long-tailed Tit for the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #BranchBirds

Here's one from yesterday, of the many Egyptian Geese around Rye... this increasing invasive non-native species has a negative affect on several breeding wetland birds, occupying some of the best shallow water and muddy areas and chasing off all comers.
@sussexornitholo.bsky.social

A young person is holding a bird in their hand. Wording below reads: young bird observatory visitors programme. bto.org/ybov.

Apply for our Young Bird Observatory Visitors Programme grant ➡️ www.bto.org/ybov

Each year the BTO provide a number of grants of up to £250, to support young people looking to visit one of the accredited British and Irish Bird Observatories.

Closing date: Sunday 1 March. #UKBirding

The early Green Sandpiper catches the worm in front of the trail camera in the wetland on Valentines Day.
@sussexornitholo.bsky.social
#sandpiper

Oops your right..

Part of the roosting flock of Redshank that was disturbed by some unseen danger at the flooded Flat Beach at Rye Harbour.
I don't understand why one of them looks so grey...
@sussexornitholo.bsky.social
@sussexwildlife.bsky.social
#redshank

Job advert: Sussex Wildlife Trsut | We're hiring - Volunteer Coordinator, Rye Harbour | Closing date 8 March 2026 | Background image of Golden Plover in flight by Dave Kilbey

Could you get the flock together?

We're looking for a part-time Volunteer Coordinator to support the team at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and Discovery Centre.

sussexwt.livevacancies.co.uk#/job/details...

@rxnature.bsky.social @ryenews.bsky.social @notjustabattle.bsky.social

A sleepy Mute Swan.
In colour and monochrome.

Change is in the air.
Yesterday was the first day that Lapwing and Oystercatchers were noted back on their breeding territories on islands in the wetland. Plus there was a high count of 74 Mediterranean Gulls feeding on the wet grassland and filling the air with their high pitched cat calls.
#spring

Here is a pair of Northern Shoveler for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #WaterBirds . Taken this afternoon when the sun made a brief appearance at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

A video of a Water Pipit from a trail camera in the Pannel Valley this morning.

Beautiful Green Hellebore, Helleborus viridis, in woodland on the edge of Croydon. 💚 It is a member of the Ranunculaceae, the Buttercup family. What look like green petals are in fact sepals, and the petals themselves are reduced to small tubular nectaries (visible in third photo). #WildflowerHour

The Birther-in-Chief's disgusting history of racism has its own page on Wikipedia.

See for yourself, here: shorturl.at/UQaXQ

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A Canada Goose have a splashing good time in yesterday morning's sunshine.
#birdoftheday
#washing
#goose

Trees don't so much need deep, fertile soil, as protection from hungry sheep and deer, as this rowan seeded into a rock crevice – likely by a bird – shows.

Freeing the land from artificial overgrazing would see our lost wild native forests return naturally.

Can you picture it?

Violet flowers and 'heart'- shaped leaves, all growing out of the same, central point.

Sweet Violet flowers are out at Castle Water. Cut through the rain and gloom and there are bright things. 💜
@sussexwildlife.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
#UKwildlife
#Sussexwildlife

Twelve roosting Ruff
Looking into the morning sun at Pett Level.
@sussexornitholo.bsky.social
#ruff

Bright yellow flowers, like closed-up buttercups, and whorls of shiny green leaves, covered in raindrops. There are dead, brown tree leaves covering the ground beneath.

It never got light.
It never stopped raining.
Yet, somehow, the bright yellow flowers and shiny green 'ruffs' of Winter Aconite shone bright and cut through the gloom.
@sussexwildlife.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
#WildflowerHour
#UKwildlife
#flowers

A recent Sanderling for the #BirdoftheDay theme of #reflections

OMG