Luke Phillips

Now and the next 4 weeks are the very best time of year to find Willow Tits, which are paired and defending territories. They're at their most vocal and obvious until the leaves come out. Report all certain sightings to county recorder and @birdtrack.bsky.social to help monitor remaining populations

A rainbow forms over Gough Island

First confirmed cases of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza Virus (HPAIV) on Gough Island represent one of the most geographically isolated detections of HPAIV to date. But how did it get there?

Read on for a summary

Full paper: doi.org/10.1080/2222...

🧪🪶🌍
#seabirds

Last night we fitted new tracking tech to Jack Snipe @StaffsWildlife Cuckoo Bank.
The tags are Cellular Tracking Tech (CTT) and enable us to get live movements as they go.
A big thanks to @pulsarvisionukroi.bsky.social who sponsored our first tag.
This is a huge step for this species and us.

Wessex Stone-curlew Project Officer We are looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic individual with skills in farmland wildlife surveys (preferably Stone-curlew) to join our team conserving this RSPB Priority Species. The ideal ...

Wessex Stone-curlew Project Officer - RSPB - environmentjob.co.uk/jobs/109267-...

When your social media team have really lived life...

Coral background with faint heart illustrations. A glossy male Blackbird with a bright yellow bill faces left. Large title reads: “Birds as bad exes*” Smaller text reads: “*Yes, you read that right.”

Happy Valentine’s Day, from us to you. Tag your exes. Xoxox

Just a very pale Common Buzzard. That's very typical buzzard behaviour. Not something harriers tend to do.

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. 🪺🏝️🏕️

Happy to back James up here. The first pic is 100% a Sparrowhawk 👍

Petition: Stop the Guga Hunt Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to amend Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to remove the power to grant licences for taking Gannets on Sula Sgeir.

Please help to end the senseless harvesting of Gannets. It’s a ‘tradition’ that needs stopping.

Please sign the petition which is already over 80,000 and I’m told the highest signed petition ever for a Scottish Parliament petition.

#birdingScotland

Really hoping the flock contains a few colour ringed birds!!

There are few Baikal Teal (Sibirionetta formosa 花脸鸭 Huāliǎn yā) wintering at the Yellow River estuary in Shandong Province. Photo by "菜小hua". #birds #china #yellowriver

BREAKING: A Gamekeeper has pleaded guilty in England’s first-ever Hen Harrier persecution case.

Covert video and audio gathered lawfully by the RSPB Investigations team has helped expose the deliberate targeting of a Hen Harrier, leading to a landmark guilty plea:

www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 👈

So so so pleased! Common sense prevails but relentless campaigning made it happen. Amazing work!

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!

Well today is a HUGE DAY for swifts in Scotland. I’ve travelled with my swift brick to witness Scottish Parliament in action & to thank ⁦‪@markruskell‬⁩ in person for his leadership. This evening swift bricks will be put to a vote. Will they pass into law? Watch this space!!

A collage of photos showing BTO Bird Camp activities, including a group of young people looking at plants, a young person drawing at a table, a young person looking through binoculars and a close-up of a caterpillar. In the middle is an orange circle with white wording that reads: Bird Camps 2026. The BTO Youth logo is above this.

Bird Camps are back! 🙌 Apply for a FREE place now ➡️ www.bto.org/birdcamps

If you’re a nature lover aged 11-17 (12-16 in Scotland) join us and fellow nature enthusiasts for a weekend of birding, exploring and nature-based activities. 🐦🦋 @scottishbirding.bsky.social

2025 has been confirmed as the third warmest year on record, following 2024 and 2023, in a series stretching back to 1850.

Data from the Met Office, @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social and @ncas-uk.bsky.social shows 2025 was 1.41 °C above the average for 1850-1900.

Read more 👉 bit.ly/3NkfQH9

Country diary 1926: Hunting the tide wrack for ringed birds 15 January 1926: Nowadays any bird may carry a small, metal ring on one leg, placed there by some student of migration

Country diary 1926: Hunting the tide wrack for ringed birds

A Siskin, a small yellow-green bird with black streaks, clasps the twig of a tree with its feet and the twig hangs down with the weight of the bird.

Siskins! 2024 was an ‘influx year’ & bird ringers caught & ringed 63,815 across the UK! This was the highest number ever recorded. 😮 Among birds caught in the UK were Siskins previously ringed as far away as Russia & the Czech Republic.

📖 www.bto.org/ringing-...

📷 Siskin by Graham Catley / BTO

Hear from Dr Ellie Leech, Head of our Ringing & Nest Recording Team, as she talks about positive breeding success for 14 species, and the value of data gathered by BTO bird ringers. #Ornithology

If there was ever a map to demonstrate how important the UK is for wintering wildfowl, this is it!

Dartford Warbler perched on a gorse bush with prey in its bill. Image credit by Philip Croft / BTO.

1/2 Thanks to all who visited their Heathland Birds Survey sites to record Woodlark, Dartford Warbler and Nightjar. An impressive 5,600 sites were allocated across the three species, providing us with a valuable update of their current breeding populations and distribution.

Job opportunity: Hen Harrier Protection Officer (RSPB Geltsdale & North Pennines) Job advert from the RSPB: Hen Harrier Protection OfficerReference: DEC20259029Location: RSPB Geltsdale, CA8 + North PenninesSalary: £24,571.00 – £26,231.00 Pro RataContract:&nb…

It's telling, isn't it, that Protection Officers are still required for Hen Harriers in northern England.

Good opportunity here for some important raptor conservation fieldwork.

Closing date for applications: 30 Jan 2026.

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/01/07/j...

Also true for ringed/banded birds at least in the Northern Hemisphere.

Happy birthday to birds!

Initially just a flyover and disappeared NW, they came in eventually at West Bay on the River Brit.

Tried my luck at various goose friendly fields around Bridport today in the hope of something other than the 13 Canada Goose that I saw... nothing ventured, nothing gained! 4 juv Mute Swan were a local bird though.

2025 Summary of the Year Overview This was the 30th year of ringing at Nanjizal, with the first ringing date of the year on 27th February and the final netting day on 22nd November. The year saw the usual up…

The Nanjizal 2025 summary is now online. The year had the second highest annual ringing total since ringing started 30 years ago @kesteraw.bsky.social
nanjizalbirds.wordpress.com/2025/12/30/2...

We're hiring!

Seasonal Research Assistant and Senior Research Assistant positions for 2026 🪶

Deadline: 11th Jan 26

Apply here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...

Just read that in my inbox. Congratulations!