Julian Hughes

It’s nearly December. Down beside the Conwy estuary, it’s time for the… err… Hawthorn to burst into bloom!! #Conwy #WildflowerHour

A very timely bit of #SciComm for our household this weekend. I know something I didn't two minutes ago, but don't feel any better for it 😉🤧

Join us for our next webinar on Wednesday 26 November at 18:30 where we will be hearing a round up of the European Curlew breeding season.

Book your place now:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1897308393...

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at its nest in New Forest, photo by Steve Laycock

Six Lesser Spot young in a Quantocks nest, photo Gus Robin

Something to celebrate - our 2025 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker report - successful breeding season, the most nests monitored & highest number of chicks fledged per nest since we started in 2015. Acoustic monitoring giving amazing results too, download here www.woodpecker-network.org.uk/images/L_S_W...

@angbirdnews.bsky.social

Scaup at several freshwater sites around Anglesey today, and Beddmanarch Bay produced 3 Slavonian Grebes, 2 Great Northern Divers and a Black Guillemot in transitional plumage.

Orange flag (AK) Black-tailed Godwit at Gorad Flood, Valley, and a second at Cors Ddyga that I couldn't read #BirdingWales

Are you an MSc student based at a UK university? Or do you know one?
RSPB @rspbscience.bsky.social have just released their list of research projects for 2026:
www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu...
#ornithology #conservationscience 🌍

In a highly competitive field, surely the *best* wader...

Nature not a “blocker” to housing delivery, MPs find in new report - Committees - UK Parliament Nature is not a “blocker” to delivering new housing, but rather a necessity for building resilient towns and neighbourhoods, MPs argue in a report published today.

Now let's make it happen – starting with fixing the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
committees.parliament.uk/committee/62...

London beaver embarks on historic journey to help rewild Wales In a historic first, a beaver has journeyed from London to Wales to help establish a new family and strengthen Britain’s growing beaver population. The Ealing Beaver Project, the UK’s first urban and ...

In a historic first, a beaver has journeyed from London to Wales to help establish a new family and strengthen Britain’s growing beaver population

Mae Calendr Gweilch Glaslyn 2026 ar gael rŵan.
Archebwch o’r siop ar ein gwefan i’w dderbyn cyn y Nadolig!

www.glaslynwildlife.co.uk/cy/shop/

The Glaslyn Ospreys Calendar 2026 is now available.
A must have item for Osprey followers. Order from our online shop now in time for Christmas!

It's not just Jays, but Rooks are also agents of natural colonisation of woodland, dispersing and planting tree seeds that start off new woodlands. #rewilding

Gweithio gyda’n gilydd er lles Britheg y Gors 💪

Wrth i Brosiect Adfer Britheg y Gors yng Nghymru ddirwyn i ben, rydym yn edrych yn ôl ar rai o’i lwyddiannau rhyfeddol gan glywed sylwadau’r bobl a fydd yn canlyn arni â’r gwaith angenrheidiol yma yn y dyfodol 👉 buff.ly/rRh1kB9

Working together for the Marsh Fritillary 💪

As the Wales Marsh Fritillary Recovery Partnership Project comes to a close, we take a look back at some of the amazing achievements and hear from the people who will continue this vital work into the future 👉 buff.ly/rRh1kB9

Latest BirdTrack data show Woodcock arriving en masse over the the last fortnight. Sadly, Woodcock are prone to colliding with buildings while they migrate. If you find a dead Woodcock in these circumstances, please add the record to BirdTrack or email details to woodcock@bto.org

#ukbirding

Am chwa o awyr iach? Ymunwch â’r tîm mawndir!
3 swydd berffaith i wneud gwahaniaeth cadarnhaol yn monitro llwyddiant rhaglen adfer mawndiroedd sy’n ehangu ledled Cymru.
Cyflog £36,246 - £39,942. Dyddiad cau 3/12/2025.
Amdani!
swyddi.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/VacancyInfor...
#SwyddiGwyrdd #Swyddi #Cymru

Want a breath of fresh air? Join the peatland team!
3 perfect posts to make a positive difference monitoring the success of the peatland restoration programme expanding Wales-wide.
Salary £36,246 - £39,942. Closing 3/12/2025.
Go for it!
swyddi.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/VacancyInfor...
#GreenJobs #Wales

Ring on a dead Whooper Swan. Photo by David Tough

Ring on a dead Whooper Swan. Photo by David Tough

Advice from BTO on checking a dead bird for rings

We're now starting to get reports of dead Whooper Swans with rings. If you find a dead bird & feel comfortable doing so - check for rings using the below @btobirds.bsky.social advice 👇🏻 Collecting information on ringed birds helps better understand the impact on different age groups.

Wild victims of bird flu on the rise As ‘flockdown’ rules require keepers of birds to introduce strict biosecurity measures in Wales, increased deaths of wild birds have raised fears that it could be the worst winter yet for bird...

Wild victims of bird flu increase - will it be the worst winter yet in Europe? @btobirds.bsky.social reminds birders we can play a role in monitoring #HPAI

Plus the week's #NorthWales sightings in @northwaleslive.bsky.social BirdNotes. 📷 Tony Pope. #BirdingWales

www.birdnotes.wales/blog/wild-vi...

A cut out image of a Curlew on a green background alongside the wording: Discover the power of Acoustic monitoring.

Birdsong is not only beautiful, it’s also full of information. This is where Acoustic Monitoring comes in. Will you support the development of this new and important work? Find out more and donate today ➡️ www.bto.org/acoustic... #bioacoustics #ornithology

Multiple small Pennywort/Navelwort leaves growing through moss on a rock. The leaves around round, like mini pond-lilies

Pennywort/Navelwort leaves growing through moss on a rock in the Conwy Valley, with fallen twig covered in hair lichen

Bell Heather in flower on a rocky crag above the Conwy Valley, with the river in the background

Beech trees rise into a blue sky above Maenan in the Conwy Valley

Pennies from heaven...

Wall Pennywort (aka Navelwort) Umbilicus rupestris emerging from rocks at Cadair Ifan Goch today, where Bell Heather flowers try to pretend it's still July...

#WildFlowerHour in #NorthWales

Beaver wetlands create a buzz and a flutter for pollinators Our results show that beaver wetlands boost hoverfly richness/abundance, butterfly abundance and diversify foraging resources for pollinators while comparing favourably with human-created ponds for o...

#Beaver dams and pollinators. This Scottish study found greater hoverfly richness, hoverfly abundance and butterfly abundance in beaver wetlands than artificial ponds, but bees and moths were no different. Hoverflies were the major flower visitor in beaver wetlands doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Nature not a blocker to housing growth, inquiry finds Commons committee report challenges ‘lazy narrative’ used by ministers that scapegoats wildlife and the environment Nature is not a blocker to housing growth, an inquiry by MPs has found, in direct conflict with claims made by ministers. Toby Perkins, the Labour chair of the environmental audit committee, said nature was being scapegoated, and that rather than being a block to growth, it was necessary for building resilient towns and neighbourhoods. Continue reading...

Nature not a blocker to housing growth, inquiry finds

Record numbers of rare fungi discovered in Wales North Wales has emerged as a hotspot for some of the UK’s rarest and most striking grassland fungi, thanks to data from a citizen science fungi survey. Plantlife’s Waxcap Watch survey uncovered new re...

North Wales has emerged as a hotspot for some of the UK’s rarest and most striking grassland fungi, thanks to data from a citizen science fungi survey

A close-up photo of a puffin with the words Help us fight a big threat to Scotland's wildlife

A Red Squirrel scampering down the side of a tree with the words Tell your MSPs: Yes to nature targets and swift bricks with a big green tick and No to part 2 with a red cross

The Natural Environment Bill could restore nature across Scotland. 🐦🌱🐝

But there's a problem.

Part of the Bill introduces powers that threaten our most important wildlife protections.

A nature Bill shouldn't do that! Join us in calling for this to be fixed 👉
action.rspb.org.uk/page/181323/...

Amendment 40 to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill has been voted down.

Had it passed, it would have meant more precious wildlife would have retained existing protections.

Instead, MPs have bought into the false 'nature vs growth' narrative.

Fears for elephant seals as bird flu kills half of population in South Atlantic Study estimates 53,000 females have died on South Georgia since 2023, with ‘dramatic impact’ on future of the species

Fears for elephant seals as bird flu kills half of population in South Atlantic

Wish I could say the same...

On our watch.

Let us not be needing to write obituaries of and eulogies for too many more species.

More importantly, may we alive in 2025 not put more species in the extinction pipeline for future generations to have to do so.

Avian flu taking a severe toll on Iceland’s falcon population The Icelandic gyrfalcon population has been hit hard by the ongoing wave of avian influenza in recent years. Once numbering around 2,000 birds, the population has now collapsed to roughly 500 individu...

The impacts of avian influenza are profound and far reaching. Hopefully 🇮🇸 Gyrfalcons will recover in time but this is near catastrophic #RaptorResearch 🌎 🪶

Avian flu taking a severe toll on Iceland’s falcon population
icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/20...