Wouter Vansteelant

The face of a Barn Owl peeks around the brick wall of a barn as it perches on the building window ledge.

New record for the oldest Barn Owl in Britain and Ireland! 😮 At 18 years old the female was ringed in 2007 in Nottinghamshire when she was a chick before being recorded again in Lincolnshire this year! Read the full story ➡️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/a... #Ornithology #BirdRinging 🪶

August is a great month to see Purple Heron at Sneekermeer, but this year feels exceptional. At least 4 ad and 3 juv at Blaugerzen this evening, gathering to roost in the trees around the old turbaries. A distant Red-backed Shrike became species 180 on my Sneekermeer-list. Good summer #birding! 🤓🤩

After a tense wait, the 3rd #Whimbrel we tagged in Frisia past April is now back in view too. GRUTTE GRIENE bred 90km SE of Murmansk and is now staging at Varanger. Will GRUTTE GRIENE make a non-stop flight to Africa like POTSKAR did? #ornithology

www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

Huge news for bird migration researchers in the Afro-Palearctic flyways!

The Sahel Rainfall Index and annual flood extent developed by Leo Zwarts et al (2009,2023) is now #openaccess by Altenburg & Wymenga.

Critical data to understand annual survival in migrants! #ornithology

sahelrainindex.info

Spoonbills of Schiermonnikoog tend to move to the mainland shore in late summer, just like this year's young (yellow, left) are doing. Yet most adults (right) linger on the island. Our field crew confirms: lots of late renesting attempts! #ornithology

www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

NEW on #theBOUblog from Delip K. Das

Each year, the BOU funds members' attendance at ornithology conferences via Member Conference Attendance Grants

Read all about Delip's experience at BOU2025 Frontiers in ornithology

bou.org.uk/blog-das-...

#ornithology 🪶

Black-tailed godwit joins NSW endangered species list as population dives - Australia News Beep Scientists fear a remarkable migratory shorebird, which flies vast distances each year to reach Australia, will become extinct in the near future.

Black-tailed godwit joins NSW endangered species list as population dives

https://www.newsbeep.com/au/40739/

Scientists fear a remarkable migratory shorebird, which flies vast distances each year to reach Australia, will become extinct…

... theory also predicts protracted non-stop flights over benign habitats if birds can store large fuel loads fast before departure. Winds undoubtedly also play a role in shaping such strategies, and may explain why this same bird makes at least two flights in spring compared to one in autumn.

Great point. The flight of this Whimbrel is very similar in total duration and speed to the trans-oceanic autumn flights of Icelandic Whimbrels (ca 5 days non-stop at 50-60km/h, www.nature.com/articles/sre...). But even while prolonged non-stop flight is often associated with barrier crossings ...

Early this morning #Whimbrel POTSKAR landed in Guinea, W Africa, after flying 7000+km from St-Petersburg, Russia. It took POTSKAR 5.5 days of NON-STOP flight, varying altitude from 10s of meters over the Baltic and the Med, to >5km over land. #ornithology

www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

BRC at the Avian Odyssey 2025!

Join the British Ornithologists’ Club at the Natural History Museum, London, on 20 Sept. @tohar-tal.bsky.social will share how BRC monitors and conserves the migration of 1M+ raptors in Georgia.

Tickets (incl. online): www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/...

📸Marc Heetkamp

Small ornithological research grants Closing date for applications (for 2026 awards): 31 October 2025The BOU Small Ornithological Research Grants scheme offers awards of up to £2,000 to support small projects on any aspect of ornithology.The scheme is open to BOU members only. An exception is made for those

💰 RESEARCH GRANTS & CAREER DEVELOPMENT BURSARIES 💰

Applications are OPEN for BOU Small Research Grants & Career Development Bursaries.

Find out more now:
Grants ➡️ bou.org.uk/funding/s...
Bursaries ➡️ bou.org.uk/funding/c...

DEADLINE 31 Oct 2025 ⌛

#ornithology 🪶

After a 10 day sojourn in the taiga of N Finland, #Whimbrel LYTSE GRIENE decided it was time for a change of scenery, and travelled 4000+km to the salt marsh of Cádiz (Spain) in ca. 64h. Made short stops of at most a few hrs on the coast of Sweden and N France, averaging > 60km/h. 🤩 #ornithology

A male Montagu's Harrier flying by at sunrise. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

Rain pushes the Honey Buzzards downwards towards eye level. Great conditions for photography, although a little dark. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

Hobby leaving with a prey after it fought over the prey with another Hobby — an amazing display of their aerial acrobatics. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

Station 2 could be seen from miles away last year, thanks to its strikingly red tarp. Although this did not seem to bother the birds much, with plenty of eye-level, close views of raptors. Photo by Paula Menzel.

In less than two weeks, we’ll be back at the Batumi bottleneck for the 17th Batumi Raptor Count #BRC17. Preparations are well underway, and excitement is building. Over the next few months, we’ll have plenty of exciting news to share with you — it’s already shaping up to be another memorable season.

After a 10 day sojourn in the taiga of N Finland, #Whimbrel LYTSE GRIENE decided it was time for a change of scenery, and travelled 4000+km to the salt marsh of Cádiz (Spain) in ca. 64h. Made short stops of at most a few hrs on the coast of Sweden and N France, averaging > 60km/h. 🤩 #ornithology

I will have a look at the Spoonbills this evening and let you know. Last night IJSBRAND was sleeping in It Swin near Elahuizen, but this morning came back to Sneekermeer. Currently foraging in Jentsjemar, so good hope he'll be sleeping at Witte en Zwarte Brekken again tonight.

Just realised that the Black-tailed Godwit I filmed on 11 July -W1WCPP- is actually a @globalflyway.bsky.social bird! Fledged in Koudum, W1WCPP is now exploring the Frisian interior before their first migration. At no point while watching them did I realise they carried a transmitter. #ornithology

Just realised that the Black-tailed Godwit I filmed on 11 July -W1WCPP- is actually a @globalflyway.bsky.social bird! Fledged in Koudum, W1WCPP is now exploring the Frisian interior before their first migration. At no point while watching them did I realise they carried a transmitter. #ornithology

Cool! There are currently two GPS-tagged/colour-ringed juvenile Godwits foraging in the area you mentioned (see map). They are roosting in the Witte and Zwarte Brekken, where yesterday I saw 63 Spoonbills (👇). Funny how often Godwits and Spoonbills end up in the same places. bsky.app/profile/wmgv...

July is a good time to see the pronounced age difference in the timing of Black-tailed Godwits @globalflyway.bsky.social. While most adults left the breeding range by now, all of this year's young are still in 🇳🇱 and may not leave till Sept. #ornithology
www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

Went looking for GPS-Spoonbill IJSBRAND this evening after a tip from Spoonbill researcher Camilla Dreef. There turned out to be an impressive flock of 63 birds, just 5km from my home. 😍 IJSBRAND had gone to forage elsewhere but maybe he'll hang around a bit so I might see him later this week. 🙏

YouTube video by Benn Jordan I Saved a PNG Image To A Bird

New doc releases today!

- Ultrasonic recording of a starling that can record and playback virtually any sound

- Analyzing incredible slowed-down bird songs

- Showing you how to do this (and way more) on the cheap

youtu.be/hCQCP-5g5bo

Postdoc Goose Impact We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher for research in the context of international adaptive management of geese. Did you analyse animal movement patterns during your PhD? Do you want to work wi...

New postdoc position available 🚨
We are looking for a new post doc to work on adaptive management in geese. Are you experienced in working with animal movement patterns? And are you used to working with large files of transmitter date? Then apply before the 1st op september!

Stunning visualisation of glacier retreat (Glacier Blanc, Ecrins massif) over 1984-2024 that goes hand in hand with 'greening' (vegetation moving upward) of the glacier forefield! 📈 🌱 🌿

Source: Arthur Bayle

🏅 BOU AWARD NOMINATIONS OPEN

Early Professional Award

Awarded by BOU Council for an outstanding initial contribution to the field of ornithology

Nominate a deserving recipient now!

bou.org.uk/about-the...

#ornithology 🪶

The great arrival from the tundra has begun in the Wadden Sea! This evening's tide brought 1000s of Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit and more. 😍 Sadly had to run bf peak tide bc of a storm wt raindrops the size of Phalaropes. Looking forward to an evening tide wt fairer weather. 🤗

I see someone is paying attention 👍🙏. Was also struck by this Whimbrel. So far couldn't find any indication the area was recently logged. Here are 2 street view images of similar forest type 5km from the Whimbrel. Same bird clearly used open patches and avoided forest during breeding.

Do not let any LLM serve as a form of epistemic grounding for society.

Early May we lost contact with the #Whimbrel we tagged in Fryslân (🇳🇱). Last week Potskar (pink) and Lytse Griene (purple) left their respective breeding sites in 🇷🇺 and 🇫🇮, and sent 2 mths worth of data! 🤩 Now waiting for Grutte Griene (green)! #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

Well done @chrislamsdell.bsky.social
This Black-tailed Godwit is the oldest of the UK ringing scheme (29 years between ringing and report by Chris on 18 July).
Blog about @_BTO longevity records for #waders (to 2023):
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/w...
📷 Richard Bradbury (many years ago)