Mike Shewring

Castlefield viaduct

A selection of embroidered ‘moss stitch’ artworks on a glass window overlooking a section of the Castlefield Viaduct

My moss stitch of a Sphagnum moss

An incredibly proud moment seeing my Sphagnum moss stitch amongst the other fantastic displays from the moss worlds project at the Castlefield Viaduct visitors centre. Huge congrats to the moss worlds team on a fantastic project and great exhibition. If you’re around Manchester - go and see it!

First field day in a while this week at probably my favourite peat site of the year at Cwmparc. We managed to find some incredible macrofossils preserved close to the boundary with the underlying clay and bedrock strata. Almost intact Sphagnum plants with entire stem and branch sections! Great fun

Some amazing #peat macro fossils today at Cwmparc when augering with @bootlegbryos.bsky.social . Plenty of sphagnum, occasional bilberry and sedge I think!

Make 2026 the year you become our Specialist Advisor in Peatland Hydrology!
Join the dynamic Wales peatland team as technical lead for peatland hydrology monitoring.
£41K-£44K+ p/a. Closing 14/12/2025. Go for it!
swyddi.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/VacancyInfor...

#jobs @natreswales.bsky.social #Wales

Swydd ffantastig - Cynghorydd Arbenigol Monitro Cynefinoedd Mawndir.
Ymuna â thîm deinamig mawndiroedd Cymru yn arwain elfennau arolygu a monitro ecolegol. £41K-£44K+ y/f. Cau 14/12/2025. Amdani! swyddi.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/VacancyInfor...

@natreswales.bsky.social #swyddi #Cymru #amgylchedd

Fantastic job: Specialist Advisor in Peatland Habitat Monitoring.
Join the dynamic Wales peatland team to lead ecological survey & monitoring elements.
£41K-£44K+ p/a. Closing 14/12/2025. Go for it!
swyddi.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/VacancyInfor...
@natreswales.bsky.social #GreenJobs #environment #Wales

Hen Harrier found poisoned on a grouse moor in North Yorkshire I’ve blogged recently about a number of illegally-killed Hen Harriers whose deaths have not been publicised by the authorities (Hen Harrier ‘Susie’ who was found dead with gunshot…

Hen Harrier found poisoned on a grouse moor in North Yorkshire raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/12/01/h...

Flyer for Peatland Hydrology session at EGU 2026 concluding QR code to session information

Peat friends!

Our #EGU26 session "Peatland hydrology: From tropical to subarctic latitudes" 🌍🌿💧 is open for abstracts. We welcome studies on a broad range of hydrological processes in peatlands. Submission deadline is Thu 15 Jan, 13:00 CET. Full info here: www.egu26.eu/session/56151

ACCE+ DLA Programme: Quantifying the Benefits of Water-based Nature-Based Solutions Using Satellite Data at University of Liverpool on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - ACCE+ DLA Programme: Quantifying the Benefits of Water-based Nature-Based Solutions Using Satellite Data at University of Liverpool, listed on FindAPhD.com

Interesting looking #PhD opportunity www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Voilá! 🎉
#PeatECR (peatecr.com) is excited to announce that the #2026PeatECRCalendar is officially ready!
This year’s calendar showcases 12 stunning peatland wild life photographs contributed by peatland researchers.

Water shortages could derail UK’s net zero plans, study finds Tensions grow after research in England finds there may not be enough water for planned carbon capture and hydrogen projects

The government's plans for carbon capture + hydrogen could consume 860mn litres of water a day - which may leave some parts of England without enough water to meet demand, even with additional reservoirs being built, report finds.

Our latest article, out now:

share.google/GiSGJ9xD2ES3...

An incredible opportunity to work with the @rspb.bsky.social and Storm petrels as part of your Master's degree! 🕊️

#research #seabirds

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...

Want to restore your peatland as an asset for future generations?
£10K-£250K grant to develop a plan and/or to action its restoration.
Recorded guidance webinar now online youtu.be/eTIOtUStmPY
Deadline 14/1/2026.
More here: bit.ly/4qbX6bT
@natreswales.bsky.social @iucn-uk-peat.bsky.social
#farming

Peaty people: we're hosting a special issue in the Taylor & Francis journal Sustainable Environment. Do consider submitting to it - the scope is broad and multidisciplinary. think.taylorandfrancis.com/article_coll...

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 🌍

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

#peatland

Restoring peatland.
Capturing carbon and providing breeding habitat for waders.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/p...
Paper by Rob Hughes & Chris Bingham
#ConservationScience🌍

Restoration of ecological interactions: The influence of site and landscape factors Restoration has been extensively used in agricultural landscapes as a mitigation measure to reduce biodiversity loss in response to historic habitat d…

If we focus on restoring ecosystem processes rather than a reference species assemblage

Can we derive general rules?

Here we find plant-pollinator networks in grasslands

& plant-herbivore ones in woodlands

both become more complex with restoration age & area
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Interested in peatlands and biogeochemistry? Like fieldwork? Then come and do a PhD at @livunigeog.bsky.social
supervised by me, @rchiverrell.bsky.social, Jenny Williamson (@ukceh.bsky.social eh.bsky.social) + Dewi Davies (@nationaltrust.org.uk ltrust.org.uk) www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Less than a week…
To register for a free guidance Webinar for the £10K-£250K Peatland Restoration Grant.
Register here for 7/11/25 WEBINAR: bit.ly/4oITBb8
Grant application deadline 14/1/26.
More here: bit.ly/4qbX6bT
#WalesPeatlandAction
#HighNatureLowCarbon
@natreswales.bsky.social

YouTube video by Linnean Society A Quietening of the Woods | The Decline of Woodland Birds

A video is now available of the lecture I gave last week to the Linnean Society & British Ornithologists' Club in London, on woodland birds, Marsh Tits & Willow Tits (~45 mins): www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7HF... #ornithology #ukbirding @ukceh.bsky.social

A solitary Lapwing stands in the grass.

New PhD opportunity:

Balancing the trade-offs between conservation and restoration in woodland creation and wader protection

Details here: iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...

@chrissuthy.bsky.social
@ps-wildlife-res.bsky.social
@naturescot.bsky.social
@rspbscience.bsky.social

📷Ben Andrew

Cover of British Birds magazine for October 2024, featuring a photo of an Asian Desert Warbler on a dead Rose branch. The warbler is small and brown, with a pale throat, chestnut tail and yellow legs and iris.

The title of the BBC Eye article: "British Birds and British Sign Language: signs of change" above a photo of a male House Sparrow on an orange roof tile. The House Sparrow is pale grey below, with a black throat that extends to its breast, a dark bill and eye, a grey crown and a chestnut back to the head.

The annual rarities report from @britishbirdsbbrc.bsky.social, always a good read for a winter evening.

But en route, do stop and read a fascinating @britishbirds.bsky.social 'Eye' article from Sula Brookes about developing names for birds in #BSL British Sign Language. Brilliant work.

The 2026 WOS Calendar is now available by post - here’s how to buy:

welsh-ornithological-society.sumupstore.com

Anne Benchley introducing the day. Picture shows a lecture theatre with Anne in front of a large screen showing a slide describing what we will be taking about today - basically the. Importance of bird recording and how that information helps us make better decisions.

Dame Steph Tyler standing in front of a large screen starting her talk on her lifetime of bird recording.

Andy King (wos lifetime achievement award winner) standing in front of a large screen with a picture of a Roe deer.

Heather Coats receiving the Lifetime achievement award from Iolo.

Lovely day @birdsinwales.bsky.social conference on Saturday. Lots of interesting talks and catching up with friends.

Hopefully lots of people inspired to start doing some bird recording. Check out @btobirds.bsky.social surveys here www.bto.org/get-involved... or just use @birdtrack.bsky.social

The role of ditches in the global carbon cycle: A critical & unrecognised player.

PhD on carbon and greenhouse gas fluxes in ditches. Supervised by @aquaticcarbon.bsky.social at Uni Glasgow with @peatymike.bsky.social, Amy Pickard (@ukceh.bsky.social ) and me.
Get in touch if interested and circulate to potential candidates!
🧪 #GreenhouseGases

share.google/lvswIyC9TYg5...

Come and work with the InSPIRE project on understanding how proglacial #peatlands lock away carbon as glaciers recede. Details below for this 24-month post-doc position.