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Tenerife Giant Orchid (Himantoglossum metlesicsianum), Orchids of Tenerife © Jon Dunn

Tenerife Giant Orchid (Himantoglossum metlesicsianum), Orchids of Tenerife © Jon Dunn

Tenerife Giant Orchid (Himantoglossum metlesicsianum), Orchids of Tenerife © Jon Dunn

A few shots of Tenerife Giant Orchid (Himantoglossum metlesicsianum), taken by @dunnjons.bsky.social on the first day of our Orchids of Tenerife tour - we're straight into the outstanding orchids thanks to the thorough pre-tour preparation undertaken by @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social.

Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) © Jon Dunn

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #swans.

I'm fortunate to have Whooper Swan present year-round beside my #Shetland island home. Their bugling calls and creaking wings are a regular sound overhead as they move between lochs.

#eastcoastkin #naturephotography #birds

Ophrys reinholdii, Orchids of Rhodes © Jon Dunn

Ophrys colossaea, Orchids of Rhodes © Jon Dunn

Tour update 🚨

As of this morning, the 2027 edition of our unrivalled, flagship Orchids of Rhodes tour is fully booked, so we've opened the 2028 page for bookings on our website. We're delighted to be the natural first choice for orchid-hunting holidays.

mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

I'm in need of a new bridge camera. Don't suppose anyone has Canon SX70 tucked away in the cupboard they no longer use and looking to sell? Good working order. Thanks
#birdinggear

This is just another test of our governments’ commitments to put nature at the heart of policy.

So far, it’s not looking good.

Your voices have made this a national issue - and that matters.

We’ll keep pushing for energy solutions that protect nature, as well as climate.

62% of Scotland’s seabird species are already in decline.

Berwick Bank could now push some toward local and even national extinction, supported with public money.

Yes, offshore wind is essential for tackling climate change.

But clean energy shouldn’t come with a body count.

We should be working towards lower-impact sites that can deliver the same energy without wiping out wildlife.

We don’t have to choose between climate action and living seabirds.

Thank you to the 7,000+ people across the UK who stood with us against public money for Berwick Bank.

This decision is a blow to our seabirds and to a truly sustainable energy future.

Your voices matter. Together, we’ll keep fighting for solutions that protect nature and the climate. 🧵

Plate 54 of FW Frohawk's 'Natural History of British Butterflies', featuring Large Blue (Phengaris arion)

It's #FrohawkFriday, the day we celebrate the butterfly studies & artwork of FW Frohawk.

Large Blue was always a special British insect, confined to the southwest of England between Cornwall and Gloucestershire. Extirpated by the late 1970s, it's been successfully reintroduced there.

#butterflies

Some really useful guidance here for those who use iNaturalist and would like their records to be useful at a local and national level. Changing the record licence and using the life stage in particular can make a record more useful

Man dropping seed down a thin pipe into a seed drill in a raised bed surrounded by other raised beds

Stop the backache! 🌻 Save your spine with this simple DIY garden hack: Use a 1m plastic pipe (2.5cm diameter) to sow large seeds without bending.
• Pointed end goes in the soil.
• Drop seeds through the top.
• Slide along to your spacing.
Perfect for peas, beans, & squash! 🫛✨ #GardeningTips

(4/) If you would like to find out where there are vacant BBS squares near you, wherever you live in the UK, please either follow this link: app.bto.org/bbs/publ... If you have any questions about the survey, please email us on: bbs@bto.org.

(3/) Your local BBS Regional Organiser or a member of the BBS Team at BTO Headquarters will do their best to match you with a square that is not only close to where you live, but is also appropriate for your birdwatching ability.

Map of a vacant BBS square in Norfolk.

(1/) Now is a great time to think about signing up to survey a BBS square ready for when the survey season begins in April. Here is just one example of a vacant square that we are looking for a volunteer to survey! @btobirds.bsky.social JNCC RSPB Science #norfolkbirds

📗 Our Geopark has a range of free educational resources that celebrate Charnwood Forest in ways that connect to the curriculum - including science, history, english, maths, and geography.

🌐 Discover more on our website: www.charnwoodforest.org/geopark-publ...

Merry Christmas!🎄

Some frosty snaps to wake you from the post-lunch nap on Christmas Day…❄️😴

Thank you for everything you’ve done to help us protect plants and fungi in 2025. Let’s get ready for next year!

#Christmas #MerryChristmas

A Curlew walks through a field covered in snow.

Happy Christmas from BTO! 🎄🐦 Thank you to all who have supported us during 2025. 💚

📷 Curlew by Edmund Fellowes / BTO

🎄 From everyone here at the Charnwood Forest Geopark - including our very special fossil superstar Charnia - have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year ☃️

Acoustic monitoring for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers - LesserSpotNet is fully involved with this excellent initiative being developed by BTO which is all positive for the conservation of LSWs

I doubt I'll ever find a rarer species of any description in Europe than this little gem. Fair to say I turned the air (Desert Babul) blue when I set eyes upon it...

But never say never!

New #PECBMS update! The Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme gathers data from monitoring schemes across Europe on breeding bird populations.

BTO contributes data through @bbs-birds.bsky.social and the Waterways Breeding Bird Survey.

Opportunities for photography abound on our #OrchidsOfRhodes tour - the orchids themselves are numerous & diverse, the sites we visit are the best on the island, and the pace is relaxed & gentle, allowing time to compose a shot or simply revel in the flowers.

www.mariposanature.com/tours/botani...

Shot Pheasants found dumped in Dorset Another week and another pile of shot and dumped gamebirds. Thanks to the blog reader who sent in this photo of a pile of dead, shot Pheasants he found yesterday, dumped on the road (B3081) running…

Appalling, illegal, unethical, disgusting. Oh, and in the midst of a severe outbreak of Avian Influenza #BirdFlu #H5N1 where free-range poultry are in mandatory lockdown to prevent viral spread.

#Ornithology #UKBirding

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/12/s...

Traps out for the 1st time in 7 weeks (weather, work, birding, laziness). Worth doing for 49/16 inc 4 belated NFY: 2 Merveille du Jour, 2 Feathered Thorn, 1 Brick & 10 November sp. 1 Rusty-dot Pearl the only migrant. Surprised to see Vine's Rustic still going! #VC55Moths #TeamMoth

📗 New report by @britishecologicalsociety.org & @nationaltrust.org.uk

Time to rethink nature conservation? Ecologists call for an ecosystem approach to halt UK wildlife decline and protect the vital services nature provides us💚

👉 Read here: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/time-to-reth...

Front cover of the European Butterfly Red List, showing Polyommatus humedasae. The report can be downloaded at https://www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?name=red-list-butterflies-2025

The new European Butterfly Red List is published today, with worrying findings. Over 1/4 (28%) of Europe’s 442 species are threatened with extinction or are close to being so. The situation is far worse for our 148 endemic species, 40% are now threatened or nearly so www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?...

Major revision of #GBRedList of plants published today shows 25% of our native & archaeophyte flora threatened with extinction. Many iconic widespread species classified as threatened for first time including Betony, Marsh Marigold, Devil’s-bit Scabious and Harebell. Another wake-up call for action!

1776: Flies abound. They stay long after the hirundines are withdrawn. Tipulae sport in the air.

💜 Check out that colour!

🍄 Amethyst Deceiver mushroom from Charnwood Forest.

📷 Barry Ingram