Ben Secker

Golden eagle on the nest in Finland (by O. Karlin)

🦅PhD position 🦅 in my new group at @fbm-unil.bsky.social in Switzerland, studying how the social and resource landscapes shape the learning process for soaring flight. Deadline: Oct 30. Pls repost! career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...

Operation Turtle Dove’s view on the release of captive-bred Turtle Doves as a conservation measure - Operation Turtle Dove Operation Turtle Dove is a science-led conservation partnership working to reverse the decline of Turtle Doves in the UK by restoring habitat and addressing key threats. Learn why captive-bred release...

Very firm statement on releases of captive-bred Turtle Doves, from Operation Turtle Dove inc @rspb.bsky.social & @naturalengland.bsky.social:
*Doesn't meet IUCN guidelines
*Risk of disease/genetic pollution
*Irresponsible aims
operationturtledove.org/captive-rele... 1/2 #ornithology #ukbirding

Written by a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital, London after the Tommy Robinson march on 13/9.

Viking ED Pro 80mm, Velbon tripod head and Manfrotto tripod

Will be @ @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social for Migfest this weekend and would like to giveaway my old scope and tripod. If there's any young birders looking for a used but well loved scope that's seen plenty of rare birds please either point them in my direction or come find me over the weekend! #ukbirding

Commercial breaks are the only thing that happens in my experience.

‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.

woah this is genuinely, utterly WILD

Ant queens of one species produce males of another species, so she can then mate with them and produce hybrid workers!

This is so gloriously weird I can't quite compute it 🤯🧪🐜
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

UK’s largest lake faces environmental crisis as rescue plans stall Toxic algae cases in Northern Ireland’s Lough Neagh have tripled since last year, as local fishers’ incomes plummet

The biggest lake in the UK is being steadily poisoned

The rescue plan demanded by residents & fishermen, whose lives are being blighted, is being blocked by a powerful farming lobby

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Reform council’s Nottingham Post ban a ‘massive attack on local democracy’ Nottinghamshire council’s administration says it will no longer deal with local paper, in unprecedented move

Reform-led council refuses to engage with a prominent local newspaper after they had the temerity to expose a slight internal disagreement.

A burning passion for protecting ‘free speech’ seems to go out the window when it makes you look bad…

I’m so excited that my first paper is out! 💪🏼💥 #ornithology

Congrats Noe! Excellent stuff.

I had fun rambling on about aquatic insects and their benefit for insectivorous birds at #EOU2025 yesterday. Going home with lots of cool bird research in my brain & joy from catching up with friendly faces 😁 (even if it does temporarily drain the life from my introverted soul) 🫠

Yorkshire Water must pay £900k after polluting Ingbirchworth dike The discharge of chlorinated water over a month led to the discovery of 434 dead fish in one day.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Hopefully, hand-rearing Willow Tits will never be needed. It's high-risk, very last resort, and only works if enough viable, low-predation, low-competition, connected habitat is available to release them into.
There's 5-10k Willow Tit pairs left. Securing viability of their habitat is the priority.

Birding and the nature of grief I wrote this last year during what turned out to be the slow fall into a ...

This blog was something I wrote last year in a different context about how birding helps with the cycle of grief. I'm reposting it on this blog in the hopes that being honest about mental health helps in some way. #ukbirding #birds #mentalhealth

An Open Letter to Arsenal Football Club Today, the news broke that Thomas Partey, an Arsenal player until the beginning of this month, is being prosecuted for five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

I'm planning on continuing to talk about Thomas Partey, Arsenal and rape culture as long as it is a problem within football
open.substack.com/pub/feverpit...

YouTube video by BBC Earth Bird vs Fish | Blue Planet II

May be a different sequence but I remember this one clearly! Giant Trevally predating tern fledglings: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4px....

The PNG Courier's overseas correspondent with the latest from Glastonbury Bob Vylan’s IDF Chant Ignites Uproar, While Actual Atrocities Get a Pass

Bob Vylan’s IDF Chant Ignites Uproar, While Actual Atrocities Get a Pass

The PNG Courier's UK correspondent with the latest from Glastonbury

mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/the-png-co...

This is phenomenal.

Sea surface temperatures are >5C above average to the west of the UK and around Iceland. It's the strongest area of anomalous warmth on the planet at the moment.

It's the warmest in recorded history for northwest Europe.

Thank you, that’s very kind of you to offer! I’ll send you a message at some point and explain what we are doing, and if you are still interested in helping in some capacity that would be much appreciated. I read your excellent blog on the subject a few months ago!

In more jovial news, I’ve already had chance to help out with fieldwork in the department, including a trip down to Rutland to see the lingering black tern, local celeb osprey pair, and hobby to name just a few!

#ukbirding

area in the Dearne Valley in just a few short years (see above from 2021). Although the prospects for this species undoubtedly look rather bleak, I am hopeful that our project will help to improve conservation outcomes for willow tit in the UK.

and assess their impacts on willow tit ecology. Our main aim is to help develop targeted conservation measures which will help to improve the fortunes of this rapidly declining species and, crucially, won’t inadvertently harm existing populations. I’ve seen willow tits vanish from my local

Current funding models generally focus on implementing habitat management measures, which have so far proven largely unsuccessful in halting local willow tit extinctions. We are looking to investigate how other species, particularly blue tits, interact with willow tits during the breeding season,

Life update klaxon: I’ve joined the Natural Sciences department at Manchester Met as a PhD researcher! Our team will be investigating the role of interspecific competition and community composition in the decline of the willow tit, focusing our efforts on post-industrial sites in the north west.

Garden warbler singing for a prolonged period at Boylin’s this morning before work. #ukbirding #lowcarbonbirding

Walk up the little don valley on Friday returned my first cuckoo of the year. Ring ouzel, redstart, and siskin the other highlights. #ukbirding

NEW JOB in #ornithology and #conservation to work on an ambitious #telemetry project aiming to understand #wildlife movement in human-modified landscapes: buff.ly/g2eQjP7

What a bloody legend! Congrats! #BOUsgottalent

🧵1/7 What do massive insect crashes mean for insectivorous birds? And can aquatic habitats help?

Today at #BOU2025 I'm exploring how aquatic habitats might help to buffer declining insectivore populations, using the Spotted Flycatcher as an example.

#ornithology

My favourite ducks/geese. Good luck! 🦆