Simon Gillings

XC1086062 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor)

Back from a great @lesserspotnet.bsky.social weekend in Kent discussing the monitoring, ecology and conservation of our smallest woodpecker. Infectious enthusiasm and a wealth of skills and experience shared, topped off by actually seeing them! xeno-canto.org/1086062 #ornithology

I think a cheap mic would usually generate more hiss (white noise) rather than that electrical interference type sound. I usually get that sound if there's moisture in the cable contacts. Other thing to check is the mic is powered properly (batttery and/or plug-in-power from recorder).

Audio recorder in woodland

Out deploying audio recorders today in the hope of detecting Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in Cambs. First singing Chiffchaff plus Comma and lots of Brimstones.

BirdWatch Ireland CEO Andrew Kelly & BTO CEO Juliet Vickery are sitting at a table outside smiling as they get ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31.

RSPB Chief Executive Beccy Speight & BTO CEO Juliet Vickery are sitting together at a table in the David Attenborough Building in Cambridge holding pens ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31.

BTO CEO Juliet Vickery & Scottish Ornithologists Club President Ruth Briggs are sitting at a table smiling and holding pens ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31.

BTO CEO Juliet Vickery & Welsh Ornithological Society Chair Anne Brenchley are sitting at a table together looking down and holding pens as they get ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31. Wildlife and nature themed artwork hangs on the wall behind them.

1/ Five leading charities forge partnership for bird conservation for the Bird Atlas 2027–31! 🐦 But what is the Bird Atlas? ⬇️🧵 #Ornithology

@btobirds.bsky.social @birdwatchireland.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @birdsinwales.bsky.social

Letter to the editor concerning the paper “Attraction points: A new sampling design method to quantify common finches' populations” published by Marazuela Pinela et al. in Ecological Indicators, 171, ...

New 'letter to the editor' criticising a previous paper published in Ecological Indicators is well worth a read: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Includes this quote 'At least two of them (Marazuela Pinela and López Espí) are self-proclaimed silvestristas—the Spanish term for songbird trappers'

Free UK shipping of Alula Design if ordered before midnight Sunday 1st March

Ross's Gull mug, available from https://aluladesigns.co.uk/product/rosss-gull-in-flight-mug/

For a limited time only (until midnight Sunday), Sand Martins will be delivering all Alula Design products for free as they head north. Order now to avoid disappointment. aluladesigns.co.uk/ #BirdArt #UKBirding #Freepost

Birders encouraged to detect Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers with passive recorders During the last two years, The Woodpecker Network has successfully used passive acoustic monitors to detect the calling and drumming of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. The group has now written guidance protocol for Song Meters to provide more of the practical details for using the method with the devices.

The Woodpecker Network is encouraging birders to detect Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers by using passive acoustic sound recorders:

Two Tundra Bean Geese and a Greylag Goose. Bill colour oddly pink in this video grab but clearly orange in the field

A nice surprise at work today when @arjuncdutta.bsky.social found these Tundra Bean Geese at @btobirds.bsky.social HQ. Instructive trying to age them with @sconebirding.bsky.social #UKBirding

Been working a lot on woodpeckers recently, which inspired this new design for @aluladesigns.bsky.social

We are receiving increased reports of dead auks, including Puffins, particularly in North East Scotland. It's quick and easy to report any dead or sick birds you find through the 'Deceased bird' function on the home page of the BirdTrack app

Photo: Puffin by Richard Selman / BTO

#ukbirding

Verification and quality assurance in Passive Acoustic Monitoring This survey explores how automated acoustic species identifications are verified and quality‑assured in practice, and how uncertainty is communicated and used. The survey takes approximately 20 minut...

1/ Survey! 📝 How are automated species identifications from passive acoustic monitoring verified and quality-assured in practice? #bioacoustics

Take part here ➡️ forms.gle/Ak3eYgZivUPa...

A Dunnock has its bill open in song as it perches on the top of a bush. Wording to the left reads: Bird Sound ID Training Course. When. Tuesdays at 7pm & Wednesdays at 10am or 7pm for set dates in March. Where. Two online sessions. www.bto.org/training. Image credit bottom right reads: Dunnock by Allan Drewitt / BTO.

Want to learn what birds are singing? Join our Bird Sound ID in Early Spring training course ➡️ www.bto.org/training #Ornithology

Freepost advert for Alula Designs, featuring Harriers hoodie and Woodpeckers tshirt

Free UK delivery on all Alula Designs clothing and mugs this weekend, from 9am Friday to midnight Sunday. Visit aluladesigns.co.uk/ for our latest designs #Birds #BirdArt #UKBirding

A Spotted Flycatcher perches on a piece of wood. White writing over the green background reads: Rivers vital for Spotted Flycatchers according to new research. Image credit bottom left reads: Spotted Flycatcher by Edmund Fellowes/BTO.

1/ Spotted Flycatchers are in trouble, declining by 92% in the UK between 1967 and 2020. New work led by @cateden91.bsky.social & involving BTO has revealed the importance of rivers for the survival of this Red-listed migratory species. ⬇️ #Ornithology

📖 www.bto.org/Spotted-Flyc...

⭐️An exciting opportunity for a fully funded PhD with BTO British Trust for Ornithology and Liverpool John Moores University, to study the population-level movement patterns of over-wintering #Curlew!⭐️

#ornithology #movementecology

Green woodpecker collage, made from a Yorkshire Tea cardboard box.

Collage assembly in progress - scissors used to dismantle box and cut pieces to form woodpecker shapes, and Pritt-stick used to fix pieces to paper

✂️ Yesterday I finally responded to @agakowalska.bsky.social’s challenge to make a collage from a single piece of packaging. I present to you a green (tea) woodpecker, made from a big Yorkshire Tea box. It was fun and I’ll be rooting through our recycling bin for more materials later on ♻️

A drake Scaup asleep

Drake Ferruginous Duck

A four Aythya lunchbreak - as well as Tufted Duck and Pochard, drake Scaup and Ferruginous Duck at Milton Country Park. Top find by @jonheath.bsky.social #UKBirding

Incomplete acrylic painting of an Egyptian Plover

Sorting through some old stuff and found this incomplete Egyptian Plover painting. Really need to get back to painting! #BirdArt

Snowy footpath next to the River Ant at Ludham Bridge.

A snowy but unsuccessful attempt to see the Black-winged Kite at Ludham (missed it by 15 mins!). Consolation in form of Bewick's Swans (a group of 6 over, then same or different 4), Water Pipit and 6 White-fronted Geese. #UKBirding

Screenshot of my BirdTrack 2025 stats

Map showing 2025 birding mostly locally in East Anglia, plus family visits in Yorkshire and Lothian, and a family holiday in Northern Ireland

For various reasons 2025 has been a challenging year and my lowest birding effort for years. Somehow still saw 200+ species and found a couple of local rarities. Hopefully more birding in 2026! Happy #UKBurding

Red-necked Grebe on sea

Guillemots on cliffs at Flamborough Head

Red-necked Grebe, the best from a 10k walk around Flamborough today. Also hundreds of Guillemots already on the cliffs #UKBirding

Purple Sandpiper feeding amongst seaweed

Also at Filey, one of two Purple Sandpipers feeding in the wrack #UKBirding

Eastern Black Redstart, Filey

Birders' Christmas 'robin' - the Eastern Black Redstart at Filey. It put on quite a show, actively feeding at the base of the cliffs and among the rocks #UKBirding

Distant scoters on the sea

Thanks to @lothianrecorder.bsky.social for picking out the
White-winged Scoter at Ferny Ness. Extremely distant in low light and on the edge of ID range with my optics. Photo shows general view, not the WwS, probably #UKBirding

A female and two male Long-tailed Ducks flying over a flat sea

Flat calm at Ferny Ness, Lothian today. 50+ Long-tailed Ducks, including the first I've ever heard displaying in the wild. 20 Slavonian and 1 Red-necked Grebe, 1 Black-throated and 4 Red-throated Diver. Unfortunately the Velvets were mostly too far out for me to find the White-winged. #UKBirding

A Whooper Swan swims on water, showing its white plumage and black and yellow bill. Wording below reads: International Swan Census. 17-18 January 2026. Image credit bottom right reads: Whooper Swan by Edmund Fellowes / BTO.

1/ Can you help us count Bewick's and Whooper Swans for the International Swan Census on 17-18 January 2026? 🦢

Visit the vacant site map to request a site at app.bto.org/gsmp/pub...

#Ornithology @webs-gsmp.bsky.social

Various by Alula Designs

Last call for UK priority shipping: the Alula Elves are closing the shop at midnight tonight to go birding, so get your final orders in now!

Ptarmigan by Alula Designs

White-throated Needletail by Alula Designs

You'll grouse if you're not swift about it. Last orders for Alula Designs for standard UK delivery (16th December), first class (19th) and priority (21st). aluladesigns.co.uk/ #ByBirdersForBirders

The new update to the BirdTrack app introduces several features aimed at helping us collect accurate bird data and alert you to those slip of the finger data entry errors #ukbirding

A Bush-cricket on the leaf of a plant.

BTO's Acoustics Pipeline has identified Bush-crickets in ‘bat’ data collected for the Landscape-scale Species Monitoring of Agri-environment Schemes Project & assessed the effects of agri-environment management on these species➡️ www.bto.org/Bush-cricket...

#bioacoustics @naturalengland.bsky.social