Martin George

Marc Gilles The highly-customizable Hugo Academic theme powered by Hugo Blox Builder. Easily create your personal academic website.

I created my own website! There you can find everything about my research: marc-gilles.github.io

🦅 Spot something suspicious? Illegal bird trapping is a serious wildlife crime. If you see traps, nets, or suspicious activity please report it anonymously to @CrimestoppersUK at 0800 555 111.
Protect our birds. Speak up. 🐦 #WildlifeCrime #ReportIt #ProtectNature

Tropical birds filmed catching flying fish mid-air for first time ever | Discover Wildlife When researchers fitted tiny cameras to the backs of red-footed boobies, they got an intimate view of exactly how these acrobatic seabirds hunt.

“When researchers fitted tiny cameras to the backs of two Red-footed Boobies, they got an intimate view of exactly how these acrobatic #seabirds hunt.”

Press release and link to open access paper here:
www.hw.ac.uk/news/2025/on...

www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...

Devastating news for Scotland's Seabirds as Berwick Bank is consented

"The Scottish Government’s decision to consent Berwick Bank today is devastating news for #seabirds, with tens of thousands predicted to be killed by the development."

www.seabird.org/press-releas...

“The Blob” Triggered The Largest Single-Species Event In Modern History, Killing 4 Million Seabirds "We knew right away this was a big, unprecedented die-off. We just didn’t know how big.”

According to the study in late 2024, it’s the worst single species die-off in modern history and was triggered by "The Blob", a mass of warm water in the north Pacific Ocean that has had a lasting and devastating impact on marine and coastal species.

#Seabirds

www.iflscience.com/the-blob-tri...

The first Montagu's Harrier chicks to fledge in Britain since 2019 🙂

#UKBirding

Wording reads: Will you join us at the 2026 BTO Annual Conference? To the right is an image of a Corn Bunting perched on the top of an arable crop with its beak open, a speech bubble graphic nearby has the word yes in it. Image credit reads: Chris Knights/BTO.

The 2026 BTO Conference will be held in Northampton on Saturday 28 February.

Treat your inner bird nerd to an inspiring day of talks and exhibition stands, in great company!

We may be able to coordinate car sharing nearer the time.
#ShropshireBirding

More information:
www.bto.org/our-work/eve...

That is brilliant, Rhys! What a striking image 🙂

Green Sandpiper standing in the shallows, it's legs & leg shadow creating a square!

Geometric Sandpiper #photography #Nature #wildlife #ukwildlife #birds #shropshirebirds

Thanks to @westmidlandsrg.bsky.social for their support and expertise with this.

#shropshirebirds #birdringing #shropshire #waders

SOS Venus Pool Reserve, Shropshire. Fabulous drone shot by Jamie Ricketts Photography.
#Shropshire_Birding #venuspool #shropshire #nature #birds

Really great to be part of this at the weekend at our reserve Venus Pool, Shropshire. Thank you @westmidlandsrg.bsky.social

#shropshirebirding #birdringing

#ShropshireBirding

Nice work, Tom.

The year is moving on. I was looking at Swallows gathering on wires yesterday.

Nice work, G! I think the ducklings are wise to keep close to the reeds 🙂

Great finds, John, both the Med Gull and the Tufties. It’s good to have you back in the shire!

Fresh juvenile Mediterranean Gull flying. Wonder where it has come from

The juvenile Med Gull. No rings on the black legs so we will only be able to guess where it originated

Female Tufted Duck leading 3 moderately grown ducklings across the mud at VP

One of at least 5 adult Green Sandpipers

VP with G on a rainy morning. A fresh juv Med Gull was unexpected and always a treat, as was a brood of 3 Tufted Ducks (rare breeders here in recent years). Also 5+ Green Sand, Common Sand, 10 Egyptian Goose, 8 Teal, 25 Sand Martin etc #Shropshirebirding

Belters, Rhys! 🙂

Red Kite in flight

Red Kite, flew right over our house in Greenfields, Shrewsbury #photography #birds #ukwildlife #shropshirebirds #Nature #wildlife #shropshire #Shrewsbury

ICYMI @westmidlandsrg.bsky.social

A close up of a Pheasant looking straight on showing its green neck, red face and brown-copper body plumage. Image by Edmund Fellowes/BTO.

📢 Yesterday Defra announced that toxic lead ammunition would be banned in Britain! BTO’s research helped forge this change.📝

The new ban will protect wildlife and the wider environment, with reduced levels of lead pollution in terrestrial and aquatic habitats.

Dynamics of microplastic transfer through the food web in a migratory seabird Estuaries function as sinks for microplastics due to their proximity to urban areas and pollution sources. Because of the great availability of plasti…

Dynamics of microplastic transfer through the food web in a migratory #seabird

* Microplastics were found in 40.83 % of regurgitated fish by Common terns.

* Monthly variation in microplastic trophic transfer was observed.

* The feeding habitat influenced the abundance of microplastics ingested.

Great work, Tom! 🤜🤛

Dark green background with the image of an illustrated computer monitor, keyboard and mouse in white. Wording to the left in a white box reads: System update ‘My BTO’ login will be unavailable on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

⚠️ Advance warning that this weekend certain areas of the BTO website will be unavailable. This includes 'My BTO', and event and membership registration. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

The Release of Non‐Native Gamebirds Is Associated With Amplified Zoonotic Disease Risk Spillback is potentially an important mechanism by which non-natives contribute to zoonotic disease emergence. We capitalise on quasi-experimental releases of non-native pheasants (Phasianus colchicu....

More pheasants equates to an increase in #LymeDisease carrying ticks.

Paper:
The Release of Non-Native Gamebirds Is Associated With Amplified Zoonotic Disease Risk

@lymediseaseuk.bsky.social

#birdingWales #birdingScotland

Impressive skies at Noneley, north of Shrewsbury, after sunset this evening, and a more impressive mixed Jackdaw and Rook pre-roost display.

No Quail, sadly, but what a gorgeous evening 🙂

#ShropshireBirding

The Charles Sinker Hide, a wooden bird hide with wooden screening on the approach path, overlooking the Sinker's Fields wetland.

Weekday maintenance works start at the Sinkers Fields NR, Whixall, on Friday 4 July and continue from Monday 7 July.

The hide will be open but access will be needed to the gates and there may be disturbance.

#ShropshireBirding

Text and image from the local Natural England team for the Mosses.

Another cracker, Rhys! 👍🙂

Love this idea! Worth considering for the Northampton Conference in February, @btobirds.bsky.social ?!

Mist-shrouded sea cliffs, visibility <200 metres and falling.

Today's seawatch on Anglesey encountered a meteorological challenge...

This is the view of the famous South Stack Lighthouse as seen from the popular clifftop viewpoint 🤦‍♂️

We could hear the foghorn, so the lighthouse is definitely still there!