The UK Government has unveiled a 10-year deer management strategy for England, pledging to make culling easier in a bid to address what it describes as an expanding deer population that is damaging woodlands and farmland and impacting ground-nesting birds:
The Dutch Spectacled Eider is to be released back into the Wadden Sea after it was taken into care at the end of 2025:
Well done Chris!
David Waugh summarises the findings of two key studies surrounding the Critically Endangered Swift Parrot:
There's still some spaces left on my guided walk at RSPB Buckenham Marshes this Saturday. On the last one we saw Pintail, Ruff, Peregrine, Crane and thousands of Wigeon and Lapwing! 🤩 #NorfolkBirding #PatchBirding #RSPB
Book tickets here:
events.rspb.org.uk/browse?filte...
That unfortunate but who knows, maybe another mega will turn up to bring you here soon. 😅
Thank you! Hopefully it'll stay for a while yet. 🤞
Top afternoon's birding in east Norfolk with @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social. The Iceland Gull was showing well at Sea Palling where Sophie also picked out a Purple Sandpiper on the beach. Afterwards at Great Yarmouth North Denes, we bumped into a trio of SEO and 7 Snow Bunting. 😄 #NorfolkBirding
A male eider sandwiched between two female eider on an inland broad with reeds in the background
Three eider were quite the inland surprise on Filby broad today! Found by @djlbirding.bsky.social when they drifted into view outta nowhere on the piece of broad I had just checked 😌🤨 (not that I’m salty)
Some great birding to be had over the winter break so far starting with a #lifer of Snow Goose in Lincs on Xmas day (just 15 mins from me where I was visiting family), and today, caught up with the Green-winged Teal and found some Tundra Bean Geese in mid-Yare Valley! #NorfolkBirding 😁🎄
I'll be at 'The Settlement' in Letchworth this Friday (7.30pm) with the local RSPB group there, showcasing the best of RSPB Strumpshaw Fen! Come along to learn about this incredible reserve - expect scarcities, swallowtails and more! #HertsBirds @hnhsoc.bsky.social @hertsbirds.bsky.social
Service information: International Men's Day. Don't be ashmed to mention it, if you feel that you can't manage, please talk about your feelings, rather than soldiering on and trying to silently cover of the damage. open up, don't man up. save eachotehr and save yourself; men are only humans too. And need to be honest about their mental health.
This #InternationalMensDay we’re reminded that suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50 in the UK. We all have mental health, and talking about it matters. Check in with the men in your life. Reach out. A small conversation can make a big difference.
Wording reads: 2026 Annual Conference. Saturday 28 February, Northampton. Image of a Nightjar (by Getty Images via Canva.com), a Black-headed Gull (by Sarah Kelman / BTO) and a Blackbird (by Sarah Kelman / BTO) feature.
Have you booked your place yet? Grab your ticket to our 2026 Annual Conference & join us for a full day of inspiring talks on a range of topics, from Nightjars and Curlews, to Blackbirds and seabirds. We'd love to see you there! 😀 #Ornithology
Find out more and book ➡️
www.bto.org/our-work...
Whooper Swan have been a scarce bird in the mid-Yare Valley over the last decade or so, therefore very pleased to find these two at Limpenhoe Marshes this afternoon. #NorfolkBirding
My harrier roost walks at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen are booking up quick and far in advance! Know anyone interested? Recommend booking quick before the places are gone. #NorfolkBirding #Birds #UKBirding
events.rspb.org.uk/browse?filte...
Graph and image showing the best year of BBS coverage across the UK yet.
2025 has been a record year for BBS coverage! 4,054 visits to BBS squares have been made this year. This beats the 2018 record of 4,048. Thanks so much to all of the BBS volunteers across the UK who have contributed to this! @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social
Great weekend in Sussex celebrating a friend's 30th birthday. Some wildlife highlights of finding a Vagrant Emperor at Beachy Head plus many, many Firecrest! Also twitched the Isabelline-type Shrike on the way home. #SussexBirding
Great to drop in on the Brown Shrike at Upper Hollesley Common on Friday on the way down south. It was still attracting plenty of admirers. #SuffolkBirding
A rather sad one as this Gannet flew in off sea at Cromer last week while tangled in rope! It circled the church there before heading south-east. This same bird was later brought into the Runham Wildlife Rescue Centre! Hopefully it's stay there was short and successful. #NorfolkBirding #Birds
Very entertaining watching a couple of first-winter Caspian Gull around Cromer Pier last week. This one was scrapping for leftovers from visitors that had been crabbing. #NorfolkBirding
A quieter sea-watch off Cromer this morning, where a single Black Guillemot and a Little Gull were the highlights, before an amble around Beeston Regis that held a few common migrants like Brambling and Chiffchaff. Anyone else noticed Rock Pipit everywhere along the coast this year? #NorfolkBirding
A week off in North Norfolk with @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social, so far featured Dusky, Barred and YB Warblers, Ruddy Shelduck and an arrival of classic autumn migrants like Brambling and Redwing. Also a strong passage of ducks out at sea including Velvet Scoter, Eider and Goosander. #NorfolkBirding
Birders across the UK are being encouraged to take part in the BTO's new Winter Bird Survey, designed to provide a clearer picture of how the nation's birds are faring outside the breeding season:
Carrying on my streak of Shrikes in East Anglia, today I dropped in on the Red-tailed Shrike at Dunwich Heath. Showed fantastically in the morning sun, well worth the trip.
Argh! The one that got away? Saw a ringtail Harrier sp. over the @btobirds.bsky.social HQ this lunchtime which whipped low over my head and out of view over the treeline. Looked small, slim, long-tailed and very plain buff underneath but little more to go on. All too brief. 😵💫 #NorfolkBirding
Unexpected surprise encountering a Ruddy Duck distantly at Abberton Reservoir yesterday during a work team away day! I wonder whether this is the same bird that was in Lowestoft a couple of weeks ago? Was hard to pick out in the masses of wildfowl and Coot. #EssexBirding
The first-winter Isabelline / Red-tailed Shrike at Happisburgh showed very nicely for me and @sophgoesbirding.bsky.social late afternoon in the gardens behind the beach car park. Hides well in the buddliea at times. #NorfolkBirding
A wholesome day at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen that included attending the annual volunteer thank you event. A pleasure to be part of the team of such wonderful and dedicated people! #NorfolkBirding #Nature #Wildlife
A brand NEW event I'm trialing at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen this autumn. If you'd like to discover a different side of this awesome reserve, why not come along. #NorfolkBirding #Birds
events.rspb.org.uk/events/13167...
A group of volunteers and staff are gathered around three tables chatting.
A large artwork on a wall featuring a Kingfisher and Otter with the words 'Reserve this way'.
We had a great Regional Network meeting at Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve at the weekend, discussing upcoming BTO projects and of course we slotted in some time for birding. 🐦
A huge thanks to our brilliant volunteers for joining us and for all the incredible work they do to support BTO! 😀
