Nicola Crockford

Far Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis)
#BirdsSeenIn2026 #Sabah #Malaysia #birds #nature #wildlife @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social @tonyrinaud.bsky.social

32 Whooper Swans heading towards Iceland over Alnmouth this afternoon #NEbirding

Seeds and Fruits of Aquatic Plants of Northern Europe - A Handbook This book offers essential insights for identifying aquatic plant remains, enhancing research in palaeoecology and freshwater biology.

This looks like a corking book to me. Who needs New Nature writing when you can relax & sleep to this fine book for hard core botanists?
link.springer.com/book/9783032...

@jo-the-botanist.bsky.social @bramblebotanist.bsky.social

Nice!
Previous BTO longevity record for Curlew was 32 years 7 months, set in 2011.
Blog with longevity records for other waders:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/w...
#ornithology

Swift flying into a swift box by Nick Upton

We're working with @bangoruniversity.bsky.social and @btocymru.bsky.social to map swifts and swift boxes in North Wales! You can help by recording swift sightings: cofnod.org.uk/projects/swift-recovery
Or email hrb21gsx@bangor.ac.uk with the location of swift boxes. Please submit records by 31 March

A female curlew in the New Forest has become the oldest known living curlew in the UK, a powerful reminder of just how long these birds can live, this individual is almost 34 and was ringed in 1992.

Read the story:

buff.ly/DAunaSV

When I turned to go back down the River Nar, found I'd been followed by a shoal of Graylings gorging on the goodies I'd been dislodging! To end this🧵, here they are, together with some footage of my swoosh down this #Norfolk #chalkstream, fast flowing thanks to restoration. #rivers #teamfish 9/9

As if the natural wonders of the River Nar weren't enough this #chalkstream is also an archaeological treasure trove bsky.app/profile/nume..., this time (as well as ubiquitous gun cartridges) revealing my first almost complete clay pipe (stem broken), made in Gouda 1780–1820 for working classes? 8/9

Besides the welcome beds of Lesser Water-Parsnip (Berula erecta) growing on the clean sands of the River Nar, there were also some strands of Common Mare's Tail (Hippuris vulgaris), and beneath rocks etc, freshwater sponges (Spongillidae). #SpongeThursday #Wildflowerhour #rivers #flower #nature. 7/9

Blackfly (Simulid) larvae thriving in what they need, a well-oxygenated fast flowing stream, the River Nar. Ecosystem engineers, their fecal pellets provide nutrients to such #chalkstreams, the adult flies being favoured trout food (emulated by anglers). #riverflies #rivers #invert #wildlife 6/9

Besides Duck Mussels (Anodonta anatina), Lymnaea stagnaris snails & plentiful caddis fly larvae eg Potamophylax?, some surfaces of River Nar above #Narborough were rendered hairy by a layer of Black Fly (Simulid) larvae. #Riverflies #chalkstreams #Norfolk #MolluscMonday #snails #invert #nature 5/9

River restoration work at West Acre with eg @theriverstrust.bsky.social @naturalengland.bsky.social, paying dividends, creating paradise for fish (but an obstacle course for snorkellers!); plenty woody hideyholes, pools & fast flowing water washing clean the gravels (between banks of silt). 4/9

Besides Grayling in River Nar above A47: Bullheads plentiful among the clean flints; unsure if the Pike or I was more surprised when we nearly collided as I struggled up fast flowing reach; fewer Brown Trout than upstream bsky.app/profile/nume... but met this lovely. No Brook Lampreys. #fishsky 3/9

These (re)introduced River Nar European Grayling (Thymallus thymallus) are bigger (one c40cm) & tamer than those I met in the Itchen & Test catchment. The most common fish in the short stretch I explored, they seemed curious about my presence. A v different vibe from fellow salmonid, the trout. 2/9

Sheer bliss, even on a grey day, to be in a #chalkstream for first time in >4 months & a thrill to spend my 1st ever quality time with big Graylings - what friendly fish! - in the River Nar upstream of Narborough. Thanks Alec Birkbeck & Fraser Bradbury for permission! #MySwim #Rivers #Norfolk 🧵1/9

Learning from hunters.
Fascinating information from one hundred years ago.
Blog about Pacific Golden Plover and Slender-billed Curlew:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2026/03/09/s...
#ornithology

The opening lines of a longer document (link in post): WRITTEN STATEMENT BY THE WELSH GOVERNMENT TITLE The REACH (Amendment) Regulations 2026 DATE 5 March 2026 BY Huw Irranca-Davies AS/MS Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs Members of the Senedd will wish to be aware I have given consent to the UK Government’s Defra Secretary of State exercising a subordinate legislation-making power in a devolved area in relation to Wales. In accordance with Article 4A(3) of (EC) No 1907/2006 (“UK REACH”) Welsh Ministers’ consent was sought from Baroness Hayman of Ullock to make a Statutory Instrument titled...

Delighted that Welsh Government has laid a regulation to ban sale and use of most lead ammunition in Wales. The lives of birds and people will be better as a result. laiddocuments.senedd.wales/ws-ld17925-e...

Decades of science and campaigning lie behind this.

👏 @huwirrancadaviesms.bsky.social

Pacific Golden Plovers wintering in Europe?
And Slender-billed Curlews?
WaderTales blog #157:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2026/03/09/s...
#ornithology

Buglife News: Love Your Pet, Not Pesticides: New Report Warns of Flea and Tick Treatment Threat to Rivers Read more of our latest news related to invertebrates, insects and bugs.

A new report from wildlife charity Buglife reveals that pesticides from common flea and tick treatments are now widespread in rivers across Britain and may be contributing to major declines in freshwater invertebrates bit.ly/4b1Pu50

Shorebird extinctions: a lesson from history Did you know that there is compelling evidence that the closure of the Dutch Zuiderzee, less than a century ago, contributed significantly to the extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew? Delving in…

DUTCH ENGINEERING & BIODIVERSITY LOSS

Great new post in WaderTales on how the closure of Zuiderzee by the 'Afsluitdijk' may well have hastened the extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew & caused the disappearance of a unique form of Pacific Golden Plovers.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2026/03/09/s...

Countries can rewild borders to deter invasions, says EU environment chief Jessika Roswall cites Poland and Finland, which have made border areas near Russia or its allies ‘more hostile’ to cross

Countries can rewild land borders to deter invasions, says EU environment chief

- Jessika Roswall cites Poland and Finland, which have made border areas near Russia or its allies ‘more hostile’ to cross

#rewilding
Story by @fionaharvey.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Yes, and i find this one useful environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-pl... although the names (and stream sources) differ between this, gauging stations on the ground, OS maps and local knowledge!

@numenini.bsky.social Meanwhile, a delight to see more of the riverlife in your 2024 post about the Shep chalkstream at Fowlmere. Thanks for the real-world observations!
https://
bsky.app/profile/numenini.bsky.social/post/3lcjs3u2xuy2q

@numenini.bsky.social Hi Nicola, thanks for documenting your explorations of these #chalkstream tributaries of the #RiverCam - glad to see some trout!
Seeking a map for context, I found these two helpful:
https://www.rivercam.org.uk/our-catchment/ […]

Cam Catchment Partnership

@numenini.bsky.social Also happy to find the informative website of the Cam Catchment Partnership:
https://www.rivercam.org.uk/

@numenini.bsky.social ... & the Greater Cambridge Chalkstream Project
https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/greater-cambridge-chalk-stream-project
- talking of regenerative farming & evidence-based restoration, helped by volunteers & citizen science. Here's hoping!
#Cambridge #chalkstream #rivers

The Lesser Florican YouTube video by International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists

Check out the Lesser Florican!

A new interview for the "Birds of Grasslands" series has been posted! Hear about this amazing grassland species. @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social

youtu.be/HchlIbNksZg

The first confirmed case of the highly invasive quagga mussel in Northern Ireland has been reported in Lower Lough Erne. The sighting was confirmed on 10 December following DNA analysis at Queen’s University Belfast. bit.ly/3OfQP0n

Puffin “wreck” on French/Iberian coasts getting zero media coverage. A major disaster. Needs to be covered by the mainstream media. @markavery.bsky.social @theguardian.com @birdtrack.bsky.social @steelyseabirder.bsky.social @jbfarthing.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social

Puffins from the Shiant Isles are having a tough winter of it with an almost unprecedented 'wreck' on European coasts.