Richard D. Gregory

'Extinct' butterfly spotted across England A butterfly classed as extinct in the UK for more than 30 years has been seen at sites across southern England.Eagle-eyed nature lovers have captured photographs of Large Tortoiseshells in Kent, Hamps...

'Extinct' butterfly spotted across England butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blo...

New British and Irish bird atlas announced for 2027 A new bird atlas for Britain and Ireland has been announced by five conservation organisations. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), BirdWatch Ireland, the RSPB, Scottish Ornithologists' Club (SOC) and Welsh Ornithological Society (WOS) have come together to begin work on Bird Atlas 2027-31.

A new bird atlas for Britain and Ireland has been announced by five conservation organisations:

Another report, the same story – but louder.

We're way off track.

With just four years left until 2030, the UK’s Seventh National Report shows we’re failing 19 out of 23 nature targets.

It’s more proof that progress simply isn’t keeping pace with reality 👇
www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen...

39 years ago, there were only 27 California condors in the world. As of 2025, we now have 607, including 392 that are living free in the wild.

"Put that in your doom and smoke it" -Ursula Vernon

www.fws.gov/media/2025-c...

Cambridgeshire MP to introduce bill to protect UK chalk streams The 10-minute bill is set to go before Parliament on 25 February.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... ⬇️

Aiming Higher to Test a Bend in the Curve of Biodiversity Loss: The Challenge of Halt‐The‐Loss Targets We present a test to evaluate targets to ‘halt the loss’ of biodiversity. We use simulations to explore the accuracy of this test with different datasets. We recommend that thresholds for target asse...

Hopefullt this link now works: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

New🗒️Aiming Higher to Test a Bend in the Curve of Biodiversity Loss: The Challenge of Halt-The-Loss Targets -
Mairenn C. Attwood, Richard D. Gregory, Nick J. B. Isaac, Fiona Burns @rspbscience.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social 🐦🦋
doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

New🗒️@science.org this week - Shows patterns of sustained decline in North American birds are strongly linked to climate & agriculture - but increasing agricultural intensity is the main driver of accelerating decline @rspbscience.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.social 📉🐦
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Acceleration hotspots of North American birds’ decline are associated with agriculture Human activities might have accelerated declines of population abundance, but this acceleration remains underexplored. Using 1033 North American Breeding Bird Survey routes, we analyze abundance chang...

Acceleration hotspots of North American birds’ decline are associated with agriculture | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @rspbscience.bsky.social

Acceleration hotspots of North American birds’ decline are associated with agriculture Human activities might have accelerated declines of population abundance, but this acceleration remains underexplored. Using 1033 North American Breeding Bird Survey routes, we analyze abundance chang...

Thrilled to share our new paper out in @science.org, led by François Leroy and Petr Keil! Using the Breeding Bird Survey, we document not only a continent-wide decline in bird abundance since the 1980s — but, crucially, the acceleration of these declines over time. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A rainbow forms over Gough Island

First confirmed cases of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza Virus (HPAIV) on Gough Island represent one of the most geographically isolated detections of HPAIV to date. But how did it get there?

Read on for a summary

Full paper: doi.org/10.1080/2222...

🧪🪶🌍
#seabirds

Hotspots of accelerated North American bird decline linked to agricultural activity Though previous research has shown that bird populations are declining across North America, a new study is the first to show that the pace of loss has picked up speed since the mid-1980s in three regions: the Midwest, California and Mid-Atlantic states.

Accelerated declines in North American bird populations since the mid-1980s are concentrated in regions with intensive agricultural activity, affecting a wide range of species and habitats.

📢 Job Alert: Monitoring officer

I am looking for an experienced ornithological fieldworker to join the team this spring to lead on the monitoring of Black tailed godwits at WWT Welney.

Closing date: 6 March 2026

Apply ➡️

vacancies.wwt.org.uk/vacancies/77...

Great winter bird count with the team at @rspb.bsky.social Hope Farm this morning - impressive numbers of farmland birds - grey partridge, corn bunting, reed bunting, yellowhammer, linnet, skylark, fieldfare, snipe, kestrel & a merlin flyby 🐦 @rspbscience.bsky.social

"Biodiversity, forests, and healthy landscapes matter—not only for their own sake, but because they shape the everyday experiences through which nature supports a good life."

But not everyone benefits equally: access, safety and inclusion in natural spaces influences participation.

Wessex Stone-curlew Project Officer We are looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic individual with skills in farmland wildlife surveys (preferably Stone-curlew) to join our team conserving this RSPB Priority Species. The ideal ...

Wessex Stone-curlew Project Officer - RSPB - environmentjob.co.uk/jobs/109267-...

P

NEW JOB in #ornithology chasing #nutcrackers in Switzerland to understand seed dispersal patterns: buff.ly/Cx0OOQy

The use of citizen science data (common bird monitoring and online portal) to investigate the impact of Usutu virus on bird populations in Belgium. In 31 of the 60 species, annual changes were >20% worse inside affected areas than outside (11 species were >50% worse). More:https://shorturl.at/teoFW

All businesses depend on and impact nature.📈🤝🌳

IPBES recently launched the Business and Biodiversity Assessment - a first-of-its-kind report which sheds a light on actions to better understand and respond to business impacts and dependencies on nature.

🔗 tinyurl.com/3c8wcct5

Black-eyed Birds - British Ornithologists' Union A new way to monitor impact of avian influenza in Gannets?

If you're interested in the science covered in the article, here's 3 papers...
1. The paper documenting the spread of HPAI in Gannets and the weird black eyes onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Summarised beautifully by @heyjooode.bsky.social in this @bou.org.uk blog: bou.org.uk/blog-lane-ga...

A lovely article about our research on Gannets featuring interviews with #seabirders @heyjooode.bsky.social and @sue-lewis.bsky.social

#ornithology

BirdLife Suomi | Vuoden lintulaskija on Päivi Sirkiä BirdLife Suomi ja Helsingin yliopiston Luonnontieteellinen keskusmuseo ovat valinneet vuoden lintulaskijaksi Päivi Sirkiän ja vuoden nuoreksi lintulaskijaksi Pyry Laurikan. Molemmat ovat osallistuneet...

Vuoden lintulaskija on @paivisirkia.bsky.social! Tänään vietetään kansainvälistä naisten ja tyttöjen tiedepäivää. Lintulaskennat ovat osa kansalaistiedettä, ja naisten osuus laskennoissa on ilahduttavasti kasvanut 2000-luvulla.
www.birdlife.fi/tiedote-2026...
@birdlifesuomi.bsky.social @helsinki.fi

What’s it really like to work in science at the RSPB? To mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we speak to six of our Conservation Scientists.

This #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience meet just six of the inspiring women in our Conservation Science department and hear about some of their most memorable moments at the RSPB 🧪

Read the full story here: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen...

A European storm petrel nesting among rocks in Mousa, Shetland.

The RSPB is looking for surveyors to census the UK’s largest Storm Petrel colony on Mousa, Shetland.

We need 2-4 volunteers who are comfortable working and camping in a remote location with limited facilities, to help complete playback surveys during mid-July 2026. 🪺🏝️🏕️

OUT NOW!

The IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment Report Summary for Policymakers is available now!

Explore this first of it’s kind report highlighting methods and actions to measure and respond to business impacts and dependencies on nature.

🔗 https://bit.ly/IPBES12Media

Ipbes report: Nature loss could spell extinction for businesses Experts call for urgent action by businesses to restore the natural systems that keep them running.

www.bbc.com/news/article... @rspbscience.bsky.social

Biodiversity conservation has an evidence problem — it’s time to fix it Globally, more than one million species are threatened with extinction, but often interventions intended to protect biodiversity are not rooted in robust research. The field has an opportunity to chan...

Biodiversity conservation has an evidence problem ⬇️
Yet the main causes of biodiversity loss are well known & well understood. As Sandra Díaz says “The existing evidence pointing to where to start is massive; what is lacking is the will to act on its basis.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Welcome to Manchester!

Yesterday morning @ipbes.net ES, Dr. Luthando Dziba and UK’s special representative for Nature, Ruth Davis, welcomed stakeholders to #IPBES12 Stakeholder Day.

They were followed by introductions from ONet and the #BizBiodiversity chairs.

Here’s the account from the EBCC European breeding bird atlas 2020 🐦