Mark Avery: royal rumble The desire of various wildlife charities to appoint a royal patron leaves Mark Avery slightly bemused given the various scandals over the years.

My December column in Birdwatch magazine. Last month cats, next issue, the Greens.

www.birdguides.com/articles/mar...

Outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) at gamebird rearing farm in North Yorkshire An outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) was confirmed yesterday at a large gamebird rearing farm in North Yorkshire. A 3km Protection Zone and a 10km Surveillance Zone have been…

Outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) at large gamebird rearing farm in North Yorkshire ☠️

New blog ⬇️

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/03/04/o...

What you didn't know about murmurations 🥺💔 YouTube video by Wildlife Emily

Nature needs help, without nature we are lost ....

youtube.com/shorts/yX_we...

Seriously ....
www.itv.com/news/2026-02...

Careers | Wheatfen Nature Reserve | Broads National Park Discover careers and job opportunities working in the great outdoors at Wheatfen Nature Reserve.

Wheatfen reserve needs a new warden! Details of the job and how to apply can be found here: wheatfen.org/about-us/car...

Whooper Swans foraging in sodden arable fields on the periphery of Hatfield Moors SSSI. 138 Peak count so far. 118 plus 2 Bewicks observed amongst them 8th February.

#BadBirdPhotographs The Black Swan still amongst the (predominantly) Whooper herd of >100 on the periphery of Hatfield Moors SSSI First reported on Thursday (19th). Wonder if the Bewick's are still around? This area soon to be covered by solar panels #HumberheadLevels #Doncaster

Comprehensive Red List highlights threatened plant species in Britain A new Red List for Great Britain’s vascular plants has shown that while a quarter of species are threatened, there have been success stories, including some rare orchids. It has been produced by the B...

www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med...

Perhaps @brianecambs.bsky.social @britishbugs.bsky.social might be able to help?

Insects are moving pharmaceutical pollutants from rivers to land; risks unknown Pharmaceuticals that people globally rely on for daily health — including antibiotics, antidepressants and painkillers — are entering ecosystems via wastewater, posing poorly understood risks. Once th...

Insects are moving pharmaceutical pollutants from rivers to land; risks unknown...

news.mongabay.com/2026/02/inse...

Whooper Swan herd foraging on arable fields near Hatfield Moors SSSI.

Whooper Swan herd foraging earlier today (11/02/2026) on arable fields scheduled to be part of a seriously extensive #solar farm in the #HumberheadLevels >100 birds with a couple of Bewick's amongst them last week🦢

Quite & there's no exposed wood other than hairline cracks of joins in the door panels. Paint is a pretty thick coat too!

Nature's tenacity? This asco #fungi growing out from a painted wooden door in a #HumberheadLevels town centre🐤 At first glance it reminded me of Auricularia auricula-judae aka "jelly ear" but keen to hear if other options are thought better (along with rationale please)🤔 @britmycolsoc.org.uk

The Bat Conservation Trust article in the link below is well worth a read 👍🦇

This is the report I spoke of on #bbcaq just now - ministers tried to suppress it, were finally forced to release it after an FoI, but shamefully only published a redacted version. The first duty of Govt is to protect its citizens - that starts with being honest with us about scale of threat we face

#BadBirdPhotographs Whooper Swan herd earlier today, estimated to be around 80 birds foraging in fields on periphery of #HatfieldMoors SSSI. Surely there's a Bewick's lurking somewhere hereabouts? #HumberheadLevels

How many years will it take you to bring your PSL list up to date🤔😉

BREAKING: A Gamekeeper has pleaded guilty in England’s first-ever Hen Harrier persecution case.

Covert video and audio gathered lawfully by the RSPB Investigations team has helped expose the deliberate targeting of a Hen Harrier, leading to a landmark guilty plea:

www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 👈

Size matters – at least for the Nightjars A study on how white patches convey the quality of male European NightjarsBy Richard Schnürmacher • Many avian species sport bright, contrasting colours, but what about the birds active at night? • V...

For all the #nightjar enthusiasts out there - www.globalnightjar.org/post/size-ma...

Supersized illegal waste dumps hidden across English countryside A BBC investigation uncovers how criminals are operating huge illegal rubbish tips across the country.

Supersized illegal waste dumps hidden across English countryside....

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

13 Whooper Swans, 22/01/2026. Arable fields on approach to Hatfield Mill.

Another #BadBirdPhotograph, this one of a small herd of 13 Whooper Swans feeding in #HumberheadLevels arable fields earlier today (22/01/2026).

No worries, happy hunting🙂

Sorry, no idea Craig. You'd have to contact the author and/or BENHS to see if it is.

#BadBirdPhotography 😞

One of the two Bramblings regularly visiting our garden feeders over the last couple of months👍 Part of mixed Chaff, Gold & Green finch flock competing with other usual visitors for food #HumberheadLevels #Garden birds

An excellent paper "Fine details: Tips for improving specimen photography" by @ajcann.bsky.social in latest edition of British Journal of Entomology & Natural History just arrived @britentsoc.bsky.social 🪳🕷🪲🐝🦗🦟🐞

An amazingly well researched historical study of Black Grouse in a regional context #HumberheasLevels (incl. Yorkshire, Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire) if interested in obtaing a copy (£10 incl. P&P) DM me for details. The Lapwing New Series No.2 @birdingdad.bsky.social @donnybirding.bsky.social

Gamekeeper Thomas Munday convicted after brutally clubbing trapped Buzzard to death on a Pheasant shoot at Hovingham, North Yorkshire Further to last week’s blog about a gamekeeper being due to appear in court charged with killing a Buzzard on a Pheasant shoot at Hovingham, North Yorkshire (here), the case was heard today a…

Gamekeeper Thomas Munday convicted after brutally clubbing a trapped Buzzard to death on a Pheasant shoot at Hovingham, North Yorkshire.

Press release and video in blog ⬇️

‼️WARNING - the video content is highly disturbing.

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/01/12/g...

Oops, sorry but should read 04/01/2026 🎂🍾

Happy 100th birthday Dr Margaret Bradshaw (10/01/2026) 🎂

A truly remarkable woman with an amazing catalogue of achievements.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Current & historic landfills across the UK & Europe are sited near rivers, on coasts, in flood risk zones, explains @profkatespencer.bsky.social - climate change means extreme rainfall events & flooding are happening more often, increasing risk of pollutants entering waterways.

🧵 1/3

Cheers Brian 👍