Only 8 birds ringed this morning but the first willow warbs of the year plus a chiff I first ringed on 9/4/22 and then re caught on the 16th last year. Then a lush trip to North Gare and Greatham Creek with Sophie first Wheatears of the year and a leg-flagged Avocet

Beautiful morning for ringing today near Gibside.

100+ siskins caught with just two nets and within two hours. We got a few redpolls too!

I love #birds !

Back from a few days getaway in Tromsø, Norway. Turns out I really love arctic climates. Saw the Aurora but only very briefly and on the last night it wasn't that strong. Managed to get some birding in, highlights were king eider and white tailed eagles!

Another first-ever this winter: 360E (Steffen) has gone to Northern Scotland! He left NL towards the north on 9 Feb, steared west and rested at sea on the morning of the 10th. He is currently staying just south of Mintlaw. Anybody know people there that could go and look him up?

Excited to share about Philippine birds this thursday with Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club

As a teaser, can you find the bird in the photo?

HUGE NEWS: After 25 years of tireless campaigning, we're thrilled to announce the closure of industrial sandeel fishing in the English North Sea! 🎉
 
This is a big win for seabirds like Puffins & Kittiwakes. 

Thank you to all our supporters who made their voices heard 💙

A H5N1 survivor!
Sandwich Tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis, Red J43, ringed as a juvenile in the Netherlands. Blood tested at the time it was heavily infected with Avian flu H5N1 but producing antibodies. Found by Emmanuel Jatta at Kartong beach. An amazing record.
#H5N1 #avianflu

Shout out to Molly Watson who volunteered to come and stand in the cold and count gulls on Saturday as part of the BTO #WinGS in Whitley Bay. It was pretty quiet until near sunset when two huge roosts of >800 Herring gull formed. No other species were seen in the roost 🤔

Amazing day at NNR Westhay Moor and RSPB Ham Wall. 47 species in total. Highlights were 3 glossy ibis, ~100 cattle egret, Marsh Harriers, 2 sparrow hawks,water rails and a kingfisher. Perfect dawn, completely still and blue skies before the rain. Year list is at 81.

What a wild year. 203 species recorded on Birda though the GH Lapwing isn't on the app so it's 204. The best birding year ever! Highlights were the owl/nightjar experience, standing in a moonlit sea catching terns and Costa Rica. 2023, the year I become a confident birder.

I have finally graduated with an MScRes in Biological Science from Bangor University. Bangor was the best year of my life in terms of improving my academic and personal skills. I'll never underestimate the importance of having a supportive lab group. Thank you to everyone 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Of course I couldn't resist taking my camera into work yesterday! Just an amazing moment watching the waxwing feeding in the middle of a busy uni. A highlight was finding a colour-ring bird which I've reported!

Not something you see outside your office on campus everyday! Around 20 waxwing feeding at Newcastle Uni. I feel a petition to get more rowan trees planted coming on!

Got to see my first Shore Lark today! Had fantastic views in Newbiggin. Finished off the day watching short eared owls until my toes fell off 🥶

amazon.co.uk/Tuscan-Daughte…
Love this cover!!
#NewReleases

Back from the The SOC conference. An amazing weekend with an acoustic theme. The youth networking event was especially useful and it was great to meet other young birders! Thank you so much to the organisers and to Wildlife Acoustics for subsidising student places.

Super proud of Becky Sanderson for her new paper!

Very excited to have bought tickets with Jelaine Gan & Molly to the The SOC conference next weekend.
For under 30s and students its £75 for the whole weekend including food and accommodation.
It would be great to see other young birders there!
the-soc.org.uk/support-us/eve…

Exciting news!!!

We have 13 fully-funded studentship awards for 2024 entry, including 1 ring-fenced award for UK Minoritised ethnic groups. We also support flexible requests for study.

Visit here to find out more: research.ncl.ac.uk/one-planet/stu…

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One of my favourite images I took in Costa Rica. The Emerald Toucanet.