'Rewilding is exciting, gratifying, happy work – watching the most beautiful beings on Earth recover and prosper – and it will grow as a movement when we let others see how much better all our lives will be in a world that is mostly wild' - The Rewilding Institute rewilding.org/big-steps-towa…

On evening of 17th May WWT Slimbridge we're celebrating the life of Rich Hearn. We have asked some of Rich’s colleagues & friends to help us remember his life & achievements, both in the UK and globally. Please email [email protected] if you wish to attend.

Whilst our #SAVCurlews are back & have been displaying and pairing up, it'll be a little while before any eggs are laid. Most of their fields are still underwater, the river floodplains doing their job. Hopefully, no more intense rain 🙏

This is the appropriate level of excitement for any sighting of Steller's jay 💙

6/6 #BOU2024 #SESH7
In summary, sites near roads and that are highly illuminated might be attractive for nesting and hunting. However, they appear to be low quality sites since breeding success is lower and thus they might represent ecological traps for the owls.

1/6 #BOU2024 #Sesh6
We often discuss the impact of anthropogenic food on birds, but what is the impact of bird feeding on people? Notions like the extinction of experience and pigeon paradox suggest we need to reconnect to nature, especially children growing up in cities

BTO Kate Plummer Garden Wildlife Health ZSL Science RSPB Froglife Good Health Garden RSPB Science Natural England BTO Garden BirdWatch Breeding Bird Surveys 19/25 #BOU2024 #Sesh6
What happened for #Blackbirds in London in 2020? The 1st UK detection of #UsutuVirus - a mosquito-borne virus 1st detected in Africa & has since spread to Europe, likely due to climate change, which Blackbirds are vulnerable to.
buff.ly/3QCfZmq

#Historicalecology shows that built spaces impact species differently. Let's build this into urban conservation planning. Restoring habitat for specialists would go a long way. #Sesh5 #BOU2024
Interested? Read full report: tinyurl.com/3ndj6p8p 6/6

'The spirit of the live oak tree'- lovely description of Hutton's vireo in 1919. Sean Lyon uses historical + contemporary ecology data to show how built spaces impact species differently & urban conservation planning should tailor to specialist species. More oak please! #BOU2024

Great thread from Joe Cooper, using BTO survey data to explore planning of new housing developments to enhance biodiversity #BOU2024 #ornithology

More Eider Duck action. 😊😊😊😊 #wildlife photography #wildlife #birdphotography #biodiversity

Cuteness overload 😍 our first lapwing chicks have hatched on this glorious day WWT Martin Mere

1/7 #BOU2024 #SESH4 . FID (Flight Initiation distance: Distance at which animals flee from an approaching threat) is a behaviour used to understand how animals adapt to the urban life. FID is shorter in cities than in non-urban areas

2/13 #BOU2024 #SESH5
Urban biodiversity, although reduced, has benefits to city dwellers through the provision of ecosystem services, contributions to well-being and sensitization to wider biodiversity issues (the so-called Pigeon Paradox).

We are looking for a MS level student to help populate the PADRINO IPM Database! This is an excellent position for someone eager to improve their R skills, and to get a proper introduction into statistical and population modeling. Position is based at the iDiv Biodiversity Research! idiv.de/fileadmin/cont…

6/ #BOU2024 #Sesh4 Changes in city traits effect urban tolerant species most strongly, so we can’t assume that because a species is urban tolerant that it will thrive in all cities. Species with low urban tolerance don’t use urban parts of cities and aren’t as impacted by changes

4/6 #BOU2024 #SESH4

🌳🐛 When more Oak and Birch is present, more caterpillars are available to insectivores which likely drives the increase in fledglings.

🌳 It is important to carefully select tree species for planting in urban areas to ensure support for full food chains.

Michelle García-Arroyo J Urban Ecology 3/12 #BOU2024 #Sesh4 I'll dive into birds' responses to urban environments. Importantly, cities host species from the regional pool (plus others we’ve brought!), who can survive (and even thrive) in cities depending on a set of key drivers (ref: t.ly/5FQFT) 🤔 🐦🦜

4/6 #BOU2024 #SESH3 . Recapture rate, in both urban and forest habitats showed a significant dependence on wing length, in addition to time variations. In the urban habitat, we found that shorter wing length was associated with higher survival rates.

1/7 Does it matter what you think about non-native species? Yes! Ignoring people's perceptions can risk conflict and ineffective species control. We surveyed people's perceptions about the non-native Ring-Necked #Parakeet in the UK. Published article coming soon! #BOU2024 #BREAK2