Henry Cook

BirdWatch Ireland CEO Andrew Kelly & BTO CEO Juliet Vickery are sitting at a table outside smiling as they get ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31.

RSPB Chief Executive Beccy Speight & BTO CEO Juliet Vickery are sitting together at a table in the David Attenborough Building in Cambridge holding pens ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31.

BTO CEO Juliet Vickery & Scottish Ornithologists Club President Ruth Briggs are sitting at a table smiling and holding pens ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31.

BTO CEO Juliet Vickery & Welsh Ornithological Society Chair Anne Brenchley are sitting at a table together looking down and holding pens as they get ready to sign a partnership agreement for the Bird Atlas 2027–31. Wildlife and nature themed artwork hangs on the wall behind them.

1/ Five leading charities forge partnership for bird conservation for the Bird Atlas 2027–31! 🐦 But what is the Bird Atlas? ⬇️🧵 #Ornithology

@btobirds.bsky.social @birdwatchireland.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @birdsinwales.bsky.social

Let's plan for nature! The UK Government is proposing changes to the National Planning Policy Framework. Help it work for nature.

I've taken action for our wild places!

The UK Government is proposing changes to the National Planning Policy Framework. Help it work for nature.
action.rspb.org.uk/page/187254/...

Shockingly bad decision

Immature Dolphin Gull I think

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-...

Please download these signs, share them on social media and put them up near you to protect your local wintering birds.

If you would like A4, laminated copies of these signs please e-mail charlie@curlewaction.org, all you need to do is donate for postage.

www.curlewaction.org/wintering-wa...

Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously!
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE ⁦‪ MARK RUSKELL MSP‬⁩ ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿by emailing PlanningPolicyConsultation@communities.gov.uk now!WOOP!

Blackish-grey Antshrike (Thamnophilus nigrocinereus) a specialist negatively impacted by acai densification (Alex Lees)

açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) density is being rapidly increased by removing other tree species (Alex Lees)

berries of the açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) in situ (Alex Lees)

Our new paper led by Madson Freitas shows that global demand for Açaí, a dietary staple for Amazonian people, now marketed as a superfood, is driving widespread estuarine forest degradation leading to impoverishment of their bird communities
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #ornithology 🌎🍴🪶🌴

A close up of a Whiskered Treeswifts facing left. It has brown underparts, blue wings, a deep blue hood, white 'whiskers' above and below the eye which project behind the head.

Whilst some birds were incredibly hard to see at Danum, on the other hand the Whiskered Treeswifts were a delight.
#BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

Government’s wildlife targets will be missed in England, watchdog says Seven out of 10 targets have little likelihood of being met by 2030, Office for Environmental Protection says

Utterly damning report from Office for Environmental Protection - the Govt’s not only missing its targets to protect wildlife in England, it’s also failing on *almost all* environmental measures - and in some cases actively destroying the natural world through its obsession with growth at all costs

A bird perched on a vine with green back, red bum and a black face mask. The distinguishing features from other similar pittas include chestnut crown stripe and narrow supercillium.

We found a rare bird (only 4 previous ebird records in Sabah) in the form of a Fairy Pitta at Danum! Worth slogging the leech-infested trails in the dark 🎉
#BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

A view of the Danum Valley rainforest in lowland Sabah with a river in the foreground. Trees reaching 100m tall grow here.

Finished up 5 days in the Danum Valley. Some of the toughest but most rewarding birding I've known. Giant Pitta and Bornean Ground-cuckoo both seen (!) but far too elusive for photos
#BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

A brown bird with a very broad bill base perches on branch at night

Gould's Frogmouth giving the death stare along the Kinabatangan River last night
#BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

A round green bird with a black hood, red bellyand shocking blue shoulder stripe

Another day, another Pitta! This time a Western Hooded Pitta along the Kinabatangan River.
#BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

A plump black bird with rich ruby underparts and shocking highlights of blue, perches on a low branch in the forest.

Black-crowned Pitta was a star from our time at Sepilok. What a dapper fella! #BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

How demand for elite falcons in the Middle East is driving illegal trade of British birds Exclusive: data reveals hundreds of UK nests have been raided in the past decade amid growing appetite to own prized birds for racing and breeding

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

As falconry has become a multimillion-dollar international industry atretching around the world, an investigation by Guardian and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism shows it is fed by a shadow industry of the smuggling and illegal capture of wild birds.”

A small bird with yellow-striped black back, pink neck collar, deeper pink belly, pale eye and a blue bill with green highlights.

The colours on this Black-and-Yellow Broadbill are really quite something! It landed nearby for a split second before melting into the greenery at Sepilok RDC. #BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

A male Bornean Peacock-pheasant stands on a tree root. He has a greyish cap, yellow eye-ring, emerald breast with white stripe down the middle, brown back covered with jewel like feathers.

Bornean Peacock-pheasant today. Words don't do it justice!
#BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

Temminck's Sunbird

Black-sided Flowerpecker

Chestnut-crested Yuhina

Grey-throated Babbler

A selection of passerines from Mount Kinabalu (names in alt text). We're now moving on to the steamy lowlands and a whole new set of species awaits!
#BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

Sunrise from the upper flanks of Mount Kinabalu. The sun is poking out from the horizon and several peaks show above fog

Happy New Year! Started off 2026 with a rather special sunrise. Went on a trek for Friendly Bush-Warbler but it remained distinctly unfriendly! Sundaic Island Thrush and Besra were good compensation though. #BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

A medium sized orange bird with dark wings and a bluish bill sits on a branch in mossy forest

Lots of rain on Mount Kinabalu but it didn't stop the highland endemic Whitehead's Trogon showing well - this is the female. #BorneoBirding
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

An emerald-green bird with black throat patch and extensive black wing-spotting perches on a horizontal stick.

Up there with my most wanted birds in #Borneo, the amazing Whitehead's Broadbill from Mount Kinabalu!
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

A lime green bird with black face mask, and a red bill and legs, perches on a diagonal stick with a dark background

The endemics are rolling in now in Malaysian #Borneo, with few more eye-catching than the Bornean Green-magpie #BorneoBirding

Photo of a Marbled Cat looking directly at the camera- a small wild cat with spots and stripes and looking hella cute

I have returned to Bluesky to post that we have just seen Marbled Cat in Malaysian Borneo and I am very very happy. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
@hcbirding.bsky.social

A bejewled bird with yellow, blue, brown, white and black feathering stands on the forest floor

Scenes! #BorneanBandedPitta
@sophieshrike.bsky.social

A large black and emerald butterfly is nectarine on a red busy-lizzie flower

Found the immense Rajah Brooke's Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana) in the Crocker Range, #Borneo, today. Butterfly highlight right there! #Butterfly #Lepidoptera

Java Sparrow

Blue-naped Parrot

Common Iora

Chestnut Munia

A steady start to birding in Borneo today with Java Sparrow, Blue-naped Parrot, Common Iora and Chestnut Munia seen amongst others. Brown-backed Needletails harassing a Peregrine was amazing to watch but far too fast to capture on camera!

No stopping you now! Good mothing 😀

Tufted Duck shortly after dawn from my local park lake

🚨 CODE RED FOR NATURE 🚨

We are worried that Gov will weaken Biodiversity Net Gain — or remove small sites entirely!

Gutting BNG would:
❌ collapse investment
❌ stall nature recovery
❌ send a catastrophic signal to markets

This cannot happen.