Nick Tonge

Green woodpecker collage, made from a Yorkshire Tea cardboard box.

Collage assembly in progress - scissors used to dismantle box and cut pieces to form woodpecker shapes, and Pritt-stick used to fix pieces to paper

✂️ Yesterday I finally responded to @agakowalska.bsky.social’s challenge to make a collage from a single piece of packaging. I present to you a green (tea) woodpecker, made from a big Yorkshire Tea box. It was fun and I’ll be rooting through our recycling bin for more materials later on ♻️

Another vote for Bearded Reedling. It has a nice ring to it, it makes sense taxonomically as it’s not a tit, has been in use for years as you say, plus it’ll hopefully help to phase out the cringey “Bearded Tit” trope.

Hen Harrier ‘Susie’, whose chicks were stamped to death in 2022, has been found dead on a North Pennines grouse moor with gunshot injuries If ever there was an example demonstrating the high level of persecution faced by Hen Harriers on UK grouse moors, the lack of consequences for the offenders, and the lack of justice for the victim…

If the grouse shooting industry are to be believed, Susie probably stamped her own chicks to death before turning the gun on herself.

Oh well. By a happy coincidence, less hen harriers means more red grouse for the toffs to shoot.

@raptorpersuk.bsky.social

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/14/h...

March of the Metal Ducks to the Ponds of Hell YouTube video by Metal Duck - Topic

Should have included some duck-related music I guess. Here’s “March of the Metal Ducks to the Ponds of Hell” by Metal Duck youtu.be/geTZHDO8UR4?...

AviList unites the world’s bird species The publication of AviList means that for the first time ever, we have a unified global checklist of the species of bird found on planet Earth.

As a side note, the Common/Eurasian Teal is due to be lumped with Green-winged Teal in the next update to the new global Avilist. Confusingly, the species will be called Green-winged Teal even though the Eurasian Teal will be the nominate race of the species. www.birdlife.org/news/2025/06...

A table top with lots of guitar rack and foot pedal effects and cables and spare strings and plectrums.

Packing for a rehearsal tonight on guitar for the first time in a looong time. Not sure I know what any of this stuff does anymore.

The Documentary - Birding the gender gap - BBC Sounds How studying female birds is reshaping our understanding of nature

Birding the gender gap - documentary on how female birds have been under-researched, and the birders addressing that issue. Well worth a listen. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Show Your Stripes Visualising how the climate has changed for every country across the globe

Spent a while looking through these plots for different places across the globe - no matter where you are, the trend is the same and none of it is good! #showyourstripes
showyourstripes.info/c/australasi...

Labour blocks proposal for ‘swift bricks’ in all new homes MPs had previously backed Conservative amendment to ask developers to provide hollow bricks for endangered birds

WTF? If this Government can’t even agree to this smallest of initiatives, which has no cost to them & absolutely no down-sides, what hope that it will step up to the bigger nature challenges we face? This is a *popular* policy, for heavens sake. Obstinate tin-eared stupidity doesn’t come close …

The effect of fireworks on protected wildlife in #Bradford. It's time @bradfordcouncil.bsky.social got on top of this and other noise blight in the district.

80,000 signatures on our petition to ban driven grouse shooting, we're not far off the magic 100K now 🙌

If you haven't yet signed please do to help us secure a Parliamentary debate on the issue → govpetition.uk/p/700036

Glenn Massacre (@mrhenrymorris.bsky.social) , Net Zero Czar for the driven grouse shooting industry , thinks that burning hundreds of thousands of acres of carbon-sink peatland is good for wildlife and the planet !

All so he and his pals can shoot grouse .

Outraged ? Us too . . .

The @wildjustice.bsky.social petition to ban driven grouse shooting has passed 50k. Halfway.

Please feel free to sign it if you object to gamekeepers exterminating almost all other species so that pissed toffs can shoot medicated birds in decimated landscapes.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

"It was found that 85% of the tracked dogs were walked off-lead in the breeding season despite signage requesting owners not to let their pets run free due to ground-nesting birds. At Snelsmore Common, Berkshire, more than 90% of the site was disturbed by dogs, reducing its conservation value"

Petition: Ban driven grouse shooting Chris Packham, Ruth Tingay and Mark Avery (Wild Justice) believe that driven grouse shooting is bad for people, the environment and wildlife. People; we think grouse shooting is economically insignifi...

A deeply disappointing government response to @wildjustice.bsky.social’s petition on banning driven grouse shooting, that even cites bullshit stats from the shooting industry

Please sign the petition, let’s get it to 100k and force a proper debate: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

I had my NY epiphany that night. I was awestruck & I’ve been a big fan ever since. Amazing line up that weekend, although it was the last ever Cocteau Twins performance on the Thursday night 😞. Roadied & played keyboards on the Sunday for an ace band called Chest on the Dr Martens stage. Good times.

My bird of the year was the Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, Bempton. Rare as hell, required patience to see it well (what lovely supercilium tho) & it called very obligingly. I enjoyed the ♂ Collared Flycatcher, Kilnsea too. Best local bird: Scarlet Tanager, Halifax.
Scilly & Shetland planned in 2025🤞

Top 5 musical highlights this year (prob more hours at gigs than birding):
1. Liz Fraser singing Song to the Siren w/ Massive Attack, Liverpool.
2. Cattle Decapitation, Leeds.
3. Weigedood, Primavera,
4. Paul McCartney, Manchester.
5. Dying Fetus, Download.

First up in 2025 - Jesus Lizard in Leeds.

Rockitman, by bushpilot 2 track album

Alas I didn’t perform any live music in 2024 (🤞 for 2025), but God Unknown Records released “Rockitman” by Bushpilot. I played drums on this, and it was an absolute joy to do so.
Video here: youtu.be/WYQs-VxZvMI?...
Vinyl & digital available here: godunknownrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rockit...

Thanks for the follows after I joined this month. 🙏 Hope you had a good year; wishing you the best for 2025. Frustratingly I’m unable to drive, use bins/scope, or play guitar after I mangled/broke my hands. 🙄 Will hopefully have something mildly interesting to share in 2025 when they finally heal 😊

2024 highlights. The Monks Wood Bottle passed another year as a Song Thrush anvil to smash snails. It's probably been in that exact spot since World War 2, when a farmer kept pigs in the wood. The Huntingdon Brewery named on the bottle closed 1954, so it's at least 70 yr old. It's stuck to the soil.