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blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood
@blackdogbirder.bsky.social
420 followers 380 following 240 posts

Bugs, bogs and birds.

Wildlife Conservation Management lecturer at SRUC, Aberdeen.

Senior Editor: Insect Conservation and Diversity.

Videos
Environmental science 63%
Geography 16%
Posts Replies Media Videos

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · 8d
Quick recce in an Aberdeen cemetery in prep for fieldwork with students in the new year.
This is best place I know for 2-spot Ladybirds, with hundreds massing in one small section. A Harlequin was still a novel sight for me here (and here's hoping they remain novel).

@ukladybirds.bsky.social
A group of 20 or so 2-spot Ladybirds together on a gravestone. A head-on pic of a Harlequin Ladybird on a gravestone. This one has red background with black spots.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · 8d
How do we tackle the substantial and growing threat to sensitive habitats from Sitka Spruce? Useful commentary on key issues...
mikeshewring.bsky.social Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 8d
Who should pay when commercial forestry creates conservation problems? New analysis shows 200,000-971,000 ha of UK peatland at risk from conifer invasion. Based on our @iucn-uk-peat.bsky.social poster. #peatlands

Link - tinyurl.com/yc3b2s9h

Feedback/ comments welcome—not my usual writing style!
The Silent Invasion
How Non-Native Conifers Are Threatening Britain’s Peatlands
open.substack.com

Reposted by Nick A. Littlewood

mikeshewring.bsky.social
Mike Shewring @mikeshewring.bsky.social · 8d
Who should pay when commercial forestry creates conservation problems? New analysis shows 200,000-971,000 ha of UK peatland at risk from conifer invasion. Based on our @iucn-uk-peat.bsky.social poster. #peatlands

Link - tinyurl.com/yc3b2s9h

Feedback/ comments welcome—not my usual writing style!
The Silent Invasion
How Non-Native Conifers Are Threatening Britain’s Peatlands
open.substack.com

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · 11d
Chance meeting with @kattyponder.bsky.social reminded me to check two culverts in Aberdeen that usually have low single figures of #HibernatingHeralds. First was a blank (though a Peacock was present). Second culvert more than compensated, with a record 12 Heralds.

#TeamMoth
An adult Herald moth, in torchlight, clinging to a concrete ceiling. An adult Herald moth, in torchlight, with large spider adjacent, both settled on concrete wall with lines of brown staining. Adult Peacock butterfly in torchlight, hibernating (so just underside of wings visible) settled hanging from concrete ceiling.

Reposted by Nick A. Littlewood, Pieter Vantieghem

rocb-ento.bsky.social
Reuben O'Connell-Booth @rocb-ento.bsky.social · 13d
Interested in moth trapping?

Wondering which trap to use? Or if different bulbs collect different species?

Using 100k samples from @gardenmothscheme.bsky.social our new paper looks at these questions and more! With with Bill Kunin and @katatrepsis.bsky.social

#mothsmatter #teammoth
Effect of bulb type on moth trap catch and composition in UK gardens
We analyse 10 years of records Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to estimate the effect of bulb and trap type on the number of moths caught by moth traps. We find that brighter, higher wattage bulbs collect ...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · 14d
Huge congratulations to @bats-n-bugs.bsky.social: PhD viva passed with ZERO corrections - an amazing (and well deserved) achievement. 🍾🎉

Thesis covered bats and insects on farmland. Read a moth chapter here - doi.org/10.1016/j.ag.... More to follow.

@srucnews.bsky.social @kirstyjpark.bsky.social
Six people stood inside for group photo. The successful student with suction sampler in dwarf shrub vegetation. Person cutting a caterpillar cake The successful student, standing in the dark in a field with a sweep net

Reposted by Robin J. Pakeman

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · 18d
One week remaining. Applications need to include two references, so don't leave it too late to apply for this @srucnews.bsky.social CASE partnership with @ptes-org.bsky.social.

Details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
blackdogbirder.bsky.social Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · 25d
Two weeks left to apply for #PhD on declines in rural #Hedgehogs.
🦔
This is a @srucnews.bsky.social EastBio CASE project in partnership with (and co-supervised by) @ptes-org.bsky.social.
🦔
Details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
🦔
Applications close 15 December
🦔
📷 Silviu Petrovan
A Hedgehog on a stoney/mossy ground against a stone wall.

Reposted by Nick A. Littlewood

srucnews.bsky.social
SRUC @srucnews.bsky.social · 21d
Huge congratulations to our SRUC winners at the Crichton 25th Anniversary Awards! 🎉

Lucy Thornton – SRUC Staff Member of the Year
Plus a big shout-out to our finalists: Gemma Higgins and Ely Blyth.

Your hard work and passion make us proud.
Read more 👉 www.sruc.ac.uk/all-news/cel...

Reposted by Robin J. Pakeman

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · 25d
Two weeks left to apply for #PhD on declines in rural #Hedgehogs.
🦔
This is a @srucnews.bsky.social EastBio CASE project in partnership with (and co-supervised by) @ptes-org.bsky.social.
🦔
Details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
🦔
Applications close 15 December
🦔
📷 Silviu Petrovan
A Hedgehog on a stoney/mossy ground against a stone wall.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · 26d
Med Gulls never lose their appeal - this 1st-winter in last of the light at Portsoy was highlight of an otherwise quiet weekend, birdwise.

@patchbirding.bsky.social #patchbirding
a 1st-winter Mediterranean Gull flying left against a grey sky.

Reposted by Nick A. Littlewood

rspbscience.bsky.social
RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 29d
New paper 🪶

Proximity to woodlands may be reducing the effectiveness of conservation interventions for farmland waders

Read on for a summary

Or find the full paper here:
doi.org/10.1111/1365...

@kirstyjpark.bsky.social
@naturescot.bsky.social
@stir.ac.uk

📷Ben Andrew
An ariel view shows the stark boundary between farmland and woodland.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 26
#bioacoustics

Reposted by Nick A. Littlewood

alanknox.bsky.social
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · Nov 26
To all users of #BirdNET: you can do better by tweaking the default settings!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
@blackdogbirder.bsky.social #bioacoustics #ornithology
Optimization of passive acoustic bird surveys: a global assessment of BirdNET settings
BirdNET is a popular machine learning tool for automated recognition of bird sounds. However, evidence on how to optimize its settings for accurate bird monitoring remains limited. Here, we evaluate ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Robin J. Pakeman, Allan D. McDevitt

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 21
New #mammal conservation #PhD: "Understanding and Addressing Rural Hedgehog Population Declines".

@srucnews.bsky.social EastBio CASE project in partnership with (and co-supervised by) @ptes-org.bsky.social.

Details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Act fast - applications close 15 December.
🦔🦔🦔

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 20
This is a fantastic site for ladybird variety - we've also had 11-spot on previous visits. Red Squirrels are ever reliable here too.
A Harlequin Ladybird on a gravestone A 2-spot Ladybird on a gravestone A 10-spot Ladybird next to an Orange Ladybird, on a gravestone A Red Squirrel upright on the ground facing towards the camera.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 20
A highlight of the annual teaching calendar is the ladybird survey in Sleephillock Cemetery, Montrose. Orange Ladybirds dominated this week, as usual, but variety came from single figures of 2-spot, 7-spot, 10-spot, Cream-spot and Harlequin.

@ukladybirds.bsky.social
@srucnews.bsky.social
Seven Orange Ladybirds clustered on a gravestone A Cream-spot Ladybird on a gravestone. A 7-spot Ladybird on a gravestone. Students looking for ladybirds on a gravestone.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 19
Both cracking birds (and educational), whatever they are!

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 19
BBRC giveths and BBRC takeths away.

Latest @britishbirdsbbrc.bsky.social report includes acceptance of the 2013 Cruden Bay Subalpine Warbler as a Western.

Meanwhile, alas, the Black-throated Thrush two months earlier in @hughad.bsky.social's garden is now classed as a hybrid.

#BirdingScotland
A male Western Subalpine Warbler on a gorse stem A thrush basically looking like a male Black-throated Thrush, on a lawn.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 11
Thanks Alan - a fairly key omission from my post!

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 10
Cessation of grouse moor management and climate change scenarios are both predicted to drive declines in Red Grouse, Curlew and Golden Plover. Our paper in @jappliedecology.bsky.social, led by Tom Mason, combines these factors in modelling future population trends.

#conservationscience🌎
Infographic showing predicted impacts of management and climate change on Red Grouse, Curlew and Golden Plover.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 9
A Black-throated Diver was highlight of today's @webs-gsmp.bsky.social count at Portsoy.

#birdingscotland
Very grainy side-on photo of a Black-throated Diver on the sea

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 8
Scare Umber was another NFG (and new for hectad) in the garden trap this morning among an unseasonal 6 moths of 5 species. Others were another Rush Veneer, a female 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢 (most likely November Moth), 2 Spruce Carpets and a 𝘉. 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢.

Portsoy (VC94, Banffshire)
#teammoth
Scare Umber moth - an adult, on egg tray Rush Veneer moth - an adult on green foliage. A female adult Epirrita species (likely November Moth) on an old fence post.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 5
PhD-themed cake for Rob McHenry's viva celebration last week in Thurso.

Both were adorned with (tasty) Fox scat - very apt with the viva including much discussion of caprophagy (eating 💩) linked to predators' use of tracks in #peatlands.

@theflowcountry.bsky.social
Cake in shape of a Fox's head, with fox-coloured buttercream coating and surrounded by crunchy scat-shaped morsels on a crushed-biscuit surface to represent a track. Rectangular cake with green background (representing moss surface to bog) some bog pools in blue and a track across middle with scattered scats represented by raisins. "Well done Rob" written across cake in red icing.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 4
First time setting garden trap in several weeks - 4/4 was good going for here in November. Highlight were migrants, Dark Swordgrass (NFG) and Rush Veneer, December Moth was NFY and Angle Shades joined the party too.

Portsoy (VC94, Banffshire)

#teammoth
@migrantmothuk.bsky.social
Dark Swordgrass adult on dead dock flower head Rush Veneer adult on strawberry leaf Angle Shades adult on Rowan stem December Moth adult on wooden panel

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Nov 2
Nathusius' Pipistrelle becomes #mammal species 2️⃣6️⃣ for Red Moss of Netherly, NE Scotland.

Recorded on @openacousticdevices.info #Audiomoth during September's influx. Just a handful of detections, but this quasi-constant frequency burst looks convincing.

@scotwildlife.bsky.social
#bioacoustics
Spectrogram, showing six calls over one second with more-or-less constant frequency at around 38 kHz.

Reposted by Nina J. O’Hanlon

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Oct 31
Another brilliant Flow Country Research Conference.

Big 🏆 for Roxane and team at UHI Thurso.

Great to see @rob-hughes-birder.bsky.social's PhD crammed into 30 mins. Loved the Icelandic word for Meadow Pipit and check out those German bog restoration lagoons.

@theflowcountry.bsky.social
Roxane Andersen in front of screen showing conference welcome slide. Rob Hughes in front of screen with photo of a female Common Scoter. Slide showing trends in birds at sites in Iceland, featuring Icelandic bird names Slide showing bog restoration in Germany, including grids of rectangular flooded cells.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Oct 31
Top priority research need! Just literally been discussing issue of conifer spread and regen onto bogs this afternoon.
cmbeale.bsky.social Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Oct 31
Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing some fun PhD opportunities. Today, if you're into hydrology, forests and wading 🪶 in Scotland this one might be for you! 🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Rather famous scottish landscape with the west highlands railway looping through mountains. A forest plantation is evident. A few small people on the left are doing their best not to be recognised.

Reposted by Nick A. Littlewood

cmbeale.bsky.social
Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Oct 31
Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing some fun PhD opportunities. Today, if you're into hydrology, forests and wading 🪶 in Scotland this one might be for you! 🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Rather famous scottish landscape with the west highlands railway looping through mountains. A forest plantation is evident. A few small people on the left are doing their best not to be recognised.

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Oct 28
Wild bees drive increased weight and seed set in apples. Increased Honeybee visitation has -ve affect on fruit weight.

Another reminder (as if needed) of importance of prioritising 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙 bee conservation.

@jappliedecology.bsky.social
#pollinator

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

blackdogbirder.bsky.social
Nick Littlewood @blackdogbirder.bsky.social · Oct 27
Wasn't even the strongest of winds but a northerly blast does make for a lumpy sea.