Arto Maatta
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artom.bsky.social
Arto Maatta
@artom.bsky.social
Birding, moths, and general interest in nature. A retired Cell Biologist.
After the initial excitement, Lina started to think that the first snow of the winter in Durham is quite cold and wet. #labrador #dogs
November 19, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
Distinctive 1w Russian Common Gull (heinei) candidate at Frieston Res this aft, seemed to tick all the boxes.
#LincsBirding
@lincsbirding.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
A Tufted Puffin was photographed in a Puffin colony in the North Atlantic this summer, marking the latest in a growing series of records of the species in Atlantic waters:
Tufted Puffin sighting highlights potential for further British records
A Tufted Puffin has been photographed at Grand Colombier, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, marking the first record in that French territory and contributing to a growing series of Atlantic-occurring birds. The increase in records from the Pacific-origin species raises the prospect of future British sightings, driven in part by climate-related shifts in seabird distributions.
bit.ly
November 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
This is such a cool study. A parasitic ant queen tricks worker ants into murdering their own queen, so the parasite can take over the colony.
This parasitic ant tricks workers into committing matricide
Newly mated parasitic queen ants invade colonies and spray their victims with a chemical irritant that provokes the workers to kill their mother.
www.sciencenews.org
November 17, 2025 at 5:43 PM
The late Bluethroat at South Gare today afternoon. It was feeding actively, but the weather over the next few days doesn’t look good for it. #NEbirding @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social 🪶
November 17, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Bluethroat still at Cabin Rocks and Black Redstart at the boat yard, South Gare (2-3pm). #NEbirding
November 17, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Durham hosts the Lumiere festival for the last time this weekend, but #TeamMoth can, of course, set up an exciting light installation on any night! 1 Mottled Umber so far, so the worst outcome possible is avoided.
November 15, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Firecrest at Putting Green, Hartlepool Headland. #NEbirding @teesbirds.bsky.social
November 15, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
When you are really really small, flying becomes more like swimming, or guided floating.
The remarkable forewing and hindwing of a 0.3mm long Alaptus minimus wasp of the Mymaridae.

#entomology #Mymaridae #wasps
November 15, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Glass is half full -vibes with the very nice (both the taste and the label) bird-themed bitter tonight😋. #birds #beer
November 14, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
Jackdaws by the north Winterborne chalk stream.
November 14, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
🐞🧬🦅 join us for a PhD position researching how birds evolve resistance to prey toxins. If you’re excited about wild chemical arms races, we’d love to hear from you. @shabmohammadi.bsky.social @livuni-ives.bsky.social @livuni-ismib.bsky.social @mpi-ce.bsky.social

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
November 12, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
The impacts of avian influenza are profound and far reaching. Hopefully 🇮🇸 Gyrfalcons will recover in time but this is near catastrophic #RaptorResearch 🌎 🪶

Avian flu taking a severe toll on Iceland’s falcon population
icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/20...
Avian flu taking a severe toll on Iceland’s falcon population
The Icelandic gyrfalcon population has been hit hard by the ongoing wave of avian influenza in recent years. Once numbering around 2,000 birds, the population has now collapsed to roughly 500 individu...
icelandmonitor.mbl.is
November 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
New research from our Biosciences Department and @btobirds.bsky.social shows that hotter European summers are reducing migratory birds’ ability to fuel up for their long journeys.

Read more: durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
#DUresearch
Hotter European summers put migratory birds at risk - Durham University
durham.ac.uk
November 11, 2025 at 12:32 PM
The tail works like a propeller when there’s a treat on offer for a quick response to a recall. #labrador #dogs
November 12, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Some quick record photos of the Pallid Swift at Whitburn this morning as it was circling over the houses in the village. A great find by @pratorum2112.bsky.social !
#NEbirding #RareBirdsUK @teesbirds.bsky.social 🪶
November 12, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
I really need to get to bed, but I just poked my head out the back door again. This is the view from my deck. All of this is looking south. When the geomagnetic storms are like this, the oval overshoots me and stretches into the US, which is why so many are seeing it tonight. #aurora
November 12, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
Top detour thanks to Great Bustard Group on way back from some non-birdy doings down south- these two big boyz on Salisbury Plain standing tall in sluicing rain I guess so water doesn't puddle on their mighty backs #BirdArt
November 11, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
RED-BACKED SHRIKE - An adult from the spring, watercolour on Arches paper for the cover of a publication. #birds #ukbirding #birdart
November 11, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
Looking for a PhD opportunity? I'm hoping to recruit someone to my group at Durham University to work on a project combining fieldwork and labwork to study speciation in rubyspot damselflies: iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...

Get in touch if you want to chat!
November 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM
I found today a couple of Aspen leaves with apparent Ectoedemia argyropeza mines at Rainton Meadows NR. I’ve not seen them before and there are not too many records in VC66, so any opinions are welcome! #TeamMoth
November 10, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
One of the reasons why Finland is the happiest country in the world is that the public broadcaster Yle sends a live feed of the first 8 weeks of a pack of puppies every fall. It’s already the fifth edition of ”Finland’s most therapeutic live feed”.

This is what I call value for my tax money
Pentulive 24/7 | Pentulive
Pentuliven pikkuiset kehittyvät vauhdikkaasti ja jokainen pentu on saanut nimensä! Kahdeksan viikkoa kestävässä suorassa lähetyksessä seurataan englannin­springer­spanieli Murua ja tämän pentuetta.
areena.yle.fi
November 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
A long way from home. Ever so elusive Hume's Leaf Warbler, in Finnish literally Kashmir oven bird. A sort of influx of them in double digits this autumn.
#BirdsSeenIn2025 🇫🇮🪶🐦
#NaturePhotography
November 8, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Olive-backed Pipit today afternoon at South Gare. Quite elusive bird, that occasionally moved up from the high grass and showed well in bushes. Thanks to the finder! #NEbirding #RareBirdsUK @teesbirds.bsky.social @nybirdnews.bsky.social
November 8, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
For my N. Hemisphere friends:

This weekend would be an absolutely brilliant time to get your flu and covid shots. You will get a massive protective antibody surge right as holiday socializing is ramping up flu and covid activity.

15 minutes at the pharmacy could save you a week of misery.
November 7, 2025 at 10:26 PM