Ben Secker
@bensecker.bsky.social
PhD researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University studying the Willow Tit.
Reposted by Ben Secker
Great to see @cateden91.bsky.social's first PhD paper, showing for first time how rivers/freshwater supports Spotted Flycatchers, a declining woodland bird, by subsidising their diet with energy-rich invertebrates. We should be re-wetting the woodlands and re-wooding the rivers! #ornithology
Super excited to share the first paper from my PhD! 🎉
We found that rivers don’t just matter for wetland birds - they also help support terrestrial insectivores, thanks to the flow of energy and nutrients from aquatic insects. 🌊🦟
Read more here: 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
We found that rivers don’t just matter for wetland birds - they also help support terrestrial insectivores, thanks to the flow of energy and nutrients from aquatic insects. 🌊🦟
Read more here: 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Cross-system transfer of fatty acids from aquatic insects supports terrestrial insectivore condition and reproductive success - Oecologia
Cross-system fluxes of aquatic insects rich in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 LC-PUFAs), specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), may subsidise ins...
link.springer.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Great to see @cateden91.bsky.social's first PhD paper, showing for first time how rivers/freshwater supports Spotted Flycatchers, a declining woodland bird, by subsidising their diet with energy-rich invertebrates. We should be re-wetting the woodlands and re-wooding the rivers! #ornithology
Reposted by Ben Secker
Super excited to share the first paper from my PhD! 🎉
We found that rivers don’t just matter for wetland birds - they also help support terrestrial insectivores, thanks to the flow of energy and nutrients from aquatic insects. 🌊🦟
Read more here: 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
We found that rivers don’t just matter for wetland birds - they also help support terrestrial insectivores, thanks to the flow of energy and nutrients from aquatic insects. 🌊🦟
Read more here: 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Cross-system transfer of fatty acids from aquatic insects supports terrestrial insectivore condition and reproductive success - Oecologia
Cross-system fluxes of aquatic insects rich in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 LC-PUFAs), specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), may subsidise ins...
link.springer.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Super excited to share the first paper from my PhD! 🎉
We found that rivers don’t just matter for wetland birds - they also help support terrestrial insectivores, thanks to the flow of energy and nutrients from aquatic insects. 🌊🦟
Read more here: 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
We found that rivers don’t just matter for wetland birds - they also help support terrestrial insectivores, thanks to the flow of energy and nutrients from aquatic insects. 🌊🦟
Read more here: 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Ben Secker
We are still interested in any found twite feathers for a study on the relationships and genetic diversity between the British groups - particularly now for birds of Scottish origin in the NE of England or, birds on the Avon.
DM me for me more info.
#birdringing
DM me for me more info.
#birdringing
October 28, 2025 at 7:20 AM
We are still interested in any found twite feathers for a study on the relationships and genetic diversity between the British groups - particularly now for birds of Scottish origin in the NE of England or, birds on the Avon.
DM me for me more info.
#birdringing
DM me for me more info.
#birdringing
Reposted by Ben Secker
My 10 year old daughter took this photo with my (very heavy) camera this morning. Willow Tit isn't a bad species for a first picture of a bird! #ukbirding #birds
October 25, 2025 at 10:45 AM
My 10 year old daughter took this photo with my (very heavy) camera this morning. Willow Tit isn't a bad species for a first picture of a bird! #ukbirding #birds
Reposted by Ben Secker
Should I stay or should I go?🐦 Fancy a #PhD studying Pied flycatchers in the Peak District to help better understand what drives individual & population performance? Think #habitat #movement #ecology #genetics 🌍 Make use of this nestbox PIT tag study system and join us! Email me #LJMU #NationalTrust
September 22, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Should I stay or should I go?🐦 Fancy a #PhD studying Pied flycatchers in the Peak District to help better understand what drives individual & population performance? Think #habitat #movement #ecology #genetics 🌍 Make use of this nestbox PIT tag study system and join us! Email me #LJMU #NationalTrust
Reposted by Ben Secker
🦅PhD position 🦅 in my new group at @fbm-unil.bsky.social in Switzerland, studying how the social and resource landscapes shape the learning process for soaring flight. Deadline: Oct 30. Pls repost! career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...
October 6, 2025 at 5:56 AM
🦅PhD position 🦅 in my new group at @fbm-unil.bsky.social in Switzerland, studying how the social and resource landscapes shape the learning process for soaring flight. Deadline: Oct 30. Pls repost! career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...
Reposted by Ben Secker
Very firm statement on releases of captive-bred Turtle Doves, from Operation Turtle Dove inc @rspb.bsky.social & @naturalengland.bsky.social:
*Doesn't meet IUCN guidelines
*Risk of disease/genetic pollution
*Irresponsible aims
operationturtledove.org/captive-rele... 1/2 #ornithology #ukbirding
*Doesn't meet IUCN guidelines
*Risk of disease/genetic pollution
*Irresponsible aims
operationturtledove.org/captive-rele... 1/2 #ornithology #ukbirding
Operation Turtle Dove’s view on the release of captive-bred Turtle Doves as a conservation measure - Operation Turtle Dove
Operation Turtle Dove is a science-led conservation partnership working to reverse the decline of Turtle Doves in the UK by restoring habitat and addressing key threats. Learn why captive-bred release...
operationturtledove.org
September 17, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Very firm statement on releases of captive-bred Turtle Doves, from Operation Turtle Dove inc @rspb.bsky.social & @naturalengland.bsky.social:
*Doesn't meet IUCN guidelines
*Risk of disease/genetic pollution
*Irresponsible aims
operationturtledove.org/captive-rele... 1/2 #ornithology #ukbirding
*Doesn't meet IUCN guidelines
*Risk of disease/genetic pollution
*Irresponsible aims
operationturtledove.org/captive-rele... 1/2 #ornithology #ukbirding
Reposted by Ben Secker
Written by a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital, London after the Tommy Robinson march on 13/9.
September 15, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Written by a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital, London after the Tommy Robinson march on 13/9.
Reposted by Ben Secker
Will be @ @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social for Migfest this weekend and would like to giveaway my old scope and tripod. If there's any young birders looking for a used but well loved scope that's seen plenty of rare birds please either point them in my direction or come find me over the weekend! #ukbirding
September 9, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Will be @ @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social for Migfest this weekend and would like to giveaway my old scope and tripod. If there's any young birders looking for a used but well loved scope that's seen plenty of rare birds please either point them in my direction or come find me over the weekend! #ukbirding
Reposted by Ben Secker
woah this is genuinely, utterly WILD
Ant queens of one species produce males of another species, so she can then mate with them and produce hybrid workers!
This is so gloriously weird I can't quite compute it 🤯🧪🐜
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Ant queens of one species produce males of another species, so she can then mate with them and produce hybrid workers!
This is so gloriously weird I can't quite compute it 🤯🧪🐜
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother
Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.
www.nature.com
September 3, 2025 at 10:09 PM
woah this is genuinely, utterly WILD
Ant queens of one species produce males of another species, so she can then mate with them and produce hybrid workers!
This is so gloriously weird I can't quite compute it 🤯🧪🐜
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Ant queens of one species produce males of another species, so she can then mate with them and produce hybrid workers!
This is so gloriously weird I can't quite compute it 🤯🧪🐜
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Ben Secker
The biggest lake in the UK is being steadily poisoned
The rescue plan demanded by residents & fishermen, whose lives are being blighted, is being blocked by a powerful farming lobby
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The rescue plan demanded by residents & fishermen, whose lives are being blighted, is being blocked by a powerful farming lobby
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
UK’s largest lake faces environmental crisis as rescue plans stall
Toxic algae cases in Northern Ireland’s Lough Neagh have tripled since last year, as local fishers’ incomes plummet
www.theguardian.com
August 30, 2025 at 11:20 AM
The biggest lake in the UK is being steadily poisoned
The rescue plan demanded by residents & fishermen, whose lives are being blighted, is being blocked by a powerful farming lobby
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The rescue plan demanded by residents & fishermen, whose lives are being blighted, is being blocked by a powerful farming lobby
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reform-led council refuses to engage with a prominent local newspaper after they had the temerity to expose a slight internal disagreement.
A burning passion for protecting ‘free speech’ seems to go out the window when it makes you look bad…
A burning passion for protecting ‘free speech’ seems to go out the window when it makes you look bad…
Reform council’s Nottingham Post ban a ‘massive attack on local democracy’
Nottinghamshire council’s administration says it will no longer deal with local paper, in unprecedented move
www.theguardian.com
August 28, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Reform-led council refuses to engage with a prominent local newspaper after they had the temerity to expose a slight internal disagreement.
A burning passion for protecting ‘free speech’ seems to go out the window when it makes you look bad…
A burning passion for protecting ‘free speech’ seems to go out the window when it makes you look bad…
Reposted by Ben Secker
I’m so excited that my first paper is out! 💪🏼💥 #ornithology
EARLY VIEW in IBIS
Seasonal, environmental and individual determinants of double-brooding in the White-throated Dipper (Cinclus cinclus) | onlinelibrary.wiley....
Noelia D. Álvarez, Peter J. Mawby, Stuart P. Sharp | #ornithology 🪶
Seasonal, environmental and individual determinants of double-brooding in the White-throated Dipper (Cinclus cinclus) | onlinelibrary.wiley....
Noelia D. Álvarez, Peter J. Mawby, Stuart P. Sharp | #ornithology 🪶
August 26, 2025 at 6:10 PM
I’m so excited that my first paper is out! 💪🏼💥 #ornithology
Reposted by Ben Secker
I had fun rambling on about aquatic insects and their benefit for insectivorous birds at #EOU2025 yesterday. Going home with lots of cool bird research in my brain & joy from catching up with friendly faces 😁 (even if it does temporarily drain the life from my introverted soul) 🫠
August 23, 2025 at 6:41 AM
I had fun rambling on about aquatic insects and their benefit for insectivorous birds at #EOU2025 yesterday. Going home with lots of cool bird research in my brain & joy from catching up with friendly faces 😁 (even if it does temporarily drain the life from my introverted soul) 🫠
Reposted by Ben Secker
Reposted by Ben Secker
Hopefully, hand-rearing Willow Tits will never be needed. It's high-risk, very last resort, and only works if enough viable, low-predation, low-competition, connected habitat is available to release them into.
There's 5-10k Willow Tit pairs left. Securing viability of their habitat is the priority.
There's 5-10k Willow Tit pairs left. Securing viability of their habitat is the priority.
The British willow tit has seen its numbers plummet by 94% since 1970. In a bold conservation first, @wwtworldwide.bsky.social has turned to one of Britain’s most common birds, the Eurasian blue tit. c-js.uk/4fckhgX
Wetlands charity leads first UK trial to reverse dramatic loss of British willow tit
c-js.uk
July 28, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Hopefully, hand-rearing Willow Tits will never be needed. It's high-risk, very last resort, and only works if enough viable, low-predation, low-competition, connected habitat is available to release them into.
There's 5-10k Willow Tit pairs left. Securing viability of their habitat is the priority.
There's 5-10k Willow Tit pairs left. Securing viability of their habitat is the priority.
Reposted by Ben Secker
This blog was something I wrote last year in a different context about how birding helps with the cycle of grief. I'm reposting it on this blog in the hopes that being honest about mental health helps in some way. #ukbirding #birds #mentalhealth
Birding and the nature of grief
I wrote this last year during what turned out to be the slow fall into a ...
themanchesterbirder.blogspot.com
July 14, 2025 at 7:46 PM
This blog was something I wrote last year in a different context about how birding helps with the cycle of grief. I'm reposting it on this blog in the hopes that being honest about mental health helps in some way. #ukbirding #birds #mentalhealth
Reposted by Ben Secker
I'm planning on continuing to talk about Thomas Partey, Arsenal and rape culture as long as it is a problem within football
open.substack.com/pub/feverpit...
open.substack.com/pub/feverpit...
An Open Letter to Arsenal Football Club
Today, the news broke that Thomas Partey, an Arsenal player until the beginning of this month, is being prosecuted for five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
open.substack.com
July 4, 2025 at 6:55 PM
I'm planning on continuing to talk about Thomas Partey, Arsenal and rape culture as long as it is a problem within football
open.substack.com/pub/feverpit...
open.substack.com/pub/feverpit...
Reposted by Ben Secker
Bob Vylan’s IDF Chant Ignites Uproar, While Actual Atrocities Get a Pass
The PNG Courier's UK correspondent with the latest from Glastonbury
mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/the-png-co...
The PNG Courier's UK correspondent with the latest from Glastonbury
mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/the-png-co...
The PNG Courier's overseas correspondent with the latest from Glastonbury
Bob Vylan’s IDF Chant Ignites Uproar, While Actual Atrocities Get a Pass
mrhenrymorris.substack.com
July 2, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Bob Vylan’s IDF Chant Ignites Uproar, While Actual Atrocities Get a Pass
The PNG Courier's UK correspondent with the latest from Glastonbury
mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/the-png-co...
The PNG Courier's UK correspondent with the latest from Glastonbury
mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/the-png-co...
Reposted by Ben Secker
This is phenomenal.
Sea surface temperatures are >5C above average to the west of the UK and around Iceland. It's the strongest area of anomalous warmth on the planet at the moment.
It's the warmest in recorded history for northwest Europe.
Sea surface temperatures are >5C above average to the west of the UK and around Iceland. It's the strongest area of anomalous warmth on the planet at the moment.
It's the warmest in recorded history for northwest Europe.
May 25, 2025 at 10:13 AM
This is phenomenal.
Sea surface temperatures are >5C above average to the west of the UK and around Iceland. It's the strongest area of anomalous warmth on the planet at the moment.
It's the warmest in recorded history for northwest Europe.
Sea surface temperatures are >5C above average to the west of the UK and around Iceland. It's the strongest area of anomalous warmth on the planet at the moment.
It's the warmest in recorded history for northwest Europe.
Life update klaxon: I’ve joined the Natural Sciences department at Manchester Met as a PhD researcher! Our team will be investigating the role of interspecific competition and community composition in the decline of the willow tit, focusing our efforts on post-industrial sites in the north west.
May 15, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Life update klaxon: I’ve joined the Natural Sciences department at Manchester Met as a PhD researcher! Our team will be investigating the role of interspecific competition and community composition in the decline of the willow tit, focusing our efforts on post-industrial sites in the north west.
Garden warbler singing for a prolonged period at Boylin’s this morning before work. #ukbirding #lowcarbonbirding
April 29, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Garden warbler singing for a prolonged period at Boylin’s this morning before work. #ukbirding #lowcarbonbirding
Walk up the little don valley on Friday returned my first cuckoo of the year. Ring ouzel, redstart, and siskin the other highlights. #ukbirding
April 27, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Walk up the little don valley on Friday returned my first cuckoo of the year. Ring ouzel, redstart, and siskin the other highlights. #ukbirding
Reposted by Ben Secker
NEW JOB in #ornithology and #conservation to work on an ambitious #telemetry project aiming to understand #wildlife movement in human-modified landscapes: buff.ly/g2eQjP7
April 25, 2025 at 10:57 AM
NEW JOB in #ornithology and #conservation to work on an ambitious #telemetry project aiming to understand #wildlife movement in human-modified landscapes: buff.ly/g2eQjP7
Reposted by Ben Secker
🧵1/7 What do massive insect crashes mean for insectivorous birds? And can aquatic habitats help?
Today at #BOU2025 I'm exploring how aquatic habitats might help to buffer declining insectivore populations, using the Spotted Flycatcher as an example.
#ornithology
Today at #BOU2025 I'm exploring how aquatic habitats might help to buffer declining insectivore populations, using the Spotted Flycatcher as an example.
#ornithology
April 3, 2025 at 11:30 AM
🧵1/7 What do massive insect crashes mean for insectivorous birds? And can aquatic habitats help?
Today at #BOU2025 I'm exploring how aquatic habitats might help to buffer declining insectivore populations, using the Spotted Flycatcher as an example.
#ornithology
Today at #BOU2025 I'm exploring how aquatic habitats might help to buffer declining insectivore populations, using the Spotted Flycatcher as an example.
#ornithology