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ellingbry.bsky.social
Ellie Owen
@ellingbry.bsky.social
220 followers 330 following 15 posts
Posting about the #seabird conservation work of the National Trust for Scotland. #citsci #puffarazzi #NTSseabirds
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Ellie Owen
stkildawhs.bsky.social
Great to see our #NTSSeabirds and marine life well represented at #EdinburghZoo 's #GiantLanterns exhibition last night 🙂
Thanks to #StKildaClub for the invitation to speak at their annual reunion.
@n-t-s.bsky.social
@edinburghzoo.bsky.social
November 16, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
aliceedney.bsky.social
The first drone census of the St Kilda gannet colony is now published in Scottish Birds!

We counted 59,205 AOS in 2023 - similar to previous years. The overall impact of #HPAI appears less than at some other colonies, with notable declines in flatter areas 🧮

#ornithology #seabirds #NTSseabirds
(PDF) The first drone census of the Gannet colony on St Kilda, 2023
PDF | An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (hereafter drone) survey of Gannets at St Kilda was carried out in June 2023. The survey was the first census at St... | Find, read and cite all the research you need ...
www.researchgate.net
December 10, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
rspbscience.bsky.social
Can GPS tracking reveal how #seabirds make use of tidal mixing fronts when foraging? 🧪

New research shows a bird’s use of ocean fronts may relate to its regular foraging areas

Read on for more

Or read the full paper: doi.org/10.1007/s002...

@ellingbry.bsky.social
Fine-scale behavioural responses to mixing fronts are linked to variation in geographic space use in a medium ranging seabird - Marine Biology
Marine predators forage in dynamic, heterogeneous environments, where resources are unevenly distributed. Consequently, predators often concentrate foraging activity in areas where oceanographic proce...
doi.org
December 10, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
aliceedney.bsky.social
Read more here ⬇️
www.nts.org.uk/stories/a-bi...

@stkildawhs.bsky.social, @craig-nisbet.bsky.social & @ellingbry.bsky.social 😊
A bird’s-eye view of the gannet colony at St Kilda
The first drone census at St Kilda has revealed the islands are now home to the world’s largest gannet colony.
www.nts.org.uk
December 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
steffopp.bsky.social
NEW PAPER in #ornithology and #conservation reviews the marine threats to #seabirds and other marine #megafauna and confirms that #fisheries are a severe problem: buff.ly/5SXNdqr
November 14, 2025 at 6:43 PM
ellingbry.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...
Love this #seabird #ornithology
Shouting at seagulls may stop them from stealing food
Yelling
www.bbc.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
marineorno.bsky.social
On the importance of incorporating
behavioural-state differentiation when identifying key
spatial areas for seabirds.
#seabirds

animalbiotelemetry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
A behavioural approach to key area identification in seabirds for threat mitigation and spatial management - Animal Biotelemetry
Background Identifying key areas of animal distribution using individual movement data is fundamental for conservation planning, threat mitigation, and spatial management. Methodologies which define t...
animalbiotelemetry.biomedcentral.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
skwinnicki.bsky.social
Do you sometimes see/report/handle dead wildlife as a scientist (including volunteer community scientists)?

If so, do you have any strategies for dealing with the stress and grief that these encounters can cause?

I'm building a toolkit for myself and for some other stressed out folks!

context:
a woman is holding up a help wanted sign in a window
Alt: Gif of a woman taping a "help wanted" sign to a window.
media.tenor.com
October 1, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
hakoakoa-boty.bsky.social
It's family values day here at Team Hākoakoa. You'll struggle to find a bird more devoted to its chicks than Skua. Just look at that fuzzy brown face. How could you not vote Skua for #birdoftheyear2025? #Skua @forestandbird.bsky.social
A photograph of a Hākoakoa parent with its fuzzy brown chick. The parent is displaying loudly while the chick is looking at you, already planning its next move. Text on the image says "More than a pretty (aggressive) vace, Skua are devoted parents who often form polyandrous family units. Chicks venture out to explore their world quickly." Photo credit Penny Pascoe via Australian Antarctic programme.
September 14, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
profaliceroberts.bsky.social
“Rich Grenyer, a biologist at the University of Oxford, said de-extinction is a “dangerous” distraction and that gene-edited animals are “at best a sort of simulation, rather like those unnerving animated AI portraits of dead relatives some… people create”.”
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Scientists claim they’ve made ‘pivotal step’ in bringing back the dodo for first time in 300 years
Thousands of dodos could return within a decade according to Colossal Biosciences, a ‘de-extinction’ company – but experts warn of ‘moral hazard’
www.theguardian.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
stubutchart.bsky.social
This is a game changer for marine conservation. Now we need to build on the momentum and designate high seas marine protected areas to conserve Key Biodiversity Areas @keybiodiversity.bsky.social
birdlifeglobal.bsky.social BirdLife International @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social · Sep 20
🌊 A historic day for our oceans! 🌍

With 60 ratifications, the High Seas Treaty will now come into force – a milestone for global ocean conservation.

Let’s keep building momentum and turn 60 into global! #60toGlobal

Discover more 👉 highseasalliance.org/treaty-ratif... @highseasalliance.bsky.social
September 20, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
stkildawhs.bsky.social
Thermoregulation is very important for humans and seabirds alike. Stay hydrated this week people!
#NTSSeabirds
August 14, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
stkildawhs.bsky.social
A Fulmar glides through the sunset with Carn Mor beyond. A quiet night up there, with many of our nocturnal seabirds now departed.
#NTSSeabirds
#SuperSeabirdSunday
September 14, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
theseabirdgroup.bsky.social
Coming up online this Friday! 🗣️📓🐦 Deadline to sign up is this Wednesday 3rd September: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... #Seabirds
September 1, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
steffopp.bsky.social
NEW PhD studentship in #ornithology studying foraging distribution of coastal #seabirds in #France: buff.ly/qBWQMVZ
June 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
steffopp.bsky.social
These two studies do not contradict each other but reinforce the desperate need to get strongly regulated and strictly enforced MPAs in place - not just boxes on a map with little effect
July 28, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
marinestation.bsky.social
On Monday there were a number of sightings of minke whales in the area. Marine Station staff and volunteers were lucky enough to get some great views and even captured this wee bit of video footage. Especially exciting for some, for whom it was a first!
July 3, 2025 at 2:38 PM
ellingbry.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...

The ‘our ocean’ podcast has some great #seabird content including guillemot jumplings and gulls - menace or marvel :)
Find it wherever you get your podcasts.
#NTSseabirds
Seagulls - Menace or Marvel?
Podcast Episode · Our Ocean · 08/08/2025 · 39m
podcasts.apple.com
August 14, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
stkildawhs.bsky.social
The Bonxie in the foreground is one of the few remaining ringed birds (WSWR) from an intensive study conducted between 2007 and 2009 here on #StKilda. Great to see this bird, ringed as an adult in 2009, still going strong post #HPAI outbreak.
#NTSSeabirds
@theseabirdgroup.bsky.social
August 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
rspbscotland.bsky.social
A dark day for Scotland’s seabirds.

We're incredibly concerned that Scottish Government have granted consent for the Berwick Bank offshore windfarm, which could catapult some of our most vulnerable species toward extinction 🚨

We will carefully scrutinise the details and consider our next steps.
“This is a very dark day for seabirds. Berwick Bank would be catastrophic for Scotland’s globally important seabirds which are already facing alarming declines. Its impacts are so damaging it will make it very difficult for other, less-harmful windfarms to come forward. We are incredibly concerned that Scottish Government have granted consent for a project which could catapult some of Scotland’s most-loved seabird species towards extinction.” Gannet pair courting
July 31, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
stkildawhs.bsky.social
Results from the 2023 #StKilda Gannet census are to be published in the December issue of #ScottishBirds, revealing relative stability in what is once again the world's largest colony, despite fears that #HPAI may have had a greater impact on the population
#NTSSeabirds
@scottishbirding.bsky.social
A bird’s-eye view of the gannet colony at St Kilda
The first drone census at St Kilda has revealed the islands are now home to the world’s largest gannet colony.
www.nts.org.uk
July 31, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
aliceedney.bsky.social
Really pleased to have contributed to this epic survey of >59,000 pairs of gannets! The St Kilda colony was less impacted by HPAI than other colonies, perhaps because steep cliffs reduced disease transmission. Flatter areas of the colony suffered greater losses.

#ornithology #seabirds #NTSseabirds
stkildawhs.bsky.social St Kilda World Heritage Site NTS @stkildawhs.bsky.social · Jul 31
Results from the 2023 #StKilda Gannet census are to be published in the December issue of #ScottishBirds, revealing relative stability in what is once again the world's largest colony, despite fears that #HPAI may have had a greater impact on the population
#NTSSeabirds
@scottishbirding.bsky.social
A bird’s-eye view of the gannet colony at St Kilda
The first drone census at St Kilda has revealed the islands are now home to the world’s largest gannet colony.
www.nts.org.uk
August 1, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
bluekirkhope.bsky.social
Front page! It was a real pleasure to work on this story with @craig-nisbet.bsky.social @stkildawhs.bsky.social @ellingbry.bsky.social on the first drone census of the gannet population at St Kilda, which has determined that it is once again the world’s largest colony #NTSSeabirds

shorturl.at/PQxSg
‘Gannets milestone for St Kilda’ story on the front page of the Herald ‘St Kilda now has largest colony of gannets in the world’ story on page 7 of The Herald
August 1, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
stkildawhs.bsky.social
Most Guillemot jumplings will have jumped by now from #StKilda and be heading out to sea with their dads, whilst some Kittiwake chicks aren't far from fledging age now either.
#NTSSeabirds
#SuperSeabirdSunday
July 20, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Reposted by Ellie Owen
stkildawhs.bsky.social
Check out the fabulous seasonal highlights board updated today by our amazingly talented biosecurity volunteer, Hebe! Those stormies are incredible 😍
@n-t-s.bsky.social
#NTSSeabirds
July 14, 2025 at 2:51 PM