Martin George
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jannerbirder.bsky.social
Martin George
@jannerbirder.bsky.social
1.7K followers 1.6K following 1.8K posts
Bird nerd, patch worker and BTO surveyor. MSc Ornithology (mostly a seabirds thing). Proud Devonian currently exiled to North Shropshire. I also run the #Shropshirebirds feed.
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jannerbirder.bsky.social
Martin George @jannerbirder.bsky.social · Oct 17
I've just created a Shropshire Birding feed for bird sightings and updates in the county.

Please use #Shropshirebirding or #Shropshirebirds in your post.

A big thank you to @jamiedunning.bsky.social for his guidance.

Don't forget to pin the feed once you've followed it!

bsky.app/profile/did:...
Reposted by Martin George
richardkbroughton.bsky.social
New Year, new book project.
@martamaziarz.bsky.social & I are writing a new Poyser monograph for @chiffchat.bsky.social on everyone's favourite forest songster: the Wood Warbler.
Decades of long-term studies from across Europe, including our own in Białowieża Forest.
#NatureWriting #Ornithology
January 1, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Martin George
btoshropshire.bsky.social
We have several squares available in Shropshire, and it's a very rewarding survey to be part of.

Just two visits in spring, plus a recce, although you do need reasonable bird ID skills. Training/mentoring may be available.

Please email or direct message for more information 🙂
#ShropshireBirds
bbs-birds.bsky.social Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) @bbs-birds.bsky.social · 18h
Happy New Year to you all! Why not make it your New Year’s resolution for 2026 to take on a BBS square near you! You can find out how to take part in the survey and sign up to survey a square here: www.bto.org/get-invo... @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social

Blue Tit and Kingfisher.
January 1, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Martin George
lowcarbonkev.bsky.social
This NYD I'm not just thinking about fireworks and the overnight avian escape flights:
mattsteinglass.bsky.social Matt Steinglass @mattsteinglass.bsky.social · 1d
Any Dutch who might have thought to contest implementation of the anti-fireworks law next year are going to have a hard time making their case, after the Vondelkerk burnt down tonight www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...
January 1, 2026 at 5:38 AM
Reposted by Martin George
saloplarus.bsky.social
Happy New Year! 2025 was another record year at #salopobs with ✨️128✨️ species recorded (10 nocmig only), including 3 new ticks (GCGrebe, Avocet and Gannet!) bringing the overall total to 💥150💥 Three Bittern nights, Quail, Ospreys, Scoters... #happydays
Montage of photos from salopobs in 2025: Gannet, LBBGs, hybrid hirundine, Osprey, Greenfinch, Corn Bunting, Marsh Harrier, Starling, Wheatear, Redstart, Hobby
December 31, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Martin George
btoshropshire.bsky.social
2025 is ending on a wildfowl high for Shropshire's birding community. If the bird stays some people may get an impressive start to 2026!
saloplarus.bsky.social Tom Lowe @saloplarus.bsky.social · 1d
Hot on the heels of the Lesser Scaup, this dinky Richardson's Cackling Goose vied for the title of Shropshire's bird of the year by the Severn at Atcham this morning... in the same Canada flock in the same spot as the 2019 Greenland Whitefront 🤔✅️ #shropshirebirding
Richardson's Cackling Goose with Canada Geese Richardson's Cackling Goose with Canada Geese Richardson's Cackling Goose with Canada Geese Adult Greenland White-fronted Goose with Canada Geese, also at Atcham but back in Feb 2019
December 31, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Martin George
shiphaybirder.bsky.social
This striking #leucistic #BlackHeadedGull certainly caught my eye at Passage House on S Devon's #TeignEstuary this afternoon. #DevonBirds #UKBirding #birds
December 30, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Martin George
midlandsbirder.bsky.social
UNBELIEVABLE! 9 Tundra Bean Goose, 74+ White-fronted Goose and Pink-footed Goose among hundreds of Geese south of Upton upon Severn!! Park in UoS, view only from PROW. #WorcsBirds
December 28, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Martin George
steelyseabirder.bsky.social
Welcome to the last Super Seabird Sunday of the year! This is where we ask you to share videos, photos & artwork of seabirds like my contribution of Gannets on the Bass Rock #SuperSeabirdSunday
December 28, 2025 at 9:21 AM
jannerbirder.bsky.social
“Britain has the second highest total number of users – more than 1.5 million in 2024, an 88% increase from 2023. Every month, there has been a 30% increase in new users of the app, whose sound identification function was launched in 2021.”

#UKBirding
December 27, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Martin George
alexanderlees.bsky.social
9.6 million NEW Merlin users in 2025 is a phenomenonal statistic #Ornithology 🪶 #UKBirding
ebird.org/news/2025-ye...
2025 Year in Review: eBird, Merlin, Macaulay Library, and Birds of the World - eBird
2025 marked another extraordinary year for eBird, Merlin Bird ID, the Macaulay Library, and Birds of the World. Together, the birding community reached incredible milestones in worldwide participation...
ebird.org
December 26, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Martin George
alexanderlees.bsky.social
"Over the past two decades, research has emerged showing that opportunities for risky play are crucial for healthy physical, mental and emotional development"
www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
Why kids need to take more risks: science reveals the benefits of wild, free play
Studies reveal how risky play can benefit child development. But encouraging it can be a challenge for parents.
www.nature.com
December 25, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Martin George
jerutter.bsky.social
Highly recommended read!

I’m biased since Roxie has always been a hero of mine. But I’ve got to say this book makes you a bigger Roxie fan no matter what you know of her. And whether you’re a #bird lover or not too. She was such an incredible person that overcame so much and accomplished so much.
The cover of “The Feather Detective” book in front of a green wall.
December 23, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Reposted by Martin George
iansheppard.bsky.social
Two Whooper swans at Edgerley, #ShropshireBirding
Two Whooper swans in water
December 20, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Martin George
pilning.bsky.social
Wildlife Group at Dingle Farm. Usual hospitality there. Birch Shieldbug landed on my bag #fieldcraft ; Orthotrichum diaphanum on Elder; vac samplers got Ypsolopha ustella; flushed a Woodcock (last ditch yearly!); Keith found Cream-spot Ladybird; Jim got new psyllid for VC40 etc #ukwildlife #teammoth
Orthotrichum diaphanum with capsules and white hair tipped leaves on Elder Birch Shieldbug on my bag One of a few Ypsolopha ustella from under and Oak found by the vac samplers Cream-spot Ladybird
December 20, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Martin George
pilning.bsky.social
Melverley Floods with @janettem34.bsky.social this morning. At least 57 Whooper Swans (44 Cae Howell, 13+ Royal Oak), a high count for Shrops and a fine sight & sound, 3 Mutes, 320+ Pintail, 205+ Wigeon, 345 Greylag, 280 Canadas, Canlag, 6 Egyptian Goose, L Egret etc #shropshirebirding 🪶 #ukwildlife
Some of the Whoopers at Cae Howell. Small groups kept arriving with 44 at Cae Howell in the end but only 6 youngsters amongst them. Back at Royal Oak there were 12+ before this and 13+ after so at least 57 Some of the geese in flight, mainly Greylags and a Canada. Could only find one Canada x Greylag amongst them but it's easy to miss birds on these floods Mixed wildfowl at Cae Howell
December 19, 2025 at 5:07 PM
jannerbirder.bsky.social
Tawny Owls are turning to street lighting to help them hunt

But this adaptation to noisy urban environments could be putting owls in an ecological trap.

#Ornithology
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/tawny-owls-a...
Tawny owls are turning to street lighting to help them hunt - BES
Tawny owls are turning to street lighting to help them hunt - BES is the largest scientific society for ecologists in Europe. We're working towards a world in which nature and people thrive.
www.britishecologicalsociety.org
December 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Martin George
minisanctuary.bsky.social
We need YOUR help!

We’re crowdfunding to become a CiC (Community Interest Company)

Please share this post— to help us find supporters!

We want to create mindful, educational programmes; community outreach projects & fundraise for land

Details: gofund.me/554dba522

#rescueanimals #animalsanctuary
December 17, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Reposted by Martin George
saloplarus.bsky.social
Three male Hen Harriers of different ages visited the vole fields west of Patrington this morning #ukbirding
2cy male Hen Harrier coming right at me (Sub)adult male Hen Harrier Juvenile male Hen Harrier hovering over a ditch
December 18, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Martin George
darrylspittle.bsky.social
“On 13 Sept, a satellite tag belonging to a white-tailed eagle was recovered near Gwgia Reservoir, Tregynon, … police … are asking anyone who was at or around the reservoir between 11am and 1pm or on access land near Bryn y Fawnog between noon and 3pm on 13 Sept to come forward.” #birdingWales
December 17, 2025 at 4:10 PM
jannerbirder.bsky.social
Some encouraging #ShropshireBirds news from County Wexford, by way of the @curlewcountry.bsky.social Facebook page.
A screenshot of a Curlew Country Facebook post. Text reads: Winter Wanderers ❄️ Curlew News from across the water! Two of our Shropshire curlews have been spotted overwintering together in Bannow Bay, Co. Wexford, thanks to the keen eye of Ewan Weston. Yellow FU (male) has been seen overwintering with Yellow XT (female), who nest only a few miles apart in the Shropshire Hills. Yellow FU is paired with Yellow L0 (female) and may be familiar to some as the stars of Curlew Cam 2022 and 2023. Although they successfully hatched chicks in both years, none survived to fledge — until this year! In 2025, they finally fledged two healthy chicks (pictured taking a dip in the new scrape dug last year by Severn Rivers Trust in the field of one our fantastic farming partners), a huge achievement for this Curlew pair. Yellow XT is a female who has bred with Yellow WA for at least four years. Sadly, their nest failed early in the season, and both birds were seen within a flock of other failed breeders on 16th June. These winter sightings help us trace the remarkable journeys of our curlews and deepen our understanding of their lives beyond the breeding season. Every piece of information helps us protect this declining species at home and abroad — thank you to everyone supporting their recovery. 💚🪶 A screenshot of a Curlew Country Facebook showing three images of colour-ringed Curlews in or close to the water’s edge.
December 18, 2025 at 12:11 AM
jannerbirder.bsky.social
The ever important difference between “none recorded” and “none present”, in this case for #seabirds in Australian Antarctica.

www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2025/to...
To see or not to see – distinguishing ‘absence’ from ‘ignorance’ to improve seabird conservation – Australian Antarctic Program (News 2025)
Knowing whether a seabird species is present or absent from a site is critical for population and biodiversity studies, detecting change in species’ distributions, and prioritizing sites for protectio...
www.antarctica.gov.au
December 16, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reposted by Martin George
evoneuro.bsky.social
Interested in birds and their behaviour? Check out @birdscanada.bsky.social The Warblers podcast today to hear a brief snippet of me talking about whether birds have feelings.
#birds #neuroethology 🪶

podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/d...
Do birds have feelings? Experts answer your questions
Podcast Episode · The Warblers by Birds Canada · 2025-12-15 · 57m
podcasts.apple.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Martin George
btoshropshire.bsky.social
A BTO member near Bridgnorth has around 60 copies of the BTO journal Bird Study dating back to 2001/02, and they're free to a good home. Please email bto.shropshire@gmail.com if you're interested. Photo for illustrative purposes only.

#ShropshireBirding
A selection of Bird Study journals showing seven different sizes and cover designs used during the publication's history to date.
December 13, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Martin George
penrhynbirder.bsky.social
Final proofs of @birdsinwales.bsky.social Welsh Bird Report 2024 uploaded to the printer in Treorchy. Many thanks to Ian Spence for his design work and Alun Lambert for the cover photo. Christmas holidays mean that it won't arrive with members until next month, but hopefully worth waiting for...
Screenshot: "Success! Your files have been uploaded" Cover of Welsh Bird Report 2024, volume 4 issue 3 of Milvus, the journal of the Welsh Ornithological Society. Image is a Kingfisher (a female judging the streak of orange on the lower mandible) perched on the top of a post, with a small fish held at the very tip of its bill. Droplets of water are flying off the fish as it shakes it, before presumably swallowing it. The image is by Alun Lambert.
December 13, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Martin George
lowcarbonkev.bsky.social
Best encounter I've had with Black Redstarts in a good couple of decades, f'sure. Seven minutes' walk from Rochester train station. This is how to do your Christmas shopping 👍

#Medway
#KentNature

2/2
December 13, 2025 at 4:35 PM