Richard S. Turner
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rsturner.bsky.social
Richard S. Turner
@rsturner.bsky.social
1.3K followers 310 following 53 posts
Evolutionary and behavioural ecologist | PhD from Australian National University | '24 and '25 field manager for @phenoweb.bsky.social | BTO bird ringer 🐥🐣 | Remote sensing | Long-term studies | https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=l9Wiy-IAAAAJ&hl=en
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rsturner.bsky.social
We (Pat White, @jayofthetriffids.bsky.social & I) were commissioned by Forestry Commission to produce a series of case studies on #treeprotection challenges and solutions.

The first, on Burrator Forest in Devon, is out now and covers #livestock #grazing, #virtualfencing & benefits of #beavers 🐮🌳

👇
From fleece to fencing: how implementing an integrated management approach is protecting Burrator Forest
Read how South West Lakes Trust is collaborating with others to protect Burrator Forest from livestock and wildlife damage.
www.gov.uk
August 31, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Richard S. Turner
wpmueller.bsky.social
#ornithology
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
August 27, 2025 at 7:21 PM
rsturner.bsky.social
📣 Hot off the press! 🔥🧪

'Population density drives increased parasitism via greater exposure and reduced resource availability in wild red deer @rumdeerresearch.bsky.social'.

Proud to have played a small role on this one with an amazing team led by @hasikadam.bsky.social! 🦌🌱🪱

Read about it here 👇
Population density drives increased parasitism via greater exposure and reduced resource availability in wild red deer | Parasitology | Cambridge Core
Population density drives increased parasitism via greater exposure and reduced resource availability in wild red deer
doi.org
July 22, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Richard S. Turner
scottishbirding.bsky.social
New research on Edinburgh's urban Sparrowhawks has been published in Bird Study. Lead by Mike Thornton, SOC representative on Scottish Raptor Monitoring Group, the study looks at changes to Sparrowhawk diet and links to clutch size.
doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2025.2513542
#RaptorResearch #ornithology
Photo by John Agnew. Adult male Sparrowhawk perched on a garden fence. It is a small bird of prey with slate-grey back, wings, tail and head with rufous cheeks and breast. It has orange eyes and a hooked bill. The bird has its back to the camera but has turned its head to look at the camera.
July 18, 2025 at 3:17 PM
rsturner.bsky.social
This morning's bird ringing highlight: a male Grasshopper Warbler! After over four weeks of hearing one reeling at this site, it was great to finally catch it in the net. (A first for me).

@btobirds.bsky.social #ukbirding
July 17, 2025 at 10:15 AM
rsturner.bsky.social
Absolutely worth the 03:00 am start.

Last week, I helped to ring and process 46 Sand Martins 🪶 — under licence from the BTO — including 6 retraps that had safely returned to East Lothian from their overwintering grounds in W. Africa.

All wrapped up with a beautiful sunrise over the Forth. 🌅
June 25, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Reposted by Richard S. Turner
phenoweb.bsky.social
And we're off! Our first blue tit egg was laid on 3 April 2025 - making this, by some margin, the earliest start to a season in the 12 years of our project! 🪺

#phenology #ukbirding #ornithology 🪶
A single blue tit egg in a nest inside a woodcrete nest box. The change in date of the first blue tit egg in the Phenoweb project population. Black points represent the mean (+/- SE) first egg date in each year, across all sites on our transect (with day 1 equal to the 1 April). The light grey points represent the first egg date at each individual site. The regression line represents the estimated mean (+/- 95% CI) and is fitted through data from 2014-2024. The red point represents the date of our first egg found in the current 2025 season.
April 9, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Richard S. Turner
phenoweb.bsky.social
Looks like being a very early spring for us. We already have over 60 blue tit nests and didn’t reach similar numbers ‘til around April 10th last year. This sycamore is already in leaf, and last year it didn’t reach a similar stage for another three weeks. When will we get our first eggs?
April 2, 2025 at 6:46 PM
rsturner.bsky.social
The 12th phenoweb.org field season is underway!

What a beautiful couple of days spent rambling around the Scottish Highlands checking nest boxes 🪹!
April 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Richard S. Turner
mcmahok.bsky.social
We're hiring a fieldworker to help with some of our projects in Wytham Woods this spring. Wonderful place to work (and live), especially in the spring. Get in touch if you'd like to know more.
We are seeking to appoint a fulltime field assistant to work on the Wytham Tit Project for 4-8 weeks in spring 2025. Duties will include (i) collecting standardised data from nest-box breeding populations of tits, (ii) setting up equipment to monitor foraging behaviour of great tits (e.g. cameras, proximity loggers), (iii) fitting proximity tags and accelerometers to adult great tits (iv) inputting data collected in the field. The start date and duration of this position is flexible, depending on availability of the successful candidate. The post could last up to 8 weeks, starting in mid-April, or c. 4 weeks, starting in early May. All fieldwork will take place in Wytham Woods, near Oxford. The work is variable in intensity and will at times require long days in the field, and working some weekend days, but this will be balanced out by a quieter period at the start and end of the season. Successful candidates must have (or be qualified to obtain) a BTO permit to ring adult great tits, be able to demonstrate skill and enthusiasm for biological research as well as experience of fieldwork under arduous conditions, and both lone work and working as part of a team. Due to the short-term nature of these posts, successful applicants must already have the right to work in the UK. Salary & Accommodation: Field assistants will be paid at grade 5.2 (£17.02/hour) and responsible for finding their own accommodation. It will be possible to hire accommodated at the Wytham Chalet, a research station within Wytham Woods. Alternatively, field assistants can find private accommodation locally and use their own transport to commute to the woods (approx. 30 min by car or bike, depending on location). Please submit an application, consisting of (1) a covering letter explaining relevant experience and motivation, (2) a CV (max 2 pages), and the names of two people who can be contacted as referees, by Tuesday 11th March 2025 to eleanor.cole@biology.ox.ac.uk. Inquiries to same email.
March 4, 2025 at 12:37 PM
rsturner.bsky.social
Do apply and get paid to watch spring unfold across the Scottish highlands.

🌳-->🐛-->🐣

#ornithology #birds #ukbirding
allyphillimore.bsky.social Ally Phillimore @allyphillimore.bsky.social · Feb 12
Fieldwork opportunity: We're looking to hire a field assistant for the www.phenoweb.org project starting 1 April. Please repost. #phenology #fieldwork #birdringing
February 12, 2025 at 4:35 PM
rsturner.bsky.social
Final 2024/25 @btobirds.bsky.social winter ringing session in East Lothian. A good haul of 141 birds, and I *finally* got my hands on a siskin!

All birds handled and ringed under licence.
Female siskin in the hand.
February 8, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Richard S. Turner
sheldonbirds.bsky.social
There are many studies of phenology of components of the tri-trophic tree-insect-bird system, a useful model for understanding effects of climate change. But how do different measures relate to each other? We compared 5 methods, deriving 9 metrics, across 6 tree spp
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Schematic figure illustrating methods to measure phenology of trees and insects Example of phenological measures for a single Oak tree at Wytham Woods
February 6, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by Richard S. Turner
asanchez-tojar.bsky.social
Check out our new contribution, a massive collaboration brilliantly led by @danielwanoble.bsky.social. Full of interesting insights such as "What's the average time between the first manuscript submission to its acceptance in a scientific journal?"

Go figure that and more at doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
January 30, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Richard S. Turner
carolinelucas.bsky.social
#HeathrowExpansion won’t deliver growth. Business demand is falling & more tourists leave than arrive. But it *will* trash climate commitments, drive more extreme weather, noise & air pollution & only benefit frequent flying super-emitters - the 15% who take 75% of flights. Labour should be better
January 29, 2025 at 11:01 AM
rsturner.bsky.social
Staggering #AttackOnNature by Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP. What on earth has happened to the UK Labour Party since moving into government?!
rspb.bsky.social RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · Jan 29
Stop worrying about bats and newts? No Rachel Reeves MP – start worrying about the future of our economy if we tear down the nature it depends on.

Nature isn’t a blocker; it’s the foundation of growth.
Screenshot of a BBC Politics tweet shows Chancellor Rachel Reeves speaking at a podium during a live broadcast of her speech. The quote at the top reads, “We are reducing the environmental requirements placed on developers when they pay into a nature restoration fund… they can focus on getting things built and stop worrying about the bats and the newts,” as she addresses the audience. In the background, there are large screens displaying the live stream of the speech, with a banner at the bottom reading “Kickstarting Economic Growth.”
January 29, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Richard S. Turner
edinburghnapier.bsky.social
❗ | Due to the red weather warning in place for Friday 24 Jan, we have made the decision to close our campuses tomorrow for student and colleague safety.

Full details for students ➡️ orlo.uk/Qe4jU

For colleagues ➡️ orlo.uk/G5y6y

Thanks for your understanding and please take care.

#MustBeNapier
Red weather warning for wind graphic.
January 23, 2025 at 2:39 PM
rsturner.bsky.social
📌
jefferybcannon.bsky.social Jeffery Cannon, Landscape Ecology Lab @jefferybcannon.bsky.social · Jan 6
Ready to learn how to use LiDAR for research in #forestry and natural resources using #R? This week I am sharing our 7-part series on Bluesky to help you get started! Share with anyone you know who wants to get started. Part 1 covers acquiring, & viewing LiDAR data! bit.ly/lidR-module1
January 7, 2025 at 3:21 PM
rsturner.bsky.social
Excellent start to 2025! A total of 215 new #birds ringed (+5 retraps) from 14 species, including: lesser redpoll, yellowhammer, house and tree sparrow, and more than 50 chaffinch!

All handled and ringed under licence from @btobirds.bsky.social.

#birdringing #birdbanding #ornithology #UKbirding
Lesser redpoll in the hand. Tree sparrow in the hand after being ringed.
January 3, 2025 at 4:09 PM
rsturner.bsky.social
Wow, I am so happy to see that cOnr is still going well! He was born in the ANBG back in the 2017/18 breeding season (4 Jan. 2018, so he'll soon be celebrating his 7th birthday!) 🎁

#ornithology #longtermstudy #superbfairywrens
fairywrensanu.bsky.social ANU Superb Fairywren Project @fairywrensanu.bsky.social · Dec 23
Holiday season is upon us, and so is this year's breeding season! With the season still in full swing, we're banding a few times a week. Today, we banded this male's chicks and his helper 🐦 Happy holidays from cOnr! 🎄
@sramellini.bsky.social @franhckr.bsky.social #ornithology #birds #superbfairywren
December 23, 2024 at 11:30 PM
Reposted by Richard S. Turner
bou.org.uk
Helpers-at-the nest mitigate the costs of cowbird brood parasitism in brown-and-yellow marshbirds | link.springer.com/ar... | Ornithology Research | #ornithology 🪶
December 17, 2024 at 9:30 AM
rsturner.bsky.social
Fantastic #PhD position at @scienceanu.bsky.social working on unquestionably the coolest honeyeater - the noisy friarbird!

Kind of makes me want to go back to Australia to do a second PhD!
damienfarine.bsky.social Damien Farine @damienfarine.bsky.social · Dec 16
Fully funded PhD position available!

Join us at @scienceanu.bsky.social to work on an exciting project that was recently funded by the ARC.

Applications close 27th January. See our website for more details:
sites.google.com/site/drfarin...

Contact myself or @jamesklarevas.bsky.social for details.
December 17, 2024 at 4:18 PM
rsturner.bsky.social
Another fantastic morning #birdringing ( #birdbanding ) w/ Lothian Ringing Group. 64 birds ringed (+30 retraps) from 13 species. Highlights included: reed bunting, siskin, and redwing.

All birds handled and ringed under licence from @btobirds.bsky.social

#ukbirding #ornithology
long-tailed tit in the hand after being ringed. male bullfinch in the hand after being ringed. redwing in the hand after being ringed. female reed bunting in the hand after being ringed.
December 14, 2024 at 3:23 PM
rsturner.bsky.social
📢If you manage #woodlands or #treescapes in the #UK — whether for #timber production, nature #conservation, recreation, #agroforestry, or other purposes — we would love to hear from you. 🌳🧪

Please complete our short questionnaire (5-10 minutes): survey.napier.ac.uk/n/treeprotec...

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A roe deer fawn standing in a field of wildflowers. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 © Phillipe Lhote A grey squirrel descending a tree. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 © Dennis Church A field of tree saplings in plastic tree tubes. CC BY-SA 2.0 © Mike Faherty A wood mouse grasping on to an acorn at the end of a broken branch. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 © Hanna Knutson
December 12, 2024 at 3:20 PM