Graham Appleton
@wadertales.bsky.social
Writer & life-long birdwatcher.
Formerly Director of Communications for BTO.
#WaderTales blogs about #waders #shorebirds #birds #ornithology
Formerly Director of Communications for BTO.
#WaderTales blogs about #waders #shorebirds #birds #ornithology
Farming can be good for breeding waders.
Blog based on research by Lilja Jóhannesdóttir:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/12/09/d... 🎂7️⃣
#ornithology
Blog based on research by Lilja Jóhannesdóttir:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/12/09/d... 🎂7️⃣
#ornithology
December 9, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Farming can be good for breeding waders.
Blog based on research by Lilja Jóhannesdóttir:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/12/09/d... 🎂7️⃣
#ornithology
Blog based on research by Lilja Jóhannesdóttir:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/12/09/d... 🎂7️⃣
#ornithology
Waders/shorebirds don't necessarily breed every year.
Taking a 'gap year' may be a sensible option:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2020/12/09/g... 🎂5️⃣
Paper by Eveling Tavera et al.
#ornithology
Taking a 'gap year' may be a sensible option:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2020/12/09/g... 🎂5️⃣
Paper by Eveling Tavera et al.
#ornithology
December 9, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Waders/shorebirds don't necessarily breed every year.
Taking a 'gap year' may be a sensible option:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2020/12/09/g... 🎂5️⃣
Paper by Eveling Tavera et al.
#ornithology
Taking a 'gap year' may be a sensible option:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2020/12/09/g... 🎂5️⃣
Paper by Eveling Tavera et al.
#ornithology
Reposted by Graham Appleton
At the end of every new road/track in Iceland is a new summer cottage, a tourist development, a newly planted forest or energy infrastructure.
All these developments impact breeding waders but the birds' problems start with the road.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
#ConservationScience🌍
All these developments impact breeding waders but the birds' problems start with the road.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
#ConservationScience🌍
December 5, 2025 at 7:11 AM
At the end of every new road/track in Iceland is a new summer cottage, a tourist development, a newly planted forest or energy infrastructure.
All these developments impact breeding waders but the birds' problems start with the road.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
#ConservationScience🌍
All these developments impact breeding waders but the birds' problems start with the road.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
#ConservationScience🌍
Blog about
* Broad-billed Sandpipers
* The latest Red List for waders/shorebirds and
* Aapa Mires
wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/12/08/b... 🎂
#ornithology
* Broad-billed Sandpipers
* The latest Red List for waders/shorebirds and
* Aapa Mires
wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/12/08/b... 🎂
#ornithology
December 8, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Blog about
* Broad-billed Sandpipers
* The latest Red List for waders/shorebirds and
* Aapa Mires
wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/12/08/b... 🎂
#ornithology
* Broad-billed Sandpipers
* The latest Red List for waders/shorebirds and
* Aapa Mires
wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/12/08/b... 🎂
#ornithology
Reposted by Graham Appleton
December 6, 2025 at 9:49 AM
1/4
Thread about head-starting (hatching eggs and raising chicks in captivity) starts with link to new paper from WWT & RSPB:
"When and why to give shorebirds a head start"
Then return rates, inbreeding issues and Curlew 👇
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#ornithology
Thread about head-starting (hatching eggs and raising chicks in captivity) starts with link to new paper from WWT & RSPB:
"When and why to give shorebirds a head start"
Then return rates, inbreeding issues and Curlew 👇
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#ornithology
December 6, 2025 at 9:49 AM
1/4
Thread about head-starting (hatching eggs and raising chicks in captivity) starts with link to new paper from WWT & RSPB:
"When and why to give shorebirds a head start"
Then return rates, inbreeding issues and Curlew 👇
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#ornithology
Thread about head-starting (hatching eggs and raising chicks in captivity) starts with link to new paper from WWT & RSPB:
"When and why to give shorebirds a head start"
Then return rates, inbreeding issues and Curlew 👇
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#ornithology
At the end of every new road/track in Iceland is a new summer cottage, a tourist development, a newly planted forest or energy infrastructure.
All these developments impact breeding waders but the birds' problems start with the road.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
#ConservationScience🌍
All these developments impact breeding waders but the birds' problems start with the road.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
#ConservationScience🌍
December 5, 2025 at 7:11 AM
At the end of every new road/track in Iceland is a new summer cottage, a tourist development, a newly planted forest or energy infrastructure.
All these developments impact breeding waders but the birds' problems start with the road.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
#ConservationScience🌍
All these developments impact breeding waders but the birds' problems start with the road.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
#ConservationScience🌍
Not everyone relies on AI ...
So far this year, over 19,000 people in 139 countries have read at least one WaderTales blog.
wadertales.wordpress.com/about/
The most popular of this year's blogs is "Making full use of tracking data".
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/m...
#ornithology
So far this year, over 19,000 people in 139 countries have read at least one WaderTales blog.
wadertales.wordpress.com/about/
The most popular of this year's blogs is "Making full use of tracking data".
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/m...
#ornithology
December 4, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Not everyone relies on AI ...
So far this year, over 19,000 people in 139 countries have read at least one WaderTales blog.
wadertales.wordpress.com/about/
The most popular of this year's blogs is "Making full use of tracking data".
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/m...
#ornithology
So far this year, over 19,000 people in 139 countries have read at least one WaderTales blog.
wadertales.wordpress.com/about/
The most popular of this year's blogs is "Making full use of tracking data".
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/05/06/m...
#ornithology
Reposted by Graham Appleton
New WaderTales blog.
How do roads impact breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Based on new paper by Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir et al
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#ornithology
How do roads impact breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Based on new paper by Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir et al
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#ornithology
December 2, 2025 at 9:42 AM
New WaderTales blog.
How do roads impact breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Based on new paper by Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir et al
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#ornithology
How do roads impact breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Based on new paper by Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir et al
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#ornithology
Roosting.
Energy conservation - not laziness.
See 'A place to roost'
wadertales.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/a...
#ornithology
Energy conservation - not laziness.
See 'A place to roost'
wadertales.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/a...
#ornithology
Snooze time for these Bar-tailed Godwits at Seaton Point, #Northumberland. #nebirding #birdsoftheworld @webs-gsmp.bsky.social @wadertales.bsky.social
December 4, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Roosting.
Energy conservation - not laziness.
See 'A place to roost'
wadertales.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/a...
#ornithology
Energy conservation - not laziness.
See 'A place to roost'
wadertales.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/a...
#ornithology
How effectively can listening devices 'count' breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/12/04/c...
Blog from 4 Dec 2024 based on paper by Jarrett & Willis
#ornithology
wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/12/04/c...
Blog from 4 Dec 2024 based on paper by Jarrett & Willis
#ornithology
December 4, 2025 at 8:04 AM
How effectively can listening devices 'count' breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/12/04/c...
Blog from 4 Dec 2024 based on paper by Jarrett & Willis
#ornithology
wadertales.wordpress.com/2024/12/04/c...
Blog from 4 Dec 2024 based on paper by Jarrett & Willis
#ornithology
Reposted by Graham Appleton
What impacts do roads have on Iceland's breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Latest paper from Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir has become WaderTales blog #153.
#ConservationEcology🌍
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Latest paper from Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir has become WaderTales blog #153.
#ConservationEcology🌍
December 2, 2025 at 5:30 PM
What impacts do roads have on Iceland's breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Latest paper from Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir has become WaderTales blog #153.
#ConservationEcology🌍
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Latest paper from Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir has become WaderTales blog #153.
#ConservationEcology🌍
Reposted by Graham Appleton
Latest wadertales blog on the very low numbers of breeding whimbrel, and other waders, around roads throughout lowland Iceland: wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
From our new @avianbiology.bsky.social paper nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #ornithology
From our new @avianbiology.bsky.social paper nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #ornithology
December 3, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Latest wadertales blog on the very low numbers of breeding whimbrel, and other waders, around roads throughout lowland Iceland: wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
From our new @avianbiology.bsky.social paper nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #ornithology
From our new @avianbiology.bsky.social paper nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #ornithology
Trees or breeding waders?
THREAD 1/4
There's little point paying farmers to leave space for breeding waders if their neighbours are going to plant trees.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
New review paper by Emma Sheard et al suggests that forests create ...
#ornithology
THREAD 1/4
There's little point paying farmers to leave space for breeding waders if their neighbours are going to plant trees.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
New review paper by Emma Sheard et al suggests that forests create ...
#ornithology
Woodland proximity limits benefits of conservation land management for farmland breeding waders
Where grassland breeding wader assemblages may be put at risk by tree planting, buffer zones >500 m should be implemented to mitigate the negative effect on wader species, with further distances havi...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 3, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Trees or breeding waders?
THREAD 1/4
There's little point paying farmers to leave space for breeding waders if their neighbours are going to plant trees.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
New review paper by Emma Sheard et al suggests that forests create ...
#ornithology
THREAD 1/4
There's little point paying farmers to leave space for breeding waders if their neighbours are going to plant trees.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
New review paper by Emma Sheard et al suggests that forests create ...
#ornithology
What impacts do roads have on Iceland's breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Latest paper from Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir has become WaderTales blog #153.
#ConservationEcology🌍
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Latest paper from Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir has become WaderTales blog #153.
#ConservationEcology🌍
December 2, 2025 at 5:30 PM
What impacts do roads have on Iceland's breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Latest paper from Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir has become WaderTales blog #153.
#ConservationEcology🌍
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Latest paper from Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir has become WaderTales blog #153.
#ConservationEcology🌍
New WaderTales blog.
How do roads impact breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Based on new paper by Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir et al
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#ornithology
How do roads impact breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Based on new paper by Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir et al
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#ornithology
December 2, 2025 at 9:42 AM
New WaderTales blog.
How do roads impact breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Based on new paper by Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir et al
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#ornithology
How do roads impact breeding waders?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/r...
Based on new paper by Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir et al
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#ornithology
Birdwatchers who are under 40 will not appreciate just how many breeding waders there were in Scottish farmland back in 1990.
If your benchmark is 2015, look at what happened in the previous 25 years:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/2... 🎂8️⃣
And things have not improved since:
#ornithology
If your benchmark is 2015, look at what happened in the previous 25 years:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/2... 🎂8️⃣
And things have not improved since:
#ornithology
25 years of wader declines
This article summarises a Bird Study paper arising from a 25-year Scottish study of breeding Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Redshank & Curlew. The story is set against a backdrop of a changing farming…
wadertales.wordpress.com
November 30, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Birdwatchers who are under 40 will not appreciate just how many breeding waders there were in Scottish farmland back in 1990.
If your benchmark is 2015, look at what happened in the previous 25 years:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/2... 🎂8️⃣
And things have not improved since:
#ornithology
If your benchmark is 2015, look at what happened in the previous 25 years:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/2... 🎂8️⃣
And things have not improved since:
#ornithology
Birdwatchers who are under 40 will not appreciate just how many breeding waders there were in Scottish farmland back in 1990.
If your benchmark is 2015, look at what happened in the previous 25 years:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/2... 🎂8️⃣
And things have not improved since:
#BirdingScotland
If your benchmark is 2015, look at what happened in the previous 25 years:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/2... 🎂8️⃣
And things have not improved since:
#BirdingScotland
25 years of wader declines
This article summarises a Bird Study paper arising from a 25-year Scottish study of breeding Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Redshank & Curlew. The story is set against a backdrop of a changing farming…
wadertales.wordpress.com
November 30, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Birdwatchers who are under 40 will not appreciate just how many breeding waders there were in Scottish farmland back in 1990.
If your benchmark is 2015, look at what happened in the previous 25 years:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/2... 🎂8️⃣
And things have not improved since:
#BirdingScotland
If your benchmark is 2015, look at what happened in the previous 25 years:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/2... 🎂8️⃣
And things have not improved since:
#BirdingScotland
Reposted by Graham Appleton
Reposted by Graham Appleton
1.5 million pairs of wader return to #Iceland each spring.
Where do they nest and how vulnerable are they to habitat changes, many of which are linked to 'development' proposals?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/i...
#ConservationScience🌍
Where do they nest and how vulnerable are they to habitat changes, many of which are linked to 'development' proposals?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/i...
#ConservationScience🌍
November 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM
1.5 million pairs of wader return to #Iceland each spring.
Where do they nest and how vulnerable are they to habitat changes, many of which are linked to 'development' proposals?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/i...
#ConservationScience🌍
Where do they nest and how vulnerable are they to habitat changes, many of which are linked to 'development' proposals?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/i...
#ConservationScience🌍
1.5 million pairs of wader return to #Iceland each spring.
Where do they nest and how vulnerable are they to habitat changes, many of which are linked to 'development' proposals?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/i...
#ConservationScience🌍
Where do they nest and how vulnerable are they to habitat changes, many of which are linked to 'development' proposals?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/i...
#ConservationScience🌍
November 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM
1.5 million pairs of wader return to #Iceland each spring.
Where do they nest and how vulnerable are they to habitat changes, many of which are linked to 'development' proposals?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/i...
#ConservationScience🌍
Where do they nest and how vulnerable are they to habitat changes, many of which are linked to 'development' proposals?
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/i...
#ConservationScience🌍
Love Tom's Purple Sandpipers! 👇
Species was 'red-listed' in 2022 - one of 13 waders on the UK Red List.
Blog "Into the red"
wadertales.wordpress.com/2022/10/04/u...
#ornithology
Species was 'red-listed' in 2022 - one of 13 waders on the UK Red List.
Blog "Into the red"
wadertales.wordpress.com/2022/10/04/u...
#ornithology
Purple Sandpipers on the Northumberland coast. #nebirding @webs-gsmp.bsky.social @wadertales.bsky.social
November 23, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Love Tom's Purple Sandpipers! 👇
Species was 'red-listed' in 2022 - one of 13 waders on the UK Red List.
Blog "Into the red"
wadertales.wordpress.com/2022/10/04/u...
#ornithology
Species was 'red-listed' in 2022 - one of 13 waders on the UK Red List.
Blog "Into the red"
wadertales.wordpress.com/2022/10/04/u...
#ornithology
Tagging of Icelandic Whimbrel led to a rethink of the migration map in 'Time to Fly'
Virtually all Icelandic Whimbrel fly directly from Iceland to Africa.
Blog from 21 Nov 2018 🎂
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/11/21/i...
#ornithology
Virtually all Icelandic Whimbrel fly directly from Iceland to Africa.
Blog from 21 Nov 2018 🎂
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/11/21/i...
#ornithology
November 21, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Tagging of Icelandic Whimbrel led to a rethink of the migration map in 'Time to Fly'
Virtually all Icelandic Whimbrel fly directly from Iceland to Africa.
Blog from 21 Nov 2018 🎂
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/11/21/i...
#ornithology
Virtually all Icelandic Whimbrel fly directly from Iceland to Africa.
Blog from 21 Nov 2018 🎂
wadertales.wordpress.com/2018/11/21/i...
#ornithology
Reposted by Graham Appleton
Restoring peatland.
Capturing carbon and providing breeding habitat for waders.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/p...
Paper by Rob Hughes & Chris Bingham
#ConservationScience🌍
Capturing carbon and providing breeding habitat for waders.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/p...
Paper by Rob Hughes & Chris Bingham
#ConservationScience🌍
November 17, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Restoring peatland.
Capturing carbon and providing breeding habitat for waders.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/p...
Paper by Rob Hughes & Chris Bingham
#ConservationScience🌍
Capturing carbon and providing breeding habitat for waders.
wadertales.wordpress.com/2025/08/16/p...
Paper by Rob Hughes & Chris Bingham
#ConservationScience🌍
Reposted by Graham Appleton
We saw a colour-ringed Oystercatcher on West Sands, St Andrews, yesterday. @jengill.bsky.social
She nests on the 9th green at Selfoss Golf Club (Iceland).
St Andrews seems an appropriate winter home!
A blog abou c.r. project:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2021/02/02/o...
#BirdingScotland
She nests on the 9th green at Selfoss Golf Club (Iceland).
St Andrews seems an appropriate winter home!
A blog abou c.r. project:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2021/02/02/o...
#BirdingScotland
November 13, 2025 at 11:50 AM
We saw a colour-ringed Oystercatcher on West Sands, St Andrews, yesterday. @jengill.bsky.social
She nests on the 9th green at Selfoss Golf Club (Iceland).
St Andrews seems an appropriate winter home!
A blog abou c.r. project:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2021/02/02/o...
#BirdingScotland
She nests on the 9th green at Selfoss Golf Club (Iceland).
St Andrews seems an appropriate winter home!
A blog abou c.r. project:
wadertales.wordpress.com/2021/02/02/o...
#BirdingScotland