Henry Cook
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hcbirding.bsky.social
Henry Cook
@hcbirding.bsky.social
2.9K followers 1.4K following 2.6K posts
Birder, naturalist, conservationist, hodophile. Views mine.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/8327273@N08/albums/

🌍 Suffolk, UK
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hcbirding.bsky.social
The immature shrike at North Warren RSPB. Identification of birds this age to species is not often possible, but a suite of features visible suggest Daurian Shrike (Lanius isabellinus) in this case IMHO - comments in alt text #RareBirdsUK #SuffolkBirding #UKBirding
A shrike, a predatory passerine, sits on a bramble stem amongst bracken and bramble. It is a small, sandy-coloured bird with a darker mask behind the eye and a hooked bill. Features supporting Daurian Shrike as an identification for this bird include: extensive buffy flanks stretching from rear flanks to ear coverts, coverts weren't very dark, crown concolorous with upperparts, rusty red tail throughout, weak brown ear covert mask, almost non-existent supercilium and limited markings on the crown.
November 16, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Henry Cook
carolinelucas.bsky.social
Watching Labour MPs take a wrecking ball to nature makes me so angry & so sad. Their action tonight voting down amendments to the #PlanningBill intended to protect wildlife & habitats from destruction is so reckless & so counterproductive. People didn’t vote Labour for this 👇
Housing secretary tells Labour MPs to vote down planning bill amendment
Amendment restricts protection for animals to allow faster house building
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Henry Cook
georgemonbiot.bsky.social
This is what many of us have been saying. Part 3 of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill is based on a myth: that we don't have enough homes because wildlife and green spaces are protected. It will solve nothing, and inflict terrible harm on our remaining ecosystems
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Nature not a blocker to housing growth, inquiry finds
Commons committee report challenges ‘lazy narrative’ used by ministers that scapegoats wildlife and the environment
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:12 PM
hcbirding.bsky.social
This Pallas's Warbler at Landguard Bird Observatory showed inside the compound the other day. #SuffolkBirding #UKBirding 🪶
November 16, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Henry Cook
waynedawsoneco.bsky.social
Pirri-Pirri Bur, Pampas grass, Wireweed: all plants from the S Hemisphere that are establishing in the UK. Can we explain current and predict future invasions by S Hemisphere plants? Apply for this NERC ACCE+ PhD project to find out: tinyurl.com/374ty2b7
Please Repost! @acce-dla.bsky.social
November 3, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Henry Cook
batconservation.bsky.social
Amendment 130 is the best chance to reduce the Planning and Infrastructure Bill’s risks to bat conservation. You can read more here: buff.ly/ACYQzDY

Email your MP in less than 2 minutes here: buff.ly/r43w7vE
November 8, 2025 at 11:45 AM
hcbirding.bsky.social
Staggeringly beautiful colours from the Silver Birches during the golden hour at #RSPBLakenheathFen
November 6, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Henry Cook
ukrbbp.bsky.social
Hoopoes bred in Leicestershire & Rutland in 2023, the first confirmed breeding record in the UK since 1996. Here’s the family - parents and three offspring. Can you see them all? Read more about rare breeding birds in 2023 at rbbp.org.uk/2023-report-...

📸 Carl Baggott
Five Hoopoes - the pair that bred in Leicestershire in 2023 with their three fledged young
November 5, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Henry Cook
guyshrubsole.bsky.social
This is absolutely appalling.

"The UK will not contribute to a flagship fund for the world’s remaining tropical forests, in a bitter blow to the Brazilian hosts on the eve of the Cop30 climate summit."

Absolutely pathetic.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
UK opts out of flagship fund to protect Amazon and other threatened tropical forests
Decision is bitter blow to Brazil ahead of fund’s launch at Cop30 – and an embarrassment to Prince William
www.theguardian.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:33 PM
hcbirding.bsky.social
A Red-legged Partridge from #RSPBLakenheathFen yesterday. Not a regular bird on the reserve. #SuffolkBirding #UKBirding
A game bird faces left. It has a plump brown body with flank striping going on, red bill and white supercillium.
November 5, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Reposted by Henry Cook
debbietann.bsky.social
👉 Last chance to influence the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Yes, I know, you may be sick of reading about this or feel you’ve already written to your MP several times or are running out of energy on this long running saga - BUT - please, for nature’s sake, write one more time. 1/3
November 3, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by Henry Cook
alexanderlees.bsky.social
The eBird taxonomic reshuffle is still underway, but Lagopus has been processed, and Red Grouse is now a UK species-level endemic #UKBirding
macaulaylibrary.org/asset/609783...
November 2, 2025 at 6:43 AM
hcbirding.bsky.social
Cetti's Warblers never perch up in the open! #UKBirding
November 1, 2025 at 6:33 PM
hcbirding.bsky.social
Whilst unloading the moth trap at #RSPBLakenheathFen I was thoroughly distracted by this Ichnuemon Wasp, which I think is Eutanyacra picta, with only 1 confirmed UK record on the NBN atlas! #PSL #PanSpeciesListing
A parasitic wasp with white-banded black and orange abdomen, plus yellow and black legs and antennae.
October 31, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Henry Cook
rspb.bsky.social
The Planning Bill is back in the Lords today - and it still falls short of the win-win for nature the Government says it wants.

We’re grateful to the Peers that have stepped up with vital fixes.

But today’s votes help decide whether this Bill truly delivers for nature & people. 👇
A Wren perches upright on a thin branch, singing with full force, tiny but defiant. Its wide open beak and stance capture the spirit of a voice raised for nature, echoing the urgency of today’s vote on the Planning Bill.
October 29, 2025 at 10:12 AM
hcbirding.bsky.social
Check out the ovipositor on that! A sizeable Dolichomitus wasp seen at #RSPBLakenheathFen today.
A large parasitic wasp perches on a log
October 28, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Reposted by Henry Cook
birdguides.bsky.social
A new proposal from a group of peers could disarm the most damaging aspect of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and reduce the risks that it currently poses to the UK's wildlife:
Nature charities urge backing of amendment to planning bill
A new proposal from a group of peers could disarm the most damaging aspect of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and reduce the risks that it currently poses to the UK's wildlife. The bill, as it currently stands, represents one of the largest dismantling of protections ever seen for the most precious wildlife habitats and species.
bit.ly
October 27, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Reposted by Henry Cook
rspb.bsky.social
Today, the Planning Bill returns to the Lords. And the future of nature in England’s planning system is on the line. 🌳⚠️

Peers must back the amendments* that protect wildlife, ensure accountability, and build nature back into our homes & communities.

*130, 140 & 245, 114, 148
A Robin perches upright on a branch, chest puffed out and beak open mid-song. Its stance and expression convey urgency: a symbol of nature’s voice calling out as the future of England’s planning system hangs in the balance.
October 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM
hcbirding.bsky.social
Captured this fly-by from a second-winter Mediterranean Gull on Bryher, Isles of Scilly. Maybe not as pure white-winged as an adult but still a very smart plumage #UKBirding #IoSBirding #IslesofScillyBirding
A second-winter Mediterranean Gull flies past in front of brown rocks and the sea below
October 26, 2025 at 9:27 AM
hcbirding.bsky.social
Lots of these Large Willow Aphids (Tuberolachnus salignus) roosting on willow branches at #RSPBLakenheathFen lately
A large aphid and several smaller ones on a branch
October 24, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Reposted by Henry Cook
birdlifeglobal.bsky.social
New hope for the Antipodean Albatross. 💫

@globalbirdfair.bsky.social has donated a record-breaking US $140,000 to support our Safeguarding Ocean Species project!

A huge thank you to the entire Global Birdfair community for their generous support. 🙏💙

Read more:
www.birdlife.org/news/2025/10...
Big boost for Antipodean Albatross – thanks to US$140,000 Global Birdfair funding
This record-breaking funding will support the Safeguarding Ocean Species project in Suva, Fiji.
www.birdlife.org
October 21, 2025 at 1:55 PM
hcbirding.bsky.social
Whilst so intently looking for doves on St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, last week we enjoyed superb views of this European Turtle Dove @sophieshrike.bsky.social #IoSBirding #IslesofScillyBirding #UKBirding
A small dove with orange-fringed upperparts and a buff-brown head and chest, with a characteristic black and white barred neck pattern of this species perches on a log with a background of a green Coprosma bush
October 19, 2025 at 3:19 PM
hcbirding.bsky.social
Strong autumn feeling at #RSPBLakenheathFen yesterday with Woodlark, Brambling and hundreds of Redwings over. #SuffolkBirding #UKBirding
A cobweb is made more visible with dew, and a sunrise in the background
October 17, 2025 at 8:18 AM
hcbirding.bsky.social
An already bad bill just got a whole lot worse for wildlife. This dreadful government's attitude towards nature is contemptuous.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Nature groups rebuke Reeves for ‘cynical’ 11th-hour planning bill changes
Chancellor accused of removing environmental protections to win short-term growth and save her budget
www.theguardian.com
October 15, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Reposted by Henry Cook
rarebirder.bsky.social
Conservation Pays Off for England's Smallest Seabird

RSPB projects and local volunteers deliver the strongest breeding results for Little Terns in over half a century. @Natures_Voice #seabirds
www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/C...
Conservation Pays Off for England’s Smallest Seabird
RSPB projects and local volunteers deliver the strongest breeding results for Little Terns in over half a century
www.rarebirdalert.co.uk
October 15, 2025 at 10:24 AM