John Marchant
@johnmarchant.bsky.social
Birds, moths and other British wildlife: I have helped record our declining bird diversity for 50+ years as a BTO staffer and volunteer - in retirement, enjoying what’s left, and paying more attention to other taxa.
I have 170 records, all in BirdTrack, but I’m not sure I’ll ever see another. I never did get to see one in Lincolnshire.
November 4, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I have 170 records, all in BirdTrack, but I’m not sure I’ll ever see another. I never did get to see one in Lincolnshire.
If this is a Cackling Goose it’s closest to B. h. minima but, given its size, it’s more likely part of the hybrid population of Cackling, Canada and Barnacle Geese spawned by aviculturalists and now booming in the Netherlands. Bar-headed in the flock also probably from there. Walberswick, 22 Oct.
October 31, 2025 at 9:46 PM
If this is a Cackling Goose it’s closest to B. h. minima but, given its size, it’s more likely part of the hybrid population of Cackling, Canada and Barnacle Geese spawned by aviculturalists and now booming in the Netherlands. Bar-headed in the flock also probably from there. Walberswick, 22 Oct.
Spoonbill feeding busily at Redgrave Fen this morning! #suffolkbirds
September 6, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Spoonbill feeding busily at Redgrave Fen this morning! #suffolkbirds
Kenfig, 4 Sep 1982. The original British Little Whimbrel…
August 25, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Kenfig, 4 Sep 1982. The original British Little Whimbrel…
New favourite moth! Dark Crimson Underwing from the house wall on Saturday. A first for TM18, I believe.
July 28, 2025 at 8:51 AM
New favourite moth! Dark Crimson Underwing from the house wall on Saturday. A first for TM18, I believe.
We have a Tree Snipefly in our kitchen! Just a handful of Norfolk records, I think. #ukdiptera #panspeciesrecording @dipteristsforum.bsky.social
July 5, 2025 at 10:37 AM
We have a Tree Snipefly in our kitchen! Just a handful of Norfolk records, I think. #ukdiptera #panspeciesrecording @dipteristsforum.bsky.social
The Blyth’s Reed Warbler currently by the River Tweed is not getting enough love! A birding highlight for me. Video from 1 July. A solitary fisherman was the only other human in sight.
July 4, 2025 at 10:16 AM
The Blyth’s Reed Warbler currently by the River Tweed is not getting enough love! A birding highlight for me. Video from 1 July. A solitary fisherman was the only other human in sight.
Two hot, windy and wet nights of trapping in Purbeck this week have given my British moth list another big boost. These were some of my favourites.
June 28, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Two hot, windy and wet nights of trapping in Purbeck this week have given my British moth list another big boost. These were some of my favourites.
More, these taken 20 June 1975. Steller’s Eider now joins Nutcracker, Slender-billed Gull and Yellow-breasted Bunting on my personal category B: birds I’ve seen in Britain but not for >50 years…
June 20, 2025 at 8:49 AM
More, these taken 20 June 1975. Steller’s Eider now joins Nutcracker, Slender-billed Gull and Yellow-breasted Bunting on my personal category B: birds I’ve seen in Britain but not for >50 years…
Remembering the fine drake Steller’s Eider resident off South Uist in the 1970s: I took these photos on 19 June 1975, 50 years ago today! I’d seen him before, in May 1974. #UKbirding
June 19, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Remembering the fine drake Steller’s Eider resident off South Uist in the 1970s: I took these photos on 19 June 1975, 50 years ago today! I’d seen him before, in May 1974. #UKbirding
Here’s one from my compost heap in TM18, one of your blank squares. I’ll iRecord it if you can tell me what it is. I just have phone snaps, unfortunately.
June 17, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Here’s one from my compost heap in TM18, one of your blank squares. I’ll iRecord it if you can tell me what it is. I just have phone snaps, unfortunately.
A female Diphyus quadripunctorius, I believe, in our kitchen in TM18, south Norfolk. No NBN records anywhere near!
June 17, 2025 at 8:19 PM
A female Diphyus quadripunctorius, I believe, in our kitchen in TM18, south Norfolk. No NBN records anywhere near!
I think this beetle that visited my (actinic) patio light during last night’s thunderstorm is Pseudocistela ceramboides. Seems to have just a couple of Norfolk records and none yet in TM18 - is that right, please? @carabidaeuk.bsky.social
June 14, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I think this beetle that visited my (actinic) patio light during last night’s thunderstorm is Pseudocistela ceramboides. Seems to have just a couple of Norfolk records and none yet in TM18 - is that right, please? @carabidaeuk.bsky.social
Reference lists in papers I copy edit are often a garbled mess, and rarely in the required format - but I enjoyed finding this gem of a typo today!
June 8, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reference lists in papers I copy edit are often a garbled mess, and rarely in the required format - but I enjoyed finding this gem of a typo today!
I’m hoping these snatched phone snaps today from Wortham Ling will be enough to convince @suffolkmoths.bsky.social of two species apparently new to the region #teammoth.
April 28, 2025 at 1:20 PM
I’m hoping these snatched phone snaps today from Wortham Ling will be enough to convince @suffolkmoths.bsky.social of two species apparently new to the region #teammoth.
Excited to find this Bar-tailed Godwit at Dickleburgh Moor (near Diss, Norfolk) this afternoon on my way back from the coast. It’s my 29th wader species for this extraordinary site. Whimbrel (my 28th) just minutes earlier!
April 23, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Excited to find this Bar-tailed Godwit at Dickleburgh Moor (near Diss, Norfolk) this afternoon on my way back from the coast. It’s my 29th wader species for this extraordinary site. Whimbrel (my 28th) just minutes earlier!
Scarlet Tanager and Indigo Bunting were, taxonomically at least, the last birds I needed to complete my British bird list. Thanks @birdtrack.bsky.social !
March 20, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Scarlet Tanager and Indigo Bunting were, taxonomically at least, the last birds I needed to complete my British bird list. Thanks @birdtrack.bsky.social !
Another addition to the moths recorded in TM18, S Norfolk, last night.
February 25, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Another addition to the moths recorded in TM18, S Norfolk, last night.
The Pied Crow by the chippy above Cromer Pier on 22 June 2018. Not shy - I think I was sat at the next table.
February 4, 2025 at 6:02 PM
The Pied Crow by the chippy above Cromer Pier on 22 June 2018. Not shy - I think I was sat at the next table.
Very dapper male Sparrowhawk in the garden: like me, watching the bird feeders intensely and wondering where all the Greenfinches are this winter.
December 6, 2024 at 3:11 PM
Very dapper male Sparrowhawk in the garden: like me, watching the bird feeders intensely and wondering where all the Greenfinches are this winter.
Cypress Carpet has brought my garden moth list nominally to its first target number of 500 - though some of these are aggregates and a minor purge of unrepeated early records is overdue. #TeamMoth
October 29, 2024 at 6:00 PM
Cypress Carpet has brought my garden moth list nominally to its first target number of 500 - though some of these are aggregates and a minor purge of unrepeated early records is overdue. #TeamMoth
Todays Red-throated Diver at RSPB Snettisham - an adult still mostly in breeding plumage. #UKbirding
October 10, 2024 at 10:09 PM
Todays Red-throated Diver at RSPB Snettisham - an adult still mostly in breeding plumage. #UKbirding