Ollie Metcalf
@ollie333.bsky.social
Birds, ecoacoustics, ecology, and conservation. Live in the UK. Postdoc at Lancaster University.
Highlight of yesterday's seawatch from Sandsend Quarries with @chrisgomersall1.bsky.social was the appearance of large mixed flocks of Little Gull and Kittiwake once the wind eased a bit. #birding #ukbirding
October 26, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Highlight of yesterday's seawatch from Sandsend Quarries with @chrisgomersall1.bsky.social was the appearance of large mixed flocks of Little Gull and Kittiwake once the wind eased a bit. #birding #ukbirding
Sandsend Quarries, second quarry. 3 Yellow-browed Warblers in the half dozen trees you can get to, god knows what else is lurking in there. 3 of 11 YBW in Whitby area today.
October 14, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Sandsend Quarries, second quarry. 3 Yellow-browed Warblers in the half dozen trees you can get to, god knows what else is lurking in there. 3 of 11 YBW in Whitby area today.
Clearest views I've ever managed up the coast from Kettleness, but not sure how far im seeing...are the tower blocks Sunderland or Hartlepool? And if so where is the final headland? Any Durham birders help me out?
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Clearest views I've ever managed up the coast from Kettleness, but not sure how far im seeing...are the tower blocks Sunderland or Hartlepool? And if so where is the final headland? Any Durham birders help me out?
A dash to Filey saw us descending to the Brigg in moonlight to get Purple Sandpiper. We equalled the record with a Barn Owl and broke it with an underwhelming Red-legged Partridge on the way home. New Yorkshire Bird race record of 157!
May 11, 2025 at 10:05 AM
A dash to Filey saw us descending to the Brigg in moonlight to get Purple Sandpiper. We equalled the record with a Barn Owl and broke it with an underwhelming Red-legged Partridge on the way home. New Yorkshire Bird race record of 157!
The tree holding the lonely male Willow Tit at North Duffield, and Skipwith Common NNR, where we've been MOTUS tagging Jack Snipe. Sponsor us (link above) so we can continue...
May 10, 2025 at 1:53 PM
The tree holding the lonely male Willow Tit at North Duffield, and Skipwith Common NNR, where we've been MOTUS tagging Jack Snipe. Sponsor us (link above) so we can continue...
Quick detour into suburban Sheffield for some Cat C dross with Mandarin+Ring-necked Parakeet. Saw a Jay. Made a friend. Left on 69. Sponsor us and help us by some MOTUS tags for Jack Snipe #birds #Yorkshirebirding
www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
May 10, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Quick detour into suburban Sheffield for some Cat C dross with Mandarin+Ring-necked Parakeet. Saw a Jay. Made a friend. Left on 69. Sponsor us and help us by some MOTUS tags for Jack Snipe #birds #Yorkshirebirding
www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
Stop 3. Redmires Resv first light. 24 hr Yorkshire Bird Race. 33 species, Grasshopper Warbler reeling, Woodcock roding. See above for donation page 🪶
May 10, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Stop 3. Redmires Resv first light. 24 hr Yorkshire Bird Race. 33 species, Grasshopper Warbler reeling, Woodcock roding. See above for donation page 🪶
Stop 1 of Yorkshire 24 hr Bird Race. 00:30 and 15 species. Highlights include Bittern, Cetti's, Barnacle Goose and Badger. Donate here to support @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social @ldvnnr.bsky.social Jack Snipe project www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
May 9, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Stop 1 of Yorkshire 24 hr Bird Race. 00:30 and 15 species. Highlights include Bittern, Cetti's, Barnacle Goose and Badger. Donate here to support @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social @ldvnnr.bsky.social Jack Snipe project www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
First visit of the year to the coastal patch at Whitby. Lovely weather and plenty of migrants with a stunning male Ring Ouzel, 3 male White Wagtails, a Yellow Wagtail, 24 Wheatear and a steady trickle of hirundines. #UKbirding #Yorkshirebirding #birds
April 13, 2025 at 9:04 PM
First visit of the year to the coastal patch at Whitby. Lovely weather and plenty of migrants with a stunning male Ring Ouzel, 3 male White Wagtails, a Yellow Wagtail, 24 Wheatear and a steady trickle of hirundines. #UKbirding #Yorkshirebirding #birds
February 5, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Plus my first Corn Buntings in the hand - proper chonks!
January 16, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Plus my first Corn Buntings in the hand - proper chonks!
And a video of the Russian White-fronted Geese at North Duffield Ings
January 16, 2025 at 9:09 PM
And a video of the Russian White-fronted Geese at North Duffield Ings
Mist and ice have made for a tricky weeks birding in the @ldvnnr.bsky.social, but still managed drk Smew, Scaup, WF Geese, and some atmospheric scenery.
January 16, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Mist and ice have made for a tricky weeks birding in the @ldvnnr.bsky.social, but still managed drk Smew, Scaup, WF Geese, and some atmospheric scenery.
Hint of the aurora over Wheldrake for New Year's Day. Not really visible to the naked eye over all the Christmas light pollution, but came out OK on the phone.
January 1, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Hint of the aurora over Wheldrake for New Year's Day. Not really visible to the naked eye over all the Christmas light pollution, but came out OK on the phone.
15. A big shout out to fellow first author Cassio Alencar Nunes who did all the hard bits, and co-authors Carlos Abrahams, Fabricio Baccaro, Tom Bradfer-Lawrence, @alexanderlees.bsky.social, Erica do Vale, and @josbarlow.bsky.social. Thanks for reading!
December 13, 2024 at 6:51 PM
15. A big shout out to fellow first author Cassio Alencar Nunes who did all the hard bits, and co-authors Carlos Abrahams, Fabricio Baccaro, Tom Bradfer-Lawrence, @alexanderlees.bsky.social, Erica do Vale, and @josbarlow.bsky.social. Thanks for reading!
14. Soil ecoacoustics is a really exciting, really new field, there’s loads more to be discovered – we look forward to getting to grips with a much larger soil ecoacoustic dataset from a range of sites across the Amazon in 2025.
December 13, 2024 at 6:51 PM
14. Soil ecoacoustics is a really exciting, really new field, there’s loads more to be discovered – we look forward to getting to grips with a much larger soil ecoacoustic dataset from a range of sites across the Amazon in 2025.
13. Unfortunately, gamma diversity indices could only predict richness when it was driven by high average richness in each one minute soundscape, and not by turnover (e.g. having different sound types in different soundscapes). Probably not very useful for real-life monitoring!
December 13, 2024 at 6:51 PM
13. Unfortunately, gamma diversity indices could only predict richness when it was driven by high average richness in each one minute soundscape, and not by turnover (e.g. having different sound types in different soundscapes). Probably not very useful for real-life monitoring!
10. But we did find that combinations of indices predicted diversity metrics pretty well, particularly abundance, but also for fairly low values of richness. So acoustic indices, used in combination, can be effective proxies for soil diversity metrics – but only at alpha (1 minute) scales.
December 13, 2024 at 6:51 PM
10. But we did find that combinations of indices predicted diversity metrics pretty well, particularly abundance, but also for fairly low values of richness. So acoustic indices, used in combination, can be effective proxies for soil diversity metrics – but only at alpha (1 minute) scales.
9. Firstly, we found that no single index responded to acoustic richness or abundance in a way that would make it a good predictor, most saturated at quite low values.
December 13, 2024 at 6:51 PM
9. Firstly, we found that no single index responded to acoustic richness or abundance in a way that would make it a good predictor, most saturated at quite low values.
8. We synthesised soundscapes with known richness and abundance using these unique sounds, and calculated a range of commonly used acoustic indices, as well as some others we thought suited soil sounds.
December 13, 2024 at 6:51 PM
8. We synthesised soundscapes with known richness and abundance using these unique sounds, and calculated a range of commonly used acoustic indices, as well as some others we thought suited soil sounds.
7. We recorded soil fauna sounds in both the Brazilian Amazon (Erica do Vale) and the UK (Carlos Abrahams), including recordings of ants, termites, cicada larvae, earthworms, and voles.
December 13, 2024 at 6:51 PM
7. We recorded soil fauna sounds in both the Brazilian Amazon (Erica do Vale) and the UK (Carlos Abrahams), including recordings of ants, termites, cicada larvae, earthworms, and voles.
5. Earlier this year, we showed that soils sound different in tropical forests that have been burnt vs forests that have never been impacted by fire linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1470160X24000232. To do this, we used acoustic indices, statistical measures of variation in acoustic energy.
December 13, 2024 at 6:51 PM
5. Earlier this year, we showed that soils sound different in tropical forests that have been burnt vs forests that have never been impacted by fire linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1470160X24000232. To do this, we used acoustic indices, statistical measures of variation in acoustic energy.
2. Did you know it’s possible to listen to animals underground? In the last few years, pioneering researchers have found ways to listen to soil soundscapes - and learning more about soil ecology as a consequence.
December 13, 2024 at 6:51 PM
2. Did you know it’s possible to listen to animals underground? In the last few years, pioneering researchers have found ways to listen to soil soundscapes - and learning more about soil ecology as a consequence.
Our research group has a !NEW PAPER! out on soil ecoacoustics - The efficacy of acoustic indices for monitoring abundance and diversity in soil soundscapes in Ecological Indicators. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... A 🧵 on soil ecoacoustics...
#science #ecology #ecoacoustics #bioacoustics
#science #ecology #ecoacoustics #bioacoustics
December 13, 2024 at 6:51 PM
Our research group has a !NEW PAPER! out on soil ecoacoustics - The efficacy of acoustic indices for monitoring abundance and diversity in soil soundscapes in Ecological Indicators. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... A 🧵 on soil ecoacoustics...
#science #ecology #ecoacoustics #bioacoustics
#science #ecology #ecoacoustics #bioacoustics
Brilliant evening ringing in the @ldvnnr.bsky.social to understand connectivity between reserves and surrounding farmland.
December 10, 2024 at 12:16 PM
Brilliant evening ringing in the @ldvnnr.bsky.social to understand connectivity between reserves and surrounding farmland.