Bygone birding: motor cyclist was knocked unconscious in freak collision with Grey Heron

Grey Heron - definitely not a bird to bump into 

Below: news report in  The Daily Telegraph 100 years ago (January 24, 1926):

                                              

                         

Bearded Reedling preserved for posterity - but perhaps not in a way that lifts the spirits

One has to wonder what sad circumstances resulted in this forlorn-looking  Bearded Reedling ending up in a semi-circular glass dome measuring 14 cm x 30cm. It is being offered in a sale to be held by  auction house Tennants of Leyburn in North Yorkshire on Friday January 30. Perhaps someone should buy it just to give it a decent burial in a reedbed. No guide price has been given.

RSPB recruiting for Spurn-based beach-nesting field officer for 2026 breeding season

Flypast of Oystercatchers over the Humber near Spurn

THE RSPB is recruiting for a Humber Beach-nesting Birds Field Officer for 16 weeks during the summer 2026 season.

The three species in the spotlight will be Ringed Plover, Little Tern and Oystercatcher.

Says the job description: "We are looking for an enthusiastic, practical person with ecological experience and good communication skills to join our Humber conservation team. 

"The successful candidate will support monitoring and protection of important beach nesting bird populations  on the north bank of the Humber in East Yorkshire.

"Beach nesting birds are a high conservation priority for the RSPB and this role will help towards securing a future for them."

As well as monitoring, additional duties will include:

* Maintenance of seasonal site fencing (including electric fencing), signage, and other infrastructure as required.

* Carrying out predator monitoring duties including deploying and maintaining trail cameras on site.

* Day-to-day engagement with beach users to inform, educate and raise awareness of beach nesting birds and their threats to empower positive behavioural change.

* Supporting a growing team of dedicated volunteers including assisting with inductions and on-site support as needed.

The successful applicant  will work closely with colleagues across organisations such as the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Spurn Bird Observatory and the Environment Agency.

The post is based at Spurn and  carries a salary equivalent of  £24,571 £26,231 per annum.

The contact for more details is mike.pilsworth@rspb.org.uk.

Closing date for applications is midnight on February 22.

Spurn on a hot and hazy day in summer

Ringed Plovers on the beach at Spurn

Enough is enough! RSPB and Wildlife Trusts decide to quit posting messages on social media platform X

                                   

TWO more wildlife organisations have decided to stop posting messages on  the social media platform, X., 

This is in protest at  X's artificial intelligence tool, Grok, which stands accused of allowing users to manipulate the images of  individuals so as to depict them in  a sexualised way.

Says the RSPB: "We have decided to make our organisational accounts private and remove our historical content.

“Leaving it public would pose a potential safeguarding risk to our staff, volunteers and supporters.”

However, the society says it will keep its X account in place in case it needs to be used in the future.

Meanwhile, the umbrella organisations of dozens of county wildlife groups, The Wildlife Trusts,  has decided to do likewise for similar reasons.

Another frontline organisation, the British Trust for Ornithology, led the way 12 months ago when it decided to fly the X nest. 

                               

Some like it cold! But Snow Buntings seem to have adapted well to climate warming - so far

                                 

'Resilent little polar birds' - Snow Buntings on the Lincolnshire Coast 

AN update on the current status of Snow Buntings in Britain has come from the RSPB.

The society says that around 60 pairs breed in the Cairngorms and others parts of the Scottish Highlands.

However, the population soars in winter when "10,000-15,000" birds migrate south, mostly from Iceland and Scandinavia.

The latest edition of  The RSPB Magazine states that this figure "has increased by a third over the past 40 years".

Potential places to see them include coastal fields, dunes and saltmarsh, especially along the North Sea.

Says the report: "They are tough birds, breeding further north than any small passerine.

"With dense feather insulation and a crouched walking habit to keep feet warm, Snow Buntings are well adapted to the cold.

"But they must feed constantly to sustain their high meabolism, so habitat protection and minimal disturbance is crucial."

The article concludes: "Climate change in their Arctic breeding grounds poses a serious challenge to these resilient little polar birds."

                         

Snow Bunting in  The Cairngorms where they breed on high ground 

     

It was 76 years ago this week that thrush-loving naturalist and novelist George Orwell died aged just 46

                                                          

Torrent of music - Song Thrush in full voice 

 

MIDWAY through  George Orwell’s famously gloomy and claustrophobic sixth novel, 1984, there comes a rare moment of joyousness and optimism. 

The protagonist Winston and his girlfriend, Julia, are sharing a moment of secluded togetherness - away from the attentions of Big Brother - when a Song Thrush alights on a bough not five metres away, then starts to "pour forth a torrent of song".  

"The music went on and on, minute after minute, with astonishing variations, almost as though the bird were deliberately showing off its virtuosity.  

"Sometimes it stopped for a few seconds, spread out and resettled its wings, then swelled its speckled breast and again burst into song.

"It was as though the flood of music were a kind of liquid stuff that poured all over Winston and got mixed up with the sunlight that filtered through the leaves." 

Since his boyhood in Henley-on-Thames, Orwell had always been a lover of nature, but he said that whenever he expressed his appreciation in his articles, left-wing political thinkers would regularly deride his attitude as being "bourgeois", "sentimental" or, "backward-looking, reactionary and slightly ridiculous".  

This is a view that continues to prevail among politicians today. In discussing planning policies, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, for instance, has been notably contemptuous - almost aggressive - in her utterances about the protection of bats and newts. 

In one of his pre-1984 essays, Orwell wrote: "People, so the thought runs, ought to be discontented, and it is our job to multiply our wants and not simply to increase our enjoyment of the things we have already.  

"But if a man cannot enjoy the return of Spring, why should he be happy in a labour-saving Utopia? What will he do with the leisure that the machine will give him?  

"I think that by retaining one's childhood love of such things as trees, fishes and butterflies, one makes a peaceful and decent future a little more probable." 

His essay concludes: "The bombs are piling up in the factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun, and neither the dictators nor the bureaucrats, deeply as they may disapprove of the process, are able to prevent it." 

To come back to the Song Thrush, during the frosty mornings of mid-January, at a time when many songbirds are still silent, they are now coming into in full and exuberant voice, confidently proclaiming their virtuosity as masterful musical soloists. 

It was this song which, as with Orwell,   also lifted the spirits of Britain's First World War Foreign Secretary, Edward Grey, at a time when his eyesight had all but gone. "If birds were endeavouring to please us by song, the thrush should be the first," he wrote in The Charm of Birds. "The bird does not rank in the highest class for quality, but he certainly comes high in the second class. His is undoubtedly a major song." 

Today, there far fewer thrushes than in the first half of the last century when the author of 1984 and Lord Grey could hear them almost anywhere. But happily, despite their population decline, they are still to be heard in many gardens and parks all over Britain. The music continues. 

It was on 21 January 76 years ago that Orwell died from TB in University College Hospital in London. He was aged just 46. 

Might his last encounter with nature have been the music of a Song Thrush singing outside his window?

A 'unique opportunity' beckons! Frontline British birding publication on look-out for new Editor

THE publishers of Birdwatch magazine are seeking an Editor to take the helm at  a title which is keenly read by many dedicated birders.

Says the job description: "This is a unique opportunity to take on a prominent role at Birdwatch magazine. 

"As Editor, you will be responsible for the production and output of this highly respected and popular birding publication. 

"You'll commission, edit and write engaging features, work with expert contributors and ensure that every issue inspires and informs our readers."

It continues: "You will also work closely with the team on Europe's leading birding website, BirdGuides.com, and be involved in new and exciting ventures into other media sectors.

"The ideal candidate will have strong editorial experience, a sharp eye for detail and excellent knowledge of British and Irish birding, as well as the enthusiasm, creativity and drive to help us achieve our ambitious goals.

"We would consider this role being carried out on a freelance basis for the right candidate."

It concludes: "If you would like to be considered for the above role, please apply online by visiting warners.gr/recruit or send in your CV with a cover letter and salary expectations to: Sharna Tomlinson, HR Manager, Warners Group Publications plc, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH."