Arto Maatta
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artom.bsky.social
Arto Maatta
@artom.bsky.social
1.2K followers 940 following 1.1K posts
Birding, moths, and general interest in nature. A retired Cell Biologist.
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Reposted by Arto Maatta
beaknikpoetry.bsky.social
A lone Snow Bunting sans snow. Southern Finland completely snowless, temperatures like they used to be in October. #BirdsSeenIn2025 🪶🐦🇫🇮
#NaturePhotography
A Snow Bunting on the ground with patches of weeds and grass in the background.
December 20, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
secondnaturemb.bsky.social
The pine grosbeaks have found the feeder. It's always such a treat to have these beautiful birds in the yard. #birds 🌿
A female pine grosbeak perches on a metal loop. The bird is a big, round, finch with grey feathers, higlighted with golden feathers on the head and rump. A male pine grosbeak perches on a metal hook. The large, round, fluffy finch is bright pink.
December 20, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
profmarciniak.bsky.social
Letter in yesterday’s Times that several of us @cambup-lifesci.cambridge.org medical professors signed

www.thetimes.com/article/3171...
December 19, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
fatpaulscholes.bsky.social
You can sign up here: www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/event/.... Sign up once for all three nights and dip in and out as you please. For FREE. Did I mention that? You do not need to be an SOC member or based in Scotland to join. All welcome! #BirdingScotland #RareBirdsUK #UKbirding
Scottish Birds Records Committee Online Conference
The SOC
www.the-soc.org.uk
December 18, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
fatpaulscholes.bsky.social
Christmas can be an expensive time of year, so how about something for free?

The @scottishbirding.bsky.social and Scottish Birds Records Committee are hosting a FREE online conference over the evenings of February 24th to the 26th. Three talks per night and some real belters among them.
December 18, 2025 at 9:14 PM
artom.bsky.social
#TeamMoth
rochellemeah.bsky.social Rochelle Meah @rochellemeah.bsky.social · 6d
Multiple anthropogenic stressors can negatively impact species but can a single stressor also have multiple, concurrent impacts? Here we show that light pollution creates several simultaneous impacts to the nocturnal movement ecology of a moth and a spider: tinyurl.com/5eku5bff (1/5)
December 18, 2025 at 9:04 PM
artom.bsky.social
Most likely the last moth of the year. A fresh Agonopterix arenella (Brindled Buff) was resting among logs in our back garden on Tuesday evening. Nice to end the year with a surprise garden ✅. Durham, VC66. #TeamMoth @teesbirds.bsky.social
Agonopterix arenella (Brindled Buff)
December 18, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
britishecologicalsociety.org
Tawny owls normally rely on sound to hunt, but new research being presented today at #BES2025 finds that owls in Glasgow are adapting to noisy roads by using street lights to hunt.

www.britishecologicalsociety.org/tawny-owls-a...
Tawny owls are turning to street lighting to help them hunt - BES
Tawny owls are turning to street lighting to help them hunt - BES is the largest scientific society for ecologists in Europe. We're working towards a world in which nature and people thrive.
www.britishecologicalsociety.org
December 17, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
emmasartworks.bsky.social
Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator) at the Marina in Hartlepool (UK) - fabulous looking ducks, a touch of the New Romantic about them (or maybe Punk?). Pen and watercolour from my own sketches and photos.
🐡🪶
#artAdventCalendar
Ink and watercolour sketches of Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator)
December 17, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
meganoconnorart.ca
I finished this drawing today: a hermit thrush. It’s one of my favourite local birds: they are a bit shy and sound like flutes in the trees. #Birds #SciArt
Coloured pencil drawing of a small brown and white bird with dark spots on the chest, perched on the branch of a conifer.
December 15, 2025 at 6:19 PM
artom.bsky.social
A very nice new annual bird report arrived by mail today: the 2024 Cleveland Bird Report by @teesmouthbirdclub.bsky.social Many thanks to everyone involved in writing it for fantastic work! @teesbirds.bsky.social #NEbirding
Cover of the Cleveland Bird Report 2024 by Teesmouth Bird Club. The cover has a photo of the Dark-eyed Junco that visited Hartlepool in May 2024.
December 15, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
birdguides.bsky.social
The world's oldest known bird has returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge for the 2025-26 breeding season:
Wisdom the Laysan Albatross returns to nest at Midway Atoll
The world's oldest known bird has returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge for the 2025-26 breeding season. 'Wisdom', a female Laysan Albatross, has reoccupied her regular nest site and is now preparing for another chance at parenthood. Wisdom was at least five years old when ringed in 1956, putting her age at approximately 75 years old.
bit.ly
December 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
artom.bsky.social
Friday night greetings from Lina #labrador !
December 12, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
kanebrides.bsky.social
📉 Our new paper shows Bewick’s Swan numbers in NW/NE Europe have fallen to ~12,900 birds - a 56.7% decline since 1995, with further losses predicted by 2026 unless survival or breeding success improves. Flyway-wide conservation is urgent. 🦢 Download paper > tidsskrift.dk/Wildfowl/art... #Ornithology
A flock of Bewick's Swans by Ben Cherry/WWT
December 12, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
jhmsparky.bsky.social
A bit of excitement at the house this morning as I was packing to #bird the Oregon Coast... where one of our targets would be a Townsend's Warbler.
Kelli shouted "Townie in the backyard!" and I ran to get my camera...
December 12, 2025 at 6:48 PM
artom.bsky.social
5 Waxwings still at Port Clarence playground now. #NEbirding @teesbirds.bsky.social
December 12, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
chorlnev.bsky.social
📣Please share: We are looking for a field assistant to join our team in studying #ruffs on coastal meadows at Botnian Bay in Finland. The job will provide fantastic insights into lekking behaviour and provide essential skills in field ornithology. Details here www.bi.mpg.de/2790786/2512...
December 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM
artom.bsky.social
The Red-necked Grebe at Boldon Flats was hiding when I was there. However, Peter Bell spotted a Bar-headed Goose arriving with Greylags. Probably the same escapee that was recently at Rainton Meadows. #NEbirding @teesbirds.bsky.social
Bar-headed Goose swimming on a pond. There are also three out-of-focus Lapwings in the background.
December 7, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
oldenoughtosay.com
did… did the dog write this recipe
10:26 < Chicken Ragù Bianco | 19 350-degree oven.) Step 5 Once the chicken has cooked, let it cool for a few minutes, then take it out of the liquid (but keep the cooking liquid in the pot) and let it cool until you can comfortably handle it. Pull off the skin and feed it to your dog, then pull off the meat in large shreds (chop the larger ones) and return the chicken to the cooking liquid.
December 6, 2025 at 6:22 PM
artom.bsky.social
A phonescoped pic of the long-staying female Ring-necked Duck at Druridge Bay CP today. #NEbirding #RareBirdsUK 🪶
A female Ring-necked Duck swimming on a lake.
December 4, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
alexanderlees.bsky.social
Huge News from the Western Amazon: it's the year 2025 and we are still describing entirely new, strikingly-distinctive large-bodied bird species! Behold Tinamus resonans sp. nov. the Slaty-masked Tinamou mapress.com/zt/article/v... #Ornithology @tetzoo.bsky.social 🪶
Photo montage of Tinamus resonans sp. nov., a new species of tinamou from the montane forests of the Serra do Divisor, western Amazonia, Brazil. The species is distinguished by a unique combination of plumage pattern, vocal repertoire, and ecological characteristics, including a conspicuous dark slate facial mask, vivid rufous-cinnamon underparts, and a uniform brownish-gray back. Its vocalizations are remarkable, consisting of long and powerful songs that echo strikingly across the steep montane slopes, producing a characteristic resonant effect. The species was documented exclusively at higher elevations within a transitional zone between submontane and stunted forests, where the understory is densely structured by root mats. A preliminary population estimate, based on field detections and spatial extrapolation, suggests approximately 2,106 individuals restricted to the Serra do Divisor massif. Although no immediate anthropogenic pressures were observed within its range, the species may be highly vulnerable to climate change and to proposed infrastructure projects that threaten the integrity of this federally protected region. The discovery of T. resonans highlights the biological uniqueness of the Serra do Divisor, reinforces its status as a center of montane endemism, and underscores the critical importance of maintaining its long-term conservation.
December 2, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
quantamagazine.bsky.social
A newly discovered archaeal cell has a tiny genome and can’t metabolize biomolecules. It’s upending biologists’ definition of a living thing. “These types of organisms have been found before, but not as extreme as this,” said microbiologist Thijs Ettema.
A Cell So Minimal That It Challenges Definitions of Life | Quanta Magazine
The newly described microbe represents a world of parasitic, intercellular biodiversity only beginning to be revealed by genome sequencing.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 30, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
edkeeble.bsky.social
Here's a backlit GND from the Stour earlier in the week. Beak open between dives. #BirdArt
November 30, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Arto Maatta
beaknikpoetry.bsky.social
A Northern Hawk-owl contemplating what's for supper tonight...
#Birds #owls #NaturePhotography
#BirdsSeenIn2025 🪶🦉🇫🇮
A Northern Hawk-owl on top of a dead spruce tree looking at a Hooded Crow below it with spread wings.
November 29, 2025 at 8:32 PM