Alexander Lees
@alexanderlees.bsky.social
Birds, science, politics. Reader Man Met Uni, Associate Cornell Lab of #Ornithology, Chair BOURC, Trustee @bou.org.uk SC @ras-network.bsky.social. Usually found in the #PeakDistrict or #Amazonia, he/him. Views own.
Reposted by Alexander Lees
While the rest of the world was at #COP30, the U.S. government was busy rolling back bedrock environmental protections www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/c...
In One Week, Trump Moves to Reshape U.S. Environmental Policy
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:27 PM
While the rest of the world was at #COP30, the U.S. government was busy rolling back bedrock environmental protections www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/c...
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Granted I have had less time for birding in Longdendale @peakdistrict.bsky.social this year but I have seen just the one (1) Wheatear... also 1 Whinchat and no Redstart at all...
#UKBirding
#UKBirding
Where are all the wheatears?
After a blank spring for sightings of an iconic common migrant in his local area, our columnist weighs up the pros and cons of south-coast birding:
After a blank spring for sightings of an iconic common migrant in his local area, our columnist weighs up the pros and cons of south-coast birding:
David Campbell: where are all the wheatears?
After a blank spring for sightings of an iconic common migrant in his local area, our columnist weighs up the pros and cons of south-coast birding.
bit.ly
November 22, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Granted I have had less time for birding in Longdendale @peakdistrict.bsky.social this year but I have seen just the one (1) Wheatear... also 1 Whinchat and no Redstart at all...
#UKBirding
#UKBirding
Reposted by Alexander Lees
After two weeks of #COP30 negotiations, countries agreed to BEGIN DISCUSSIONS on fossil fuel phase out. And as the article says, "they achieved this incremental progress only in the teeth of implacable opposition from oil-producing countries."
THIS is the problem with requiring unanimous decisions.
THIS is the problem with requiring unanimous decisions.
End of fossil fuel era inches closer as Cop30 deal agreed after bitter standoff
Wealthy countries agree to triple funds for countries to tackle climate impacts, but deforestation and critical minerals blocked from final deal
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:52 PM
After two weeks of #COP30 negotiations, countries agreed to BEGIN DISCUSSIONS on fossil fuel phase out. And as the article says, "they achieved this incremental progress only in the teeth of implacable opposition from oil-producing countries."
THIS is the problem with requiring unanimous decisions.
THIS is the problem with requiring unanimous decisions.
Reposted by Alexander Lees
“Moraes said Bolsonaro’s electronic ankle monitor had been tampered with at 12.08am on Saturday. That suggested “the convict had planned to break the ankle monitor in order to ensure the success of his escape, aided by the confusion caused by the protest”
Brazilian police arrest Bolsonaro amid suspicions he was about to flee
Politician reportedly taken from his villa into custody at a federal police base about 7 miles from presidential palace
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:43 PM
“Moraes said Bolsonaro’s electronic ankle monitor had been tampered with at 12.08am on Saturday. That suggested “the convict had planned to break the ankle monitor in order to ensure the success of his escape, aided by the confusion caused by the protest”
Reposted by Alexander Lees
"Meta internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10 per cent of its overall annual revenue — or $16bn — from running advertising for scams and banned goods, internal company documents show" - Reuters www.ft.com/content/4560...
We have to be able to hold tech platforms accountable for fraud
Algorithms ensure that people who click on scams are likely to see more of them
www.ft.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:50 AM
"Meta internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10 per cent of its overall annual revenue — or $16bn — from running advertising for scams and banned goods, internal company documents show" - Reuters www.ft.com/content/4560...
This hits hard:
"It was, notably, published six months before ChatGPT was released—the demarcation line after which you could no longer assume a sentence had been produced by a human."
thelocal.to/investigatin...
"It was, notably, published six months before ChatGPT was released—the demarcation line after which you could no longer assume a sentence had been produced by a human."
thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 22, 2025 at 12:04 PM
This hits hard:
"It was, notably, published six months before ChatGPT was released—the demarcation line after which you could no longer assume a sentence had been produced by a human."
thelocal.to/investigatin...
"It was, notably, published six months before ChatGPT was released—the demarcation line after which you could no longer assume a sentence had been produced by a human."
thelocal.to/investigatin...
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Are you an MSc student based at a UK university? Or do you know one?
RSPB @rspbscience.bsky.social have just released their list of research projects for 2026:
www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu...
#ornithology #conservationscience 🌍
RSPB @rspbscience.bsky.social have just released their list of research projects for 2026:
www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu...
#ornithology #conservationscience 🌍
Postgraduate opportunities
The RSPB is offering a variety of exciting research projects for postgraduate students in 2026.
www.rspb.org.uk
November 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Are you an MSc student based at a UK university? Or do you know one?
RSPB @rspbscience.bsky.social have just released their list of research projects for 2026:
www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu...
#ornithology #conservationscience 🌍
RSPB @rspbscience.bsky.social have just released their list of research projects for 2026:
www.rspb.org.uk/helping-natu...
#ornithology #conservationscience 🌍
Even consummate migrants like Corncrakes can end up being ship-assisted, although presumably being adopted by a family and fed prawns is a rarer occurrence.... #UKBirding #Ornithology
www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2563328...
www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2563328...
November 22, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Even consummate migrants like Corncrakes can end up being ship-assisted, although presumably being adopted by a family and fed prawns is a rarer occurrence.... #UKBirding #Ornithology
www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2563328...
www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/2563328...
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Now online in Journal of #Ornithology
Cryptic diversity in the Amazonian Red-shouldered Tanager (Tachyphonus phoenicius) Swainson 1838 with a neotype designation and revalidation of Tachyphonus saucius Strickland 1844
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Cryptic diversity in the Amazonian Red-shouldered Tanager (Tachyphonus phoenicius) Swainson 1838 with a neotype designation and revalidation of Tachyphonus saucius Strickland 1844
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Cryptic diversity in the Amazonian Red-shouldered Tanager (Tachyphonus phoenicius) Swainson 1838 with a neotype designation and revalidation of Tachyphonus saucius Strickland 1844 - Journal of Ornitho...
The Amazon is home to the greatest bird diversity in the world, but its avian diversity is still underestimated, partially due to cryptic diversity. An accurate assessment of cryptic species is necess...
link.springer.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Now online in Journal of #Ornithology
Cryptic diversity in the Amazonian Red-shouldered Tanager (Tachyphonus phoenicius) Swainson 1838 with a neotype designation and revalidation of Tachyphonus saucius Strickland 1844
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Cryptic diversity in the Amazonian Red-shouldered Tanager (Tachyphonus phoenicius) Swainson 1838 with a neotype designation and revalidation of Tachyphonus saucius Strickland 1844
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Missed out on #BOUasm25? There's more to come!
UPCOMING BOU CONFERENCES
➡️ BIRDS AND PEOPLE #BOU2026
➡️ AVIAN FUTURES #BOUasm26
➡️ AVIAN DIESEASE ECOLOGY #BOU2027
More details here ➡️ bou.org.uk/conferenc...
#BOUasm25 #ornithology
UPCOMING BOU CONFERENCES
➡️ BIRDS AND PEOPLE #BOU2026
➡️ AVIAN FUTURES #BOUasm26
➡️ AVIAN DIESEASE ECOLOGY #BOU2027
More details here ➡️ bou.org.uk/conferenc...
#BOUasm25 #ornithology
November 20, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Missed out on #BOUasm25? There's more to come!
UPCOMING BOU CONFERENCES
➡️ BIRDS AND PEOPLE #BOU2026
➡️ AVIAN FUTURES #BOUasm26
➡️ AVIAN DIESEASE ECOLOGY #BOU2027
More details here ➡️ bou.org.uk/conferenc...
#BOUasm25 #ornithology
UPCOMING BOU CONFERENCES
➡️ BIRDS AND PEOPLE #BOU2026
➡️ AVIAN FUTURES #BOUasm26
➡️ AVIAN DIESEASE ECOLOGY #BOU2027
More details here ➡️ bou.org.uk/conferenc...
#BOUasm25 #ornithology
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Tree cavities water-drinking birds in Brazil: outline based on a citizen science platform | link.springer.com/ar... | Ornithology Research | #ornithology 🪶
Tree cavities water-drinking birds in Brazil: outline based on a citizen science platform
Ornithology Research - Tree cavities are valuable resources for wildlife worldwide. Cavities serve various purposes including breeding, roosting, protection, thermoregulating and foraging. Among...
link.springer.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Tree cavities water-drinking birds in Brazil: outline based on a citizen science platform | link.springer.com/ar... | Ornithology Research | #ornithology 🪶
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Nice pics of Darnet, #Medway estuary.
For sale, £50k guide price, inc some mudflats.
No mention in a Ramsar, etc. Or how island acts as a retreat refuge for waders/ wildfowl when spring tides cover their (browner) saltings roosts.. 🤔
#KentBirding
#KentNature
auctions.savills.co.uk/auctions/10-...
For sale, £50k guide price, inc some mudflats.
No mention in a Ramsar, etc. Or how island acts as a retreat refuge for waders/ wildfowl when spring tides cover their (browner) saltings roosts.. 🤔
#KentBirding
#KentNature
auctions.savills.co.uk/auctions/10-...
November 20, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Nice pics of Darnet, #Medway estuary.
For sale, £50k guide price, inc some mudflats.
No mention in a Ramsar, etc. Or how island acts as a retreat refuge for waders/ wildfowl when spring tides cover their (browner) saltings roosts.. 🤔
#KentBirding
#KentNature
auctions.savills.co.uk/auctions/10-...
For sale, £50k guide price, inc some mudflats.
No mention in a Ramsar, etc. Or how island acts as a retreat refuge for waders/ wildfowl when spring tides cover their (browner) saltings roosts.. 🤔
#KentBirding
#KentNature
auctions.savills.co.uk/auctions/10-...
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Mean Chaffinch counts for a 160 ha ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire. Says it all.
November 20, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Mean Chaffinch counts for a 160 ha ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire. Says it all.
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Chaffinch locally extinct where I am. Probably four or five territories ten years ago. BBS on a 70 hectare farmland site with ancient woodland in Lancs last year, 1 singing make Chaffinch.
November 19, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Chaffinch locally extinct where I am. Probably four or five territories ten years ago. BBS on a 70 hectare farmland site with ancient woodland in Lancs last year, 1 singing make Chaffinch.
Didactic video featuring two species which have declined catastrophically due to disease transfer at feeding stations. Birds infected with Trichomonas struggle to eat and will drop food items from their beaks, which are then eaten by healthy birds, hence RSPB no longer sells table feeders #UKBirding
Greenfinch pair at Scaling Dam this morning @teesbirds.bsky.social @northyorksbirds.bsky.social #birds
November 19, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Didactic video featuring two species which have declined catastrophically due to disease transfer at feeding stations. Birds infected with Trichomonas struggle to eat and will drop food items from their beaks, which are then eaten by healthy birds, hence RSPB no longer sells table feeders #UKBirding
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Very cool paper in Nature! I will probably cover it on the Avian Hybrids blog in due time (even though it concerns mammals).
An ancient recombination desert is a speciation supergene in placental mammals
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
An ancient recombination desert is a speciation supergene in placental mammals
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
An ancient recombination desert is a speciation supergene in placental mammals - Nature
Deep learning methods identified a large and evolutionarily conserved X-linked low recombination region in placental mammals that serves as both a barrier to gene flow in hybridizing lineages and an a...
www.nature.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Very cool paper in Nature! I will probably cover it on the Avian Hybrids blog in due time (even though it concerns mammals).
An ancient recombination desert is a speciation supergene in placental mammals
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
An ancient recombination desert is a speciation supergene in placental mammals
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Inland diver hat trick
##UKBIRDING
##UKBIRDING
Divers still at Covenham Reservoir this morning
@lincsbirding.bsky.social
@lincswildlife.bsky.social
@rarebirder.bsky.social
#Birds #UKBirding
@lincsbirding.bsky.social
@lincswildlife.bsky.social
@rarebirder.bsky.social
#Birds #UKBirding
November 18, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Inland diver hat trick
##UKBIRDING
##UKBIRDING
More work.....
This Swallow at Balranald, N Uist this afternoon appears to be the American subspecies: erythrogaster due to the lack of a dark band across the lower throat.
November 18, 2025 at 10:38 AM
More work.....
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Fully funded PhD opportunity based at @york.ac.uk through the ECOWILD DTP working with a great supervisory team (!) on the impact of multiple stressors on wetland bird health www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Deadline 9th Jan 2026
A Toxic Brew? Evaluating Multi-Stressors (Chemicals and Pathogens) and their Impacts on Avian Health in UK Wetland Ecosystems at University of York on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - A Toxic Brew? Evaluating Multi-Stressors (Chemicals and Pathogens) and their Impacts on Avian Health in UK Wetland Ecosystems at University of York, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Fully funded PhD opportunity based at @york.ac.uk through the ECOWILD DTP working with a great supervisory team (!) on the impact of multiple stressors on wetland bird health www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Deadline 9th Jan 2026
Hard agree. Incredible that you can routinely drive in winter from Grantham to Norwich now and not see a single flock. It is increasingly becoming a bird of reserves and not the wider countryside, even in winter #UKBirding
Things have come to a pretty pass when it takes until mid-November to see my first Lapwing of the year at Girdle Ness. This one was in Greyhope Bay this morning. Maybe the bird that's undergone the most perceptible loss in British avifauna in my lifetime.
#Birds #BIrdingScotland #UKWildlife
#Birds #BIrdingScotland #UKWildlife
November 16, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Hard agree. Incredible that you can routinely drive in winter from Grantham to Norwich now and not see a single flock. It is increasingly becoming a bird of reserves and not the wider countryside, even in winter #UKBirding
Reposted by Alexander Lees
NEW PAPER: Introduced house sparrows showed more numerous, larger, and more variable DNA-methylation changes after simulated infection than native birds, suggesting distinct epigenetic responses that may aid introduction success.
➡️ vist.ly/4eq4a
#ornithology #birds #plasticity #stress 🪶
➡️ vist.ly/4eq4a
#ornithology #birds #plasticity #stress 🪶
November 16, 2025 at 2:04 PM
NEW PAPER: Introduced house sparrows showed more numerous, larger, and more variable DNA-methylation changes after simulated infection than native birds, suggesting distinct epigenetic responses that may aid introduction success.
➡️ vist.ly/4eq4a
#ornithology #birds #plasticity #stress 🪶
➡️ vist.ly/4eq4a
#ornithology #birds #plasticity #stress 🪶
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Our last paper describes the spring-accelerated loop-migration of the Woodchat Shrike, tracked with light- and multi-sensor geolocators link.springer.com/article/10.1... #ornithology
November 13, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Our last paper describes the spring-accelerated loop-migration of the Woodchat Shrike, tracked with light- and multi-sensor geolocators link.springer.com/article/10.1... #ornithology
Reposted by Alexander Lees
Reposted by Alexander Lees
🧪 Reshaping climate science policy
1. Tracking GHG emissions is stopping
2. Government climate workforce is shrinking
3. Climate information & advisory panels are disappearing
4. Climate-science doubters in positions of power
5. Policy shifts to deregulation
physicstoday.aip.org/news/five-wa...
1. Tracking GHG emissions is stopping
2. Government climate workforce is shrinking
3. Climate information & advisory panels are disappearing
4. Climate-science doubters in positions of power
5. Policy shifts to deregulation
physicstoday.aip.org/news/five-wa...
Five ways the second Trump term is reshaping climate science and policy
A review of federal actions on science, data, and policy in the administration's first eight months shows far-reaching consequences.
physicstoday.aip.org
November 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM
🧪 Reshaping climate science policy
1. Tracking GHG emissions is stopping
2. Government climate workforce is shrinking
3. Climate information & advisory panels are disappearing
4. Climate-science doubters in positions of power
5. Policy shifts to deregulation
physicstoday.aip.org/news/five-wa...
1. Tracking GHG emissions is stopping
2. Government climate workforce is shrinking
3. Climate information & advisory panels are disappearing
4. Climate-science doubters in positions of power
5. Policy shifts to deregulation
physicstoday.aip.org/news/five-wa...