Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
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bbs-birds.bsky.social
Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
@bbs-birds.bsky.social
1.1K followers 240 following 330 posts
The UK Breeding Bird Survey & Waterways Breeding Bird Survey; monitoring bird species with skilled volunteers. A @btobirds.bsky.social, @jncc.bsky.social and @rspb.bsky.social partnership. https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/breeding-bird-survey
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bbs-birds.bsky.social
Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) @bbs-birds.bsky.social · May 15
Falling finch numbers, fading farmland birds, declining Dippers and vanishing Cuckoo calls in England are worrying findings from the 2024 Breeding Bird Survey report out now! Read the report ➡️ www.bto.org/bbs-results

@btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology
bbs-birds.bsky.social
(1/) As well as being monitored by the Heronries Census since 1928, there is also a BBS trend for Grey Heron! It declined across the UK by 13% between 1995 and 2023. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology #CitizenScience
Grey Heron and trend graph.
November 26, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
btobirds.bsky.social
Want a FREE resource pack with an ID guide to 30 species you’re likely to see in your local greenspace? 🐦🌳 Sign up to our Birds in #Greenspaces newsletter to receive one! ➡️ www.bto.org/greenspaces #Ornithology 🪶

Illustrations by @willrose.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
bto-ni.bsky.social
(1/5) Our BTO NI Birdwatchers’ Conference at the start of November was a blast! 🪺 We had fascinating talks, brilliant birding, and a wonderful workshop on waders 👇
Attendees of the BTO NI Birdwatchers' Conference going around the stands, photo by Nia Potapova / BTO Photo of the audience attending the Birdwatchers' Conference, photo by Jemma Davies / BTO Photo from the birdwatching walk around the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre, by Nia Potapova / BTO A photo of Whooper and Mute Swans taken during the birdwatching walk in the Oxford Island Nature Reserve, photo by Nia Potapova / BTO
November 20, 2025 at 2:45 PM
bbs-birds.bsky.social
Occasionally, some more unusual species are recorded on BBS squares across the UK. Here are some of the species that were only recorded on a single square during the 2024 survey season. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology #CitizenScience
A list of species recorded on one BBS square across the UK in 2024.
November 20, 2025 at 8:00 AM
bbs-birds.bsky.social
(1/) This week, it's a throwback to the summer months with Common Tern! This elegant species declined by 4% between 1995 and 2023. The 10 year trend for this species shows a 20% decline across the UK. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology #CitizenScience
Common Tern and trend graph.
November 19, 2025 at 8:00 AM
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bto-gbw.bsky.social
🐦✨ Fieldfares are popping up in gardens again! Right on cue for the season. 🍂
If you hear that “chak-chak” call or spot those grey heads and speckled chests, add them to your weekly list! 📝

#UKBirding
A Fieldfare stands on snow. A medium-sized thrush with a grey head, grey rump, brown back and wings, and a patterned orange-yellow breast with dark speckles or chevrons. The beak is yellow with a darker tip. A boxed section shows icons and facts: fieldfares lay 4–6 eggs, can live up to 14 years, feed on berries and invertebrates, are present in the UK mainly from October to March, appear in about 6% of gardens, and around 700,000 spend winter in the UK. The bottom right corner displays the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) logo.
November 18, 2025 at 12:37 PM
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webs-gsmp.bsky.social
The International Swan Census (ISC) is taking place on the weekend of 17th-18th January 2026 (WeBS January Core Count weekend), counting Whooper and Bewick’s Swans. Follow these simple steps to get involved 👇

@btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social

#UKBirding #Ornithology
November 18, 2025 at 10:27 AM
bbs-birds.bsky.social
This week, we are sharing the most widespread species recorded on BBS squares across the UK in 2024. They are all common and familiar species! Find out more about taking part in the survey here: www.bto.org/get-involved... @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology
Most widespread species for BBS in 2024.
November 13, 2025 at 7:14 AM
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bto-ni.bsky.social
🎶 Winter is coming – so make sure to listen out for the ‘chacking’ of Fieldfare and the high-pitched ‘tseep’ calls of night-flying Redwing (1/3)

#ornithology
Redwing singing in the rain, photo by Liz Cutting / BTO
November 12, 2025 at 3:45 PM
bbs-birds.bsky.social
(1/) What’s that coming bobbing along?! It’s a Common Sandpiper! This species, which does now winter in the UK in small numbers, declined by 21% across the UK between 1995 and 2023. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology #CitizenScience
Common Sandpiper and trend graph.
November 12, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
ukrbbp.bsky.social
Some good news for Friday: the new RBBP report reveals that five species of large wading bird reached record totals in 2023, including Spoonbill. See the trend since 2010 below… even the bird itself looks shocked by the increase! Read more at rbbp.org.uk/2023-report-... #ukbirding #ornithology
November 7, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
btobirds.bsky.social
Worrying reports of bird flu (avian influenza) are coming in, including an outbreak in Whooper Swans in the Fens. Other waterbirds are also being affected, and cases are rising.

📷 Sick Whooper Swan by Kane Brides

#UKBirding #BirdingWales #BirdingScotland
Whooper Swan sick with bird flu in a field, photograph by Kane Brides
November 6, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
btobirds.bsky.social
If you live in Hampshire & the Isle of Wight and would like to find out more about how you can get involved in the BTO’s work, join us for a FREE Zoom session on Wednesday 19 November.

www.bto.org/our-work/eve...

@hosbirding.bsky.social

#UKbirding

📷 Flock of Wigeon, by Tom Cadwallendar / BTO
A flock of Wigeons feeding on the ground, by Tom Cadwallender / BTO
November 6, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
ukrbbp.bsky.social
Another species returning to breed in 2023 was Temminck's Stint; a pair laid a clutch of four eggs in Highland, although the nest was later flooded out. This tiny wader bred regularly in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, but this was the first confirmed breeding since 1997 #ornithology #BirdingScotland
Graph of Temminck's Stint breeding occurrences, showing small but regular numbers in the 1970s, with confirmed breeding in 14 years between 1976 and 1997, then a long gap before confirmed breeding in 2023 Adult Temminck's Stint
November 6, 2025 at 10:43 AM
bbs-birds.bsky.social
The BBS Team is currently busy verifying 2025 data. For the next couple of weeks, we are going to share some species info from 2024. This week, we share the 10 most numerous species recorded on BBS squares across the UK in 2024! @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social
A list of the most numerous species recorded on BBS squares across the UK in 2024.
November 6, 2025 at 7:31 AM
bbs-birds.bsky.social
(1/) The distinctive Curlew, with its evocative, bubbling calls declined by 51% between 1995 and 2023 across the UK. This decline was particularly significant in Wales, where it declined by 76%. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology
Curlew and trend graph.
November 5, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
ukrbbp.bsky.social
Our report for 2023 is out now in @britishbirds.bsky.social. There's a summary at rbbp.org.uk/2023-report-... but if you prefer to watch rather than read then here's RBBP secretary @markaeaton.bsky.social with a few key points and some lovely photos! #ornithology #ukbirds youtu.be/arj1m7NfKmY
Rare Breeding Birds in the UK in 2023
YouTube video by Rare Breeding Birds Panel
youtu.be
November 4, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
smp-seabirds.bsky.social
Quite a few of the seabirds covered by the SMP share similar features!
We previously covered Shags and Cormorants, and today we're looking at distinguishing Mediterranean Gulls from Black-headed Gulls #seabirds #birds @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social
Graphic displays four images, two of Black-headed Gulls by Allan Drewitt/BTO and two of Mediterranean Gulls, one by Allan Drewitt and the other by Liz Cutting/BTO. Text lists the species' English and Latin names (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) and (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) respectively. The following key features are labelled for BH Gulls: Outer primary feathers have black tips, head is chocolate brown, and bill is fine and dull. For Med Gull, these are: Tips of primary feathers are white, head is pure black, and bill is heavy and bright. The SMP logo is in the top right hand corner. The caption reads: Quite a few of the seabirds covered by the SMP share similar features! We previously covered Shags and Cormorants, and today we're looking at distinguishing Mediterranean Gulls from Black-headed Gulls #seabirds #birds @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social
November 3, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
ukrbbp.bsky.social
The latest report from the RBBP, Rare Breeding Birds in the UK in 2023, is out now in British Birds. It reports on the 104 species and races of rare breeding birds recording breeding, or showing signs of breeding, in 2023. Read the summary at rbbp.org.uk/2023-report-... #ornithology #ukbirds 🧵[1/15]
The cover of the November 2025 issue of British Birds, with a Little Ringed Plover sheltering its chicks
November 4, 2025 at 10:51 AM
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btoscotland.bsky.social
This is a wonderful record to break and it's all down to our many volunteers out there helping to gather incredibly valuable data- thanks to everyone that has helped!
bbs-birds.bsky.social Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) @bbs-birds.bsky.social · 26d
2025 has been a record year for BBS coverage! 4,054 visits to BBS squares have been made this year. This beats the 2018 record of 4,048. Thanks so much to all of the BBS volunteers across the UK who have contributed to this! @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social
Graph and image showing the best year of BBS coverage across the UK yet.
November 3, 2025 at 3:34 PM
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btobirds.bsky.social
November is the peak month for wintering Woodcock arrivals.
Unfortunately, Woodcock are prone to colliding with buildings during their noctural migration. If you find a dead or injured bird, please report it via the BirdTrack App, or email [email protected].

📷 Woodcock by Liz Cutting / BTO
Woodcock in the snow, by Liz Cutting / BTO
November 3, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
bto-gbw.bsky.social
❄️As temperatures drop, Pied Wagtails flock to urban areas: car park trees and shop roofs turned cosy roosts, warmed by the urban heat island effect. Smart little winter survivors, they are more likely to be spotted in gardens during the colder months. 🐦✨

#UKBirding
November 3, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS)
btoshropshire.bsky.social
2025 has been a good year for our BBS coverage, but we can do better! 51 BBS and 7 Wetland BBS squares were surveyed, or 88% of our allocation, by 49 volunteers. A huge thank you to all of them.

There's always room for more! ➡️ www.bto.org/get-involved...
#ShropshireBirds @bbs-birds.bsky.social
An infographic for the distance walked by volunteers for the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) in Shropshire (190.2km) and the Wetland BBS (62.0km).
November 2, 2025 at 8:38 PM
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smp-seabirds.bsky.social
Today, October 31st, is the final day to submit your breeding seabird data to the Seabird Monitoring Programme! #seabirds @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social
Graphic displays an image of a Razorbill by Ben Darvill/BTO. A speech bubble with the text 'Your data is important!' extends from its mouth and there is text which reads 'SMP DATA ENTRY DAYS REMAINING: <1' to its left. In the top right hand corner is the Seabird Monitoring Programme logo. The caption reads: 'Today, October 31st, is the final day to submit your breeding seabird data to the Seabird Monitoring Programme! #seabirds @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social'
October 31, 2025 at 5:47 AM
bbs-birds.bsky.social
2025 has been a record year for BBS coverage! 4,054 visits to BBS squares have been made this year. This beats the 2018 record of 4,048. Thanks so much to all of the BBS volunteers across the UK who have contributed to this! @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social
Graph and image showing the best year of BBS coverage across the UK yet.
October 31, 2025 at 8:18 AM