BTO Blog

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The BTO blog offers comment and perspective from a wide range of BTO staff and supporters, giving context and inviting discussion on various aspects of BTO's work. Read our series of posts by Young Birders and our seasonal migration blog posts. Don't forget to visit the Demography Blog (Demog Blog) for Ringing and Nest Recording stories, and follow our Cuckoo Blogs (part of our Cuckoo Tracking Project).
Long-eared Owl. Edmund Fellowes
Paul Stancliffe
Featured blog post

Migration blog (15th – 21st October)

15 Oct 2021

Changeable winds over the coming week could herald the first big arrival of Dark-bellied Brent Geese.

Blog Series

Spurn Young Leaders course 2021. Faye Vogely
BLOG

Spurn Young Leaders Course 2021

Attendees of BTO's Young Leaders Course 2021 reflect on what they learned at Spurn.

12 Oct 2021

Whooper Swans. Tom Cadwallender
BLOG

Migration blog (8th – 14th October)

Heading towards the middle of October, focus shifts to some of our winter visitors.

08 Oct 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (1st – 7th October)

October is for many birdwatchers their favourite month of the year, with a real mix of common migrants, winter visitors and the occasional mega rarity thrown in for good measure.

01 Oct 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (24th – 30th September)

No sooner had I pressed the button to publish the last migration blog, the weather forecast for the week changed completely – the expected easterlies were replaced by westerlies and as a result reports of many of the common migrants fell away. 

24 Sep 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (17th - 23rd September)

Many of our summer visitors will be well on their way by now with Swallow, Willow Warbler, and Swift sightings rapidly falling in the last couple of weeks. Whilst some species such as House Martin will be around for a bit longer, over the next week these too will depart en masse before the cooler conditions of autumn really start to take affect.

18 Sep 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (10th – 16th September)

With the past week seeing a rise in temperatures across much of Britain and Ireland the pace of migration continued to grow, with the settled conditions providing migrant birds with clear skies and favourable winds.

10 Sep 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (3rd – 9th September)

With the first days of Autumn upon us and the breeding season over for many species, the focus is now on preparing for the coming winter months. Whilst some species will remain within Britain and Ireland, others will be leaving or passing through en route to wintering grounds further south.

02 Sep 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (27th August – 2nd September)

With autumn almost upon us, migration during the last week moved up a gear with numbers of common migrants and the ocassional scarce species seen across Britian and Ireland.

27 Aug 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (20th – 26th August)

August is the time of year when many summer migrants begin to head to their wintering grounds. For this year's offspring it will be their first time migrating.

20 Aug 2021

Agricultural land, Cambridgeshire. Ailidh Barnes
BLOG

The importance of habitat data

Habitat information is vital for understanding how birds use their environment. BTO's Ailidh Barnes explains why in this blog post.

07 Aug 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (mid July - early August)

With migration slowing to a trickle during midsummer, we now turn our thoughts to late summer and the first hints of autumn migration.

16 Jul 2021

Short-eared Owl. Frank Gardner
BLOG

Tips for photographing birds

BTO's president shares his suggestions for improving your chances of getting that perfect shot.

01 Jun 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (21st May – mid-June)

It is certainly turning out to be a poor spring with consistently colder than average temperatures, showers and even strong winds for the time of year, all having a huge affect on migration.

21 May 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (14th – 20th May)

As the year progresses towards the end of May we get to the sharp end of spring migration, with arguably the greatest diversity of species and biggest number of birds on the move. The majority of birds that will breed across Britain and Ireland will already have arrived but there will still be some species yet to arrive, and those that have lagged behind such as last year's offspring that will be breeding for the first time this year. Britain and Ireland is also a stepping stone for many migrants that head further north to Iceland, Scandinavia or the high Arctic to breed. 

12 May 2021

Spotted Flycatcher. Liz Cutting
BLOG

Migration blog (7th – 13th May)

At last there is a forecast of warm southerly airflow for this weekend, a rare thing indeed this spring. This should unlock the floodgates and we should see a mass arrival of summer visitor and the exodus of any remaining winter visitors — it could be a busy weekend.

07 May 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (30th April – 6th May)

Another week dominated by cool weather was interjected by a spell of lighter winds at the start of the week that provided a scattering of common and scarce migrants, mainly along the south coast.

29 Apr 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (23rd – 29th April)

Spring migration has so far been a slow and steady affair, and with the weather being dominated by clear skies and northerly winds it has meant reports of some species have been much lower than would be expected for the time of year.

23 Apr 2021

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BLOG

Migration blog (16th – 22nd April )

BirdTrack organiser, Scott Mayson, and Media Manager, Paul Stancliffe, reveal what species have been on the move over the last month and what we can expect for the week ahead. 

16 Apr 2021

Copeland Islands view. Katherine Booth Jones
BLOG

What’s the score for Copeland’s symphony of seabirds?

Northern Ireland Seabird Coordinator Katherine Booth Jones describes her love for the wild coastal habitats of Northern Ireland and the charismatic seabirds that inhabit them.

19 Mar 2021

BTO Surveyor. Jill Tardivel
BLOG

Our volunteers: the beating heart of BTO data

Head and Principal Ecologist, David Noble, shares why volunteer-collected data are so important for an organisation like BTO. 

17 Dec 2020

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Our future - in your hands

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Migration blog (15th – 21st October)

Changeable winds over the coming week could herald the first big arrival of Dark-bellied Brent Geese.