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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 following our Cuckoo Blogs (part of our Cuckoo Tracking Project).

Scott Mayson

Featured blog post

Migration blog (mid February – mid March)

19 Feb 2021

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

Blog Series

BTO Surveyor. Jill Tardivel

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

Juliet at Bempton Cliffs

First impressions from a CEO

Our new CEO, Juliet Vickery, reflects on her first 45 days as CEO.

16 Dec 2020

Aerial photo of Thetford, Simon Gillings

The urban sprawl

BTO's Head and Principal Ecologist, Gavin Siriwardena, explains how the urban landscape is affecting our wild bird populations.

20 Nov 2020

BTO Podcast episode 2 - Greg Palmer, Juliet Vickery and Andy Clements

Meet the CEOs: in conversation with Juliet Vickery and Andy Clements

Youth Advisory Panel member Greg Palmer talks to Juliet and Andy, new and outgoing BTO Chief Executive Officers respectively, about their careers, ideas and plans for the future.

02 Nov 2020

Starling, Harriet Day

Free as a bird through lockdown

On World Mental Health Day, BTO volunteer Harriet reflects how even an urban environment can provide opportunities to connect with nature and improve our wellbeing during periods of isolation.

10 Oct 2020

Pripyat river. © Daniel Rosengren / Frankfurt Zoological Society

BTO in Belarus: the Polesia project

Adham Ashton-Butt explains how BTO is involved in a cross-organisational project in Polesia, one of the last remaining wildernesses in Europe.

11 Sep 2020

YAP in February

International Youth Day

This International Youth Day, get to know some of our Youth Advisory Panel.

11 Aug 2020

Mya Bambrick

Where are the young women in birding?

As we continue to work on making birding more inclusive, how do young women perceive birding? Five young birders share their experiences.

05 Aug 2020

Jamey in Suffolk

Diversity in birding: why it matters

BTO's Jamey Redway reflects on diversity in birding, and how organisations like BTO play a role in making birding more inclusive.

29 Jun 2020

River Cam, Andy Clements.

Leading through a crisis

BTO's CEO, Andy Clements, reflects on how the organisation is adapting to life under lockdown.

21 May 2020

Goldfinch on feeder - Steven Whitcher / stock.adobe.com

Garden BirdWatch - 25 years of monitoring garden birds

We have been collecting garden bird lists for 25 years, but why does this matter? Kate Risely explains what we can learn from GBW data.

01 May 2020

IWD Women

The women who inspire

Four women from across BTO share their stories of the women who inspire them for International Women's Day 2020.

05 Mar 2020

View westwards from the Clift Hills, South Mainland, Shetland

Citizen Science in Shetland

BTO volunteer Hugh Tooby shares his journey through Shetland as part of the Upland Rovers scheme.

25 Feb 2020

Turtle Dove - mzphoto11 / stock.adobe.com

BirdTrack - a Swiss army knife in BTO’s toolkit?

BTO’s Ecological Statistician Philipp Boersch-Supan explains the insights BirdTrack records can provide.

13 Feb 2020

Attendees and staff of the 2019 Bardsey Young Birders’ Week - Steve Stansfield

Volunteering at a Bird Observatory

Louis Driver shares his experiences of volunteering at Bardsey Bird Observatory, supported by the Young Bird Observatory Volunteer programme.

29 Jan 2020

Short-eared Owl tagging. Chris Wernham

Tracking Short-eared Owls: Notes from the field

Why would anyone choose to spend a winter’s night out on a cold Orkney moor? Ben Darvill gives an insight into the dedication of Short-eared Owl fieldworkers, and their amazing discoveries.

28 Jan 2020

Andy Clements birding. Bruce Miller

Widening BTO's appeal

Andy Clements, BTO's Chief Executive, looks at how BTO can engage new audiences.

20 Dec 2019

Meadow. Luke Hawkins

The British Patch

Luke Hawkins introduces us to his patch and explains why he loves patch birding.

11 Dec 2019

Redwings. Jonathan Heath

Nocmig: A beginner's guide

Jonathan Heath explains how nocmigging is changing the way he views the birds around him.

08 Nov 2019

Whinchats at Kilnsea. Arjun Dutta

BTO's Young Leaders Course

The attendees of BTO's Young Leaders Course reflect on what they learned at Spurn.

05 Aug 2019

Pages

Our future - in your hands

Our future - in your hands

We are developing our youth engagement programme to find and nurture our surveyors of the future. With your help we can provide resources to educate, engage and empower.

Blogs on specific topics

Demography Blog

Our Demog blog features latest news and stories from the BTO’s Ringing and Nest Recording teams, along with some fascinating contributions from blog followers.

Migration Blog

Spring and autumn are exciting times of year as migrant birds arrive in and depart from Britain. In the Migration Blog, we make predictions about when to expect interesting migrant arrivals.

Young Birder Blog

A series of blogs were we invite young birders to share their experiences of birding and participating in BTO surveys.

Related content

Curlew tagging in Wales. Rachel Taylor

Understanding Curlew populations in Wales

Several tracking projects combine to determine the migration routes, wintering locations and breeding season movements of Welsh Curlew.

Tagged Lesser Black-backed Gull. Gary Clewley

Bird tracking - a masterclass

Phil Atkinson explains the technology behind tracking.

Curlew. Tom Streeter

What's next for our waders?

Recent BTO work focuses on understanding the variation in Curlew and other UK wader populations so that we can help suggest actions to conserve them.