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).
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Scott Mayson
Featured blog post

Migration blog (mid July - early August)

16 Jul 2021

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

Blog Series

View westwards from the Clift Hills, South Mainland, Shetland
BLOG

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
BLOG

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
BLOG

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
BLOG

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
BLOG

Widening BTO's appeal

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

20 Dec 2019

Meadow. Luke Hawkins
BLOG

The British Patch

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

11 Dec 2019

Redwings. Jonathan Heath
BLOG

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
BLOG

BTO's Young Leaders Course

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

05 Aug 2019

Young Leaders Course at Spurn. Jonnie Fisk
BLOG

Gen Z and the BTO

Amy Hall discusses how BTO can better provide opportunities for the next generation of ornithologists. 

22 Nov 2019

Nightingale. Edmund Fellowes
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Unlocking the science to reveal the state of nature

David Noble takes a sober look at the latest State of Nature Report.

02 Oct 2019

Blue Tit. Peter@ stock.adobe.com
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Garden birds: to feed or not to feed?

Almost half of the households in the UK feed their garden birds. But should we? Dr Kate Plummer explores the effects of feeding on bird populations.

20 Sep 2019

Kentish Plover (by vinx83 / Adobe Stock)
BLOG

A new president, a renewed purpose?

As BTO's new president, Frank talks about his birding background and what he values about BTO

12 Aug 2019

Buzzard. Dave M Hunt (adobe stock)
BLOG

What effect might annual releases of non-native gamebirds be having on native biodiversity?

Henrietta Pringle reveals the work behind a recent paper on gamebirds and predation.

02 Jul 2019

Jay. Sarah Kelman
BLOG

General licences and BTO

Andy Clements, BTO Chief Executive, sets out BTO’s position regarding the current debate about wildlife licensing.

03 May 2019

BBS volunteers. David Tipling
BLOG

Promoting BTO science — walking the line

Can we move and inspire people with passionate, powerful communications without compromising our impartiality and scientific credentials?

01 May 2019

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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.

Find out more

Blogs on specific topics

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Working together for seabirds

BTO work supports effective monitoring of our seabirds and aims to provide opportunities for a new generation of seabird surveyors.
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Event

Wader ID virtual training (2 sessions, Wednesdays 10am)

The August run of our Wader ID course sold out within 3 days! If you want to register your interest in a future run of this course, please email training [at] bto.org. For priority booking on our UK-wide online courses...