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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 3d

🦡 Happy #NationalBadgerDay!
Badgers are one of the UK’s most iconic mammals and visit gardens in search of food, especially as they fatten up for winter. Tricky to spot, but you might find signs of their visits 💩

Don’t forget you can record them through GBW! 📝

📸 John Harding / BTO

A badger in a garden, lifting its head from a bush amid green, leafy vegetation.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 8d

GBW'ers spotted something a little out of the ordinary in their garden this week 👀.
Autumn migration often brings surprise visitors: can you tell what this #bird is?

📸Mark and Sarah Newman

#UKBirding

small, slim songbird is perched sideways on a narrow branch. Its plumage is mostly dark grey-brown on the head, back, and wings, with paler underparts. A neat flash of white shows on the wings, and the beak is short and pointed. The bird sits alert among tangled twigs and green leaves.

A small, slim songbird is perched sideways on a narrow branch. Its plumage is mostly dark grey-brown on the head, back, and wings, with paler underparts. A neat flash of white shows on the wings, and the beak is short and pointed. The bird sits alert among tangled twigs and green leaves.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 10d

Green-veined White:
✅ Delicate green-grey veins radiating out from the base in the hind wing.
✅ Upper wings have one or more spots.

📸 Liz Cutting

A Green-veined White butterfly resting on a green leaf. Underwings have striking green-ish veins radiating from the base.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 10d

Large White:
✅ Bold black spots on the underwing.
✅Usually bigger than Small White, but not always!

📸 Liz Cutting / BTO

A Large White resting on a green leaf. The undersides are a creamy white with two spots.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 10d

Small White:
✅Creamy underwings
✅Subtle black/grey wingtip marks.

Often overlaps in size with Large White - so don’t rely on size alone!

📸 Liz Cutting / BTO

Small White butterfly resting on a green leaf. Its creamy white wings show subtle grey markings.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 10d

🦋 White #Butterflies can be tricky to ID!

The secret’s often in the underwings. Check our tips to tell Small, Large & Green-Veined apart, and remember to record them for GBW to help track trends!

bto.org/gardenbirds

Join Garden BirdWatch | BTO

If you'd like more information before joining, you can request a free GBW information pack, and find more details on our How to take part page.You can also join for free or give GBW membership as a gi...

bto.org

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 13d

In this issue of Bird Table 🐦:
✨ 30 years of garden bird science (thanks to you!)
🌿 Planting shrubs birds will love
🐤 Meet your garden tits up close
📊 Explore brand-new Garden Bird Trends

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 13d

📖 🐦The new Issue of Bird Table is out now!
Your subscription helps fund the science that guides garden bird conservation - while bringing you seasonal reviews🍂, wildlife tips & expert insight📈.

Learn more: bto.org/gardenbirds

Promotional image of the Bird Table Magazine. White text over yellow backgrounds says: "Discover the Science of Gardens. Join Today". There is an image of the current issue of Bird Table Magazine and an ID plate of Tits.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 15d

Have you seen a brown-headed Blackbird? 🐦 Juvenile males moult head-last, so they look part-brown, part-black right now! In weeks they’ll be sleek all-black.

Record your weekly garden visitors with Garden BirdWatch & help monitor UK #birds:
www.bto.org/our-science/...

📸 E. Gilbert

Juvenile Blackbird perching on a wooden fence. The bird is moulting its plumage, which is evident by the contrast between the brown feathers in the head and the black feathers in the rest of the body.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 16d

That’s an interesting observation. There’s a knowledge gap in this area, but hopefully we’ll be able to answer it in the future.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 17d

🐦 📉 Once a familiar garden sight, Greenfinches have crashed in number since the early 2000's due to trichomonosis. BTO's Garden BirdWatch revealed the scale of the crisis - the sharp decline shows how fast wildlife can change, and how long-term monitoring is crucial for understanding these changes.

A Greenfinch ID chart. The greenfinch is perched on a wooden branch, it has a yellow/green plumage overall, with grey cheeks and grey bits on its wing. The information included states that Greenfinches lay 4-5 eggs, feed on seeds, live for a maximum of 12 years, are found all year in around 34% of gardens, and currently there are 785,00 pairs in the UK.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · 23d

🌿 Celebrate 30 years of Garden BirdWatch! Join us in Doncaster for talks, panels & stories on how your garden sightings shaped conservation. Book now!

www.bto.org/GBWNorthConf...

#YorkshireBirding
#UKBirding

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Reposted by BTO Garden BirdWatch

BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 29d

We'll be at @nhm-london.bsky.social Avian Odyssey on 20 September where Senior Research Ecologist Hugh Hanmer will be talking about the spread of the Usutu virus in Blackbirds in the UK.

Join us & leaders in wildlife & bird research. Find out more: www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/... #Ornithology

A Blackbird stands amongst tall grass and flowering white daises.

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Reposted by BTO Garden BirdWatch

BTO Shropshire @btoshropshire.bsky.social · 29d

Gethin from @btocymru.bsky.social will be running an “Introduction to Garden BirdWatch” online event to promote @bto-gbw.bsky.social on 4 November at 7pm. It is open to all regions.

For more information please see the image of the flyer. To book your place go to www.bto.org/our-work/eve...

A screenshot of a post promoting an online event for the Garden BirdWatch survey, illustrated with a picture of a Nuthatch.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · Sep 9

🚨Calling all GBW participants in the north of England!

30 years of Garden BirdWatch: our Doncaster conference features expert talks, panels & discussion on garden wildlife ecology & conservation.

Book your tickets 👉 www.bto.org/our-work/eve...

Ad for Garden BirdWatch 30th anniversary Northern Conference. You’re invited! Come and join us for our Northern Conference. Saturday 4 Oct 2025, Bullcroft Village Hall, Doncaster.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · Aug 11

Blackbirds are familiar sights (and sounds) in UK gardens 🎶 Your counts help track these iconic #birds.

Keep watching, keep adding them to your weekly GBW list! 📝

#UKbirding #CitSci

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Reposted by BTO Garden BirdWatch

UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme @pomscheme.bsky.social · Aug 5

Scientists from the Royal Horticultural Society have reviewed and updated the RHS "Plants for Pollinators" list, and volunteers at RHS gardens are using PoMS FIT Counts to gather further data on insects visiting flowers www.rhs.org.uk/science/arti...

RHS Scientists reveal new Plants for Pollinators

<p paraeid="{daec1255-0ffe-4986-8fec-1703aba0a51a}{94}" paraid="1969349820">The expanded 2025 list now includes over 10,000 plants, with evidence-based plant choices to benefit all kinds of pollinator...

www.rhs.org.uk

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Reposted by BTO Garden BirdWatch

BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · Aug 2

Our Scottish and Irish tagged Cuckoos have made it across the Sahara Desert in Africa! 😀 Follow their migrations at www.bto.org/cuckoos #Ornithology 🌍 🪶

Image of a world map showing locations of BTO satellite-tagged Cuckoos. Nine are in Africa and three in Europe. Headshots of the two new Cuckoos to reach Africa, Sayaan and Cuach Cores, feature. A speaker graphic holds the wording: Cuckoo update. Another two survive the Sahara crossing.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · Aug 4

Still confused about your garden pigeons? Check out this excellent Pigeon ID video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQEH...

BTO Bird ID - Pigeons

YouTube video by BTOvideo

www.youtube.com

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · Aug 4

🏡🐦Know your garden #Pigeons: Smaller than a Woodpigeon, larger than a Collared Dove, an all dark eye, and no white on its wings - It's a Stock Dove! 🪶

These #birds are found throughout the UK, more commonly seen in rural gardens, appearing in around 3% of GBW gardens.

#UKBirding

A Stock Dove stands on a stone surface. It has dark eyes, a pinkish chest, and a green sheen on its neck with no white. It lays 2 eggs, lives up to 9 years, feeds on seeds and plants, is present all year, found in 3% of gardens, with 320,000 territories. Photo by Edmond Fellowes / BTO

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Reposted by BTO Garden BirdWatch

UK Seabird Monitoring Programme @smp-seabirds.bsky.social · Jul 29

📢Job alert! We’re looking for the next Seabird Monitoring Programme Organiser to join the BTO Surveys Team!🔭📈

ℹ️ For more information and to apply: www.bto.org/jobs
🗓️ Deadline for applications: 8th Sept 2025.

#seabirds #citizenscience
@btobirds.bsky.social, @jncc.bsky.social, @rspb.bsky.social

Job Advert reads:
Work with us!
Seabird Monitoring Programme Organsier
www.bto.org/jobs
With a photo of a Razorbill flying behind the text.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · Jul 29

Help us track disease in garden bird populations!
🐦🌱

RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · Jul 29

Help @rspbscience.bsky.social study bird disease (trichomonosis) outbreaks

If you see a sick or dead bird in your garden, please report it here: gardenwildlifehealth.org

@bto-gbw.bsky.social
@zslscience.bsky.social
📷 Ben Andrew

A female Greenfinch is perched on a branch looking unwell. Her feathers are fluffed up, which can be a sign of trichomonosis.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · Jul 23

🐦 Rediscover your garden, get to know its wild visitors and find out how they are faring.🌱🐝🦔

Sign up for the GBW newsletter!
👉 bit.ly/GBWeNews

Get the latest on urban ecology, expert tips, species ID guides, courses and local events.

#CitizenScience

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · Jul 21

🐦 Once a rare #bird, now rising - Red Kites prove recovery is real.
Ever seen one using your garden?

#MondayMotivation #UKBirding

A Red Kite in flight, showing its pale grey head, yellow legs, and forked tail. Text on the image notes it feeds on carrion, lays two eggs, lives up to 25 years, is found year-round in farmland and woodland, and that there are 4,400 pairs in the UK. British Trust for Ornithology appears on the bottom right corner.

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BTO Garden BirdWatch @bto-gbw.bsky.social · Jul 18

This Long-tailed Tit is already flying into the weekend —are you? 🐦💨 #FridayFeeling

📸 Philip Croft / BTO

A Long-tailed Tit in mid-flight, wings spread and tail extended, with a blurred background.

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