Gordon Newman
@gan95.bsky.social
Birder since 1983, have done a fair bit of Twitching, but more local patch birding now although still keeping tabs on the sightings around the UK. Patch birding Bickershaw Rucks since 2011 long before Country Park status!
Also interested in Nature in gen
Also interested in Nature in gen
Ofttom head from what I remember reading & I might be wrong is Bewick's are wintering further East now so in both scenarios yes!? If you look up Wildfowl Journal there is some very interesting reading!
The ratio is greater than I thought though! Don't have my own counts on record lost paperwork!!
The ratio is greater than I thought though! Don't have my own counts on record lost paperwork!!
November 27, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Ofttom head from what I remember reading & I might be wrong is Bewick's are wintering further East now so in both scenarios yes!? If you look up Wildfowl Journal there is some very interesting reading!
The ratio is greater than I thought though! Don't have my own counts on record lost paperwork!!
The ratio is greater than I thought though! Don't have my own counts on record lost paperwork!!
The ratio of Bewick's to Whooper swans at Martin Mere in 1984 was approximately 4:1, based on the combined population data. A study of the 1983-1984 wintering season reported a total of 3,900 swans, with 3,120 Bewick's and 780 Whoopers. This translates to a 4:1 ratio (\(3120\div 780=4\))
W Journal
W Journal
November 27, 2025 at 9:03 AM
The ratio of Bewick's to Whooper swans at Martin Mere in 1984 was approximately 4:1, based on the combined population data. A study of the 1983-1984 wintering season reported a total of 3,900 swans, with 3,120 Bewick's and 780 Whoopers. This translates to a 4:1 ratio (\(3120\div 780=4\))
W Journal
W Journal
How time changes when I started birding in 1983, Bewick's outnumbered Whoopers 2 to 1 in the Eighties/early nineties & Little Egret was still a rarity in Morecambe Bay!!
November 26, 2025 at 11:00 PM
How time changes when I started birding in 1983, Bewick's outnumbered Whoopers 2 to 1 in the Eighties/early nineties & Little Egret was still a rarity in Morecambe Bay!!
Be with you soon 🤞
November 12, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Be with you soon 🤞
Again worrying! This might be a silly question but is there a figure that would suggest more are remaining in Scandinavia through the Winter? I know again crop dependent as with Crossbill & Waxwing irruptions etc! Climate warming etc etc!!
November 11, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Again worrying! This might be a silly question but is there a figure that would suggest more are remaining in Scandinavia through the Winter? I know again crop dependent as with Crossbill & Waxwing irruptions etc! Climate warming etc etc!!
Probably, r numbers up in other parts of Europe? Like Bewick Swan for example? I don't know the answer to these questions but I know it's very different to 1983 when I started birding!!
November 11, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Probably, r numbers up in other parts of Europe? Like Bewick Swan for example? I don't know the answer to these questions but I know it's very different to 1983 when I started birding!!
Those are worrying stats nationally!! Without going too in depth BCP has changed a lot since I started recording general not specific mig counts in 2011. What was predominantly grassland is fast becoming a wood. Thrush numbers on site are always up & down depending on food crop. For the future ❔❓🤔🥺
November 11, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Those are worrying stats nationally!! Without going too in depth BCP has changed a lot since I started recording general not specific mig counts in 2011. What was predominantly grassland is fast becoming a wood. Thrush numbers on site are always up & down depending on food crop. For the future ❔❓🤔🥺
I think a bit of both possibly! The light was darker than the video might suggest so I'm not sure if both were adults. I think there could have been a bit of training in hunting involved from a parent bird. They definitely took out 1 Starling it being hit like it was in the middle of a sandwich!!
November 4, 2025 at 11:02 PM
I think a bit of both possibly! The light was darker than the video might suggest so I'm not sure if both were adults. I think there could have been a bit of training in hunting involved from a parent bird. They definitely took out 1 Starling it being hit like it was in the middle of a sandwich!!
Redwing is a member of the Thrush family. In the UK two races (Icelandic & Scandinavian) spend time in our Winter period.
November 2, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Redwing is a member of the Thrush family. In the UK two races (Icelandic & Scandinavian) spend time in our Winter period.
GW was an initial possibility & I dismissed it. It just caught my attention as different if that makes sense 👍
October 26, 2025 at 7:31 AM
GW was an initial possibility & I dismissed it. It just caught my attention as different if that makes sense 👍