Ben Sheldon
@sheldonbirds.bsky.social
Ornithologist and Evolutionary Ecologist at the University of Oxford - natural history, science, cycling
How would the BOU treat an equivalent of the Wallcreeper record? Personally, I would be fairly strongly leaning towards counting it as natural vagrancy if circumstances as described: presumably natural behaviour which resulted in a long-distance displacement...
January 23, 2026 at 5:33 PM
How would the BOU treat an equivalent of the Wallcreeper record? Personally, I would be fairly strongly leaning towards counting it as natural vagrancy if circumstances as described: presumably natural behaviour which resulted in a long-distance displacement...
When normalised by population size, the death toll of US troops in Afghanistan is broadly similar to that of four other countries, including the UK... and Denmark. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaliti...
January 22, 2026 at 6:37 PM
When normalised by population size, the death toll of US troops in Afghanistan is broadly similar to that of four other countries, including the UK... and Denmark. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaliti...
January 22, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Great explanation and thread - congratulations on the paper
January 21, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Great explanation and thread - congratulations on the paper
I think I can guess the author!
January 21, 2026 at 5:40 PM
I think I can guess the author!
I love the way the double black-band penetrates the haze!
January 21, 2026 at 1:43 PM
I love the way the double black-band penetrates the haze!
It's based on a sample of four men and four women in total, so even though replicated across species/sites my confidence that the effect is due to this difference between the human participants is pretty low.
January 21, 2026 at 1:41 PM
It's based on a sample of four men and four women in total, so even though replicated across species/sites my confidence that the effect is due to this difference between the human participants is pretty low.
Courtesy of regular dog walks have racked up 1350 lists at my local patch - only a single Redstart record preventing me from being a patch completist... ebird.org/hotspot/L517...
January 20, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Courtesy of regular dog walks have racked up 1350 lists at my local patch - only a single Redstart record preventing me from being a patch completist... ebird.org/hotspot/L517...
Congratulations - but I bet those two species you’re missing from the site list rankle!
January 20, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Congratulations - but I bet those two species you’re missing from the site list rankle!
Sorry - do you think I was gaslighting you?
January 20, 2026 at 8:53 AM
Sorry - do you think I was gaslighting you?
I think that increase in comprehensive pupils reflects the major change in UK schools in 1960-70s when grammars converted to comprehensives. Whether this temporary move in the right direction was maintained I don't know (and somehow doubt given the increased gap between state & private schools)
January 20, 2026 at 8:50 AM
I think that increase in comprehensive pupils reflects the major change in UK schools in 1960-70s when grammars converted to comprehensives. Whether this temporary move in the right direction was maintained I don't know (and somehow doubt given the increased gap between state & private schools)
There is a more recent (and larger) analysis in this 2022 paper, which reports that 32% of FRSs born post 1960 went to Comprehensive schools. But, the % of privately educated shows little change.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
The social origins and schooling of a scientific elite: Fellows of the Royal Society born from 1900
We present an analysis of the social composition of the UK scientific elite, as represented by Fellows of the Royal Society, in terms of Fellows' social class origins and type of secondary schooling....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:33 AM
There is a more recent (and larger) analysis in this 2022 paper, which reports that 32% of FRSs born post 1960 went to Comprehensive schools. But, the % of privately educated shows little change.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Very striking; what's the source of these data?
January 20, 2026 at 7:56 AM
Very striking; what's the source of these data?
Reposted by Ben Sheldon
Gift link - we all need to read this. Shoot this Resistance into my veins!
After 48 hours of torture, Dr. Christie wrote a forced confession — “the best thing I ever wrote,” he later told the BBC
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/w...
After 48 hours of torture, Dr. Christie wrote a forced confession — “the best thing I ever wrote,” he later told the BBC
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/w...
Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Gift link - we all need to read this. Shoot this Resistance into my veins!
After 48 hours of torture, Dr. Christie wrote a forced confession — “the best thing I ever wrote,” he later told the BBC
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/w...
After 48 hours of torture, Dr. Christie wrote a forced confession — “the best thing I ever wrote,” he later told the BBC
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/w...
You keep sharing this even though the paper you've linked to in the news piece differs in substantial and important ways from the news piece!
January 15, 2026 at 7:12 PM
You keep sharing this even though the paper you've linked to in the news piece differs in substantial and important ways from the news piece!
The paper you’ve linked to this news story seems to be an entirely different study as it (1) didn’t include House Sparrows, (2) didn’t study multiple species - just Dark-eyed Juncos - and (3) didn’t study museum specimens
January 12, 2026 at 7:08 PM
The paper you’ve linked to this news story seems to be an entirely different study as it (1) didn’t include House Sparrows, (2) didn’t study multiple species - just Dark-eyed Juncos - and (3) didn’t study museum specimens