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Ben Secker

@bensecker.bsky.social
134 followers 169 following 89 posts

PhD researcher @ Manchester Metropolitan University | Willow Tits | linktr.ee/bensecker

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Reposted by Ben Secker
Tariq Panja @tariqpanja.bsky.social · 9h
Andy Burnham's comments today expose the situation of selling national football teams to foreign states. He's taking a view, at least in one reading of his comments, that corrupting the national game is not as big an issue as potentially losing foreign investment in Manchester.
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Finally getting round to uploading a bunch of Willow Tit recordings to Xeno-canto. Plenty of interesting ones in there, including begging calls (adult female and juvs), flight calls, the well known song and alarm calls and much more! xeno-canto.org/contributor/...
xeno-canto.org
Verifying visitor request...
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Matthew R Francis @bowlerhatscience.org · 17/09/2026
speaking as a science journalist who is also a trained physicist, this is the FUCKING WORST POSSIBLE THING. This is the opposite of trustworthy. You can't trust a damn thing an "AI agent" tells you. An article needs to be unchanged between queries, or any change needs to be documented clearly.
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Glenn Shepard @tweettropiques.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
“Contact with these peoples can lead to their extinction in days.” --Indigenous leader Beto Marubo on the dangers posed by social media influencers who exploit images of isolated Indigenous peoples as click-bait. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
‘This is colonialism for clicks’: the influencers attempting to meet and film the world’s most isolated tribes
A new breed of adventurer is chasing internet fame by targeting uncontacted peoples. Critics say they are risking the wellbeing of these remote communities – and their own lives
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
New job alert🪶 Research assistant to support research on Willow Tit demographics. Must have a BTO ringing licence at C level or above Location: Midlands and North of England Duration: Oct-Nov 2026 Deadline: This Wednesday Sept 9th Apply here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car... 📷Ben Andrew
A Willow Tit perches in a branch, looking directly to camera
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
An excellent week in Cambridge @ecbb2026.bsky.social presenting some of the early findings from our research on Blue Tit response to Willow Tit vocalisations! Managed to meet some great people and catch some fascinating talks as well. Thanks to the organisers for all their hard work! #ECBB2026
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Sometimes the study species make it too easy 😎#ECBB2026
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Amy Leedale @amyleedale.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The 16th meeting of the European Ornithologist's Union is in Brno, Czech Republic! 🪶 📅 | 23 - 27 August 2027 | www.eou27.cz We have a fantastic programme taking shape, with plenary speakers and call for symposia to be announced soon. See you in Brno! #EOU27 #Ornithology #Ecology #Evolution
eou27.cz
THE 16 th EOU Conference 2027! – THE 16 th EOU Conference 2027!
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 14/08/2026
This is the coverage of Arday **just in the Telegraph** in the UK. This is only the first four pages of results, just in one outlet.
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Jason Arday found dead
2 hours ago — Mr Arday was found •unresponsive• at an address in Battersea. south London. on Froy
afternoon. He was uter pronounced dead at the scene. A Read rnore
Jason Arday says he was an illiterate, mute child. His .
6 hours ago — Jason Arday says he was an i&erate. mute child. Cambridge's youngest-ever black
professor in 2023. Arday attended from the age of four to 11
r— mm-WI 3
A PhD is no longer a sign of brilliance — take it from Dr Arday
1 day aeo — Juon Arday resigns from the Unwersity of Cambrdge after The Telegraph reports he had
falseb• claimed to have pubåshed a book
We are all Jason Arday now
S days ago — Jason Arday resons from the University of Cambridge after The Telegraph reports he had
falsew cGimed to have published a book Aug 7.2028. Read more
Cambridge professor claimed he was on Seven Up..
2 Aug 2026 — He was not bom until 1985. Prof Arday is at the centre of a row about academk
plagiarism after The Tekgragh that he had been accused
The Jason Arday 'memoir' that now appears to be more .
7 days ago — Instead of tales of triumph over adversity. the now-fomer Cambridge professors
autob"qraphy is a case study in self-rnythobgising,
Arday failed to mention 'months-long coma' in autobiography
8 days ago — Jason Arday toz publishers he was k•ft a three-month coma fohwhg a car gash. but
never wrote about the ordeal his memoirs_
Jason Arday is living proof that you reap what you sow
6 Aug 2028 — The Cambridge professor feed plagiarism alegations and made fantastical clä'ns about
his life. so what did he expect woUz happen? Read rmre
ÄIO
Arday 'accused student of Miite privilege' after she
4 days ago — Forrner Cambrdge professor alleged* htplied that Roehamptm student was racist after
cornplaint about essay SOOre.
Jason Arday is rnerely a symptom of the Leffs corruption
Aug 2026 — Lab-curs on school standards is on the same toxic assumptions that created his
academic career.
Cambridge hired Arday after 'listening to black stu…
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Alice Risely @alice-risely.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Oh no. This whole story (and death) was rooted in just awful racism. There are unfortunately plenty of white academics who do shoddy work and aren’t hounded to death. It was such a non-story and the right-wing media turned it into a racist manhunt.
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Sarah Dalrymple @sarahdalgulls.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Ecology Job: Willow Tit Research Officer with @durhamwildlife.bsky.social www.durhamwt.com/jobs/willow-... #EcologyJob #ConservationJob
durhamwt.com
Willow Tit Research Officer | Durham
Join the national fight to save one of Britain's fastest-declining birds. Durham Wildlife Trust is seeking a Willow Tit Research Officer to lead the North East's contribution to a major new Natural En...
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MMU - Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Resilience @sbac-manmetuni.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
MMU PhD student @bensecker.bsky.social is working to understand drivers of Willow tit decline in the UK:
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Two retrapped Willow Tits at one of our sites this morning, in all likelihood a newly formed pair. The female (right) is an adult from one of the nests we were monitoring last year on the site. She lost her partner midway though egg-laying, presumably predated, but managed to fledge all four… (1/2)
Two Willow Tits in the hand after ringing processing. Two Willow Tits in the hand showing the colour ring combinations: R: Blue over metal, L: Orange over Black, and R: Green over metal, L: Green over White.
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MMU - Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Resilience @sbac-manmetuni.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
How do endocrine-disrupting chemicals in our waterways impact the fitness of animals, like these young Sand Martins, that rely on prey from these sources? @sbac-manmetuni.bsky.social PhD student Jenny Darby is tackling this question, in a project funded by @songbirdsurvival.bsky.social
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Timlagor @timlagor.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
This ground-breaking new policy is still far too slow. Even the most aggressive public policy fails to grasp the situation and refuses to treat this as the emergency it is.
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Sky News appears to be suffering from a strong irony deficiency… #climatecrisis
Sky news discuss the first successful 19hr test flight of a long haul flight whilst other headlines outline the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people in southern France.
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Alice Risely @alice-risely.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Abstracts are open for the BOU Avian Disease Ecology conference (6-8th April 2027, Nottingham, UK). Submit here (deadline July 31st): tinyurl.com/hf2hzf4p Reg fees to be released soon - but you can get an idea of rough costs from the BOU 2026 conference: tinyurl.com/3udbz3c5 Fab line up! 🦠🦜🦠🐦‍⬛🦠
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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Our new paper led by Jenny Darby is the first to test the acoustic niche hypothesis in human-modified tropical forests - logged and recently burned forests had significantly higher rates of avian vocalisation overlap... nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #Ornithology
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Forest degradation reduces acoustic partitioning in tropical avian communities
The acoustic niche hypothesis posits that species partition acoustic space by frequency and time to avoid signal masking, and that any local loss of species leaves detectable gaps in co-evolved sound...
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Animal Behaviour Live @animalbehaviour.live · 16/07/2026
What’s the trouble with noisy neighbours? Come check it out at Animal Behavior Live 2026! We are delighted to announce Dr. Sue Anne Zollinger (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) as our second plenary speaker at Animal Behaviour Live 2026!🤩 Free registration here: ablaoc.sciencesconf.org
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Ariel Brunner @arielbrunner.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Mental experiment: what would be the political reaction in Europe if 10000 Europeans were killed within a week by a terrorist oragnisation? How can the climate and ecosystems crisis still be treated as a non-issue, a niche concern, or nice to have?
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Four juvenile Willow Tits colour ringed this morning at Wigan Flashes LNR, likely all part of the same brood. They should be dispersing soon, so fingers crossed for some follow up sightings, and maybe even nest finding next year… #UKBirding
Juvenile Willow Tit in the hand displaying colour ring combination of GMVB. Juvenile Willow Tit in the hand displaying colour ring combination of BMOV. Juvenile Willow Tit in the hand displaying colour ring combination of CMON. Juvenile Willow Tit in the hand displaying colour ring combination of GMLW.
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
And they left off Turtle Dove and Willow Tit probably so as not to depress people too much.
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
The last Willow Tit nest of the season now fledged, successfully protected from Great Spotted Woodpecker predation. No GSW predation in protected nests this year, in stark contrast to 100% predation rate by GSW in unprotected nests. Very promising results.
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MMU - Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Resilience @sbac-manmetuni.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Check out this wonderful guest blog post on Willow tit conservation by our own MMU PhD student @bensecker.bsky.social for @songbirdsurvival.bsky.social www.songbird-survival.org.uk/post/guest-b...
songbird-survival.org.uk
Guest blog: Why are willow tits disappearing from our woodlands?
Guest blog from Ben Secker who is is a Doctoral Researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University studying the willow tit. From SongBird Survival, your voice for songbirds and other small birds in the UK, a specialist charity.
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Abbey @abbeyarletto.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
When reality surpasses fiction! Top: fictional forecast for August 2050, broadcast by French TV in 2014 to warn about the consequences of global warming. Bottom: Real French forecast for yesterday, June 22, 2026.
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
After the completion of the bulk of Willow Tit fieldwork for the season, nice to have a change of scene helping out with a friend and fellow PhD student’s project on Sand Martins. Gorgeous birds, also joined by a few friends… #UKBirding
Sand Martin adult posing for a picture after ringing.Highland cattle encroaching on our ringing station.
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Probably the most stable stronghold of Willow Tits remaining in the northwest and a vital source population for surrounding areas. Sadly at least two traditional territories lost to urban development in the last couple of years, hoping AB can advocate for more robust legal protection for WTs…
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Andy Burnham is now MP for an important constituency of Willow Tits! Key areas of Amberswood Common and the Flashes of Wigan & Leigh NNR are in Makerfield, where our study was based. There's dozens of Willow Tit territories there, and likely hundreds in the wider area. doi.org/10.1080/0006...
Willow Tit territories (and dots showing nests) in an area of Makerfield, Wigan.Willow Tit by Philip Schofield
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Over several days, a male Great Spotted Woodpecker has spent more than 8 minutes trying to open up this protected Willow Tit nest. No way into this cavity! Protective mesh guard holding strong.
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
The last few days in the nest are a dangerous time for Willow Tit nestlings, their constant loud begging calls giving away their location. On this occasion they attracted the attention of a Tawny Owl, which tried its luck as one of the nestlings was calling from the entrance. This was a close call!
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Alice Risely @alice-risely.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Anyone blood sampling birds in the UK/Europe for plasma protein analysis? Need some advice on collection tubes to buy (and suppliers) if anyone has experience in that! #ornithology #molecularecology
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
This male Willow Tit is a Superdad! Last year he permanently injured his leg fighting off a GSW when his nestlings were about to fledge. It’s been wonderful to follow him this year all season, now caring for his 7 nestlings almost ready to fledge. Good luck to him and his family!
Male Willow Tit leaving the nest cavity with a fecal sac.Male Willow Tit balancing on one leg on a branch with a beak full of food for his nestlings.Male Willow Tit perched on a barbed wire fence, with a cranefly in his beak, before feeding it to his nestlings.Female Willow Tit perched on mossy bark concealing protective mesh around the nest cavity, with a caterpillar in her beak, with a nestling almost ready to fledge at the nest entrance.
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Lesson in rewilding from an abandoned field in Carmarthenshire - Willow, Oak, Hawthorn, Bramble racing through the grasses. No habitat management plan, no livestock, no fences, no cost. Willow Tit singing at the bottom of the field. #EarthDay
An image of a field in Wales covered in Bramble, with Willow trees and Hawthorn. Willow Tits have a territory here. The field has been abandoned for many years.
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
This year @birdsinwales.bsky.social kindly awarded us a grant to purchase trail camera equipment. @naturespy.bsky.social have also generously loaned us trail cameras. These cameras allow us to monitor Willow Tit nests at a landscape scale, gathering important data around the clock.
An image of a trail camera with the front open in the process of being set up in a willow copse on a Willow Tit nest. An image showing a Willow Tit nest with a protective mesh guard to stop Great Spotted Woodpecker attack, with a cellular trail camera installed in an adjacent tree. An image of a pair of Willow Tits on the front of a willow snag where they are excavating a nest chamber. An image of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker perched on an alder snag inspecting a Willow Tit nest, just prior to breaking into the nest cavity.
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Managed to spend a few hours this week watching a pair of our Willow Tits bringing a variety of food items to the nest. Mainly caterpillars, but also many spiders, aphids and craneflies. A balanced diet keeping the full brood healthy so far, and should be fledging in the next few days... #UKBirding
A Willow Tit perching with food items in the bill.A Willow Tit perching with multiple food items in its bill.A Willow Tit perching with many food items in its bill, including spiders and caterpillars.A crowded brood of Willow Tit chicks inside the cavity.
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Extensive, unmanaged woodland habitats, abundant deadwood and understorey layer, good connectivity at a landscape scale, a paradise for Willow Tits. But there’s trouble in paradise. Another territory checked just a day too late. GSW predation hitting hard in Carmarthenshire.
An image of a Willow Tit territory with wet woodland, a stream flowing through the centre and lots of Angelica growing beneath Willows and Alders.An image of a predated Willow Tit nest in an Alder snag. A clutch of 8 eggs were hatching when a GSW attacked and killed 4 nestlings and the remaining 4 eggs were abandoned. The nest hole has been enlarged by the woodpecker.
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
For 7 days, a pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker kept a close eye on this Willow Tit nest. The male GSW took 3 minutes to destroy it. The clutch of 9 eggs were left by the GSW and abandoned by the Willow Tits. It’s touch and go if the WTs have a last nesting attempt this season…
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Ben Phillips @benphillips76.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Sharing, without comment, British newspapers’ depictions of the only Jewish person currently leading a UK political party . Times. Mail. Telegraph. Sun.
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Blue Tits are a problem for Willow Tits, often taking over WT nest cavities by aggressive eviction. With 6 WT eggs inside, these BTs spent an entire day removing nesting material! The second day was full on warfare, ending in successful WTs. Now a full clutch of 8 eggs safely under incubation. Phew!
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Dr Rachael Miller (Harrison) @drrmiller.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
PhD Opportunity! 4-year funded PhD @uniexecec.bsky.social: “From cognition to conservation: using cognitive and behavioural research to enhance animal reintroductions”. Closes: 5 June 2026. Funding: @royalsociety.org (UK/Home students only). More info & to apply: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin... 1/
exeter.ac.uk
From cognition to conservation: using cognitive and behavioural research to enhance animal reintroductions, PhD (Funded) | University of Exeter
The University of Exeter’s Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, is inviting applications for a 4-year PhD studentship (UK fees), ideally commencing Sept 2026.
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
UPDATE: Captured some footage of a male (presumably same pair) GSW checking out the cavity in a similar manner to the female in my previous post, then this a few days ago. Still going, just… #UKBirding #Ornithology
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
A new nest found today at another site already destroyed (likely by woodpecker @richardkbroughton.bsky.social?). Thankfully early enough to re-excavate and build a new nest (3 & 4), although right by a main footpath with lots of dogs off the lead. Fingers crossed… #UKBirding
Destroyed Willow Tit nest cavity in a standing deadwood stump. Nesting material from a destroyed Willow Tit nest in a deadwood stump. Willow Tit nest cavity in a dead stump. Location of a Willow Tit nest site next to a major path.
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
When excavating a nest cavity, Willow Tits share the work, taking it in shifts. These two birds are particularly inseparable - one will often sit on top of the nest or at the entrance whilst the other is inside digging. It’s wonderful to watch.
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Update: so far so good! #UKBirding
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Some ominous footage gathered a few days ago from one of the Willow Tit nests we are monitoring. GSW are the most common predator of WT nests in Britain, and having increased by ~400% since the late 60s, it's not a threat that's going away. Let's hope this one has amnesia... #UKBirding #Yikes
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Excited to share our new paper in @britishbirds.bsky.social! We present the first confirmed evidence of farmland ground-nesting bird nests on a solar park in the UK. We also conducted focal watches to understand how Corn Buntings were using Westmill Solar Park during the breeding season. 1/4
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Rob Thomas @robthomasbirds.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
It’s never too late to continue a 1200+ year dataset. Please share.
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
New Willow Tit nest found this afternoon at one of our field sites. Two other preliminary excavations found before this final full attempt - adult seen carrying nest material. Four hours of getting scratched to oblivion worth it in the end! #UKBirding
A Willow Tit nest cavity well-disguised in a dead Silver Birch stump. A close up of a Willow Tit nest cavity entrance in a dead Silver Birch stump. Wood chips from a Willow Tit cavity excavation.
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Wild Horizons @wildhorizons.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Fascinating how these two female Willow Tits are going to roost in their nest cavities within a minute or so of each other (around 19.45) and also leaving them in the morning at 6.23. The male birds escort them to bed and are often seen waiting for them in the morning too. Amazing birds.
An image of a female Willow Tit leaving her nest cavity in a Willow snag early in the morning.An image of a female Willow Tit leaving her nest cavity inside a nest box after roosting for the night.
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Ben Secker @bensecker.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
The splendid song of a Willow Tit for your Friday afternoon! ☀️ #UKBirding
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