iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Nice, certainly an intriguing spot for it. We had a known escape for eight years at Fen Drayton, was quite happy along the river.

Grey-headed Swamphen along the Great Ouse at Fen Drayton

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Could be fixed with more buses starting there, as they arrive full from St Ives. Plenty of busway capacity for them. Autonomous shuttles to Cambridge North would seem quite plausible.

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Very far from true. Drivers and vehicles definitely become limiting, but not timetabling. If you'd ever seen the busway, you'd have seen buses close behind another, but timetabled gaps are generally 10 minutes, so massively more capacity.

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It works very well from St Ives, but that means buses are full at Northstowe/Longstanton Park & Ride (same stop). Needs buses to start from there in the morning. Ironically, the speed limits partially helping for now as fewer people using buses from St Ives (but frequency will drop next year)

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Met4Cast @met4cast.net · 17/08/2026

Temperatures in the Mediterranean basin are now setting new all time temperature records by a fairly significant margin with much of the sea now at severe or extreme maritime heatwave levels. Devastating for wildlife & local ecosystems.

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

NBN Atlas has a couple of records from Fulbourn in 2024, so second I think

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Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 15/07/2026

The Met Office State of the UK Climate report for 2025 demonstrates how climate extremes are becoming the new normal for the UK. Published today by Wiley in @rmets.org More details in the news release: bit.ly/4eZCnV4 Read the thread for some of the report’s key findings ⬇️🧵1/

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Very well deserved. You know where to send it in the winter!

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Suspect it was a young bird, she has been around a couple of years, this is the first year there have been two nests. The parents of the extra four are still there on the next lake. Very unusual to have both a breeding trio and acquire extra cygnets, but it's working.

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

One male and two females with a brood each, and four more cygnets acquired from the next lake, for reasons unknown.

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

The building will be used by Christian and Muslim religious groups, other community uses and have a cafe. Care to give us a sketch of your ideas for that?

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Would be interesting to hear of any similar events you know about, but to have both a trio breeding with two nests close together and then acquiring an extra brood as well, from a separate lake, seems highly unlikely. Seems to be working so far. Parents of the extra brood are still on their lake

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Northstowe Swan shenanigans continuing. The two broods from the trio happily merged, but then, somehow, the four cygnets from the next lake also joined the group, so now three adults and sixteen cygnets, from three broods

Northstowe swans, three adults (male and two females) with three broods amalgamated, one each from the females, and now four cygnets from the pair on the next lake as well. The Black-headed Gull chick that had jumped from the raft to cool down was rejected, so they have their limits.

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Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 25/05/2026

Provisionally 13 sites have recorded a temperature higher than the previous May record of 32.8 Celsius

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

But later bombs released orders of magnitude more energy, so it's an imprecise measure for communicating, as well as an ugly piece of history. Daily EEI is about a year of human food consumption (all of us)

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Daily average ocean heat uptake is roughly equal to a year of human food consumption (all 8 billion + of us). Was my best effort to get round that issue.

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Red Kite reintroduction was good, given state of the species then (very small outlying population), and how core we are to its range. Also Scottish WT Eagle made sense when it was done, don't think anyone expected them to spread so rapidly themselves, but they have!

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Beach cleans have their place, but not through breeding areas or high tide wader roosts, which wasn't what some people wanted to hear recently. Took a lot of persuading that they should do their "good deed" a few hours later, once the several hundred Sanderling had somewhere else to be.

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

There are lessons to be learnt about communicating, but hopefully propaganda isn't one of them. What barriers are there for a species that has spread rapidly, is still increasing, wanders widely and can cross the Channel?

Slimbridge 2010. Cranes were established back in East Anglia well before this

Poole Harbour Osprey history. Not correct as Lake District pair first bred 2000, and definitely misleading (they spread from Scotland)

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

They're spreading quite rapidly on the continent, with Dutch birds coming over to UK It creates a big distraction away from eagles recolonising of their own accord, which feels like a more inspiring story. Create habitat, reduce pollution/persecution and things come back. See confusion over Cranes:

Reintroduction take over the narrative of natural recolonisation, Cranes and Ospreys especially

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Interesting Mute Swan breeding in Northstowe, with two broods to one male. Third bird has been around since 2024, this is the first time it has bred. @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

Mute Swan brood 2, Northstowe, with the same male as the first brood

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

How does it fit with this? bsky.app/profile/mliv... There is very little evidence of their past presence, which there surely would be for a large, boldly coloured and human-habituated bird. Make habitat and wildlife will come

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

RB Shrike surely capable of natural recolonisation if conditions permit, enough get here each spring and some breeding records. Given the upturn on the near continent, it should be a habitat priority in the south-east (many other things would also benefit). Clearly daft to release them.

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

And as the great man turns 100, this joke turns 10. Both still going strong

The original ship naming vote, won overwhelmingly by Boaty McBoatface

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

A day for celebrating Sir David Attenborough, very proud to have been on our namesake ship several times, for trials and Antarctic science www.bas.ac.uk/polar-operat... @bas.ac.uk

RRS Sir David Attenborough during trials off Scotland

RRS Sir David Attenborough during a base call to Rothera

RRS Sir David Attenborough during a winter science cruise

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Bottlenose Dolphins off Scotland are much bigger, likely where the maximum weights come from

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Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) @bbs-birds.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

1/ The 2025 BBS Report is out now! It was a record year for volunteers taking part, with 2,800+ visiting 4,058 survey squares across the UK, Channel Islands & Isle of Man. A huge thank you to our volunteers! @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Another unfortunate attempt, though the article is actually pretty good

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Deionised water and a small "squirting" bottle the best bet for bins. For camera lens, removable up filter and similar works

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Slimbridge 2010, Poole Harbour Osprey website now. I have some sympathy with the journalists getting confused, as this is far from neutral messaging

Poole Harbour Osprey messaging. Ospreys bred successfully in Lake District in 2000, nest viewpoint opened 2001, the latter year matching Rutland

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The Rare Breeding Birds Panel @ukrbbp.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

It’s the time of year to be out finding, recording and enjoying rare breeding birds, but it’s vital to put their welfare first. Here’s some advice from @markaeaton.bsky.social, and there’s a blog here tinyurl.com/RBBPsafe [1/2] youtu.be/5xXc9Dl7vwk?...

youtu.be

Putting birds first, pt1

YouTube video by Rare Breeding Birds Panel

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

"was" - it has been fixed, very easily, after larger buses were built. Your photo shows how.

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British Dragonfly Society @britishdragonflies.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

A new report from wildlife charity Buglife reveals that pesticides from common flea and tick treatments are now widespread in rivers across Britain and may be contributing to major declines in freshwater invertebrates bit.ly/4b1Pu50

bit.ly

Buglife News: Love Your Pet, Not Pesticides: New Report Warns of Flea and Tick Treatment Threat to Rivers

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

For large animals close to native range, population might die out slowly, over multiple decades and generations, which to many would (initially) look like success due to some breeding (just not enough) Re-introductions are already reducing awareness of natural recolonisation, likely to happen more.

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Some crew saw JCR through from start to end, which was 30 years, including sailing rather than flying the Atlantic (and double Halley winters before that for two of them). Some first-last Rothera visits well over 30 years, with most as winter or summer seasons. I'm on a mere 16 seasons in 22 years

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Spurn Bird Observatory @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

🧵 An urgent appeal to protect one of the UK’s most important Little Tern colonies at Beacon Ponds in 2026. Without funding for professional wardening, the project may not be able to run this season. ⬇️

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Should clarify this is about IOW releases. Scottish WT Eagle reintroduction made sense in situation at the time, before the rapid spread to the near continent.

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Messaging about the Cranes was even more "less than complete with the truth". Fenland wintering flock now over 100.

Slimbridge 2010, when Cranes were very much not extinct in the UK

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

But if (when) wild White-tailed Eagles colonise SE England, how much less of a story will that be because they have be released ahead of the spread? See how Poole Harbour Ospreys minimise natural recolonisation (have more sympathy for Osprey projects overall as there are disparate populations)

The Lake District pair were from natural recolonisation (and actually first bred in 2000)

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Spurn Bird Observatory @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

The Little Terns at Beacon Ponds have made a remarkable recovery, but they need urgent help to thrive in 2026. Your support can fund a professional warden, ensuring these birds are protected from threats. Please share and contribute if you can! gofund.me/83bf3bdd8

gofund.me

Donate to Save the Beacon Ponds Little Tern Project, organized by Spurn Bird Obs

Without urgent support, the Beacon Ponds Little Tern Project may not be able … Spurn Bird Obs needs your support for Save the Beacon Ponds Little Tern Project

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Need to work out the odds properly, taking into account that we'd be asking the same question if all had been another score (eg eight 6-4s), and relative likelihood of each score. Roughly 1 in 20,000 I think for something this weird, much higher for this actual weirdness @standupmaths.bsky.social

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Wintering Rothera jobs now listed for 2026/27/28 posts, for anyone who wants a year in Antarctica diving and/or boating and doing/supporting the year-round time series and benthic studies. Please share. www.bas.ac.uk/jobs/vacanci...

Small boat sampling, roles are Ocean Scientist (CTD time series, lab work, diving projects) amd Marine Biologist (large diving project). Plus Boating and Diving Officers and marine Operator to support them and other base needs for boating

Sampling continues through the winter, unique within the Antarctic Circle and rare anywhere in a polar environment

Ryder Bay, the time series point is in the middle, roughly where the chevron of rock between the glaciers points to

The marine team also monitor larger animals, including our Orca pod (as seen on Frozen Planet wave-washing seals)

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

What have the developers not done in Northstowe that the council wants them to? (as opposed to issues with the original S106 agreement)

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

Eastern Black Redstart still at Sheringham, great bird and a bonus Great Shearwater this morning!

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Prolonged views of a Bittern at Fen Drayton yesterday, and in the same place again today, from the main busway viewpoint over Elney Lake. Often heard here in spring and sometimes seen in flight, good to have a non-shy one @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social

Bittern at Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB, from the main busway viewpoint at Elney lake

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

When the ITV team were filming, there were radio discussions on where the searchlights should be to avoid too much glare.

Ship searchlights on a glacier front while ITV News go live

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

We have half-hourly seal and bird counts (and sighting-by-sighting cetacean records). 5 species recorded. Limited to when we were moving in "day"light (about 4 hours a day). Didn't split between hauled out or in water (but most Crabbies were swimming, rest mostly on ice or islands). Can send data

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Need to find someone who has pictures of a Sarnie on that buoy!

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Hugh Venables @deepseahugh.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Looks quite dark backed. What is it like in the field?

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