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Mark Gurney

@markgurn.bsky.social
477 followers 103 following 18 posts

I’m here for birds, insects, plants, and kind people. 🏳️‍🌈 he/him

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Reposted by Mark Gurney
European Bird Census Council @ebcc.info · 11/09/2026
We're excited to present the new EuroBirdPortal Viewer! For the first time, you can explore the near-real-time distribution of all bird species recorded in Europe, with access to hundreds of animated maps covering almost 600 species. eurobirdportal.org/ebp/en/#home...
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Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
We just published a new issue of #BritishandIrishBotany, our Open Access online scientific journal. Find out about the 10 papers from authors inc @astridbiddle.bsky.social, Jo Jones from @plantlifeuk.bsky.social, Tim Rich, John Richards, Andy Amphlett, Chris Preston & more: bsbi.org/about/news/l...
The purple flowers of Limonium britannicum subsp. celticum, one of the Sea-lavenders, in their typical coastal habitats. Images: Jennifer WilkinsonThe bright blue flowers of the tiny Spring Speedwell (Veronica verna) which grows only in the Brecks. Image: Jo JonesThe bright yellow flowerhead of the Vatersay Dandelion, photographed by Paul Smith on the Hebridean island of Vatersay
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Kent Field Club @kentfieldclub.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
To quote from the piece: "our study poses the question: should we be employing patience over seed packet more often?” Yes we should, if we want rich, vibrant plant communities as part of nature recovery.
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William (Bill) Sutherland @billsutherland.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
There are lots of views about whether geography or gender bias peer review and whether anonymous peer review is less biased or is harder to operate. Charles Fox has run an amazing series of experiments to find the answers. youtu.be/GtiWx-h_yos?...
youtu.be
Does geography or gender bias peer review?
YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts
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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
A masterclass in Thymes last night with Breckland Flora Group. Breckland Thyme Thymus serpyllum is the local special species. ID notes on ALT
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William (Bill) Sutherland @billsutherland.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
How does droughts kill plants and how do some communities benefit from drought? Here I tell the story of Breckland in eastern England youtu.be/0h6GYgza00E?...
youtu.be
Climate Extremes and Conservation
YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts
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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Our new commentary rdcu.be/ftx6h in @natecoevo.nature.com written with folks from @inaturalist.bsky.social and @cornellbirds.bsky.social shows that use of AI to manipulate existing or create new wildlife images undermines the huge value of vast citizen science databases. 🌍🪰🪶 #Ornithology 🧵 1/10
rdcu.be
Citizen science platforms must mitigate against the threat of generative AI
Nature Ecology & Evolution - Citizen science platforms must mitigate against the threat of generative AI
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Will George @willgeorge.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Looking at a nice plant, but feel like it's missing something? Why not see if you can find a bug or two on there with this handy list of bug host plants. sites.google.com/view/bedsbug...
sites.google.com
BedsBugs - Bugs by plant
Many species of bug are strongly associated with either single plant species, or a small number of related species. Targeted searching of these plants, by beating or sweeping, can be a productive way ...
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Adrián Sánchez Albert 🐛 @adsalbert.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Between error and discovery ⚖️ #NHMs house lots of labelled specimens; some representing occurrences outside spp known distributions! 🗺️🪲 But, how do we know we are seeing an actual collection event rather than a mislabelling error? Today we talk about an unresolved case! ⤵️ doi.org/10.7717/peer...
A collage of two images showing a high-resolution dorsal photograph of a brownish beetle (Acentroptera norrisii), and the screenshot of the cited article titled: "The enigmatic historical record of the leaf beetle Acentroptera norrisii in Spain: failed biological introduction or curatorial artefact?".

Source: my own
Photo credits: A. Sánchez Albert and MNCN-CSIC
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John Walters @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
If you are interested in learning to identify the UKs ground beetles there are free guides to download on my website johnwalters.co.uk/publications...
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Xeno-canto @xeno-canto.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
A new set of some 600 grasshopper recordings from southern Europe, shared by Julien Barataud. Below an example Eugryllodes escalerae, xeno-canto.org/1095289
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British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) @bou.org.uk · 26/03/2026
Decision relating to the #BritishList Pied Crow Corvus albus has not been added to Category A or Category D bou.org.uk/british-l... The British List remains at 636 species #ornithology
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Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Yesterday our Botanical Skills Northern Ireland Team practiced how to use underwater drones to collect under-recorded aquatic plant specimens! The drone will also be used for our @bsbiireland.bsky.social #AquaticPlantProject & we hope to raise money for a 2nd drone to survey Scottish lochs.
facebook.com
Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland on Reels
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Andy J. Green @drandygreen.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Our new paper shows that when birds breed in artificial wetlands, they can still depend on surrounding natural wetlands. GPS tracking of black-headed gulls in #Doñana @ebdonana.bsky.social @britishecologicalsociety.org @seobirdlife.bsky.social besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Drought reduces the value of both artificial and natural wetlands for gulls breeding in the Mediterranean region
The importance of artificial wetlands for waterbird conservation can be easily overestimated from count data alone. The value of extensive fish ponds as a breeding habitat depends on maintaining the ....
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Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
If you're within reach of Northamptonshire on Sat 16 May there's a soldierfly identification workshop with the Wildlife Trust: learn how to identify soldierflies using keys, specimens & microscopes (suitable for beginners & more experienced) www.wildlifebcn.org/events/2026-...
wildlifebcn.org
Identifying and Recording Soldierflies and Allies with Martin Harvey | Wildlife Trust for Beds Cambs & Northants
Learn how to identify soldierflies using keys, specimens, and microscopes (suitable for beginners and more experienced recorders)
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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
New preprint: Guidelines and best practices for the scientific use of global iNaturalist data ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v... 🌍🧪
ecoevorxiv.org
Guidelines and best practices for the scientific use of global iNaturalist data
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Nick Isaac @drnickisaac.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
It was a real privilege to work on this paper - some important messages for the world here. Thanks @pnas.org @billsutherland.bsky.social
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Biodiversity Heritage Library @biodivlibrary.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
🎉 Huge news for BHL: The Field Museum is taking over the hosting of BHL’s website, servers & infrastructure, ensuring long-term stability and access for its 63+ million pages of open biodiversity literature. Learn more: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2026/02/tran... #BHLTransition #ILoveBHL 🌍 📚 🧪
An historic black and white illustration of a paper nautilus floating on the ocean. There are boats, a city and hills in the background.
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Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
The latest issue of #BritishandIrishBotany is out! It's our Open Access, online scientific journal. 6 papers inc @bsbiscience.bsky.social on garden escapes, a new hybrid grass, @floodplainmead.bsky.social on Scotland's wet grasslands, a hawkweed, drift seeds & sea bindweed: bsbi.org/about/news/l...
The yellow flowers of American Skunk-cabbage bloom in the bog garden at RHS Harlow CarrSea Bindweed, with pink and white trumpet flowers, blooms in a sand-dune on the Sefton Coast
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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Somehow I missed this Californian record of Waved Albatross last autumn ebird.org/checklist/S2... an incredible vagrant 🪶
ebird.org
eBird Checklist - 5 Oct 2025 - Leg 6: 38.1035,-123.5610 - 17 species (+1 other taxa)
Submitted by Michael Carozza.
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Patrick Barkham @patrickbarkham.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Cut blackthorn hedges less often = boost brown hairstreak butterflies. Really simple, cost-free (or even money-saving) measures can massively benefit wildlife. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Rare butterflies bounce back after landowners in Wales cut back on flailing hedges
More than 300 brown hairstreak butterfly eggs were recorded in hedgerows near Llandeilo this winter after decade of decline
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Eliot Miller @eliotmiller.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Taxonomy and phylogeny are two sides of the same coin, but that doesn't mean they are always in agreement. I wrote a blog post on why the new Phylogeny Explorer in @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social is such a big deal in that regard, and what's in store next for us. eliotmiller.weebly.com/blog/birds-o...
eliotmiller.weebly.com
Birds of World's new Phylogeny Explorer
It’s been an exciting week. Five years in the making, we’re very excited to release this new, updated, dynamic phylogeny of the world’s birds. By harnessing Open Tree of Life ’s existing...
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Mark Gurney @markgurn.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Anisognathus mountain-tanagers. 6-7 species here, the middle is one of my favourite Andean birds: bold banana colours excellent shade of blue matching bright personality staple of mixed flocks - as well as being fab itself, has prospect of exciting companions. Almost perfect: 9/10 #birdart #sciart
Nine brightly coloured birds arranged in three rows of three. They are all facing left in the same pose. Seven are bright yellow and blue or black, two are black and scarlet with patches of sky blue. All are superb.
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Palustris @palustris.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
This is the height of ecological illiteracy and shows how wannabe zookeepers have taken over UK nature conservation. Evidence for native status of these species is incredibly tenuous; releasing them into one of our most ancient & irreplaceable ecosystems would be crazy. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Three frogs to be reintroduced to West Acre 'pingos'
The money will be spent on breeding thousands of frogs and managing their release in 2026.
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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Climate-driven range contractions in species like Twite and Citril Finch can't be fixed by releases www.birdguides.com/news/citril-... #Ornithology ##UKBirding 🪶
birdguides.com
Citril Finch population collapses in Germany amid broader European declines
Citril Finch has nearly disappeared from Germany’s Black Forest, with numbers plunging by over 97%. Across Europe, habitat loss and climatic change threaten this mountain specialist, prompting urgent ...
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Martin Collinson @docmartin2mc.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
The fragment of ND2 DNA that @tessaroo.bsky.social got from Calshot GT Grackle doesn't tell exactly where it came from but it excludes a USA west coast (nelsoni) origin and puts it in the Panama-Central-USA populations. Orange shape overlaid on map from DaCosta et al., 2008 doi.org/10.1525/cond...
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Esme Ashe-Jepson @esme-ashe.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
My latest paper is now published in an issue! We showcased the incredible scientific contributions that local and amateur naturalists make for research on long term change! 💚🌍 doi.org/10.1111/icad...
doi.org
Local entomologists shine a light on moth communities: The value of amateur records in cataloguing long‐term change
Written records associated with museum collections are often underutilised. We use two new macro-moth collections donated to the University Museum of Zoology (Cambridge) to investigate long-term cha...
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Esme Ashe-Jepson @esme-ashe.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
New paper alert! Microclimate temperatures are more extreme than we previously thought! Near-ground temperatures are amplified in hot weather, cool refugia is lost and replaced with heat traps ☀️🔥🥵 escape from heat will be very hard for small ground-dwelling organisms doi.org/10.21425/fob...
doi.org
Local microclimates can both amplify and mitigate extreme temperatures associated with climate change
Climate change is a threat to global biodiversity, with changes to mean temperatures and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Heatwaves in particular pose a threat to species’...
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Reuben O'Connell-Booth @rocb-ento.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Interested in moth trapping? Wondering which trap to use? Or if different bulbs collect different species? Using 100k samples from @gardenmothscheme.bsky.social our new paper looks at these questions and more! With with Bill Kunin and @katatrepsis.bsky.social #mothsmatter #teammoth
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Effect of bulb type on moth trap catch and composition in UK gardens
We analyse 10 years of records Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to estimate the effect of bulb and trap type on the number of moths caught by moth traps. We find that brighter, higher wattage bulbs collect ...
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Nederlandse Entomologische Vereniging @nev.nl · 12/12/2025
Bij veel leden ligt de nieuwste Entomologische Berichten op de mat, of is deze digitaal te benaderen via de ledenomgeving op NEV.nl! Ook deze mooie uitgave lezen? Word lid, of even wachten. Oudere jaargangen zijn ook beschikbaar via Natuurtijdschriften.nl
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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Huge News from the Western Amazon: it's the year 2025 and we are still describing entirely new, strikingly-distinctive large-bodied bird species! Behold Tinamus resonans sp. nov. the Slaty-masked Tinamou mapress.com/zt/article/v... #Ornithology @tetzoo.bsky.social 🪶
Photo montage of Tinamus resonans sp. nov., a new species of tinamou from the montane forests of the Serra do Divisor, western Amazonia, Brazil. The species is distinguished by a unique combination of plumage pattern, vocal repertoire, and ecological characteristics, including a conspicuous dark slate facial mask, vivid rufous-cinnamon underparts, and a uniform brownish-gray back. Its vocalizations are remarkable, consisting of long and powerful songs that echo strikingly across the steep montane slopes, producing a characteristic resonant effect. The species was documented exclusively at higher elevations within a transitional zone between submontane and stunted forests, where the understory is densely structured by root mats. A preliminary population estimate, based on field detections and spatial extrapolation, suggests approximately 2,106 individuals restricted to the Serra do Divisor massif. Although no immediate anthropogenic pressures were observed within its range, the species may be highly vulnerable to climate change and to proposed infrastructure projects that threaten the integrity of this federally protected region. The discovery of T. resonans highlights the biological uniqueness of the Serra do Divisor, reinforces its status as a center of montane endemism, and underscores the critical importance of maintaining its long-term conservation.
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British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) @bou.org.uk · 28/11/2025
EARLY VIEW in IBIS A new species of jewel-babbler (Cinclosomatidae: Ptilorrhoa) from the Southern Fold Mountains of Papua New Guinea | onlinelibrary.wiley.... Iain A. Woxvold, Banak G. Gamui, Leo Legra, Samson Yama, Bonny Koane, Salape Tulai | #ornithology 🪶
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Kane Brides 🦆 @kanebrides.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
🦢 What a swan’s 570km U-turn could tell us about water, wetlands, and a changing climate.... www.linkedin.com/posts/kane-b...
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Might be good for plant spp. richness, but I'm not sure mowing field margins every 6 weeks in spring & summer is going to be helpful for other farmland biodiversity. Seems a perfect way to repeatedly destroy every breeding attempt of ground-nesting birds, small mammals or butterflies that use them.
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Mark Gurney @markgurn.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Exciting news: we have a new British flea weevil. Less exciting news: it is a Rhamphus. I still don't understand how to tell them all apart. Even so, this is a very useful paper: www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/16... Six new Palaearctic species and a review of diagnostic characters. #coleoptera
A tiny black weevil with its head ticked under its head and large eyes on the top of the head. The antennae look like they come out in the front of the eyes. It is a Rhamphus flea weevil, but we do not know which species. They are cute but difficult.
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Large citizen science datasets are powerful tools for biodiversity science, but they may have biases. Nice new paper from @louisbackstrom.bsky.social et al. showing that for eBird and Birdtrack lists there is a tendency for rare species to be over-represented onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
One for the occasional series of #ornithology papers you need in your life but might not have read - Common/Spotted Sandpiper flight style as an antipredator behaviour. academic.oup.com/auk/article-...
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Dr Astrid Biddle @astridbiddle.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Solanum revealed 2 species: nigrum & nitidibaccatum, Black & Green Nightshade. Apart from the obvious berry colour, it always remained possible that Green Nightshade could have been unripe berries. Green= sepal lobes expand as the berries mature Black= stays the same
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Tommy's Outdoors @tommysoutdoors.com · 23/09/2025
Can species reintroductions harm biodiversity rather than help it? Are we using reintroductions as a distraction from the real drivers of our nature crisis? Listen to my conversation with the one and only @alexanderlees.bsky.social 🌍🦤🧪🪶 ➡️ pod.fo/e/32fae6
A middle-aged man with a bald head sits in front of bookshelves filled with scientific and academic texts in what appears to be a home office or study. He's wearing a dark grey jumper and has a slight smile whilst looking directly at the camera.
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British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) @bou.org.uk · 12/09/2025
An Intergeneric Hybrid Between Historically Isolated Temperate and Tropical Jays Following Recent Range Expansion | doi.org/10.1002/ece3... | Ecology and Evolution | #ornithology 🪶
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Jakob Jilg @weevil-see.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
How to find Mogulones crucifer: The weevil is native to Europe/West Asia, but has been introduced to North America to control its host (Cynoglossum officinale; Hound's Tongue) which is invasive there.
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Jente Ottenburghs | Avian Hybrids @jenteo.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Crazy discovery in ants 🤯🐜 One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants | Nature www.nature.com/articles/s41... "Males from the same mother exhibit distinct genomes and morphologies, as they belong to species that diverged over 5 million years ago."
nature.com
One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants - Nature
In a case of obligate cross-species cloning, female ants of Messor ibericus need to clone males of Messor structor to obtain sperm for producing the worker caste, resulting in males from the same moth...
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Mark Gurney @markgurn.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
If you want to identify, well, anything, I recommend this post from @weevil-see.bsky.social. His choice of weevils to illustrate it is of course excellent, but it applies to everything from mushrooms to marsupials. This is how you can be a good identifier of things. [Link contains spider]
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Mark Gurney @markgurn.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Top film. The smartest look at this subject I've ever seen. Also funny and sweary. youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...
youtu.be
LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching
YouTube video by owen reiser
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Tristan Bantock @britishbugs.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Thought I'd post something about separating Nysius senecionis and graminicola, as both are now widespread. The features to focus on are the extent of the matt field of the evaporatory area (the brown bit) and the length of the 1st hind tarsal segment relative to the 2nd and 3rd.
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
At #EOU2025 @eounion.bsky.social conference next week, we'll show new evidence implicating forestry in declines of British Marsh Tits during the era of woodland conversion in 1950/60s-1980s. This was period of steepest decline in Marsh Tits. Why? What was going on back then? #ornithology 1/5
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Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
We just published a new issue of #BritishandIrishBotany, our Open Access online journal. 7 papers for you to enjoy inc Lady's-slipper orchid reintroductions; variation in Restharrows; a new Comfrey hybrid for UK; montane plants; sea-grapes new to Europe! bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/08/brit...
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UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) @ukceh.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
NEW! The latest UKCEH Land Cover Map, describing the UK land surface in 2024, is now available 🏞️ 🌳 See what broad habitats—ranging from broadleaved woodland and arable land to freshwater and urban areas— there are and where in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. #LandCover #LCM 🧵🧪 1/
Map of UK and Ireland illustrating broad habitats in the UK and Northern Ireland as classified by the UKCEH Land Cover MapBroad habitats from the UKCEH Land Cover Map for an area around Norwich in EnglandBroad habitats from the UKCEH Land Cover Map for an area more zoomed in around Norwich in England
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Pieter Vantieghem @pietervantieghem.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Also, white stork is doing very well on the continent (partly due to reintroductions), see fe breeding trend in the Netherlands ((c) @sovonvogels.bsky.social ). No doubt this population outbreak will spread to the UK. Better to use limited funding for conservation to species that really need it.
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Biological Recording Company @biologicalrecording.co.uk · 25/07/2025
Most weevils have a snout, elbowed antennae & a heart-shaped foot—making them easy to recognise (with a few exceptions). 🪲 Learn more for free with @markgurn.bsky.social: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1491232379... #Weevils 🧪 @amentsoc.bsky.social @britentsoc.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social
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