Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 04/07/2026Crazy times for Venezuela under US suzerainty. 000
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) singing yesterday evening becomes the 100th bird recorded at our S Norfolk house. I first found the species around here during a @btobirds.bsky.social Turtle Dove survey—attached recording made in the same area five years ago. macaulaylibrary.org/asset/353004...macaulaylibrary.orgML353004191 - Common Quail - Macaulay LibraryMacaulay Library ML353004191; © Chris Sharpe; Norfolk, England, United Kingdom 020
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 22/06/2026England's first legally designated freshwater bathing site... 010
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 05/06/2026Two corrupt regimes in perfect harmony: no transparency or control of US extraction of $8+ billion of oil, gold and other resources from its recently acquired viceroyalty of Venezuela, with undisclosed payments laundered through an opaque Qatari 'short-term' account. www.cfr.org/articles/the...cfr.orgThe U.S. Took Over Venezuela’s Oil Industry. Where Has All the Money Gone? | Council on Foreign RelationsThe American and Venezuelan people remain in the dark about how the Trump administration is controlling billions of dollars of Venezuelan oil revenue. Without accountability mechanisms or a clear demo... 010
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 31/05/2026I use an old ME66, but the phone's quality is the limiting factor so you could probably get away with any cheap directional mic and see no drop off in quality. 010
Reposted by Chris SharpeHenry Cook @hcbirding.bsky.social · 28/05/2026Incredible views of a migrating Common Quail as it flew past the ship in the English Channel! @sophieshrike.bsky.social 1262665
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 22/05/2026The wheat harvest in some parts of East Anglia is looking a little thin on the ground... #climatechange 020
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026"Americans should be cleareyed about what the president is doing. He is taking their money and showering it on criminals." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/o...nytimes.comOpinion | There Has Never Been an Example of Presidential Corruption Like This 000
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 19/05/2026More incisive journalism from the Fox News [sic] host who advocates "bombing or gassing" the United Nations. 000
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 15/05/2026"we found mutualism values (seeing wildlife as part of one’s social community) prevail in Iberian-origin Latin American countries, whereas domination values (seeing wildlife as a resource for human use) are more prevalent in British-origin North American countries." www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comEnduring cultural legacies affect Euro-American wildlife values - Nature SustainabilityLittle is known about how values emerge, evolve and affect people’s relation with their natural environment. A study now sheds light on the influence of the institutions of European colonization on pr... 030
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 14/05/2026This year we have a garden Blackcap (Sylvia atticapilla) with such a lovely opulent song, so rich with mimicry that today @cornellbirds.bsky.social Merlin identifies Garden Warbler, Song Thrush, Robin, Nightingale and House Sparrow in its repertoire! A joy to hear! #ornithology 060
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 13/05/2026Arguably not the primary motivation, but this would catapult the USA to #1 megadiversity country... 010
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 13/05/2026Regrettably 'Fraudubon' was an unreliable narrator, but his artwork is still breathtaking... This copy recently photographed at Cambridge University Library: www.facebook.com/share/p/1HAa... #ornithology 020
Reposted by Chris SharpeNPR @npr.org · 12/05/2026The three high-school birders, dubbed The Pete Dunnelins, have one day to count as many bird species across the state of New Jersey as physically possible. Here's what it takes. n.pr/49IeEWdn.pr24 hours with 3 teenage birders: Welcome to the World Series of BirdingThe three high-school birders, dubbed The Pete Dunnelins, have one day to count as many bird species across the state of New Jersey as physically possible. Here's what it takes. 023635
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 12/05/2026Perhaps. As I say, I prefer to hear / read unfiltered. A key part of the experience is in their exact choice of deliberately misleading language. But I have better things to do than précis disinformation and propaganda! Although I admit to being oddly fascinated by conspiracy cranks and demagogues. 000
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 12/05/2026A fair argument. Yet I like to understand what these people are saying---yes, even Pile (OK, less so Morrison, and not an utter dullard like Young). I don't regret any of the time spent watching and listening to Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chávez, and I recommend close scrutiny Farage et al.. 100
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 12/05/2026"Natural England recognises the value of White Stork as a visible and charismatic species in engaging people with nature but releases of this species are not a priority for us." 👏👏👏 #ornithology naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2026/05/08/w...naturalengland.blog.gov.ukWhite stork, black stork and other vagrant bird speciesBy Jeremy Sabel and Matt Heydon Natural England’s Species Recovery & Reintroductions Team Projects involving the release of white stork Ciconia ciconia capture the public imagination. If fairy tales a... 162
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 12/05/2026It's perhaps understandable that an embittered man whose father, Baron Young of Dartington, had to pull strings to get him into Oxford Uni on poor grades should be deeply envious of someone who has made such an impact on our world. dailysceptic.org/2026/05/12/t...dailysceptic.orgThe Descent of Attenborough – The Daily ScepticAs David Attenborough turns 100, Ben Pile looks back on the "national treasure's" worst moments of climate alarmism, such as when he blamed Ethiopia's famine on the country having "too many people". 130
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 03/05/2026Politicos indulging in this level of crass disinformation are inherently unfit for public office. Is this just ignorance on the part of one ill-informed rogue local candidate or a deliberate, coordinated and well-financed attempt to deceive? #climatescience 010
Reposted by Chris SharpeUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) @ukceh.bsky.social · 01/05/2026Long-term data from UKCEH reveal that Windermere has warmed by 1.5°C in the past 80 years. Find out more as TV presenter Helen Skelton joins our scientists on the lake to see this work in action: www.ceh.ac.uk/press/worryi... 🧪ceh.ac.ukWorrying warming trend at Windermere over past 80 yearsLong-term monitoring data collected by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) show that surface temperatures in Windermere, the largest lake in England, have warmed by 1.5 degrees in the last 8... 02112
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 01/05/2026Four of these beauties singing on territories, together with an additional pair, in cereal fields in Cambridgeshire this morning. A strongly declining summer visitor, it has been a few years since I have seen so many in England. 000
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 28/04/2026Cornell Lab's BirdCast predicts 246 million birds to be airborne tonight over the USA after sunset. Bird migration is astonishing! @cornellbirds.bsky.social #ornithology 816139
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 28/04/2026The US government is buying illegally mined gold from the same cartels and 'narco-terrorists' it claims to be bombing under its programme of extrajudicial executions, and laundering it into official minted US currency. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/w...nytimes.comU.S. Mint Buys Drug Cartel Gold and Sells It as ‘American’ 031
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 27/04/2026Mine took several months having got lost by UPS (Swarovski's carrier) and then retained by HMRC. They arrived with the typical British bureaucracy sheaf of tax paperwork. I'll be buying British next time 😂. 020
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 16/04/2026There's something touching about this year's tiny Cowslip in our garden. An augury of something... 020
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 13/04/2026"Venezuela's got $500 billion of gold but they've also got other critical minerals, bauxite for aluminium which we need for defence and for consumer goods. They've got coal resources that can be used to help generate power to help us win the AI arms race with China." www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04...abc.net.auTrump is the latest to enter a decades-long fight for this nation's goldThe stockpile is part of a longer skirmish for access to and control of a bonanza playing out an ocean away, in a country clambering to reinvent itself amid political turmoil. 010
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 12/04/2026news.mongabay.com/2026/04/vene...news.mongabay.comVenezuela’s new mining law could spell disaster for the Amazon, critics warnVenezuela is close to passing a law to update the country’s mining regulations and attract private investment in gold, silver, coltan and other minerals. But advocacy groups say the law may end up exa... 001
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 11/04/2026Not at all. However, I see passive acoustics and indexes used in cases where a human who can count numbers, measure densities and do many other things besides would be much more appropriate. I once spent months comparing passive Vs active count data. 010
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 10/04/2026I can do that, if access can be arranged (it seems be closed to the public). It's a short cycle from my house. Will fill out the forms. 010
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 10/04/2026Is there nothing AI can't do better than humans? 021
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 10/04/2026Ceding to US demands for gold and minerals, Venezuela passes the new law allowing foreign investors to expand mining operations in the Guayana Shield, a biodiversity hotspot that includes key biodiversity areas and centres of endemism. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/w...nytimes.comVenezuela Approves New Law to Open Mining to Foreign Investors 012
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 08/04/2026On the US viceroyalty of Venezuela by John Feeley, ex US Ambassador to Panamá. elpais.com/america/2026...elpais.comVenezuela: la virreina moderna y sus visitadoresLa apertura de la embajada estadounidense en Caracas se asemeja más a la oficina de los emisarios de Felipe II en tiempos de la colonia que a la sede de una misión extranjera 001
Reposted by Chris SharpeBen Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 06/04/2026A program that, to those of us on the other side of the Atlantic, has long been something we've held up as example of what could & should be done to support some of the most important types of field study. Very concerning to see this under threat 1255
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 06/04/2026Eurasian Curlews have some pretty impressive friends here. 👏👏👏 010
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 06/04/2026Yes indeed. Poignantly, the last one I heard on my local childhood nature reserve—where several pairs used to breed—was a lone mixed-singer. 110
Reposted by Chris SharpeNick Acheson @themarshtit.bsky.social · 06/04/2026WILLOW WARBLER is home, on a territory where every year a male sings. Each year in April this is the song that floors me, that takes me back to a wide-eyed child, falling in love for the very first time with the wild. 38311
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 06/04/2026Yes! To my mind, one of the most evocative songs of any bird, it has just the same effect on me. They used to breed on the moor down the street (in Yorks) and were the drowsy soundtrack to summer walks to school. And until recently we had territorial birds hanging on at Goose Common here. 110
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 05/04/2026www.science.org/content/arti...science.orgU.S. Forest Service unveils extensive closures of research facilitiesCost-cutting move is expected to cause resignations and turmoil 000
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 05/04/2026Crippling defunding of US environmental programmes proposed. “It's an extinction-level event for science.”. www.nature.com/articles/d41...nature.comMassive budget cuts for US science proposed again by Trump administrationBudget proposal would also curb federal payments for scientific publishing. 032
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 05/04/2026"The U.S. Forest Service is closing 57 of its 77 research facilities in 31 states under a reorganization plan announced this week, threatening science that looked at how wildfires, drought, pests and global warming are putting pressure on forests." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/c...nytimes.comForest Service Will Close Research Stations That Study Wildfire Risk 122
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 04/04/2026Given the US regime's cavalier approach to the environment and disregard for endangered conservation, Venezuelan ecologists are right to be concerned about the fate of the country's extraordinary biodiversity as a US protectorate, not least in the wake of Sec Burgum's controversial visit. 010
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 01/04/2026In the early 2000s we used to lead bird tours to south Texas, spending days in several of these state and private protected areas. I was asked to take another tour this April and turned it down. Will Texas feel the economic impact of Trump's retrograde policies? www.texasobserver.org/trump-border...texasobserver.orgAfter 20 Years of Resistance, Trump Is Walling Off the Rio Grande ValleyEven sites once protected by Congress, including a butterfly refuge and a historic church, are slated for fencing funded by the “one big beautiful bill”—while the river itself is transformed by a floa... 010
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 01/04/2026Oh, to be in England now that April's there: the quintessentially English countryside with Medieval cathedral and hundreds of bags of dog faeces. 021
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 31/03/2026Fishermen in the Golfete de Coro, NW Venezuela, are documenting a 40 km oil slick from badly maintained pipelines to activated refineries. These images include several candidate Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network sites. lapatilla.com/2026/03/26/v... lapatilla.com/2026/03/26/v...lapatilla.comVIDEO: Derrame de petróleo se extiende por más de 40 kilómetros en el mar del Golfete de Coro en FalcónDesde el pasado 3 de marzo, se registra un derrame de crudo en la tubería submarina que alimenta al Complejo Refinador de Paraguaná (CRP) […] 002
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 31/03/2026Laundering illegally mined gold suits both the US gov and its Venezuelan puppet regime—but especially their cronies who make the lucrative deals. The outlook for the world's largest tropical wilderness and its indigenous people is grave. www.occrp.org/en/feature/b...occrp.orgBlood Gold and New Opportunities: Foreign Firms Are Poised to Reenter Venezuela's Wild SouthInternational companies are rushing to exploit Venezuela's gold belt, but there is no clear roadmap for how they will contend with the armed groups controlling concessions. Experts warn this could for... 013
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 29/03/2026A couple of Reform UK Mid-Norfolk candidates came to my door peddling the same nonsense last month, one of the reasons that company directors are at great pains to keep Reform 2025 Ltd cryptofinance secret. youtu.be/qo3MeKz-3b0youtu.beTrump calls environmentalists 'TERRORISTS'YouTube video by The National Desk 010
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 28/03/2026A propos yesterday's US general licenses for critical minerals operations: "We're going to be able to control the incredible natural resources of Venezuela... If Americans need high-quality low-cost power we're always going to have access to it." youtu.be/RhtdGCQiXd4?...youtu.beJD Vance: Attacking Venezuela Helps the Average AmericanYouTube video by vpol 000
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 26/03/2026The scope for further corruption is obvious—transparency urgently needed: "“At the end of the two days, we were able to bring home $100 million of gold — physically, the gold,” the Interior secretary said." www.cnbc.com/2026/03/25/v...cnbc.comU.S. brought back $100 million of gold from Venezuela, Interior Secretary Burgum saysThe Interior secretary said Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, wants foreign investment in the country's mining sector. 000
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Vladimir, as an indigenous rights lawyer with unrivalled field experience, is always worth reading: "The future looks dark and desolate for indigenous people in Venezuelan Amazonia... Autodemarcation of territory is now urgent." provea.org/opinion/vlad...provea.orgLa profundización de la expansión de la frontera extractivista al norte y al sur del Orinoco venezolanoEl panorama luce bastante sombrío y desolador para los pueblos y comunidades indígenas de la Amazonía venezolana. 000
Chris Sharpe @sharpebirder.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Alongside the ongoing extrajudicial executions carried out illegally by the US regime, this bombing and brutalisation of innocent campesinos seems almost tame and unremarkable. Bad news for Ecuador though. This is a village in which I stayed on fieldwork years ago. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/w...nytimes.comThe U.S. Said It Helped Bomb a Drug Camp. It Was a Dairy Farm. 002