Simon Gillings
@simongillings
Birder, artist, sound recordist, data scientist at BTO; One half of Alula Designs. Views my own
Some video of the White-rumped Sandpiper at Snettisham this morning. A smart bird with a very distinctive shape when feeding #UKBirding
80 species today at Snettisham with @sconebirding.bsky.social, including great and educational views (close, distant and very distant) of an adult White-rumped Sandpiper. Also adult Curlew Sandpiper, a lone Brent Goose and over 100 Little Terns #UKBirding
A nice Stone-curlew sound recorded over my Chesterton garden at 23:55 last night, also picked up a few streets away by @arjuncdutta.bsky.social xeno-canto.org/1161651 #nocmig @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social
Inspired by @wildbirdacoustics.bsky.social I've made this faux-fur rig for a stereo recorder, ready for some windy autumn nights. Just hope something doesn't try to eat it! #bioacoustics #nocmig
I've not seen the Cocker paper but there's a section on Redstart mimicry in The Sound Approach to Birding (2nd edition at least)
After recent conditions, a bracingly cold high tide visit to Snettisham this morning. c4 Little Stints among good numbers of Dunlin. 4 Spotted Redshanks, 83 Avocets, 40 Spoonbills and 100s of Med Gulls, including lots of smart fresh juveniles #NorfolkBirding
After a fleeting view of an adult Mediterranean Gull from a moving car earlier in the week, it was nice to catch up with it properly today, feeding on insects on Stourbridge Common, 5 mins walk from home @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social #UKBirding
A rather damp Red-belted Clearwing saved from water in our garden. A new moth for me. Surprised how small it is
This morning completed my 10th year of @bbs-birds.bsky.social surveying in Cambs. All the usual suspects plus my first Marbled White butterflies for the square #UKBirding
Realised my first attempt at the Western Reef Heron was too dark. Here's version 2 #BirdArt
One of three Whinchats on the North York Moors this morning. Lovely calm conditions for sound recording. Audio here: xeno-canto.org/1138848/player #UKBirding #bioacoustics
Bit of surprise today when a buzzing at the kitchen window turned out to be not another disoriented bee, but a Hummingbird Hawkmoth
Spent Saturday with @scottmayson.bsky.social birding the Suffolk coast. Just shy of 100 species, with a nice bit of sound recording of local breeders too xeno-canto.org/set/11805 #UKBirding #BirdTrack #Bioacoustics
A successful trip to RSPB Ouse Fen this evening produced 2 Wood Sandpipers, a drake Garganey and a fly-through Osprey. #UKBirding @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social
Super morning out in Cambs. Started with the 6 Dotterel near Gamlinga, plus flyover Tree Pipit. Then Grafham where had a stratospheric adult Little Gull feeding with swifts, 5 Whimbrels east, plus the long staying Great Northern Divers. And finished with 18 Black Terns at Dernford Res #UKBirding
Nice session at Wilbraham Fen, Cambs, this morning; a brief Wheatear, 2 singing Grasshopper Warblers, Cuckoo, Whitethroats on territory and first Lesser Whitethroats of the year @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social #BirdTrack
Best to park along Water Street/Fen Road before railway crossing (e.g. maps.app.goo.gl/oecLktx46Lea...) then cut through to river and walk east. View through gaps in hedge but don't enter fields
Yesterday's Ring Ouzel on Chesterten Fen still present this morning and showing a bit better. Such smart-looking birds. When not on the ground is somehow completely disappears in a tiny Hawthorn bush #UKBirding @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social
Male Ring Ouzel on Chesterton Fen horse paddocks this afternoon. A long hoped for find, just over a mile from home. #UKBirding @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social
Sound recording Gannets at Bempton Cliffs today. Songbirds they ain't! xeno-canto.org/1094241 #UKBirding
Interesting idea. Not animated, but all the maps are avalable here to browse: app.bto.org/mapstore/Sto... #Ornithology
Spending a lot of work time thinking about Bird Atlas 2027–31, like how to collect breeding evidence. So it was nice this morning to see Mute Swans nest building and a pair of Treecreepers engaged in courtship feeding (never seen this before), both logged in #BirdTrack
Seeing a bit of Mandarin appreciation on here reminded me of this design I did a while back. #MandarinSegment #BirdArt
Lots of Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming activity this morning. In this spectrogram you can clearly see how GSW drumming both speeds up and loses intensity: initial taps are 0.065 seconds apart, later ones 0.045. 14 taps in just 0.7 seconds. #UKBirding #bioacoustics
Drew a blank looking for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in Cambs this morning, but 2 Firecrests (1 singing) were nice compensation. #UKBirding @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social
Out deploying audio recorders today in the hope of detecting Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in Cambs. First singing Chiffchaff plus Comma and lots of Brimstones.
A nice surprise at work today when @arjuncdutta.bsky.social found these Tundra Bean Geese at @btobirds.bsky.social HQ. Instructive trying to age them with @sconebirding.bsky.social #UKBirding