Ben Secker
PhD researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University studying the Willow Tit.
- Reposted by Ben Secker🚨 We’re recruiting! Spurn Bird Observatory is looking for a Head Little Tern Warden and 2 Assistant Wardens to help protect one of the UK’s most successful Little Tern colonies at Beacon Ponds. Seasonal roles | NLW | Accommodation available 👉 Apply: spurnbirdobservatory.co.uk/news
- Reposted by Ben Secker1/ Spotted Flycatchers are in trouble, declining by 92% in the UK between 1967 and 2020. New work led by @cateden91.bsky.social & involving BTO has revealed the importance of rivers for the survival of this Red-listed migratory species. ⬇️ #Ornithology 📖 www.bto.org/Spotted-Flyc...
- Reposted by Ben SeckerAuschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder. Auschwitz took time.
- Reposted by Ben SeckerCan't hold a World Cup in a country where the dictator's secret police are executing peaceful protesters in the streets.
- Wrote this in 2017 about the Russia 2018 World Cup and reposted it four years later about Qatar. In 2026, only the names have changed.* Ultimately, nothing makes a difference, but you'll at least know you weren't part of it. theuglygame.wordpress.com/2017/12/01/w...
- Reposted by Ben SeckerYorkshires only Little Tern colony relies on paid wardens to protect them from predators and disturbance, the team have achieved amazing numbers of fledglings in recent years and it would be a great shame if it doesn’t run this year, much appreciated if you can help out with this funding gap 🙏
- If you can support the appeal, or help by sharing it more widely, we would be incredibly grateful. You can donate here: 👉 gofund.me/31d302f20 Please help us give Little Terns at Beacon Ponds the protection they need in 2026.
- Reposted by Ben Secker📢 We're looking for a PhD student to focus on habitat use of wintering Curlew in and around coastal SPAs. Apply now ➡️ bit.ly/CurlewPhD The student will be based at @ljmuofficial.bsky.social and BTO, starting in October 2026 for four years. 📆 Deadline to apply: Wednesday 18 February #Ornithology
- Reposted by Ben SeckerWe are hiring at the Wytham Woods for the upcoming field season. 4 roles available. Please share with anyone who might be interested. #UKbirds #birdringing
- Reposted by Ben Secker🦢 The International Swan Census is almost here – this weekend! We still have a few priority sites that need coverage. Please check the map & help us assess how well our Whooper & Bewick’s Swan populations are faring. Every count matters! 🙏 bto.org/gsmp-isc 📸 @tangrigg.bsky.social #Ornithology
- Reposted by Ben SeckerI'm hoping to make a starter pack of birding and wildlife blogs for people to follow. If you have any recommendations or write your own, please reply and repost this so I don't miss any - no matter how many readers you get, single figures or thousands every week. #birds #ukbirding
- Mini twitch (of about 10 miles) to Scotman’s flash this afternoon for the Great Northern Diver. #UKBirding
- Reposted by Ben Secker
- Reposted by Ben SeckerFortunate to still (for now) have Willow Tits on patch. #ukbirding #birds
- Back home for a few days over Christmas and managed to catch this Caspian Gull at RSPB Old Moor yesterday. Stayed for a while to attempt to read the ring but unfortunately too distant. #UKbirding
- Reposted by Ben Secker📉 Our new paper shows Bewick’s Swan numbers in NW/NE Europe have fallen to ~12,900 birds - a 56.7% decline since 1995, with further losses predicted by 2026 unless survival or breeding success improves. Flyway-wide conservation is urgent. 🦢 Download paper > tidsskrift.dk/Wildfowl/art... #Ornithology
- Reposted by Ben SeckerWhat an obsequious, toadying, servile, brown-nosing, corrupt little cunt Gianni Infantino is. The FIFA 'peace prize' is the most cringe-worthy, pathetic thing I've ever seen in my life. Football deserves better than this travesty of a ceremony and ruling body.
- Thankfully I am in the privileged position of taking such bad photos they could never be mistaken for Generative AI… #UKBirding
- Cold sweat time, my first thought on seeing these images is that they are the product of Generative AI on account of missing/deformed feet. Could this however just be manipulation of a real image of an extralimital Willow Tit? Never had to even consider these issues before.... #UKBirding
- Interesting record of a Willow Tit in Northern Scotland (Loch of Blairs, near south shore of Moray Firth): birdsinmorayandnairn.org/bird-recordi....
- Any thoughts @richardkbroughton.bsky.social @alexanderlees.bsky.social?
- Reposted by Ben SeckerGreat to see @cateden91.bsky.social's first PhD paper, showing for first time how rivers/freshwater supports Spotted Flycatchers, a declining woodland bird, by subsidising their diet with energy-rich invertebrates. We should be re-wetting the woodlands and re-wooding the rivers! #ornithology
- Super excited to share the first paper from my PhD! 🎉 We found that rivers don’t just matter for wetland birds - they also help support terrestrial insectivores, thanks to the flow of energy and nutrients from aquatic insects. 🌊🦟 Read more here: 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
- Reposted by Ben SeckerSuper excited to share the first paper from my PhD! 🎉 We found that rivers don’t just matter for wetland birds - they also help support terrestrial insectivores, thanks to the flow of energy and nutrients from aquatic insects. 🌊🦟 Read more here: 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
- Reposted by Ben SeckerWe are still interested in any found twite feathers for a study on the relationships and genetic diversity between the British groups - particularly now for birds of Scottish origin in the NE of England or, birds on the Avon. DM me for me more info. #birdringing
- Reposted by Ben SeckerMy 10 year old daughter took this photo with my (very heavy) camera this morning. Willow Tit isn't a bad species for a first picture of a bird! #ukbirding #birds
- Reposted by Ben SeckerShould I stay or should I go?🐦 Fancy a #PhD studying Pied flycatchers in the Peak District to help better understand what drives individual & population performance? Think #habitat #movement #ecology #genetics 🌍 Make use of this nestbox PIT tag study system and join us! Email me #LJMU #NationalTrust
- Reposted by Ben Secker🦅PhD position 🦅 in my new group at @fbm-unil.bsky.social in Switzerland, studying how the social and resource landscapes shape the learning process for soaring flight. Deadline: Oct 30. Pls repost! career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...
- Reposted by Ben SeckerVery firm statement on releases of captive-bred Turtle Doves, from Operation Turtle Dove inc @rspb.bsky.social & @naturalengland.bsky.social: *Doesn't meet IUCN guidelines *Risk of disease/genetic pollution *Irresponsible aims operationturtledove.org/captive-rele... 1/2 #ornithology #ukbirding
- Reposted by Ben SeckerWritten by a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital, London after the Tommy Robinson march on 13/9.
- Reposted by Ben SeckerWill be @ @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social for Migfest this weekend and would like to giveaway my old scope and tripod. If there's any young birders looking for a used but well loved scope that's seen plenty of rare birds please either point them in my direction or come find me over the weekend! #ukbirding
- Reposted by Ben Seckerwoah this is genuinely, utterly WILD Ant queens of one species produce males of another species, so she can then mate with them and produce hybrid workers! This is so gloriously weird I can't quite compute it 🤯🧪🐜 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by Ben SeckerThe biggest lake in the UK is being steadily poisoned The rescue plan demanded by residents & fishermen, whose lives are being blighted, is being blocked by a powerful farming lobby www.theguardian.com/environment/...
- Reform-led council refuses to engage with a prominent local newspaper after they had the temerity to expose a slight internal disagreement. A burning passion for protecting ‘free speech’ seems to go out the window when it makes you look bad…
- Reposted by Ben SeckerI’m so excited that my first paper is out! 💪🏼💥 #ornithology
- EARLY VIEW in IBIS Seasonal, environmental and individual determinants of double-brooding in the White-throated Dipper (Cinclus cinclus) | onlinelibrary.wiley.... Noelia D. Álvarez, Peter J. Mawby, Stuart P. Sharp | #ornithology 🪶
- Reposted by Ben SeckerI had fun rambling on about aquatic insects and their benefit for insectivorous birds at #EOU2025 yesterday. Going home with lots of cool bird research in my brain & joy from catching up with friendly faces 😁 (even if it does temporarily drain the life from my introverted soul) 🫠
- Reposted by Ben Secker
- Reposted by Ben SeckerHopefully, hand-rearing Willow Tits will never be needed. It's high-risk, very last resort, and only works if enough viable, low-predation, low-competition, connected habitat is available to release them into. There's 5-10k Willow Tit pairs left. Securing viability of their habitat is the priority.
- Reposted by Ben SeckerThis blog was something I wrote last year in a different context about how birding helps with the cycle of grief. I'm reposting it on this blog in the hopes that being honest about mental health helps in some way. #ukbirding #birds #mentalhealth
- Reposted by Ben SeckerI'm planning on continuing to talk about Thomas Partey, Arsenal and rape culture as long as it is a problem within football open.substack.com/pub/feverpit...
- Reposted by Ben SeckerBob Vylan’s IDF Chant Ignites Uproar, While Actual Atrocities Get a Pass The PNG Courier's UK correspondent with the latest from Glastonbury mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/the-png-co...
- Reposted by Ben SeckerThis is phenomenal. Sea surface temperatures are >5C above average to the west of the UK and around Iceland. It's the strongest area of anomalous warmth on the planet at the moment. It's the warmest in recorded history for northwest Europe.
- Life update klaxon: I’ve joined the Natural Sciences department at Manchester Met as a PhD researcher! Our team will be investigating the role of interspecific competition and community composition in the decline of the willow tit, focusing our efforts on post-industrial sites in the north west.
- Current funding models generally focus on implementing habitat management measures, which have so far proven largely unsuccessful in halting local willow tit extinctions. We are looking to investigate how other species, particularly blue tits, interact with willow tits during the breeding season,
- and assess their impacts on willow tit ecology. Our main aim is to help develop targeted conservation measures which will help to improve the fortunes of this rapidly declining species and, crucially, won’t inadvertently harm existing populations. I’ve seen willow tits vanish from my local
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View full threadIn more jovial news, I’ve already had chance to help out with fieldwork in the department, including a trip down to Rutland to see the lingering black tern, local celeb osprey pair, and hobby to name just a few! #ukbirding
- Garden warbler singing for a prolonged period at Boylin’s this morning before work. #ukbirding #lowcarbonbirding
- Walk up the little don valley on Friday returned my first cuckoo of the year. Ring ouzel, redstart, and siskin the other highlights. #ukbirding
- Reposted by Ben SeckerNEW JOB in #ornithology and #conservation to work on an ambitious #telemetry project aiming to understand #wildlife movement in human-modified landscapes: buff.ly/g2eQjP7
- Reposted by Ben Secker🧵1/7 What do massive insect crashes mean for insectivorous birds? And can aquatic habitats help? Today at #BOU2025 I'm exploring how aquatic habitats might help to buffer declining insectivore populations, using the Spotted Flycatcher as an example. #ornithology
- Reposted by Ben SeckerDaily reminder that a vote for Farage is a vote for Trump, Putin & Musk bsky.app/profile/poli...
- 🚨 NEW: Nigel Farage suggests Zelenskyy was ‘rude’ and ‘very unwise’ in White House meeting “Do you know what? If I turned up in the White House, I’d make sure I was wearing a suit and my shoes were cleaned”, he told LBC Full story ⤵️ www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/03...
- Had a brilliant time out on the bike this morning, taking in the first signs of spring through the Dearne valley to RSPB Bolton ings, and back, via the trans pennine trail. First singing chiffchaff of the year and excellent views of Cetti’s the highlights. #ukbirding #lowcarbonbirding
- Reposted by Ben Secker✨ We have EIGHT amazing summer internships with our National Capability for Global Challenges scheme! Work with UKCEH scientists on topics like ozone pollution, modelling, satellite imagery, soil health & more. 🔗 Apply by 2 April: www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/... 🧪🧵 1/ Please share widely!
- Reposted by Ben SeckerI address here two further arguments made by Stephen Moss regarding the funding generated by Birdfair for conservation projects & the importance of the event as a meeting place for the conservation movement & the birding world. #GlobalBirdfair #lowcarbonbirding lowcarbonbirding.net/2025/02/13/f...
- Red-necked grebe at Sutton-on-sea after fieldwork today. #ukbirding
- Reposted by Ben SeckerWe're also hiring 2 seasonal assistant wardens for the Little Tern project! 📍 Kilnsea, East Yorkshire 🗓 1st May - 31st August 2025 💷 National Living Wage 🛌 Cheap accommodation 📅 Apply by: 24th Feb 2025 Read on for more info: buff.ly/3DZZHlt
- 🚨Bedroom/office mega alert🚨 #ukbirding
- Reposted by Ben SeckerQuick thread on some new papers on the science of impacts of bird feeding since the publication of our papers here www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... and here britishbirds.co.uk/journal/arti... #Ornithoogy #UKBirding🧵 1/
- Reposted by Ben SeckerWe need to go much farther however, and make sure that if we are to provision wildlife it is evidence-driven; at the moment negative consequences for biodiversity are swamping positive ones 2/2 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
