Roy Kelly

slightly obsessed birder !!

[Roy Kelly @bootbirder]

“Screaming” flock of c40 Swift’s over my Wellington garden at present , largest numbers seen so far this year - possibly weather related ? @somersetbirds

[ArchaeoHistories @histories_arch]

A bird frozen for 46,000 years. Discovered by accident...

Two Russian men hunting for fossil mammoth tusks stumbled upon a small bird that had been sitting frozen in Siberian permafrost since the last Ice Age, completely untouched for tens of thousands of years.

The bird was in such extraordinary shape it looked "like it died just a few days ago," according to Love Dalén, a professor of evolutionary genetics at the Centre for Palaeogenetics in Stockholm.

Fossil hunters found the bird seven meters down a tunnel in permafrost near Belaya Gora, in Siberia. It still had its feathers, skin and delicate feet completely intact.

Researchers from Stockholm University and the Swedish Museum of Natural History analyzed the frozen bird and confirmed it to be a female horned lark, roaming the Earth between 44,000 and 49,000 years ago. This makes it the only frozen bird from the last Ice Age on record.

Although frozen remains of large mammals have been discovered many times before, remains of a frozen bird dating back to late Pleistocene permafrost deposits had never previously been found.

Scientists found the bird belonged to an extinct lineage that split from modern larks about 80,000 years ago, suggesting that climatic changes at the end of the last Ice Age led to the formation of entirely new subspecies.

The same dig site has also yielded an 18,000-year-old wolf or dog puppy, a 50,000-year-old cave lion cub, and a partially preserved woolly mammoth.

#archaeohistories

[Roy Kelly @bootbirder]

No luck in finding any Quail on Curry/Hay moor - a “Channel Wagtail”, single Red Kite and nine Cattle Egret best I could find @somersetbirds

[Roy Kelly @bootbirder]

DB WP Rarities Recap May 2026 https://t.co/GQsbIRZ6jQ

[Pam Ayres MBE @PamAyres]

Look what’s been built in Cardiff for swifts. My niece sent me these photos and said the structure was alive with birds. Heartening to see. It’s shaped like a swift in flight I think. Other towns have created similar swift nest sites including Exeter. Thank you for caring.

[Baldbirder @Baldbirder1]

Couple of BOC images from the Western Reef Heron twitch at Foryd Bay, Caernarfon. 58 mins away enjoying a full Welsh (late) breakfast when news broke. Phew! @RareBirdAlertUK @LeeEvansBirding @birdsinwales #birding

[Geoff Upton @GeoffUpton3]

@DorsetBirdClub

[PROTECT ALL WILDLIFE @Protect_Wldlife]

Cardiff Morrisons praised for providing nesting seagull shelter in 30- degree heatwave ☀️

A Morrisons in Cardiff has gone viral after creating a make-shift shelter for a nesting seagull. Staff covered the mother with a bedsheet, coned off four parking spaces, and gave her fresh water and food.

The Lesser Black-backed Gull, which is said to nest in the same spot of the supermarket’s
carpark each year, is being well-looked after in this heatwave.

Well done @Morrisons 👏.

[Roy Kelly @bootbirder]

Another roadkill Herring Gull yielded more feathers for the collection

[BBC News (UK) @BBCNews]

White-tailed eagles to be released in Exmoor despite farmer warnings https://t.co/wfOSsCy1sX

[Perry Smale @SmalePerry]

Best I can post till home of Booted Eagle I photographed in Cornwall a bit earlier. @RareBirdAlertUK @BirdGuides @CBWPS1 @BobBosisto

[Roy Kelly @bootbirder]

Curry Moor - singing Sedge Warblers everywhere , at least 20 heard @somersetbirds

[Roy Kelly @bootbirder]

Dunster beach-10 Red kites between 07:45 and 10:30 ,all going east .Also obvious passage of Swallow and Sand Martins -several hundred of each .Also Little Ringed Plover , 5 Whimbrel, 2 White Wagtails, 17 Yellow Wagtails, 4 Wheatears and a single Swift @somersetbirds

[Roy Kelly @bootbirder]

A few feathers from a roadkill Little Owl picked up near Bridgwater

[Paul Roberts @npaulroberts]

The five drake American Wigeons reappeared at Ogmore Esuary this morning, having seemingly done a bunk yesterday.

[Thanasis Tsafonis @t_tsafonis]

MEGA!
1st record for Greece!

Chasing after the recent southeastern winds for potential vagrants really paid off!

Cyprus Wheatear, Rhodes island, Greece

Reduced white rump (ending at central tertials), short primary projection & recorded song confirm ID compared to Pied.

[Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) @CABS_REPORTS]

1/3

A journey of 300,000km ended by a single shot.

Two Lesser Spotted Eagles, ringed in Slovakia in 2007 & 2012, were recently confirmed killed in #Lebanon.

They survived decades of migration and crossed the region 34 times before their journey was cut short.

[Ventusky @Ventuskycom]

At the Vostok station in Antarctica, a temperature of −76.4 °C was measured last Tuesday. 🥶 This is the lowest value ever recorded on the continent in March and also a global record for this month. 🧐 Temperatures there were significantly below average last week.

[Roy Kelly @bootbirder]

Durleigh reservoir-c250 Sand Martins , several Swallows + singing Cetti’s Warbler @somersetbirds

[BirdGuides @BirdGuides]

The BOURC has announced its latest decisions on changes to the British list, with the most notable outcome being the rejection of Pied Crow as a new addition: https://t.co/pEKRtk3jH0