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alexanderlees.bsky.social
Birds, science, politics. Reader Man Met Uni, Associate Cornell Lab of #Ornithology, Chair BOURC. Usually found in the #PeakDistrict or #Amazonia, RAS Network, he/him. Views own.
609 posts 4,392 followers 1,323 following
Prolific Poster

🦅Hooded Vulture - Critically Endangered, but traded openly in Benin despite protection from national law. 🙏 Conservation implications of this illegal trade for belief-based use: doi.org/10.1017/S095... #BirdConservation #Ornithology #Conservation #Research #Vulture #HoodedVulture #Benin #Africa

Another similar example - 1st Brazilian record (pending ratification) of Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) from Minas Gerais uk.inaturalist.org/observations... 🪶

As a counter to recent rants, I should say that I've read some great student work recently. You can tell as you read that there's a real person behind it, thinking hard and trying to make sense of complex material. Their work, with all its rough edges, is infinitely better than AI's empty polish.

Excited to be chatting to @amydickman.bsky.social and @alexanderlees.bsky.social on Thursday about misinformation and the threat to biodiversity Particularly interested to hear their take on how journalists and scientists can work together to tackle this threat

Still thinking about coming to MigFest 2025? ⚠️ Tickets are going fast ⏳ Only 3 paydays to go 🎉 Everyone’s heading to Spurn Don’t be the one who missed it! 🎫 bit.ly/3T5Q9Ks

"Estimated globally for the period 1851–2016, the modern extinction rate for freshwater fishes stands at 33.47 extinctions per million species-years (E/MSY), more than 100 times greater than the natural background extinction rate of 0.33 E/MSY". 🌍

Sensational spring in Cyprus Jane Stylianou, Chair of the Cyprus Rare Birds Committee, reports on a migration season for the ages on the Mediterranean island hot-spot:

! macaulaylibrary.org/asset/636302...

looks like an objective assessment to me

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Come join us at the Conservation Biogeography Lab @biogeoberlin.bsky.social @humboldtuni.bsky.social and carry out work on megafauna in Europe pages.cms.hu-berlin.de/biogeo/websi...

🚀 New paper led by Dr Becks Spake! We make the case for precision ecology—using big data & predictive tools to tailor conservation actions to local contexts. Can ecology learn from medicine & marketing to boost impact? We think so. Read it here: rdcu.be/eoaR4 #Conservation #Ecology #BigData

Seeing the “whale pump” idea again in social media circles. While saving whales is a great idea for its own sake, it is *not* a highly effective climate solution. Here’s some math: www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/whale-carb...

For any Dems wondering if Elon is an ally in the reconciliation bill fight: "Sometimes the enemy of your enemy can be a useful friend. But sometimes the enemy of your enemy is just another jackass."

Confirmed: the May average of atmospheric CO2 at Mauna Loa was 430.5 ppm, first time above 430 ppm in 15 million years, and a big jump from a year ago, again: +3.6 ppm! Overall, we're still speeding in the wrong direction.

Great blog post highlighting the homogenisation of avian assemblages in lowland Britain. The threats and drivers are likely multifaceted but a combination of biocides, diffuse nitrogen pollution, climate shifts and local and global land-use change impacts are likely the primary issues #UKBirding

This is welcome and long overdue. MPs are now calling on the UK government to ban trawling and dredging in "Marine Protected Areas". It's outrageous that this wholescale destruction is permitted anywhere, let alone in these "reserves". It has to stop. committees.parliament.uk/publications...

It's going to take more than a couple of new reservoirs to prevent the UK's coming water crisis, writes hydrologist @hancloke.bsky.social - we need to rethink how we build homes & communities to avoid a future of alternating flood & drought: theconversation.com/englands-wat...

Our correspondence piece led by @pettorelli.bsky.social argues that ecologists need to consider six actions for transformative change - figure below by @fplmelo.bsky.social 🌍 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Uh oh . . . "West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse contributes over 4 m sea-level rise in equilibrium ice sheet states with little (0.25 °C) or even no ocean warming above present. Therefore, today we are likely already at (or almost at) an overshoot scenario . . . ." www.nature.com/articles/s43...

I'll be in London next week discussing misinformation and the #biodiversity crisis with @amydickman.bsky.social and @clarecarlile.bsky.social at an event organised by the ‪@linneansociety.bsky.social ‬https://members.linnean.org/events/67fd2addd5f1de00084dd431/description 🌍

New podcast - Missing in the Amazon In the Amazon jungle, a journalist and an indigenous defender disappear without a trace. The series uncovers what happened to Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira. Told for the first time by the people closest to them. www.theguardian.com/technology/s...

An empirically-based scenario for the evolution of cultural transmission in the human lineage during the last 3.3 million years journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Natural England chair rejects ministers’ claim that nature blocks development

Cada persona consume más de 50.000 partículas de plástico al año news.un.org/es/story/202...

Vagrant Marsh Harrier collides with a plane in the US...

New @gwct.org.uk - led study: "A key potential indirect effect is a local increase in generalist predators, such as Red Foxes and Red Kites Milvus milvus, which can respond to the presence of birds released for shooting, and which may then predate other wildlife, such as ground-nesting birds".

A lekking male Buff-breasted Sandpiper is a real bucket-list bird. So glad the Halton Marshes bird waited for me to return to Lincs this evening. But just before sunset, it called, flew NNE out over the Humber and disappeared as a speck over Paull 8mins later 😲 #lincsbirding #humberbirds #vismig

Will you live an unprecedented life? In our new paper in @nature.com and accompanying @savethechildren.org report, we detect who will face unprecedented lifetime exposure to climate extremes (🧵) 1/n Report: resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/bor... Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨🚨Breaking: New #EU-UK deal is now done. Things are slightly confusing so I will try to clear key things up here with support of this @skynewsrss.bsky.social report. 🧵 news.sky.com/story/uk-and...

Has the Nechisar Nightjar Mystery Been Solved? A fascinating summary on the identity of the mysterious single wing found in Ethiopia in 1990. www.aba.org/has-the-nech... #birds #birding #ornithology @aba.org

Please protect the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The USFWS proposes to weaken the ESA. The proposed change is inconsistent with the stated purpose of the ESA. The comment period on the proposed change ends May 19, 2025. www.regulations.gov/document/FWS... #ornithology🐦 🪶 #conservationscience🌍

Bookmarking this image to request for an eventual second edition of our book on avian vagrancy... macaulaylibrary.org/asset/635717... 🪶

say it again: 4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x demolishing higher education is economic sabotage

Are you detail-oriented? Do you have a knack for research & coordination? Do you have administrative experience in a communications team (ideally focused on environment-related issues)?🧪 Apply today! UN staff position in Bonn, Germany (Not Remote)🌍 careers.un.org/jobSearchDes...

Tool use in insects: Assassin bugs apply resin to their forelegs before a stingless bee hunt. This makes the bees attack the bug in just the right position to be caught! Videos will worth watching www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

And also on the TV too m.youtube.com/watch?v=tET7...

Our new paper led by Rachel Carmenta explodes the myth that poverty drives biodiversity loss - we show that it is wealth that has a disproportionate role 🌍 authors.elsevier.com/c/1l3Im6gsyP...

Amazing record of a Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) on Fernando de Noronha (~350 km off NE Brazil) yesterday, presumably misoriented on spring migration, not obviously on a simple reverse axis #Ornithology @pauldufour80.bsky.social www.wikiaves.com.br/6848292

⚠️High carbon emissions from #wildfires in Russian Arctic🔥🌲🌳 Large-scale and intense wildfires carrying smoke across northern hemisphere.💨🧳🌍 This animation on May 13 shows smoke rising from a forest fire Republic of Buryatia. 🛰 @eumetsat.int Processed in @zoom.earth 👨‍🔬 @mparrington.bsky.social