Retired Man of Kent living in Herts. Bird both counties but mostly N. Kent, Hoo Peninsula. Avid BTO surveyor, on KOS & HBC Committees. Love real ale & pubs!
North Hertfordshire
Joined November 2013
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Murray Orchard retweeted
The amount Jackdaw will cut bills: £0
The number of jobs it will support: 27
The net cost of Jackdaw & Rosebank to our economy: at least £90 billion.
Life's too short to pretend that calls to drill baby drill are anything other but a fast track for us all to burn baby burn.
Murray Orchard retweeted
KOS Weekly Highlights: an excellent and very busy week in Kent, with Pied Wheatear, Pallid Harrier, Hume’s Warbler, Cory’s Shearwater, confiding Lapland Buntings and much more! See full report on kentos.org.uk. #kentbirding
Murray Orchard retweeted
I wrote to the Government with cross-party MPs last night opposing this decision.
Rosebank and Jackdaw won’t cut bills they'll just boost profits of fossil fuel giants.
If every country pursues its own deluded self interest the costs of climate breakdown will be unbearable.
Energy Secretary @Miatsf has agreed that the regulator can grant consent for gas to be produced at the licensed Jackdaw field.
Gas from Jackdaw is expected to start reaching British homes and businesses as early as the end of this month.
ALT Jackdaw gas field gets green light to begin production
Murray Orchard retweeted
The Planning Act promised a win-win for nature and housing.
But the first scheme under these new rules now risks killing chalk streams and appears to breach the law.
The Office for Environmental Protection must step in before a "pay cash to trash" precedent is set.
Murray Orchard retweeted
📅Starting tomorrow for 2 weeks the Great Coastal Birdwatch is back 👏
🥾We've got lots of guided walks or your can do your own watch 🔭
🦆All the details on our website 🔗northkent.birdwise.org.uk/gr…
#birdwise #kent #birdwatching
Murray Orchard retweeted
When "growth" is measured only by GDP we all lose out.
Wild birds are disappearing because a system built on greed doesn't value ecosystems that sustain life.
Birdsong falls silent. BlackRock profits.
We should measure progress by what actually makes our lives better.
Murray Orchard retweeted
Europe’s biggest salmon producers are beginning to feed chicken to their fish, breaking a longstanding taboo in the hunt for cheap protein.
Supermarkets in Britain and other European countries have for years declined to stock salmon raised on livestock byproducts for fear of a backlash from consumers who may find the practice “unnatural”.
ft.com/content/8f1e2cc9-4e2a…
Disappointing @WeBS_UK at Cliffe RSPB yesterday. No big Avocet roost🙁- just 17, and no big Bl/T Godwit flock, although latter have become variable in recent years. Water levels even lower, so virtually no ducks - and 0 Dabchick🥲
Still 173 Curlew, 36 Ba/T Godwit etc at FP roost.
Murray Orchard retweeted
A bumper October issue featuring the 2025 BBRC Report – Report on Rare Birds in Great Britain in 2025.
Packed with fantastic images, fascinating context surrounding some of the rarities recorded throughout the year.
Read more: britishbirds.co.uk/journal/v…
📸 Cover by Graham Jepson
Murray Orchard retweeted
Small sandpipers can be a complex challenge, but structure and plumage hold the clues. 1984 paper; ‘Identification of Stints and Peeps’ gives readers a complete run-through of autumnal wader ID.
Read more: britishbirds.co.uk/journal/a…
📸Thomas Willoughby
🔑Subscriber content
Medway Islands WeBS yesterday. Bit choppy! Plenty of waders (6,000+) but wildfowl not arrived (<500). Best:-
Oystercatcher 2,701, Dunlin 2,104, Bl/T Godwit 1,100, Curlew 404, Greenshank 28, L/Egret 54, Teal 250, Brent Goose 8,
Peregrine & 7 Marsh Harrier.
@WeBS_UK
At last a decent NW for a N Kent sea watch - pity nobody told the birds!🙄
Seasalter (Sportsman) 10.30-13.30
Arctic Skua 4W (group 11.15)
Brent Goose 215
Tankerton (shelter) 14.00-16.30
Arctic Skua 3W
Bonxie 1W
Gannet 26W
Russell Brockett had a bit more inc. a LTS
Pub finish!
Murray Orchard retweeted
🦆The #GreatCoastalBirdwatch is back for 2026 🥳
It's free to take part and only takes an hour, we've got lots of guided walks to help with identification across north Kent
🔗All the details are here northkent.birdwise.org.uk/gr…
#birding #kent #coast #birdwatching
A morning visit to Holme Dunes NNR. Cool, misty and deserted first thing but brightened up. 2+ Lapland Buntings eventually showed well - with a gathering crowd. Also drake Eider, 28 Brent, 1w Little Gull, 20 Com Terns, 150 Sanderling etc
500 PFG on Holme Marsh.
@holmebirdobs
Murray Orchard retweeted
Great White Egrets fishing on the rising tide, chasing the shoals of small fish that come into feed on the tideline. These elegant birds are becoming more common in the Uk, often secretive but the drought has dried up the ditches & now are regularly seen feeding on The Swale
Brief trip to Norfolk. Evening visit to Titchwell RSPB. Good 1,500+ big gull roost built 18.00-19.00 (1,000+ LBBG, Caspers🤷♂️)
Otherwise, 29 Ruff, 22 Bl/T Godwit, 1 juv Curlew Sand, 16 Dunlin, a few Avocets, 7 Wigeon, 4 G/W Egrets, 7 L/Egrets, 3,000 Starling etc
@RSPBTitchwell
Murray Orchard retweeted
Woodcock shooting season starts today in most of the UK (Scotland was 1 Sep).
Continental birds have not arrived yet so any shot birds will be red-listed British breeders.
GWCT suggests waiting until 1 December before targeting Woodcock.
More here:
wadertales.wordpress.com/201…
Murray Orchard retweeted
You can check out Nutcracker and hundreds of other species on the amazing Eurobirdportal. Here are counts of Nutcracker. You can change species by clicking on 'new data' and updating visualisation. Also counts/occurences. #BirdTrack data feeds in nightly
eurobirdportal.org/ebp/en/#h…
Big Kent Bird Migration Day!
@SamphireHoe1997
Despite lack of obvious migration, ringers caught 27 Blackcap, 15 Stonechat & Black Redstart.
Nice group for guided walk.
Missed Choughs, but 2 Raven, Med Gull, Wheatear, 2 Rock Pipits, 3 Shags & C/Yellows.
#kentbirdmigrationday
