Foggy arrivals at Girdle Ness today: Short-eared Owl (primarily), the NS Iona (emergently), the sun (diffusely). #Birds #BirdingScotland #weather #UKWildlife

An immaculate juvenile Great Northern Diver in Aberdeen Harbour today. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding #UKWildlife

Proper #patchgold today in St Fittick's Park with this drake Gadwall on the main marsh. It's only my fourth ever record here and the first for five years. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding #UKWildlife

Grey cold at Girdle Ness today, but the wind had eased from yesterday. A late morning flurry of 40 Little Auks was enjoyable. Other birds moving included 2 Sooty Shearwaters, a Great Northern Diver, 3 Little Gulls, a Merlin, and 26 Long-tailed Ducks. #Birds #BirdingScotland #UKWildlife #PatchBirding

Arduous conditions at Girdle Ness this morning, with showers more on than off and a biting north-westerly. Relatively slow going at sea, with three Little Auks the highlight. Also one Great Northern Diver and 32 Long-tailed Ducks. #Birds #BirdingScotland #UKWildlife

A few tired looking Goldcrests arrived at Girdle Ness today. This one was gleaning insects in the willows but another had only got as far as a patch of thistles, before heading to the unlikely surrounds of the harbour breakwater. #Birds #BirdingScotland #UKWildlife

Today brought the autumn's first real arrival of thrushes at Girdle Ness, mostly Redwings and Blackbirds but a few Fieldfares strutted the short grass too. #Birds #BirdingScotland #UKWildlife

Pixels win prizes. This resplendent adult Pomarine Skua was the seawatching highlight at Girdle Ness today, picked out by @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding #UKWildlife

A pale phase Arctic Skua directs aggro towards a Common Gull off Girdle Ness today. It then gets chased off by another Common Gull. #Birds #BirdingScotland #UKWildlife

Third helping of Winter Well on air soon. (Just before The Archers for those who like to listen live to Radio 4!) Episode 3 - ‘Get Out and Notice’ shares light-filled ideas and activities in the open air. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... @hesterparr.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social

My first Long-tailed Ducks of the autumn arrived in to the harbour mouth at Girdle Ness today, encouraged by a light northwest wind. Interesting to see their feet. #Birds #BirdingScotland #UKWildlife

The 2nd calendar year Glaucous Gull reappeared at Girdle Ness today, sweeping across the bay before settling on the south breakwater. #Birds #BirdingScotland #UKWildlife

Terns seem to be staying later at Girdle Ness these days. This adult and juvenile Arctic Tern wandered between Greyhope Bay and Aberdeen Bay this afternoon. #Birds #BirdingScotland #UKWildlife

An unusual view of a group of Long-tailed Tits that forayed along the north side of Girdle Ness today. There were eleven in the flock and they circled out over the harbour for a short time. Like other tits, they seem to be wandering more widely than usual this autumn. #Birds #BirdingScotland

& sudden fall of temperature soon as sun goes, sky shocks indigo in aftermath & last weekend's stormwaters driven overground

A flat-screen TV sea at Girdle Ness today, stitched by lines of auks, gulls, Shags and rolling Harbour Porpoises. A Great Northern Diver blended the seasons in its plumage. #Birds #Cetaceans #BirdingScotland

Regular Moorhen appreciation post. St Fittick's Park, Aberdeen, today. #Birds #BirdingScotland

It was warm, calm and muggy at Girdle Ness today, feeling rather between seasons. Birds included a few Grey Wagtails, my first Little Grebe here this year, lots of Long-tailed Tits and three Stonechats. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

I was delighted to find this Twite in the field by Girdle Ness lighthouse today. It's my first here for 13 years. They used to be almost annual but have become much less frequent, in common with their decline nationally. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

A strong Icelandic feeling to the birds at Girdle Ness today: Juvenile Pomarine Skua Brent Goose (Pale-bellied!) 2 Great Northern Divers 25 Whooper Swans 33 Red-breasted Mergansers 5 Greylag Geese 440 Pink-footed Geese 2 Little Gulls 3 Golden Plovers Bar-tailed Godwit #Birds #BirdingScotland

A freshly stranded By-The-Wind Sailor, one of many pushed ashore by strong winds on the west coast of Barra today. Lots of obvious specimens of 6-8cm scattered over the beaches but also masses of tiny ones down to 5mm in length spread along the strandline. #Beachcombing

The two Brent Geese were along the shore at Girdle Ness this morning but then headed off high to the south. A mea culpa that these are actually Dark-bellied Brents, which are much rarer here. I should have waited to see them out of the water! #Birds #BirdingScotland

This Glaucous Gull appeared on the breakwater at Girdle Ness today, perhaps the same bird that was present earlier in the year. Other birds in the wake of Storm Amy included my first Mediterranean Gull of the year and a lovely pale juvenile Long-tailed Skua. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

This Merlin skimmed through Greyhope Bay today, just ahead of Storm Amy. Autumn is the peak time for them here. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

Some closer photos of the two Pale-bellied Brent Geese from Girdle Ness today. They seem to be finding some tasty seaweed in the harbour waters. Such delicate geese. #Birds #BirdingScotland #UKWildlife

I was pleased to catch up with the two Pale-bellied Brent Geese that have been frequenting the harbour at Girdle Ness recently. These will be resting on their way from Svalbard to Northumberland. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

It's always hard to find migrants at Girdle Ness. This is the small ash tree in amongst thick conifers in St Fittick's Park where I saw a Red-breasted Flycatcher for ten seconds this afternoon. Other migrants today included Brambling and Spotted Flycatcher. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

My book, Ponies at the Edge of the World, tells the story of Shetland ponies and the people who love them. Based on my PhD research, and my journey to live in Shetland, it reflects on how relationships with landscape and animals can create a sense of place and belonging #Shetland

Very happy to have my 'Sounding migrations: Deep listening and the acoustic phenology of whale song' published in this brilliant collection of audio papers from Seismograf Peer. Do have a listen and let me know what you think! seismograf.org/fokus/sound-...

Tullos Hill was busy airspace today. Two gliding Ravens were my first of the autumn. Buzzards have been scarce this year, but this one has appeared over the past few days. It received inevitable corvine attentions. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

Passerine migrants have been hard to come by at Girdle Ness recently, but this Spotted Flycatcher has been in St Fittick's over the weekend. A classic 'common migrant' but these days often hard to find. #Birds #BIrdingScotland #PatchBirding

Red Squirrels are getting commoner in Aberdeen city but this one at St Fittick's Park today was my first patch record. It seemed to be enjoying the cones. #Mammals #Squirrels #UKWildlife @nesmammals.bsky.social

There should be a name for days when you can hear both house martins and pink-footed geese.

I recently had a very pleasant work visit to Shetland. Birds I encountered included lots of Curlew Sandpipers at Virkie, a Lesser Whitethroat hopping about in the open at Sumburgh in exactly the way they usually don't, and of course plenty of Gannets. #Birds #BirdingScotland

An odd assemblage in the warm, turbulent skies over Girdle Ness today. The first skeins of Pink-footed Geese headed south, passing dozens of Swallows and nine Swifts that cruised the golf course rough for sheltering insects. I can't recall seeing so many so late in the year. #Birds #BirdingScotland

A day of swirling, forceful weather at Girdle Ness. An evening seawatch produced Sooty and Manx Shearwaters, five Little Gulls, an Arctic Skua, 86 Common Terns and two cruise ships. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

Fulmars and Gannets were cruising the tall waves off Girdle Ness today, with most birds heading south. #Birds #BirdingScotland

A Redshank paddling the shallow harbour edge at Girdle Ness this morning. #Birds #BirdingScotland

Still plenty of Common Terns at Girdle Ness. They seem to linger further into autumn these days, particularly when they've had a good breeding season. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

A Whinchat, amidst the gorse and gathering dusk at Girdle Ness this evening. My first of the year and it made me wonder what other migrants were lurking in the bushes. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

Eye-wateringly bad pictures of a sub-adult (2nd calendar year?) Long-tailed Skua that flew north off Girdle Ness this evening. An unusual plumage I'd not seen before. Earlier today, a Balearic Shearwater also went through. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

Seven Sooty Shearwaters on this evening's seawatch from Girdle Ness. Also, Arctic Skua, Puffin, seven Bonxies, 35 Manx Sheatwaters, 123 Fulmars, 16 Arctic Terns, and three Common Scoters. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

Here are two of the 19 Sooty Shearwaters that passed Girdle Ness this evening. Other birds on the go included eight Bonxies, an Arctic Skua, 34 Manx Shearwaters and 20 Arctic Terns. Also my first two Wheatears of the autumn. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

JOB: come work with me @uni-konstanz.de ! We have a junior professorship to fill from 1 April 2026 (6 years, non-tenured, as funding comes from the Centre for Cultural Inquiry). The denomination is very timely: Environmental #Anthropology! Details ⬇️ stellen.uni-konstanz.de/jobposting/2... #academia

I enjoyed a pleasant but hot stay in Croatia recently. The birding was good at Vransko, including an unexpected Broad-billed Sandpiper, as well as Spotted Crake, Caspian Tern and two Temminck's Stint. I finally managed to catch up with Rock Partridge on Pag too. #Birds #Croatia

Dark shapes jumping at the horizon. The sea off Girdle Ness this evening was heaving with White-beaked Dolphins. Dozens were doing fast leaps out of the water, both horizontally and vertically. Most were around 2-3 miles out but some were a few miles more distant. #UKWildlife #Dolphins #Cetaceans

The recent influx of terns into Greyhope Bay gave me hope I might finally encounter a patch tick Roseate Tern. This evening, that hope was realised with this lovely adult. Such an elegant seabird. #Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

A few birds from wonderful northwest Argentina, in this case from the highlands of Cuesta del Obispo. Here are Black-billed Shrike Tyrant, Bare-eyed Ground Dove, Grey-hooded Parakeet and Rufous-bellied Mountain Tanager. The latter was a fortunate sighting of this tricky bird. #Birds #Argentina

A silver sea for seawatching this evening at Girdle Ness. My first two Sooty Shearwaters of the headed north, along with 56 Manx Shearwaters. #Birds #BirdingScotland

Magellanic Plover was a hugely pleasing bird to see in southern Buenos Aires province. These photos from Balneario Orense show off its odd pigeon-like countenance and oversized orange feet nicely. #Birds #Argentina