An innovative new bird-tracking project has been launched in Scotland to help demystify the migratory secrets surrounding the familiar Rock Pipit:

Our detection dog Reid has been helping check for rats in cargo going to Bass Rock for lighthouse restoration for @nlb-uk.bsky.social. These checks are important to help protect the large Northern Gannet colony on the island from invasive predators. #NatureRestorationFund @naturescot.bsky.social

Another new year job opportunity! Join the Isle of May @ukceh.bsky.social team in #Edinburgh, studying six species of #seabird 🦅🐣🕊️🐧🐤🐦 ceh.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/CEH_Ca... Deadline is 16th January. #ecology #seabirds #scotland

#Bass intense wing flapping after a shower a few weeks back. The power, & strength building muscles for that first flight to the sea. where once crash landed tooheavy to take off They must learn to fish. Many now airborne and looking healthy @seabirdcentre.bsky.social

#Bass beautiful morning @seabirdcentre.bsky.social

The recently published Lothian Bird Report 2022 and Isle of May Bird Observatory Bird Observatory Annual Report 2023 are now in stock at Waterston House. #BirdingLothian

1/ GPS-tracking of three gull species from the Isle of May, Scotland revealed overlap in foraging habitats during the breeding season, but differences in where the three species foraged, and their preference for landfills, urban and coastal habitats. 📖 bit.ly/GullStudy #Ornithology 🌍

New paper on avian flu in seabirds from an Edinburgh Uni PhD student published! Edinburgh University has been working on the Isle of May with UKCEH and other partners to investigate the effects of this virus among seabirds. Read about it here: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

There’s still time to apply for our Assistant Bird Warden position! 🗓️ Deadline THIS FRIDAY 🐦 see below for more details 👇 @manxwildlifetrust.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social #ukbirding

#Bass This young chick is trying to regulate its temperature with gular fluttering in the heat. @seabirdcentre.bsky.social

*Job Opportunity* #Seabird #Ecologist with @n-t-s.bsky.social. @theseabirdgroup.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social #ornithology #biosecurity #seabirdersaturday www.nts.org.uk/volunteering-jobs/job-search/highlands-islands

🚨EAST COAST #TASMANIA🚨 If you live in this area, we need your help checking for #BeachedBirds Send us your data (date, location, photos) via DM or email ([email protected]) Currently getting reports of Australian #Gannets - photos essential to confirm species ID #CitizenScience #Birds #seabirds

#Bass wonderful to see the intensity of new pairs bonding. They have to build trust,learn to stay at their territory while the partner leaves to feed. This 'pair' have another new pair beside them. No nests Will they stay the season? A new page for the rock @ScottishSeabirdCentre excting !

2 June. A Forth Seabird Group count day off North Berwick ended up with the amazing spectacle of 4 Orcas midway to the Isle of May. Too close for my 400m at times!

‪@seabirdcentre.bsky.social

ORCA! Read the updated blog about yesterdays amazing encounter of Killer Whales off the Isle of May and thanks to Robert Melville for the images. the link: isleofmaynnr.wordpress.com

Although these figures are estimates (so should be treated with caution) these results suggest that the gannet population has not yet started to recover from the impact of the avian flu outbreak in 2022.

The 2024 Bass Rock Gannet Count is complete✅ A high-resolution drone survey - carried out in partnership with @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social School of Geosciences, @ukceh.bsky.social & @edinburghnapier.bsky.social in July 2024 - provided a detailed new look at the Bass Rock gannet colony. 📷©️G Macvean

The @btobirds.bsky.social Blackbirds in Gardens is such an important survey! Find out in this blog in @springernature.com why #bird diversity could help us control the prevalence of #mosquito-borne viruses #Usutu & #WestNileVirus go.nature.com/4dvj3g4 #ecology #onehealth #biodiversity

Things are about to get a lot busier for the Isle of May puffins as the chicks have started hatching…

Multispecies HPAI spillovers led to the death of one-in-three breeding gannets 😱 This virus has been so DEVASTATING to wildlife. The title of this paper says it all. 👉 www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...

My paper showing a significant decline of a Common Buzzard Buteo buteo population during an outbreak of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI)has just been published | www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1... | Bird Study | #ornithology

It's very simple to take part in BBS and very little time commitment- just a couple of hours on two visits. There are more challenging squares with a big walk in and mountain to climb, but for most squares, very easy. Find out more www.bto.org/bbs

Help resight kittiwakes in the Irish Sea!

Finally we have the first incubating guillemot on the Isle of May. Two days later than average but nine days earlier than last year

#Bass looking good Quite a few eggs seen at due date. All the behaviour we expect Gaping bowing jabbing bonding, nest building and thieving! Looking.good It will take years to recover from HPAI but exciting to watch new birds take to sites @seabirdcentre.bsky.social

Any day now, ducklings will begin to appear, and we need your help to monitor them. We are asking for records of mallard broods anywhere in the UK this year to help us understand how many ducklings make it to adulthood. Submit your sightings here: citsci.org/projects/ducklingwatch Please share!

LOOKING BACK in IBIS Disparate data streams together yield novel survival estimates of Alaska-breeding Whimbrels | onlinelibrary.wiley.... Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Christopher M. Harwood, T. Lee Tibbitts, Vijay P. Patil | #ornithology 🪶

Sad to find this pristine 3cy Common Gull dead on my patch this morning. Reported to Defra for possible collection and testing for HPAI and to @birdtrack.bsky.social for monitoring. Please report all dead birds you find to Defra/Daera AND to BirdTrack. #UKBirding

In the LATEST ISSUE of IBIS Essential steps for establishing a large-scale passive acoustic monitoring for an elusive forest bird species: the Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) | onlinelibrary.wiley.... Philip Holderried et al | #ornithology 🪶

#Bass. 1000's of Gannets retuned this wkend on live cam @seabird web. Wonderful to see them settling bowing, bill fencing and that gannet jabbing ! Poor photo (off cam) This was a dense beeding area.It will take time to recover(HPAI) Exciting to monitor, but look at that sea! No landing today😔

The seabird season has started (early)! Confirmation that at least three pairs of Shags are now incubating eggs on the Isle of May as the blog explains: isleofmaynnr.wordpress.com #seabirds

The first time the kittiwakes have touched land since last August. Most have been across the Atlantic and back since then

They are back. The first puffin of the year was seen ashore this morning. A typical date and probably big numbers in the next few days.

The Isle of May breeding season is officially underway.We have our first shag on eggs!A clutch of three was seen putting first egg date back a week.This is the joint third earliest on record and 28 days earlier than the long term average (& 39 days earlier than last year).They have had a good winter

There is now a #BirdingLothian feed. Click on # symbol top right and search for 'Lothian' - then pin it to your feeds. All messages with "birdinglothian" will be picked up (#BirdingLothian, @birdinglothian.bsky.social in message or image tag). They'll be picked up by #BirdingScotland automatically.

We hope everyone is safe but the tanker disaster off the East Yorkshire coast could have dire consequences for the east coast seabirds as the blog explains: isleofmaynnr.wordpress.com