An especially eye-catching 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 Herring Gull - dark upperparts and restricted black in primaries - at Portsoy this afternoon. #PatchBirding #BirdingScotland

BirdNET has been a huge leap forward in #bioacoustics. Analysis from the WABAD collaboration, shows high precision (proportion of predictions that are correct) though modest recall (proportion of calls detected). Predictive power is highest in Europe, N. America and Oceania. doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...

The relatively less server weather compared to elsewhere continues to produce some bonus waders here at Portsoy. Three each of Woodcock and Snipe today and two small flocks (22 + 42) of Golden Plover (which was new for patch last week). @patchbirding.bsky.social #PWC2026

Busy in the garden. Brambling was useful @patchbirding.bsky.social Portsoy-year-list species (only see them here when snow pushes the odd one into garden). Yellowhammer was new for garden (though is common close by). #PWC2026 #birdingScotland

A couple more for the @patchbirding.bsky.social year list this lunchtime at Portsoy. Treecreeper was just my second here on patch. #BirdingScotland

A Mediterranean Gull made up for the dark and sleety conditions on today's lunchtime walk at Portsoy. @patchbirding.bsky.social #BirdingScotland

Patch ✔️ Over two years since moving to Portsoy without a Golden Plover and then a thousand come along at once. Murmurating at dusk. @patchbirding.bsky.social

New Years Day on patch at Portsoy. Wind, rain, hail, sleet and snow thwarted any expectations of getting the year list off to a flying start. Just 30 species, including Purple Sandpiper - low single figures winter here, but not always easy to find. @patchbirding.bsky.social

Finishing the year with a new ladybird for Red Moss of Netherley: 𝘊𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘢 - Red Marsh Ladybird. Seems to be widespread but few Aberdeenshire records. This one was tucked away between the clasp and body of an Audiomoth case. @ukladybirds.bsky.social

Quick recce in an Aberdeen cemetery in prep for fieldwork with students in the new year. This is best place I know for 2-spot Ladybirds, with hundreds massing in one small section. A Harlequin was still a novel sight for me here (and here's hoping they remain novel). @ukladybirds.bsky.social

How do we tackle the substantial and growing threat to sensitive habitats from Sitka Spruce? Useful commentary on key issues...

Chance meeting with @kattyponder.bsky.social reminded me to check two culverts in Aberdeen that usually have low single figures of #HibernatingHeralds. First was a blank (though a Peacock was present). Second culvert more than compensated, with a record 12 Heralds. #TeamMoth

Interested in moth trapping? Wondering which trap to use? Or if different bulbs collect different species? Using 100k samples from @gardenmothscheme.bsky.social our new paper looks at these questions and more! With with Bill Kunin and @katatrepsis.bsky.social #mothsmatter #teammoth

Huge congratulations to @bats-n-bugs.bsky.social: PhD viva passed with ZERO corrections - an amazing (and well deserved) achievement. 🍾🎉 Thesis covered bats and insects on farmland. Read a moth chapter here - doi.org/10.1016/j.ag.... More to follow. @srucnews.bsky.social @kirstyjpark.bsky.social

One week remaining. Applications need to include two references, so don't leave it too late to apply for this @srucnews.bsky.social CASE partnership with @ptes-org.bsky.social. Details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Huge congratulations to our SRUC winners at the Crichton 25th Anniversary Awards! 🎉 Lucy Thornton – SRUC Staff Member of the Year Plus a big shout-out to our finalists: Gemma Higgins and Ely Blyth. Your hard work and passion make us proud. Read more 👉 www.sruc.ac.uk/all-news/cel...

Two weeks left to apply for #PhD on declines in rural #Hedgehogs. 🦔 This is a @srucnews.bsky.social EastBio CASE project in partnership with (and co-supervised by) @ptes-org.bsky.social. 🦔 Details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project... 🦔 Applications close 15 December 🦔 📷 Silviu Petrovan

Med Gulls never lose their appeal - this 1st-winter in last of the light at Portsoy was highlight of an otherwise quiet weekend, birdwise. @patchbirding.bsky.social #patchbirding

New paper 🪶 Proximity to woodlands may be reducing the effectiveness of conservation interventions for farmland waders Read on for a summary Or find the full paper here: doi.org/10.1111/1365... @kirstyjpark.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social @stir.ac.uk 📷Ben Andrew

New #mammal conservation #PhD: "Understanding and Addressing Rural Hedgehog Population Declines". @srucnews.bsky.social EastBio CASE project in partnership with (and co-supervised by) @ptes-org.bsky.social. Details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Act fast - applications close 15 December. 🦔🦔🦔

A highlight of the annual teaching calendar is the ladybird survey in Sleephillock Cemetery, Montrose. Orange Ladybirds dominated this week, as usual, but variety came from single figures of 2-spot, 7-spot, 10-spot, Cream-spot and Harlequin. @ukladybirds.bsky.social @srucnews.bsky.social

BBRC giveths and BBRC takeths away. Latest @britishbirdsbbrc.bsky.social report includes acceptance of the 2013 Cruden Bay Subalpine Warbler as a Western. Meanwhile, alas, the Black-throated Thrush two months earlier in @hughad.bsky.social's garden is now classed as a hybrid. #BirdingScotland

Cessation of grouse moor management and climate change scenarios are both predicted to drive declines in Red Grouse, Curlew and Golden Plover. Our paper in @jappliedecology.bsky.social, led by Tom Mason, combines these factors in modelling future population trends. #conservationscience🌎

A Black-throated Diver was highlight of today's @webs-gsmp.bsky.social count at Portsoy. #birdingscotland

Scare Umber was another NFG (and new for hectad) in the garden trap this morning among an unseasonal 6 moths of 5 species. Others were another Rush Veneer, a female 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢 (most likely November Moth), 2 Spruce Carpets and a 𝘉. 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢. Portsoy (VC94, Banffshire) #teammoth

PhD-themed cake for Rob McHenry's viva celebration last week in Thurso. Both were adorned with (tasty) Fox scat - very apt with the viva including much discussion of caprophagy (eating 💩) linked to predators' use of tracks in #peatlands. @theflowcountry.bsky.social

First time setting garden trap in several weeks - 4/4 was good going for here in November. Highlight were migrants, Dark Swordgrass (NFG) and Rush Veneer, December Moth was NFY and Angle Shades joined the party too. Portsoy (VC94, Banffshire) #teammoth @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

Nathusius' Pipistrelle becomes #mammal species 2️⃣6️⃣ for Red Moss of Netherly, NE Scotland. Recorded on @openacousticdevices.info #Audiomoth during September's influx. Just a handful of detections, but this quasi-constant frequency burst looks convincing. @scotwildlife.bsky.social #bioacoustics

Another brilliant Flow Country Research Conference. Big 🏆 for Roxane and team at UHI Thurso. Great to see @rob-hughes-birder.bsky.social's PhD crammed into 30 mins. Loved the Icelandic word for Meadow Pipit and check out those German bog restoration lagoons. @theflowcountry.bsky.social

Top priority research need! Just literally been discussing issue of conifer spread and regen onto bogs this afternoon.

Wild bees drive increased weight and seed set in apples. Increased Honeybee visitation has -ve affect on fruit weight. Another reminder (as if needed) of importance of prioritising 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙 bee conservation. @jappliedecology.bsky.social #pollinator besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Seawatching in a northerly at Portsoy is hampered by lack of elevated shelter. I've been cowering next to a shipping container just above sea level, so would've missed flocks of albatrosses if they stayed low. @patchbirding.bsky.social

Many thanks to @countrysidejobs.bsky.social for highlighting distance learning opportunities. Really grateful for opportunity to shout about our (award-winning) @srucnews.bsky.social Wildlife & Conservation Management MSc course in the process.

Work committments prevented a visit to the Rattray Head Eastern Nightingale until today. Fantastic bird - a real shower and very strange looking, reminding at times of a babbler. Think I'd have been bamboozled had I found it. My first NE Scotland nightingale of any flavour. #BirdingScotland

An "atmospheric" day for year-2 @srucnews.bsky.social Wildlife & Conservation Management students to collect moorland plant data at @hutton.ac.uk Glensaugh. Ended with obligatory human chain to measure the giant Sitka Spruce in Drumtochty Glen - and it's still a 6-student circumference.

Two westbound Velvet Scoters off Portsoy this morning. Just seen one other since moving here two years ago. Now on 123 for the year - one off last year's total. @patchbirding.bsky.social #BirdingScotland

Five species from a #smallmammal #cameratrap at Portsoy, Aberdeenshire - a mouse, two voles and two shrew species - including Water Shrew 😀 #mammal #trailcamera @nesmammals.bsky.social

Fantastic Study Weekend with @srucnews.bsky.social Wildlife & Conservation Management MSc students. We visited sites from West Lothian through to the Trossachs, discussing site management and playing with ecology/wildlife monitoring toys! #thermalimaging #drone #peatprobe

Congratulations @laurasharp.bsky.social on being a poster prize winner at yesterday's North East Scotland Ecology Network science day. 🏆

Into first week of our third year in Portsoy and still some "easy" patch ticks to be had; Barnacle Geese, yeserday, among post-Amy movement into Moray Firth. Also 10 Whoopers and an A𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘺𝘢 (that would've been #patchtick if ID nailed). @patchbirding.bsky.social #BirdingScotland

Difficult viewing in Storm Amy (amber-warning wind) for a late afternoon look at Links Bay, Portsoy. Highlight was adult Med Gull at dusk. Singles of Wheatear and Common Tern both probably wished they'd had a bit more haste about migrating. @patchbirding.bsky.social #BirdingScotland

Took Wildlife Conservation & Management 1st years to Loch of Strathbeg today. They excelled by finding a juv Glossy Ibis. Four Great White Egrets was also a popular sight. Greenshank, Goshawk and Barnacle Geese as supporting acts. @srucnews.bsky.social #birdingScotland

A Scarce Bordered Straw in the garden trap this morning. Genuinely scarce this far north and appears to be new for the VC. Portsoy (VC94, Banffshire) #teammoth @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

🍾 Big congratulations to @bats-n-bugs.bsky.social for her first PhD paper, in 𝘈𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 & 𝘌𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, about moths on mixed and arable farms. Shows some moth benefits from woodland features in farmed landscape, but mixed picture. See: doi.org/10.1016/j.ag... @srucnews.bsky.social

A Gem in the garden trap overnight - first one I've seen in Scotland 👍. Portsoy (VC94 - Banffshire) @migrantmothuk.bsky.social #teammoth

We're approaching two years in Portsoy and low-hanging fruits still fall from the #patchtick tree. Today's Treecreeper was among a roving tit flock. It tried its luck on a telegraph pole and then moved on to gorse stems. @patchbirding.bsky.social

Raking cut vegetation and spreading Yellow-rattle seed on the approach path at @scotwildlife.bsky.social Red Moss of Netherley. The Yellow-rattle has had a great year and Badger digging of Pignut tubers provides ground disturbance to further aid germination. Ecosystem processes in action!

"Freshers week" outings. New MSc students chatted seal research and reserve management while returning undergrads pulled up trees from a bog! Thanks to Danny and Joe from @naturescot.bsky.social, Lucy from @scotwildlife.bsky.social and Claire from @srucnews.bsky.social for all your help.

Last day of #Ento25, with insect ID keys, amazing (and undescribed) wasp galls, bog invert research (what's not to like?) and learning that aphids on our garden Buddleja might be a newly arrived species in the UK. Big thanks to @royentsoc.bsky.social team for a fab bug-filled event. 🦟🪲🪳🐝🐞🦋🐜🦗