Snow's gone - time to get out! Six short talks tonight about local bird ringing by Grampian Ringing Group, for anyone interested. 7:30pm, Monday 12 Jan, top floor University Library, Bedford Road All welcome @scottishbirding.bsky.social

A bit soggy, but the squirrels are back now the snow is going. @scotsquirrels.bsky.social @nesmammals.bsky.social

News from @scottishbirding.bsky.social / Tay Ringing Group Motus project! First Rock Pipits tagged & 1st foreign bird picked up by the Fife receivers! Great news. Looking forward to further results. @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland www.birdguides.com/news/pioneer...

Emerging from the heavy snow today. Great to see a bit of colour. #ChristmasCheer #rhododendron

Turned colder last night - though only just on freezing & calm with a bit of snow. Wow! Let's party! 110 Soprano Pipistrelle clips, 38 Commons and 1 Nathusius' on night of 1-2 Jan in Aberdeen. Happy New Year everyone! @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social

2025 #bat closing scores in Aberdeen: Soprano Pip 16 Dec nights, last on 30th Common Pip 11 nights, last 31st Nathusius' Pip 8 nights, last 23rd (only a couple of prev Dec recs in NE Scotland) Last Daubenton's: 18 Oct; Brown Long-eared: 31 Oct @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social

Christmas can be an expensive time of year, so how about something for free? The @scottishbirding.bsky.social and Scottish Birds Records Committee are hosting a FREE online conference over the evenings of February 24th to the 26th. Three talks per night and some real belters among them.

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

Research and Survey Grant applications The Endowment Fund supports amateur research projects which further the knowledge of the birds of Scotland. The deadline to submit your application is 31st January. For more details and to apply, please visit: www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/resear... #ornithology

I’ve AviListed the North-east Scotland checklist, available as a free Excel download (v10 January 2026) from the SOC site below. Don’t shoot the messenger (!) #birdingscotland www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/local-...

Still getting Nathusius' Pipistrelle #bats in the garden - the latest ever here in NE Scotland. Several last night. @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social

Picked up an unwelcome passenger today. A #tick while outdoors in the suburbs. Even in December. There doesn't seem to be any 'safe' time of the year any more. With so much more #LymeDisease around, a constant need for vigilance. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland

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...

Want to hear about #Aberdeenshire's newest/largest nature reserve on the outskirts of the city? Talk by David Hunter for the SOC @scottishbirding.bsky.social on Monday 8 Dec @ 7:30, top floor, Abdn Univ Library, Bedford Road. Free car park. All welcome. @btoscotland.bsky.social

Extraordinary record of Willow Tit from Moray!! - 250km-ish from nearest breeders or 550km from Scandinavia! @richardkbroughton.bsky.social birdsinmorayandnairn.org/bird-recordi...

There’s so much we can learn about birds by listening to them. Acoustic Monitoring involves the placement of small programmable recorders to capture the sounds of birds and other wildlife, particularly in remote places. Find out more & donate➡️ www.bto.org/support-us/a... #bioacoustics #ornithology

#Thanksgiving 🦃 with our amazing volunteers in the bird collections of National Museums Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿! 😉 Do you live nearby and would like to join? We're capturing data from all our #birds. Well, now's your chance! Don't wait... careers.nms.ac.uk/job/800113 #museum #ornithology 🪶

To all users of #BirdNET: you can do better by tweaking the default settings! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... @blackdogbirder.bsky.social #bioacoustics #ornithology

Well deserved, Joe!

The new FIBO library has arrived at the Obs. With a huge effort from John & Marian Ginnever and the generosity of many donors, 80 boxes of books now replace and expand the library lost in the 2019 fire. Huge thanks go to DHL, Streamline and the crew of the Good Shepherd for their generosity and help

... & while you're at perhaps also support the platform & community sharing the sounds used to kickstart and train most of all that passive monitoring wizardry. Which platform? You guessed it: xeno-canto.org/donate

Single Nathusius' and Soprano Pipistrelle #bats out in the snow here in Aberdeen last night. Brave. @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social

This is grim. Do you know the reasons?

The #Slow-worm has very restricted distribution in NE Scotland (2023 & 2024 maps here); welcome info of one @ #Methlick (blue star) in August from Tom Bodey. There are historic records @ nearby Gight but none recent so great news they are still in the area. Where else? @argroupsuk.bsky.social

You can read the BB paper proposing this split here www.researchgate.net/publication/... #UKbirding

A few different species but otherwise little change since several articles I wrote on this 30 yr ago! Some grim video & surprising species @ Stafford Bird Show this month: www.youtube.com/watch?v=byga... www.youtube.com/watch?v=C70i... www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJLd... #UKBirding #UKrarebirds

After more or less abandoning us over the last few weeks, the #squirrels are back at the feeders again! @nesmammals.bsky.social @scotsquirrels.bsky.social

Ugh. End of season and awful weather. First night since 17 March with no #bats. @batconservation.bsky.social @nesmammals.bsky.social

Well. Really? There's a surprise! 🙄 @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social #birdingscotland #bioacoustics

Another #muirburn. They're at it again. Apparently legal at this time of year. Deeside yesterday. @raptorpersuk.bsky.social

Beautiful day up Deeside yesterday.

Two of 3 male Crossbills on the sea wall at Musselburgh today. @scottishbirding.bsky.social #birdingscotland

Gosh! More #bat - bird action, this time as Noctule evicts Great-spotted Woodpecker (& sees off Grey Squirrel). fb.watch/CNKMmf6pVB/ @batconservation.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social

Wow! This week: spectacular videos of rats preying on bats. Last week: bats catching & eating birds in the air while on migration. So much we are still discovering.

Ridiculous that this should still happen

More hazards for migrating birds @birdguides.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social

Ring-necked Duck at Loch of Ayre just now. #birdingscotland #orkneybirds #orkneybirding

Is anyone monitoring the @wildlifeacoustics.com bsky account?

Hi @wildlifeacoustics.com. It seems as if there is a small puncture in the membrane. @wildcare.eu say they can't supply a replacement. Any suggestions as to where I can get one (at a reasonable price!)? Spare parts seem to be difficult to get and very costly if available. #bioacoustics

Interesting paper. Hadn't really thought about these in the fossil record either, but seems obvious. Snipe probings at Inchgarth in Aberdeen earlier this month. @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social #birdingscotland @scottishbirding.bsky.social

Fairly quiet offshore at Girdle Ness this evening. A few Manx Shearwaters and some Little Gulls but best was a Grey Phalarope heading north. @scottishbirding.bsky.social #birdingscotland

Plenty of Daubenton's #Bats action at Cults reservoir this evening. Also *lots* of Common, Soprano and Nathusius' Pipistrelles. #thermalcamera [best on a large screen!] @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social

SOC Members' Talk - Wednesday 17th September at 7:30pm All of our members should have received details of the upcoming online talk this Wednesday evening, where we will be joined by Alasdair Reid and John Simpson who will take us through their local branch projects on Marsh Tits and Peregrines.

Gosh. That Nathusius' Pipistrelle #bat spike just got a heck of a lot spikier! Not seen anything like this in several years of recording. @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social

Bit of a surprise jump in the number of Nathusius' Pipistrelle #bat recordings in the garden in the last few days! @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social

Nice! Common Scoter in the #nocmig inland in Aberdeenshire, 3 September 2206 hrs. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland #bioacoustics

Near 20yr ago I found the only known egg of Jerdon's Courser in @uoacollections.bsky.social. It looked like the species was prob extinct. Fantastic rediscovery at new location on 24 Aug. harryfication.wordpress.com/2025/09/04 @birdguides.bsky.social #worldbirding www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Extraordinary good news! First reports of Jerdon's Courser in 16 yrs, & in new area too. Hope rekindled! Well done to the team. #extinctbirds @birdguides.bsky.social #jerdon'scourser #worldbirding #indiabirding #birdconservation birdcount.in/jerdons-cour... harryfication.wordpress.com/2025/09/04

Sweoo #Chiffchaff calling in the garden in Aberdeen this morning. @docmartin2mc.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #scottishbirding #bioacoustics

Nice story about the origins of the #Aberdeen #Zoology #Museum Giant Spider #Crab. @uoacollections.bsky.social natsca.blog/2025/08/07/m...