The female Goosander seems to be incubating at the moment. Thermal image from below the nest box in the garden in Aberdeen - note the hotspot! @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social

Today's surprise ... Goosander nest in decaying box in the garden in the Aberdeen 'burbs! Thanks to @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social for holding the ladder ... At least one egg already predated on ground so I thought the box would be empty. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social

Also at Inchgarth today - my first Comma #Butterfly of the year, and quite an early one, presumably having overwintered locally, plus about 18 Peacocks. @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Did you say Clark's Mining #Bee @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social ? This one at Inchgarth today, along with quite a few others. Did it just pee and turn round to drink it or rub it on its legs/body?? #buglife

Monday 7:30: Dr Mark Bolton talking about the changing fortunes of Scotland's 2 small breeding petrels. @scottishbirding.bsky.social MR1 in University Library, Bedford Road, Aberdeen AB24 3AA. All welcome. #petrelheads Added Bonus: (brief) branch AGM!!

Oooh! Just arrived! Brilliant *new* edition of the best introduction & handbook on bird sounds. Thanks, Mark, Magnus & Arnoud! #bioacoustics #ornithology #nocmig @scottishbirding.bsky.social @fatpaulscholes.bsky.social #birdingscotland

Just outside the window, eating peanuts like there's no tomorrow. @nesmammals.bsky.social @scotsquirrels.bsky.social

A new bird-tracking project using the Motus Wildlife Tracking System has been launched through a partnership between the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) and Tay Ringing Group. Read more: britishbirds.co.uk/journal/arti... 🥇Subscriber Content 📸 Rock Pipit by SOC

Really looking forward to the #NESBReC Recorders' Forum next weekend - a great opportunity to meet folk with other interests and hear a super programme of interesting (ahem ...) speakers. One of the highlights of the year. nesbrec.org.uk/nesbrec-reco...

First Daubenton's #Bat in the garden in Aberdeen this year on 10 March. @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social

A new report from wildlife charity Buglife reveals that pesticides from common flea and tick treatments are now widespread in rivers across Britain and may be contributing to major declines in freshwater invertebrates bit.ly/4b1Pu50

Does not bring much credit to the journal or their refereeing of the original paper.

It will be useful to see how widespread they are on the hills there and how numerous.

You need to get a poo sample… 💩🙄

Field #Mouse doing what mice do. @nesmammals.bsky.social

Or, rather, not distinguishing the subspecies! tidsskrift.dk/Wildfowl/art...

Excellent advice here. It is much harder to get a good audio recording than a good photograph, although Alan makes it seem easy. #bioacoustics #ornithology

As if anyone in #Aberdeen needed confirmation that it's been wet recently. Grim if you wanted to go birding, and no sign of it letting up. #climatechange #birdingscotland

Field #Mouse and Bank #Voles in the garden in Aberdeen today. First voles seen here for many years. Dull day, and photographed through the window ... @nesmammals.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social

Orkney waders! Leah Gray talking about her work to help understand & conserve waders on the islands. Tonight @ 7:30 in University Library (top floor), Bedford Road All welcome. @scottishbirding.bsky.social

And I should add that #farmers and any other landowners who try to prevent this happening should also be liable for consequential problems. They have no grounds to moan when #Beavers disagree with their actions.

A useful reminder to #PropertyDevelopers that this is what #floodplains are actually for. River Dee at #Cults this afternoon. You should be held liable in perpetuity for consequential problems.

New #ladybird for me, from the garden this evening - 10-spot, black variety. Cute little beast. #buglife

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