Andrew Harrop
@ahjharrop.bsky.social
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For sound recordings go to
https://xeno-canto.org/contributor/HNYFHZLJOD
reposted by
Andrew Harrop
British Ornithologistsā Union (BOU)
6 days ago
NEW on #theBOUblog from Chris Batty and Alexander Lees Revision of Category E of the British List
bou.org.uk/blog-batt...
#theBOUblog
#ornithology
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After a spring notable for low numbers of migrants, early June has brought a sprinkling of Marsh and Icterine Warblers and Red-backed Shrikes, including this male which graced our garden.
#BirdingScotland
14 days ago
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Some interesting discussion about Italian type sparrows outside their normal range:
www.dutchbirding.nl/dbactueel/21...
Similar birds have occurred in Britain.
#UKBirding
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The Italian Job, part 3: the German Connection - Dutch Birding
https://www.dutchbirding.nl/dbactueel/2115/the_italian_job_part_3_the_german_connection
16 days ago
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Nightjars are increasing in Shetland. For example in 2024 there were 13, mainly May-June but also one in October. This male at Grutness today wasnāt well-concealed and moved its position twice for no obvious reason.
#BirdingScotland
21 days ago
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Oystercatchers in Shetland quite often nest on posts, presumably to avoid sheep and some ground predators. Meanwhile in Venice, 7% of the population now use poles to avoid flooding (Avocetta 48: 2024). One for wadertales?
#BirdingScotland
#ornithology
27 days ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Portland Bird Observatory
28 days ago
Fascinating example of the workings of modern social media, togging and AI 'editing': the same photo of a Turtle Dove that's clearly been run through AI in some way before being posted on two different Facebook groups three days apart by two apparently different people (we've blanked out the names)
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Questions, questions. Thanks to Tim Birkhead we know that a pale Merlin egg in a 2023 clutch will have been laid after the others. But what about the browner egg in this Snipe clutch today?
#BirdingScotland
#ornithology
about 1 month ago
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While some of our later migrants are still arriving, earlier breeders already have young: here Greylag (left) and Pied Wagtail.
#BirdingScotland
about 1 month ago
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podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/l...
Donāt be deterred by the opening banter - after about 25 minutes some inspirational stuff about Bar-tailed Godwit migration in here. Relevant to
#UKBirding
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The expanding science of avian perception with Ed Yong
Podcast Episode Ā· Life List: A Birding Podcast Ā· 11 May Ā· 1hr 18min
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/life-list-a-birding-podcast/id1578168978?i=1000767201373
about 1 month ago
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My walk this morning began in 4 degrees and sleet, which must be a challenge for migrants and breeders alike. Nonetheless they are getting on with it: here are clutches of Greylag (left) and Snipe.
#BirdingScotland
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Jente Ottenburghs | Avian Hybrids
about 2 months ago
Your daily Avian Hybrids story! The reticulated evolution of the Bean Goose complex
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2023/01/25/t...
#ornithology
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The reticulated evolution of the Bean Goose complex
Hybridization partly erased the phylogenetic patterns of three goose taxa.
https://avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2023/01/25/the-reticulated-evolution-of-the-bean-goose-complex/
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Interesting paper on White-winged Lark in France and Europe (in English)
#UKBirding
marcduquet.com/wp-content/u...
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https://marcduquet.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/34-PDF_Alouette_leucoptere_Europe_GB.pdf
about 2 months ago
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The closing days of April have brought a light passage of Whimbrel, which are now back on territory. Numbers of most passerine migrants have been low, but there have been some scarce migrants including Stone-curlew on Skerries (24th) and Great Egret at Brow (28th).
#BirdingScotland
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Princeton University Press
2 months ago
Announcing The Bird Guide: North America! This landmark field guide, published in association with
@cornellbirds.bsky.social
, will set a new standard for North American bird identification. Publishing in early 2027, the guide is now available for pre-order from booksellers everywhere. š¦ā⬠š
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Lily M
2 months ago
Short article I wrote about some goose hybrids and their parents
maavianrecords.com/a-returning-...
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A Returning Barnacle Goose and its Hybrid Offspring ā Massachusetts Avian Records Committee
Barnacle x Cackling/Canada Goose hybrids in North America have long been the source of speculation. Where are these birds coming from? Which parent represents a
https://maavianrecords.com/a-returning-barnacle-goose-and-its-hybrid-offspring/
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This may be of interest in relation to increasing winter records from Cornwall and elsewhere. Some exchange between Cornwall and western France during winter wouldn't be too surprising.
#UKBirding
marcduquet.com/wp-content/u...
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https://marcduquet.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/32-PDF_Hivernage_Hirondelle_rustique_GB_L.pdf
2 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
martinswarren.bsky.social
2 months ago
More shocking results on UK Butterfly decline. an amazing dataset covering 50 years gives us a unique insight to the fate of these invaluable indicators
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Dan Mennill
3 months ago
This infographic summarizes the key elements of our paper "Acoustic differences persist in urban Parus major (Great Tit) over two decades of declining anthropogenic noise in Paris, France" in Ornithological Applications.
#bioacoustics
#ornithology
@amornith.bsky.social
@ibiouwindsor.bsky.social
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
martinswarren.bsky.social
3 months ago
This is craziness on a mega scale. A 5C increase in spring temperatures in the arctic alpine zone in just c 30 years. The result is that forest is spreading north at 1km a year. Itās driving several endemic butterflies extinct.
www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?...
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Red List of European Butterflies 2025
Red List of European Butterflies 2025
https://www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?name=red-list-butterflies-2025
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Hen Harriers and other raptors still being persecuted in the Yorkshire Dales (from current Craven Herald). You can sign a petition against this persecution at
friendsofthedales.org.uk
#UKBirding
3 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Max Hellicar
3 months ago
British Columbiaās first-ever Taiga Bean Geese (middendorffii) gave fabalis views in Port Renfrew yesterday. Hot on the heels of Canadaās first Taiga Flycatcher, they continue this winterās run of Taiga vagrants in the province.
#CanadianBirding
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
martinswarren.bsky.social
3 months ago
Nice summary of long distance insect migration in the Guardian today with fancy graphics
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
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Butterflies crossing oceans, moths navigating by the stars: unravelling the mysteries of insect migrations
Trillions of insects embark, largely unnoticed, on epic journeys every year across mountain ranges, deserts and seas, and it is only now, as their numbers suffer huge declines, that scientists are tra...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2026/mar/18/butterflies-crossing-oceans-moths-navigating-stars-insect-migrations-aoe
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Per Alstrƶm
3 months ago
Check our Open Access paper on the Tokara Leaf Warbler āĀ a previously undescribed, threatened Japanese bird:
doi.org/10.1093/pnas...
Thx to all coauthors: Takema Saitoh,
@dariashipilina.bsky.social
. Shin-Ichi Seki, Canwei Xia, Lijun Zhang & Urban Olsson.
@animecol-uu.bsky.social
#birds
#biodiversity
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Wilson Ornithological Society
3 months ago
A new analysis of long-term data from the Breeding Bird Survey shows that bird population declines in North America are accelerating and may be linked with agricultural intensification.
#ornithology
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Bird losses are accelerating across North America, particularly in farming regions where agriculture is most intensive
Farming areas that use lots of fertilizers and pesticides stood out for the swift and accelerating decline of their bird populations.
https://theconversation.com/bird-losses-are-accelerating-across-north-america-particularly-in-farming-regions-where-agriculture-is-most-intensive-276740
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Some reference material on Jackdaws before they disperse, from my paper in Birding World 13: 290-295. Differences between taxa are clinal; it was noted as long ago as The Handbook that some nominate are indistinguishable from British birds.
#BirdingScotland
3 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Wilson Ornithological Society
3 months ago
There's a new guest post on the WOS blog! WJO author Kevin Bennett describes the work that went into definitively identifying an "Uncommon Mourningthroat," a Mourning Warbler x Common Yellowthroat hybrid.
#ornithology
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Guest Post: Sequencing the āUncommon Mourningthroatā
A fun challenge for birders, once weāve become familiar with common bird species, is recognizing hybrids.
https://wilsonsociety.org/2026/03/09/guest-post-uncommon-mourningthroat/
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Despite sometimes being described as silent, Spoonbills have a variety of vocalisations including the 'ook' call which I recorded yesterday at Abberton Reservoir (sonogram below). A discussion about the use of this call can be found at
www.globalflywaynetwork.org/gfn/wp-conte...
#UKBirding
4 months ago
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Following the record on St Kilda last September, it seems likely that we are missing some Lesser Kestrels. Pale claws aren't necessarily diagnostic (below), but the wing formula (long p10 in LK) is reliable and should be visible in the field.
#BirdingScotland
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
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(PDF) Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus with unusual symmetrically pale claws
PDF | Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus with unusual symmetrically pale claws | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317692135_Common_Kestrel_Falco_tinnunculus_with_unusual_symmetrically_pale_claws
4 months ago
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t.co/GbHeEX3ck9?s...
#BirdingScotland
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RSPB has āserious concernsā around cumulative impact on birds from developments across Shetland
RSPB Scotland says it continues to have āserious concernsā around the cumulative impacts on birds as a result of operational and planned developments in...
https://t.co/GbHeEX3ck9?ssr=true
4 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
W. P. Mueller
4 months ago
#ornithology
www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...
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Saving Sardiniaās Steppe Sentinel ā the little bustard Ā« Ecology & Conservation# Ā« Cambridge Core Blog
Farmland birds are declining across Europe, largely due to the conversion of natural and semi-natural grasslands into intensive agricultural landscapes. One such species is the little bustard Tetrax t...
https://www.cambridge.org/core/blog/2026/02/27/saving-sardinias-steppe-sentinel-the-little-bustard/
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Highlights from Unst yāday included this elusive Bonaparteās G (left bird both images), WB Diver, hearing and recording the deep grunts of Tundra Bean Goose, 400+ vocal LT Ducks, and Glaucous G (just my third this year).
#BirdingScotland
4 months ago
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Aesthetically at least, the stars of the show in recent days have been Russian White-fronts. The majority have been in south and central Mainland Shetland, but Iāve also seen them north to Aith and west to Walls.
#BirdingScotland
4 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
BTO | British Trust for Ornithology
4 months ago
Apply for our Young Bird Observatory Visitors Programme grant ā”ļø
www.bto.org/ybov
Each year the BTO provide a number of grants of up to £250, to support young people looking to visit one of the accredited British and Irish Bird Observatories. Closing date: Sunday 1 March.
#UKBirding
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Peter Stronach
4 months ago
Study š showing ubiquity of microplastics in Scottish Dippers from three rivers; Dighty Water (Dundee), South Esk (Midlothian) and Kelvin (Glasgow)
#birdingscotland
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add a skeleton here at some point
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An interesting discussion of Pacific Diver identification (in English):
marcduquet.com/wp-content/u...
#BirdingScotland
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https://marcduquet.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/27-PDF_Plongeon_Pacifique_2015_GB.pdf
4 months ago
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Another Tundra Bean Goose, this time in the snow at Tingwall. For problems in distinguishing between Tundra Bean Goose subspecies from photographs, see Solovyeva et al. 2022 in Wildfowl (72: 152-163) which is accessible online.
#BirdingScotland
4 months ago
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This shy and elusive Tundra Bean Goose has been around Dunrossness for five weeks, though Iāve only seen it three times. Sometimes it looks quite long-billed, but here the comparison with Greylag is reasonably true.
#BirdingScotland
4 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
WildBirdAcoustics.bsky.social
4 months ago
blogbirder.blogspot.com/2026/02/fiel...
Eliminating field recording errors in the field is something I constantly work on. Here, I share my thoughts on this, running through a myriad of common errors.
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Field Recording Technique; Honest Mistakes, Loud Clothes, and the Long Road to Listening Properly.
Field Recording is a wonderful discipline and there is much to learn at all levels. This is one of the things that draws me to it, there is ...
http://blogbirder.blogspot.com/2026/02/field-recording-technique-honest.html?m=1
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This Canada Goose which I first saw on Out Skerries on 16 Jan may have come from the Norwegian feral population, which has proven exchanges with Shetland. Yesterday I discovered its corpse, which showed signs of predation by Otter.
#BirdingScotland
5 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Jente Ottenburghs | Avian Hybrids
5 months ago
New story on the Avian Hybrids blog! One gene to rule them all: Reshuffling of genetic variants explains plumage patterns in wheatears
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2026/02/04/o...
Based on the Science paper by Dave Lutgen and his colleagues |
#ornithology
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One gene to rule them all: Reshuffling of genetic variants explains plumage patterns in wheatears
Introgression drives parallel evolution of plumage coloration.
https://avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2026/02/04/one-gene-to-rule-them-all-reshuffling-of-genetic-variants-explains-plumage-patterns-in-wheatears/
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The persistent easterlies and bitter cold of early February have brought a few new arrivals, including Mistle Thrush and a flurry of White-fronts. Itās always encouraging to see family groups, like this one at Exnaboe.
#BirdingScotland
5 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Dundee Birding (stonefaction)
5 months ago
stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com/2026/01/1492...
A wee bonus blog, about the pitfalls of using AI/enhanced/smart editing within photo software when editing bird photos.
#BirdingScotland
#UKwildlife
#Birds
#Naturewriting
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1492 : A Cautionary Tale.
https://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com/2026/01/1492-cautionary-tale.html
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
W. P. Mueller
5 months ago
#ornithology
academic.oup.com/condor/artic...
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Abundance and distribution of birds from comprehensive surveys of the Canadian Arctic, 1994ā2018
Abstract. Abundance and distribution are critical metrics of population status and foundational information for conservation. However, even these basic met
https://academic.oup.com/condor/article/127/4/1/8245289
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Tens of wintering Jackdaws currently in Shetland are likely to be northeastern birds. Note how the pale āhalf collarā varies from prominent to absent. The underparts of many of these birds look quite dark.
#BirdingScotland
5 months ago
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Paul Bloomerās exhibition at Shetland Museum has been extended to 28 February - well worth a look if youāre passing through for Up Helly Aa.
#BirdingScotland
5 months ago
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Well worth reading Carney's speech in full:
www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
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Read Mark Carney's full speech on middle powers navigating a rapidly changing world | CBC News
Read the full text of Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech about a shakeup of the global order and role of middle powers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mark-carney-speech-davos-rules-based-order-9.7053350
5 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
W. P. Mueller
5 months ago
#ornithology
orionmagazine.org/article/lord...
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Lord God Bird - Orion Magazine
Does the ivory-billed woodpecker still exist?
https://orionmagazine.org/article/lord-god-bird-extinct-ivory-billed-woodpecker/
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Another beautiful day on Out Skerries, but the birds including Canada G and this Gadwall werenāt exactly what we traditionally associate with Shetland winters.
#BirdingScotland
5 months ago
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
Wild Beijing
5 months ago
A library of nocturnal flight calls from Beijing, including many eastern species that could be recorded in Europe. See
wildbeijing.org/beijing-noct...
#nocmig
#china
#beijing
#migration
#birds
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Beijing Nocturnal Flight Call Library
This page provides examples of nocturnal flight calls (NFCs), including spectograms and audio files, all of which have been recorded in Beijing.Ā Dates and recording location are given for eacā¦
https://wildbeijing.org/beijing-nocturnal-flight-call-library/
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reposted by
Andrew Harrop
RSPB Scotland
5 months ago
Gulls are in serious trouble in Scotland. These remarkable birds are facing significant pressures. A recent report revealed licensed control could have contributed to declines ā”ļø
rspb.org.uk/scotland/news/licensed-gull-control-in-scotland
We must balance the needs of protected species and people.
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