Finding a confiding first-winter Twite on Reydon Marshes yesterday, just 2 km from home, was pleasing and at an area where large numbers used to winter in Suffolk - I have old video of a flock of over 80. Nowadays, birders twitch them in Suffolk... #ukbirding #suffolkbirding

Some nice sounds from displaying Goosanders in calm conditions at Water of Leith, Edinburgh this morning (quieter male followed by louder female): xeno-canto.org/1069432 #BirdingScotland

Probably my favourite ‘Times’ cartoon of the year.

Check out this write-up on sound producing Grasshoppers in Europe, and their availability on XC www.researchgate.net/publication/... . #bioacoustics #grasshoppers #orthoptera

Ooh, poop sample from the grackle from Calshot, Hampshire, Nov 25, shows it was Great-tailed, not Boat-tailed as thought. Analysis by @tessaroo.bsky.social poop by @wjrpb.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social

Ferruginous x Pochard in the rain at Welney yesterday. Note how this hybrid retains Ferruginous traits of white in secondaries and even white spot on chin. #BirdHybrid #UKBirding

Confused by crossbills? The ‘most strongly supported splits’ from Benkman’s extraordinary ‘Crossbills & Conifers’ (2025) which merits close reading and gives due acknowledgement to Nethersole and Alan Knox. #BirdingScotland #UKBirding

The Snowy Owl has been declared Regionally Extinct in Sweden. For the first time in 20 years, the country has officially lost a bird species. - www.birdlife.org/news/2025/12... #BirdingScotland #UKBirding Attributed to a combination of climate change and disruption to the lemming cycle. A tragedy.

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

In March 1991 I discovered this Parrot Crossbill at Wakerley Woods following a major influx (photo Keith Stone). Regular visits in recent years have recorded Crossbills of four call types (mainly N4, N6) but no more Parrots. #UKBirding

... & 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

Today I collected an audio recorder I left in the Fens with the aim of getting some nice Wigeon recordings. Incredibly it also picked up this Richard's Pipit flying through on the morning of 6th November! xeno-canto.org/1053297 #UKBirding

Where are they now? More than 10 years on from the initial revelation, it still blows my mind that Shetland’s phalaropes winter in the Pacific (map from Brooke’s ‘Far From Land’). Yet they are short-distance migrants compared with Arctic Terns… #BirdingScotland

🚨Hot off the press!🚨A very interesting thread here, and follow the link to the summary of the report. Top work from @ukrbbp.bsky.social

Interesting(!) that these captive-bred ducks for sale in East Yorkshire seem to be unringed in very many cases. Baikal, Blue-winged, Green-winged Teals, plus Garganeys. Dread to think how many end up in the wild and in local bird reports... #ukbirding

www.dutchbirding.nl/dbactueel/20... Well worth a read and listen if you haven't already. #UKBirding

Over 30 years decline of an iconic farmland bird, Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio, in a Central European stronghold: meadow loss and shrub succession drive near-local extinction | doi.org/10.1017/S095... | Bird Conservation International | #ornithology 🪶

Short news piece on the Challenger expedition and the Band-rumped fiesta: britishbirds.co.uk/news/band-ru... #RareBirdsUK

6/ Although some native species can also become superabundant & damaging (but only when triggered by disturbance), non-native species are far more likely to be implicated as a cause of global extinction: t.co/9NUoV81a54

Now online in Journal of #Ornithology Three decades of breeding bird population changes in a pristine Danish forest: climate-driven shifts and biodiversity loss compared to national trends Open access link.springer.com/article/10.1...

It occurred to me that I couldn't think of (m)any photos of Short-toed Larks with other species in the frame for size comparison. So here's one of the recent Yell bird (right) with a Meadow Pipit. #BirdingScotland

I had missed this well written rebuttal on the purported Ivory-billed Woodpecker rediscoveries; these passages in particular are gold:🪶 academic.oup.com/bioscience/a... #Ornithology

Just published: Conservation genomics of two endangered buntings reveal genetic diversity before and after severe population declines. doi.org/10.1186/s129... Despite severe population declines, both species retained high genetic diversity but experienced increased inbreeding. #ornithology #birds

Late September has brought the usual heady mix of brief rarities, misidentifications, and some scarce migrants. Numbers of many 'common' migrants have been low, the only real exceptions to date being Sky Lark and Meadow Pipit. #BirdingScotland

open.spotify.com/episode/1dlD... Uncovering the migration patterns of Tengmalm’s Owl in Northern Sweden. Wild Bird Acoustics brings you the penultimate episode of season 2. Now Live!

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

The last two days have brought a surge of migrants through south Mainland, Shetland. Personal highlights have included 124 Ruffs at Spiggie (the largest number I’ve seen for years), and a healthy scattering of Wrynecks like this one at Quendale. #BirdingScotland

Nice to see this white morph Gyr Falcon on North Ronaldsay today. But it seemed to be bearing a ring on its leg. Still nice to see and hopefully a wild one will turn up one day… #BirdingScotland #OrkneyBirding

A sweeping new analysis of birdsong recordings from around the globe shows that light pollution is causing birds worldwide to start singing earlier and keep singing later. #ornithology www.npr.org/2025/08/21/n...

A nice comparison between Black-throated (left) and Red-throated Divers at Quendale this morning. Black-throated has been regular in August at this site in recent years. #BirdingScotland

Living the dream working on the Cairngorm Plateau as part of the 2025 Montane Bird Survey. It was also very saddening - walking for days over swathes of beautiful habitat to find no Dotterel where there were once many... #BirdingScotland

July has mainly been about waders, but by far my most important discovery has been a breeding pair of Red-backed Shrikes in south Mainland (Shetland) which have now fledged young. You can listen to a recording here: xeno-canto.org/1019697 and others will follow in due course.

This white Starling which has been around Spiggie recently appears to be a true albino (most ‘white’ birds are leucistic). Albinos have poor eyesight, so it will be interesting to see how long it survives. #BirdingScotland #ornithology

open.spotify.com/episode/4hMi... Wild Bird Acoustics Season 2; Ep. 15 Now Live! Another identification feature here, Buntings by sound, for anyone interested in diurnal migration. Delighted to finally release this, complimented by some wonderful Spring audio for listeners….

The beginning and the end for two Arctic Terns at Scatness yesterday evening. The adult may have become prey for a Peregrine; if so it was unlucky, given how few Peregrines are in Shetland. #BirdingScotland

A paper describing the history of AviList and how the new unified global bird checklist was created has now been published - free to download until 1 September: rdcu.be/euZjH

Another difficult spring for wood warblers in Białowieża Forest🇵🇱 Few birds settled after autumn oak masting, and ca. 80% of them failed to raise young due to nest predation. Frequent tree masting seems to be driving the species decline esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #ornithology

June: breeding bird surveys, which means mapping the impact of man and a paradoxical feeling of powerlessness. Also a few rare birds, though this one probably came by boat. #BirdingScotland

The Orkney Bird Report 2024 is out! 144 pages inc accounts for all species recorded in 2024, Ringing report, @northronbirdobs.bsky.social report, Meteorological report and finders accounts of county 1st Black-faced Bunting and 2nd American Robin. Price £12. DM me for sales info. #OrkneyBirding

Common Snipe plumage is variable, and some Shetland birds like this one on Out Skerries yesterday are quite heavily barred on the underparts. I’d be interested in how frequent similar birds are in Orkney and north mainland Scotland. #BirdingScotland

Oblivious to the taxonomic agonising of Homo sapiens, these Shetland Hooded Crows are getting on with living. Ground nesting is regular here, especially in heather. #BirdingScotland

A monumental taxonomy unification effort has just been published - thanks to all those who've collaborated for years to make this happen! birdsoftheworld.org/bow/news/avi...

I have doubts about some interpretations of Crossbill call types, but they offer a useful avenue of study. The current influx into Shetland (e.g. 25 at Kergord) have been giving N6 type calls which I last recorded here in June 2021. #BirdingScotland

Despite the excitement elsewhere in Shetland, my walk round Clevigarth and back yesterday revealed nothing more unusual than Quail. A pair of Fulmars in a ruined croft allowed me to admire the curiously opaque quality of their egg. #BirdingScotland

A visit to Poland as respite from cataloguing decline resulted in mixed feelings. Bialowieza, though dry, was wonderful and packed with birds. Biebrza is badly affected by drought, making some species difficult to find. We did enjoy two sightings of Wolf, as well as Elk and Bison.

We analyzed feather hydrogen isotopes (δ²Hf) from 72 Nearctic vagrants captured in the Azores, Iceland, and France. Result? Some birds did come from the NE but others from NW and S populations too! (e.g., American Redstart, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Yellow-billed Cuckoo) 2/3

This Scaup x Tufted at Spiggie recently, apparently paired with a female Scaup, is presumably of Icelandic origin. Although F1 hybrids are relatively distinctive, any offspring may be more problematical. #BirdingScotland #BirdHybrid

Costa Rica is often cited as living evidence of the benefits of tourism for biodiversity conservation. Yet the relationship between conservation & 'ecotourism' in the country is more complicated than the popular narrative suggests. #LowCarbonBirding #archive lowcarbonbirding.net/2021/02/26/c...