Red Squirrels are getting commoner in Aberdeen city but this one at St Fittick's Park today was my first patch record. It seemed to be enjoying the cones. #Mammals #Squirrels #UKWildlife @nesmammals.bsky.social

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

There seems to have been a substantial influx of Nathusius' Pipistrelles in recent days. This is a migrant species (though some also breed here) and these may have come from north-eastern Europe.

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

Abstract submission for the next Mammal Society annual conference, which will be in Inverness in March, is now open. Great opportunity to highlight some of the excellent #MammalResearch taking place across North East Scotland. Get your abstracts in by 30th November mammal.org.uk/annual-confe...

Happy National Pine Marten Day! If you’re wondering what Pine Marten get up to in September, look out for a new blog coming out later this month - the first in a series of blogs highlighting what local mammals are up to throughout each calendar month. #mammal

Scottish Wild Boar numbers are on the up. There don't seem to be current populations in North-East Scotland, but potential for re-establishment going forward.

We had a great talk a few months back by @jackantbam.bsky.social about his research on diversionary feeding to reduce Pine Marten predation on Capercaillie. Brilliant to see this associated paper now published.

Lots of events, both online and in the field, coming up over the next few months. Take a look! #Mammals #MammalID #BiologicalRecording #Conservation

Wildlife monitoring would be so much easier if it wasn't for the, errr, wildlife.

Weasel on the #SmallMammal #CameraTrap recently at Craibstone, Aberdeen. We record these wee critters pretty frequently this way - presumably attracted by the 🐀🐁🐭 smells.

Interesting Aberdeenshire study about drivers of varying rates of Badger predation on waders.

Sorry for the late update (we know you've all been waiting), but here is the final tally for the #NESMammalChallenge July 2025......35 species! Thank you to everyone who submitted a record. Please do send them in to NESBReC North East Scotland Biological Records Centre/ Mammal Society.

Red #Deer investigating a clearly not very well hidden #trailcam. @nesmammals.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social

This is where a pair of Aberdeenshire #Nightjars are nesting & roosting. Not a great choice -a Red #Deer highway! Lucky the eggs/young didn't get trampled - or eaten by deer. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social @nesmammals.bsky.social #birdingscotland

Dark shapes jumping at the horizon. The sea off Girdle Ness this evening was heaving with White-beaked Dolphins. Dozens were doing fast leaps out of the water, both horizontally and vertically. Most were around 2-3 miles out but some were a few miles more distant. #UKWildlife #Dolphins #Cetaceans

That's a July NE Scotland bat full house ♠️♣️♥️♦️ #NESMammalChallenge

No prizes for guessing which was the most frequently recorded #mammal last year in North East Scotland. But who else was on the league table of records? Read our latest blog to find out nesmamnet.org/2025/07/20/2...

And that puts us on 28 species for July. Three more to go to reach 31 species in 31 days.

Still six days to go and we have beaten January's #NESMammalChallenge total, with 27 species ! Let's make it AT LEAST 31 in 31 days. What could we still get? Common Seal and Porpoise (possibly Minke)? Common Shrew and Field Vole? Any Mink sightings? Take part over on our Facebook page.

Our summer and autumn programme is due out soon and we have everything from Polecats to detection dogs. Our next in-person event is a bat walk at Haddo next month (15 August). Limited spaces, so don't miss out www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1465882286... Photo: Aileen Salway #mammal #bat

First weekend of #NESMammalChallenge July 2025 draws to a close and we have.....22 species. How long before we smash through the January total??? Take part and follow the action on our Facebook page.

You folks are smashing this challenge! Day 3 and we have 14 species recorded. Keep sending them in, even if we already have them on the list. Visit our Facebook page for all the latest. #nesmammalchallenge July 2025. #mammal

Hmm. Red Deer and a calf on a camera trap from yesterday

I had 5 species of bats last night (after midnight!): Common, Soprano & Nathusius' Pips, Brown Long-eared and Daubenton's.

In January, you recorded 26 #mammal species in 31 days - are you ready to smash that in our #JulyMammalChallenge2025? The snow has melted, the bats have come out to play, and someone must be able to record a mountain hare. Follow the action over on North East Scotland Mammal Network Facebook group.

Helping record wildlife at our animal care unit at @srucnews.bsky.social Aberdeen campus this week. The two pipistrelles recorded during a night of @openacousticdevices.info #AudioMoth monitoring. Lots of mature trees and grassland here, so hopefully more bat species to add... #mammal #bioacoustics

Back to normal yesterday, spotting wildlife in Aberdeen. I really enjoyed my time on the Rhine in Germany and the Netherlands but it can’t compete with the Dee where biodiversity is concerned.

A perfect wet day for (finally) collating 2024 NE Scotland #mammal records. QGIS comes into its own for summarising 8,000 records. Big thanks to @fieldstudiesc.bsky.social for their indispensible TomBio plugin. Here showing all recorded tetrads, revealing the unexplored north! #BiologicalRecording

Leisler's #Bat here in Cults yesterday! Very rare up here, though, oddly, more records from our garden than *everywhere* else in Aberdeenshire! No idea where the roost is. @batconservation.bsky.social @nesmammals.bsky.social

It has been an amazing few weeks for #Orca in the region and the last two days have provided many people with unforgettable close encounters. We watched this group from a harbour wall yesterday evening - check out the spy hop at the end and turn up the sound to hear the blow. #mammal #marinemammal

Read the latest update from Claire's PhD research on Ythan estuary Grey Seals. Includes details of an upcoming talk and on the role of cinnamon buns in helping to sustain seal monitoring. aberdeenmarinemammalproject.blogspot.com/2025/05/half... @mammalsocietyyouth.bsky.social #seamammal #mammal

Last chance to book for Wednesday evening's webinar - booking open to 7pm tomorrow. There's ☔ forecast, so do the smart thing and stay in for an evening of mammal-filled entertainment. 🦫🦫🦫🦫🦫

We're delighted to welcome Fiona Mathews, co-author of Wainwright-shortlisted book, Black Ops & Beaver Bombing, to give a talk directly after our AGM on 28 May. Free for registered network members. Non-members pay as you can, minimum suggested £2. Booking: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/black-ops-...)

In January you recorded 26 #Mammal species over 31 days. Are you ready to do it all again (and smash the total)? Get ready for #NESMammalChallenge July 2025!

Vote for Claire! Claire Stainfield's PhD investigates tourism interaction with the Ythan estuary Grey Seals. She is shortlisted for the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences Impact Competition 2025, and needs your vote. Visit www.sgsss.ac.uk/impact-compe... @mammalsocietyyouth.bsky.social

We spent last Saturday helping volunteers with the Bailies of Bennachie with some #CameraTrap training. Really looking forward to seeing results from their #mammal recording efforts.

Check out the latest blog post on our website about the confusing status of Polecats and Feral Ferrets: nesmamnet.org/2025/04/28/p...

We've got very few records of apparent Polecats or of Polecat-ferrets in North East Scotland. @vincentwt.bsky.social is conducting a national survey at present so, if you see one, let them know and let us know too.

We're big fans of #CameraTraps. And of #Otters. So a double bonus at this site at the edge of Aberdeen. Don't forget to submit your camera trap records. Want to know how? See our website: nesmamnet.org/recording-ma... #mammal

We may have been quiet for a few days, but we've not been snoozing! We've been hard at work collating and verifying mammal records from 2024, for writing up in the NE Scotland Mammal Report. Remember that Reports from 2017 to 2022 can be downloaded here: www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/local-... #mammal

I went out with the thermal imager this evening to see if I could see where my cat was. Found a badger instead in the field behind my house @nesmammals.bsky.social

There's been several Orca sightings off the Aberdeenshire coast in recent days - and we very excited to pick up these ones, heading slowly past Portsoy this evening.

Recently, our network was treated to a fascinating talk by PhD student, Claire Stanfield, about her work on the Ythan estuary Grey Seals. Read the latest update from Adam Robertson, a student intern helping Claire with fieldwork: www.aberdeenmarinemammals.org/news @mammalsocietyyouth.bsky.social

First night of the year with 5 #bat species in the garden here in Aberdeen. In past few years: 30 Apr 2024, 11 May 2023, 25 June 2022. @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social

Numbers of #bats here in Cults have been improving with the warmer evenings: last night was the first of the year with 4 species, including my first Brown Long-eared Bat of the year. @nesmammals.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social (Blue=Sopranos; orange=Common Pips)

Big shout out to Charlotte and Vicky for promoting the network at today's NESBReC Recorders' Forum.

That's one very determined #Badger last night, even after I had raised the bird table (clearly not enough). Have to move the table and make it higher again. @nesmammals.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social

Surprised to see a day-flying #bat above the garden at lunchtime today! Was flitting back and forth over the garden for about 10mins. Presumably pretty hungry for it to be out in the middle of the day. #speyside 🦇 @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social

Some nice fine soil there. Upper Donside. #molehills @nesmammals.bsky.social