Operation Needletail turned into Needletail success after only 15 minutes in the field! Plucked on Helmsdale as a likely location and at 0740 the White-throated Needletail was spotted by @emilyrichens.bsky.social and spent 9-mins with us before heading south! BOOM #BirdingScotland

A walk up Tom A Choinnich (Glen Affric) with @emilyrichens.bsky.social & Tommy Saunders gave stunning panoramic views, 15 Ptarmigans, 3 Ring Ouzels and most surprisingly, 3 Twite. Superb! Lots of bird ringing in our garden today too 😄. #BirdingScotland

Last month we moved house and these are our new neighbours!! Also recently had our first White-tailed Eagle over the garden and a cracking sighting of a Barn Owl from the sofa! @matt-eade24.bsky.social

2 weeks to go!! Very touched by the immense support given already by friends & family. Very much looking forward to it, no doubt my biggest challenge yet, and hopefully I do you all proud! 🥰 @matt-eade24.bsky.social www.justgiving.com/page/emilyri...

A driver I met in Tana, Madagascar 1yr ago promised me bird stamps he’d collected. He later passed them to my friend who travelled there - and now I’m finally in possession of these beautiful artworks!

A day trip on the Ullapool-Stornoway ferry last wknd with @matt-eade24.bsky.social & Matt Broadbent; glassy conditions meant cetaceans were easily spotted with lunge-feeding Minkes stealing attention from the deck. A single Leach's made an appearance near Priest Island as well as G & Arctic Skua.

Two Lempke’s Gold Spot were this morning’s highlight from Beauly, amongst a huge catch in our MV! #UKMoths #TeamMoth @emilyrichens.bsky.social

Great to find Field Gentian (Gentianella campestris) in Sutherland today! I’ve seen plenty on the continent but they are scarce in Britain due to our overgrazed and mismanaged grasslands. Let’s hope this one survives to seed this year. #wildflowers #britishwildlife #botany #scottishflora

Enjoyed another afternoon with White-faced Darters. They’re so skittish but after a while lying on the ground I befriended this individual who seemed to enjoy the limelight, even tucking into dinner in front of my lens! Also found nationally scarce Bee Robberfly (Laphria flava) - an added bonus!

Female Adder found on my hike over a bog, not necessarily the place I’d expect to see one!

Lovely day spent hunting down rare orchids and Odonata with several new species for me inc Coralroot and Small White Orchids, White-faced Darter and Northern Emerald. Fantastic day in the pinewoods and bogs! @matt-eade24.bsky.social @dragonflydamselfly.bsky.social @cairngormsnews.bsky.social

Always good to explore ‘new’ places on our doorstep! Lovely warm afternoon walk in a secluded pinewood, what’s not to like? @matt-eade24.bsky.social

Why is this not a crime? Appalling and upsetting to see road verges strimmed to the ground. Beautiful species-rich grassland destroyed at its peak. Yet, just up the road is a verge left aside for nature, supporting @mariecurieuk.bsky.social What is the absurd reason behind this @highland.gov.uk ?

You can go out searching all you like, but sometimes wildlife comes to you! We had the pleasure of this stunning Azure Hawker yesterday, an uncommon species found in the Highlands. @matt-eade24.bsky.social

A cracking week reminding me how lucky I am; there aren’t many places you can see Osprey, Black-throated Divers and Hen Harrier in the same view! And today saw my first Black-throated Diver chicks (tiny black fluffballs!) and my second ever pair of Wood Sands in Scotland 😄 #birdingscotland #birds

Mass Vulture Poisoning Rocks Kruger National Park www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/M...

Always a joy to hear a Wood Warbler belting out its song! This one was very obliging for photos (and patient considering my inability to get the exposure right & manual focus) #birdingscotland #birds

Brilliant to see a Pearl-bordered Fritillary near Inverlael en route up to Beinn Dearg yesterday! They’re a BAP priority species and definitely worth looking out for!

Smashing Ptarmigan views up Beinn Dearg today! 😍

Great Goldie sightings today - both Plover and Eagle! 😅

Quite literally stumbled across this otter today!! Think we were both as surprised as each other! Amazes me how they manage to vanish so easily, even more so considering this was an enclosed waterway up on top of a hill…

Beinn Eighe always delivers fantastic views, but hiking with Calum Urquhart always means investigating bryophytes - this time a rare liverwort called Northern Prongwort only found on this mountain massif!!

Early mornings are definitely worthwhile for these views of lekking Black Grouse; the females were suitably impressed!! Also saw my first Dunlin, Orange-tip and Comma Butterflies of the year! @matt-eade24.bsky.social #birdingscotland

Wonderful views of my first Grasshopper Warbler this year singing its chest out! Also first Green Hairstreak on the wing and a very obliging Green Tiger Beetle allowed for a photo. #birdingscotland

Chuffed with this find! A freshly emerged Emperor moth! My first in to the UK!

Perfect weekend with my best friend and now husband-to-be! 🥰

I’ve learnt something new about fungi - well, that this one isn’t one, but a lichen… At first I thought waxcap, but I believe this is Lichenomphalia umbellifera, a species which associates with a green alga amongst moss and decaying conifer wood. Found in montane areas in N America and Europe.

A great day began with Rannoch Sprawler (a Red List species only found in a handful of sites including here near Glen Affric) followed by displaying Sparrowhawks, hundreds of migrating Pinkies, wonderful views of a hunting fox, and my first Swallows of 2025!!

Loved watching these Purple Sandpjpers jostling on the rocks as the tide encroached (I got a soggy foot too); clearly their hierarchy forced one off their island to swim to shore!! #birdingscotland

Lovely to share the day with my parents too 🥰

They may be LBJs but I love this trio of Corn Buntings, a bird which has experienced huge declines over recent decades. Happily they are doing well in areas including Aberdeenshire. #birdingscotland

A cracking view of an Otter this morning at North Kessock.

The smart drk Ring-necked Duck showed distantly on Loch Eye this pm on our way home from work. Also present were 20+ Scaup and a drk Shoveler. #BirdingScotland @emilyrichens.bsky.social

A fantastic view of my first Green-winged Teal after work today with @matt-eade24.bsky.social photographed just before it flew off with the Eurasian Teal (left). A lovely end to a day where I also had a fab Merlin sighting! #birdingscotland

A sleepy Smew at Strathbeg this morning, typically showing the day after a staff bird race where each team failed to see it! Then a Valentine’s lunch and walk at Grantown-on-Spey to break the drive home. #BirdingScotland

A beautiful day on the west coast, with at least 25 GN Divers, 6 BT Divers and a wave of Purple Sandpipers, as well as a lovely male Hen Harrier I was very pleased to see! The day finished with a spontaneous dip in the loch & a cracking Six Nations match! @matt-eade24.bsky.social

Some Cape specialities found today and all new to me; Cape Rockjumper, Cape Sugarbirds, Orange-breasted Sunbird and Cape Grassbird 🇿🇦 @matt-eade24.bsky.social @birdlifesa.bsky.social

Very special to spend time watching the African Penguins at Boulders Beach yesterday! Their chicks are almost full grown, moulting through the last fluff, and testing the waters.

Snow Buntings on Cairn Gorm today!

Woodcock views from our front window this evening! @matt-eade24.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social

With working in Stirling, it made complete sense to twitch the drake Smew at Broadwood Loch in Clyde today – my first for many years now they’re next to impossible in S England. The icy loch also drew many Goosander close to the banks. @emilyrichens.bsky.social #birdingscotland

Whilst searching for the elusive Bornean Ground-cuckoo, a Western Hooded Pitta popped into view - an unexpected and delightful encounter! #Borneobirding @matt-eade24.bsky.social