Due to COVID, and increasingly decrepit parents we’ve only done Ouessant once in the last 5 years. That’s probably why I’m so excited to be heading back for two weeks in mid October. Can’t wait to see the magic island again.
Mark Lewis
@fatpaulscholes.bsky.social
Birder: patch birding , sound recording, migration, and rare birds occasionally
Another butterfly from France - this time a mallow skipper. Fortunately I don’t have hoards of skippers to try to identify. Even so, I found these quite variable and got excited about marbled skipper on occasion
A modern phenomenon. Tree sparrow passage at Girdle Ness phase 1; early autumn. Phase 2 will happen in about a months time. All birds I’ve seen well have been juvs, just like these ones - part of a flock of 22 at the headland today. Also a pied flycatcher and 21 black-tailed godwit north.
What I think is a knapweed fritillary, from SW France a couple of weeks ago. I found these really variable with some less obviously ‘multicoloured’ compared to this one. Either that or I misidentified loads of fritillaries…
A lovely but odd seawatch at Girdle Ness today. Very little movement but between 11:15 to 14:45 1 great shearwater 1 Balearic shearwater 1 juv long-tailed skua 4 sooty shearwater Juv Mediterranean gull 1 grey plover! That’s pretty epic by Girdle Ness standards!
I don’t go west very often so perhaps I’ve missed out, but I’ve never heard a crested tit sing as clear and structured a song as this before - from the Coylumbridge area in early spring. macaulaylibrary.org/asset/654092...
Another butterfly from SW France - a Glanville fritillary. These were all over the roadside verges, full of flowering mint, along with other (more confusing, for me!) fritillary species.
I spent a lot of time photographing insects (mostly butterflies) on a recent trip to SW France. Luckily we managed to time our visit between two heatwaves. Never seen as many butterflies in my life. 24 spp along a short stretch of rural road. Here’s a long-tailed blue to start off
@jamesdrage.bsky.social hi James, can you drop me a message please?
And more great stuff to come tonight…
Birdingprof@birdingprof.bsky.social · 6mo ago2nd night @scottishbirding.bsky.social Records Committee on-line Conference. Terrific talks from @pauldufour80.bsky.social on ‘What the study of vagrancy can reveal about bird migration.’ And Niall Keogh on ‘Birds on a Boat.’ Made up for dipping local Bittern, Stone Curlew & Goshawk this afternoon.
Still time to sign up for this today! But don’t wait, the sign-up form will go down before the end of the week #BirdingScotland
Mark Lewis@fatpaulscholes.bsky.social · 9mo agoChristmas 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.
We're delighted to be celebrating 90 years of the SOC with a talk, Q+A & book signing from wildlife cameraman, author & TV presenter, Hamza Yassin. Don’t miss this inspiring celebration! Book your place to be part of this milestone event in our history. Tickets: £10 - £20. See tinyurl.com/3ab3ujw2
Great news from the SOC that loads of folks are already signed up to join us at the end of February. I don’t think there’s a limit to numbers so it’s not too late to sign up now too!
Mark Lewis@fatpaulscholes.bsky.social · 9mo agoChristmas 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.
Come and hear more from the author about the birds behind this book at the free online SOC/SBRC conference in February! www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/event/...
Scottish Birds Records Committee Online Conference
The SOC
the-soc.org.uk
Ian Andrews@ijandrews.bsky.social · 9mo agoIt’s beginning to feel that the end is in sight. The proofs of the new 'Birds of Fair Isle' book are now being checked by the team of authors. That’s more than 400,000 words on 938 pages! Details on how to order will be announced in the New Year. www.fairislebirdobs.co.uk/bofi #BirdingScotland
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.
For any bird recorders who want to easily convert eBird data into a more recorder friendly format
David Bradnum@dbradnum.bsky.social · 11mo agoHi Jared, Mark - here's a link to the app: dbradnum-ebirdcountyrecordcleaner.share.connect.posit.cloud It's also built in R, a Shiny app, and can share a link to the underlying code if helpful. See the instructions tab for details, and feel free to drop me a DM if any questions or issues.
Awful pics, but any thoughts on what these two dark hybrids are? Barnacle crossed with something, obvs…
Seawatching was very quiet last week but there were some notable distractions so I might have missed a couple of manxies…
Arctic tern are currently hanging round at Girdle Ness in un(recently)precedented numbers. I counted 460 today. Still plenty to come from the local breeding colony too. Lovely to see this species have a good year
Red knot foraging in a small group on the shore of the Little Sea, Sanday. I love these tiny contact calls, mostly inaudible to my ears even though I was only 15 m away. soundcloud.com/fat-paul-sch...
Red knot feeding at close range (recorded from inside the car!)
A group of about 15 red knot calling softly to one another as they feed at close range. Most calls were not audible (to me...) at the time.
soundcloud.com
JOB OPPORTUNITY | ASSISTANT DEVELOPMENT OFFICER We're looking for an Assistant Development Officer to enhance the Club’s delivery of key programmes and provide vital support to our Development Manager, across several cross-cutting areas of activity. Full vacancy details here: //tinyurl.com/3jrd5t5r
A feature of my Sanday trip was the 'tundrae type' ringed plovers, including a tight flock of 172 birds together in a field. Here's several birds feeding on the Little Sea, a great place to see (and hear!) waders close up. #bioacoustics #orkneybirding #BirdingScotland soundcloud.com/fat-paul-sch...
'Tundrae type' ringed plovers on the Little Sea
a group of ringed plovers, en route to breed in Greenland or similar latitudes, on the Little Sea, Sanday
soundcloud.com
Marsh Tits are now only found in 1 known area of Scotland & are one of our rarest breeding birds at 3 known pairs. The Scottish Marsh Tit Project is looking for volunteers to assist in the species' conservation. Join an online info evening on 2 July to find out more tinyurl.com/yswhtuxz #ornithology
04:45 this morning. A euphony of plentiful native avifauna. This is how it should be. 🇨🇦🌎 #birdingBC
Not only is this a really neat study but it also has the best 'lay' summary I've seen. I'm not totally lay but still, I appreciate the simplicity and clarity in how the work is described here. More of this sort of thing please...
Nicholdav@nicholdav.bsky.social · last yr.🌧️📱 rain calls 📱🌧️ Cool study in @behavecol.bsky.social from Framond et al. (Brumm lab, @mpiforbi.bsky.social) of a poorly understood chaffinch call type Based on playbacks + field studies they conclude these are female-directed alarm calls academic.oup.com/beheco/artic... #prattle 💬 #bioacoustics
Small webpage for an ongoing #bioacoustic monitoring project I am part of at Stora Karlsö: auklab-audio.github.io Adding #audio will hopefully let us learn more about the life of the Guillemots. What are they saying? Lesson learned: designing a recording setup is a challenge and lots of fun! 🔊
Auklab Audio Research
News and updates about the continuous acoustic monitoring at the Auk Lab
auklab-audio.github.io
Absolute bliss. Our 30 yr rewilding plot at Monks Wood is full of singing Willow Warblers. This 2ha plot is the only part of the 165 ha woodland complex where this declining bird still breeds, showing how natural colonisation around existing woods gives biodiversity benefits from the diversity.
Ooft. Ya beauty!! Out of context, particularly ‘guiding finds’ are always a bonus- and jammy as. This 2nd cal male Pallid fairly raised the pulse this morning on way home for breakfast with my photo-tour group, after a 4:30 start this morning 😳 #rarebirdsUK #shetlandbirding #shetland #birding
