A Walrus on a pontoon with bow of a small boat tied to same pontoon in forground at left of pic.

Bad day to be without the car and with an online evening teaching session lined up. But we managed a late dash in gathering gloom with just enough light left to admire the mightily impressive Magnus, at Lossiemouth.
With @trailerbythesea.bsky.social

#Walrus @nesmammals.bsky.social

Contrasting effects of mixed farming on bats are mediated by local and landscape features and differ between seasons - Biodiversity and Conservation Homogenisation of agricultural landscapes, driven by intensive farming, is one of the key drivers of biodiversity decline in Europe. Whilst government schemes to address this have benefitted some inve...

New paper from @bats-n-bugs.bsky.social's PhD.

Sampling an impressive 26 farms in east Scotland, Rochelle found a complex picture with bats responding more to habitat and landscape features than to farming type per se.

Open access: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

@batconservation.bsky.social

This was fairly close in (by usual standards) just west of the harbour. One was further west, and two were slightly east, out from Links Bay. But all viewed from same spot up on the braes above the dolphin statue. I then worked my way out to East Head, but none visible there.

Digiscoped pic of a White-billed Diver on the sea, partway between winter and breeding plumage.

Four White-billed Divers were the predictable highlight of this afternoon's @webs-gsmp.bsky.social count at Portsoy.

#ScottishBirding #PWC2026

A Twin-spotted Quaker moth, on dark bare earth background.

The first NFG moth of the year is ..... drumroll ..... Twin-spotted Quaker.

Portsoy (VC94)
#teammoth

Four Sand Martins on sandy cliff outside entrances to nest burrows.

Total of at least 12 White-billed Divers at Portsoy today, including 9 in a single scan off Redhythe Point. Viewing conditions good, but not perfect, so there's sure to be more out there.

Great to see Sand Martins fresh back at the colony.

#PWC2026
#BirdingScotland

Distant pics of an adult winter plumaged Little Gull and an adult Kittiwake, both flying left over a choppy sea.

A Little Gull yesterday feeding with Kittiwakes off East Head, Portsoy, was my first here in over two years.

#PWC2026 #BirdingScotland

A real highlight of the @srucnews.bsky.social year. Great couple of days!

Five committee members of North East Scotland Mammal Network behind a table of items demonstrating the Network's activities.

Martha the (knitted) Pine Marten eyeing up a (stuffed) Red Squirrel

Speaker and title slide of presentation about moorland management affects on predator-prey interactions.

Just back from the amazing @mammalsociety.bsky.social conference in Inverness. Engaging speakers, posters and workshops. Most of all, genuine enthusiasm and curiosity for figuring out what our mammals are doing and why.

An Audiomoth set in a pine woodland

Spectrogram of Common Pipistrelle recorded on a pippyg device at Helmsdale hostel.

#Bioacoustics formed a big part of last week's Sutherland field trip. Students recorded birds on @openacousticdevices.info #Audiomoths (analysed with @chirpity-nocmig.bsky.social), used heterodyne bat detectors and set a PIPPYG by the digs - with Common Pipistrelles on both.

@srucnews.bsky.social

Hi Nick,
Most folk view from harbour or adjacent dolphin statue. Can be better from braes above there for elevation (e.g. end of Barbank St). Or walk c.1 mile E along coast to East Head/Coastguard Point. I've slight feeling this may be better option at low tide. Wind may be challenging this week!

Distant digiscoped photo of White-billed Diver in non-breeding plumage.

Two Sandwich Terns flying left over the sea.

Three White-billed Divers on today's Portsoy WeBS survey (a couple were tolerably close in). Also, first Sandwich Terns of the year.

@webs-gsmp.bsky.social
#BirdingScotland
#PWC2026

Two Slave-maker Ants in the sun on a background of wood (from an old tree stump) and moss.

A Peacock butterfly basking on flattened long grass

Spring on the bog in Aberdeenshire - always great to see the Slave-maker Ants, which were very active in today's sun, around old stumps of trees removed as part of #peatland restoration. A few Peacocks on the wing too.

#peatland

Sunny weather on the east Sutherland coast, with a couple of student groups gathered around quadrats in grassy areas.

Three people on a street with houses on one side, holding ice creams and a Cornetto raised in the foreground.

View down over Helmsdale from hill just to the north.

Five students at front of main room in hostel, presenting on their work with a picture of a lichen projected onto the wall.

Last full day of @srucnews.bsky.social Sutherland field trip. Amazing weather for more vole sign surveying and time also for ice cream!
Presentations on student research projects brought a fitting evening finale.

Two students in a bird hide - one looking through binoculars and the other taking notes.

Students in the woods at Loch Fleet, getting an intro from the site manager.

Twinflower leaves with mossy background

Middle day of @srucnews.bsky.social Field Study Skills Sutherland trip involved student-led research projects in the wonderful Loch Fleet NNR.
Birds, lichens, trees, ground veg and rabbit 💩 all counted, timed or measured.

@naturescot.bsky.social

Student at top of Forsinard tower looking out onto bog pools

Five students crouched around a quadrat on blanket bog in sunny conditions. Another similar group further away in background

Five students crouched around a quadrat in rough grassland.

Some vole droppings in a latrine among brown grass stems.

Cracking start to @srucnews.bsky.social Field Study Skills trip to Sutherland. Veg quadratting on blanket bog (and a quick run up the Forsinard tower) along with vole sign surveys at Melvich - with several excited finds of vole 💩💩.

#peatland
@theflowcountry.bsky.social

Brilliant news - and very well deserved!

Title slide of my presentation

A gorgeous Emperor moth shag rug created by artist Jan Hendry, at Birnam Arts Centre

A beautiful watercolour of a female Emperor moth by artist Jan Hendry at Birnam Arts Centre

Receiving the prize for my presentation

I had a wonderful couple of days at the James Hutton Institute's postgraduate student conference in Dunkeld.

It was great to hear about all the important research PhD students are doing for positive change.

I was honoured to receive 1st place prize for my talk on Moths and Muirburn.

An Eyed Ladybird on a gravestone with a 10-spot Ladybird partially obscured behind another small dark beetle.

An Orange Ladybird and two Cream-spot Ladybirds on a gravestone

A 2-spot Ladybird and two 10-spot Ladybirds on a gravestone.

A Larch Ladybird on a gravestone

Distinct highlight of 45 mins in Springbank Cemetery was my first Eyed Ladybird in NE Scotland. (Took if for a Harlequin at first!)

Also several tens of 10-spots (more used to seeing odd singles) and Orange Ladybirds, two Cream-spots, a 2-spot and a Larch Ladybird.

@ukladybirds.bsky.social

Can we overcome the shifting baseline syndrome? At @au.dk they offer at three year PhD project Co-supervised by me, which aims to intertwine local ecological knowledge and scientific knowledge to gain insights into seabird breeding distributions prior to rat invasion

phd.tech.au.dk/for-applican...

Fiona Basford receiving award from MT O'Donnell, with sparkly star lights across the curtains behind.

The trophy for the research project category, with Rochelle Kennedy's name featured as the winner.

The award ceremony room, with cabaret style tables and star lights on curtains all around.

Huge congratulations to all finalists at the #ALBAS26 awards this evening at the Crieff Hydro. Special shout out to our @srucnews.bsky.social wildlife stars, Fiona Basford, winner in Higher Education category and @bats-n-bugs.bsky.social, winner in Research Project category.

Presumed Herring Gull perched on rocks showing apparent white wing-tips. In this pic, with three normal Herrings.

Presumed Herring Gull perched on rocks showing apparent white wing-tips. Out-of-focus Heron immediately behind.

Presumed Herring Gull perched on rocks, croiching and spreading wings.

Presumed Herring Gull perched on rocks showing apparent white wing-tips.

An eye-catching "white-winged" gull at in gathering darkness at Portsoy. Appeared to be missing longer primaries on right wing but left side looks more in tact.

Presumably a Herring (on structure). Slightly darker mantle so maybe 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴.

#PWC2026 #BirdingScotland

Ropey fuzzy long-range digiscoped pic of a winter-plumaged White-billed Diver on the sea, facing right.

A porpoise moving right dorsal fin and upper part of body visible above the water, showing the paler flank.

White-billed Diver off Portsoy this afternoon (and four Great Northerns). Also a porpoise - fairly frequent here but they stay similarly well offshore.

#PWC2026 #ScottishBirding

Front cover of North-East Scotland Bird Report 2024, with a photo of a drake Bufflehead

The report opens at the start page of the 2024 NE Scotland mammal report, showing title details and start of introduction.

Just out: 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩-𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 2024. Includes 20-page mammal report based on 8000 records submitted by an incredible 1000 observers in 2024.

The mammal report will also be online in due course, but the full report is a bargain at £8.50 including p&p - so highly recommended.

#mammal

This one was going for a walk (others were all static still) so perhaps Larches wake up earlier...?

10-spot Ladybird under an overhang on a gravestone

chequered form of 10-spot Ladybird in a hollow within a gravestone

2-spot Ladybird on a gravestone

Larch Ladybird, among green lichens on a gravestone

An hour in Nellfield Cemetery, Aberdeen, produced the usual dominance of 2-spot Ladybirds, a handful of 10-spots (including a striking chequered form) and the first Larch Ladybird I've seen here.

@ukladybirds.bsky.social
#cemeterywildlifewatch

A Brent Goose flying left, with sea in the background.

A #PatchTick Brent Goose (pale-bellied) flying west past Portsoy today. Onto 81 species for the year.

#BirdingScotland #PatchBirding

Pale Brindled Beauty moth, resting on dark wooden panel.

And we're off. First night this year for the garden moth trap and a Pale Brindled Beauty prevented an early Wogan.

Portsoy, VC94 (Banffshire)
#teammoth

Twenty-six species and counting – recording mammals at Red Moss of Netherley When we took on the volunteer convenor role for the Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve at Red Moss of Netherley, in 2010, the site’s mammal list stood at three species; Fox, Badger and Roe Deer. Over …

Let me count the ways to record thee…Find out how long term recording takes a mammal site list from three to 26 in our latest blog.

nesmamnet.org/2026/02/20/t...

@scotwildlife.bsky.social

A drake Goosander on the sea, side on facing left

First White-billed Diver of the year today off Portsoy was too far out to even attempt digiscoping. Earliest record here but not a surprise given Firth of Forth's WBD fest.

Goosander in Links Bay was a scarcer bird for here.

#patchbirding #birdingscotland