Some Ornithological Chat

Some Ornithological Chat with Mike Thornton and Andrew MatthewsMark talks to Mike and Andrew about the Lothian Mentoring scheme, which gave less experienced birders based at Edinburgh universities opportunities to spend time in the field with, and learn from more experienced birders. We talk about why learning is so important to both individuals and SOC branches/bird clubs. Andrew fails to get the power of flight into Room 101, and Mike reminisces on good times on the Farne islands, and slightly less good times in Abernethy Forest.SOCDIGITAL MEMBERSHIP - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/support-us/join-usSOC website - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/Branches – what’s going on near you? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/local-branchesWhat’s coming up at Waterston house? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/art-galleryOnline Scottish Bird Report - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/online-scottish-bird-reportWhere to watch birds in Scotland app - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/appScottish Birds - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/scottish-birds-soc-s-journalIntro – Coal tit in song. Outro – Song thrush, also in song. And what a song… CreditsAll recordings used were made by Mark Lewis

Some Ornithological Chat with Amy Challis and Andrew StevensonMark talks to Amy Challis and Andrew Stevenson about the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme, which has been keeping tabs on Scotland’s Raptors for the last 20 years. To celebrate their 20th Birthday, SRMS released their first population trends for Scotland’s raptors via both a report and a brilliant interactive web tool. Also, Amy tells us how she feels about Birds of Paradise and Andrew tells us about his Hebridean birding dream (a Willet) and his Hebridean birding reality (a Snowy Owl/white bucket).SRMS - https://raptormonitoring.org/srms-onlineTrends report - https://raptormonitoring.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SRMS-Trends-2009-2018-Trends-Summary.pdfSearch trends interactively - https://raptormonitoring.org/trends/explore-trends-interactivelySOCDIGITAL MEMBERSHIP - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/support-us/join-usSOC website - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/Branches – what’s going on near you? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/local-branchesWhat’s coming up at Waterston house? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/art-galleryOnline Scottish Bird Report - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/online-scottish-bird-reportWhere to watch birds in Scotland app - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/appScottish Birds - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/scottish-birds-soc-s-journalIntro – displaying Teals, male chimes and whistles and female rather high pitched quacks. Outro – Robin. CreditsMany thanks to Xeno Canto for allowing access to the library of recordings, and in particular, the following recorders whose hawk and owl calls were used.Lars Edinius – Sparrowhawk - https://xeno-canto.org/741418Lars Edinius – Northern Goshawk - https://xeno-canto.org/665202Jarek Matusiak – Northern Goshawk - https://xeno-canto.org/591228Irish Wildlife Sounds – Sparrowhawk - https://xeno-canto.org/740850Andrej Binz – Tawny Owl - https://xeno-canto.org/782767Clive Davies – Long-eared Owl - https://xeno-canto.org/713370Xeno-canto - https://xeno-canto.org/

Some Ornithological Chat with Ryan IrvineMark talks to Ryan Irvine about patch birding, and getting involved with Patchwork Challenge – a friendly competition that aims to inspire birders to bird (and record) more locally. Ryan decides he’d like to be reincarnated as a Sooty Shearwater, and fly past Girdle Ness while someone other than Mark finds Scotland’s first Eastern Crowned Warbler there. Charming!All your Patchwork Challenge info here: https://twitter.com/PatchBirding/status/1593975691028176896?s=20&t=mIx3jSgpeyAIs52_Ss8p-wSOCDIGITAL MEMBERSHIP - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/support-us/join-usSOC website - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/Branches – what’s going on near you? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/local-branchesWhat’s coming up at Waterston house? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/art-galleryOnline Scottish Bird Report - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/online-scottish-bird-reportWhere to watch birds in Scotland app - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/appScottish Birds - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/scottish-birds-soc-s-journalIntro – Nuthatch – a relatively recent colonist to Scotland. Outro – Marsh Tit – the latest breeding species we have lost?CreditsMany thanks to Xeno Canto for allowing access to the library of recordings, and in particular, the following recorders whose Dipper and Mistle Thrush songs, and thrush calls were used.Irish Wildlife Sounds – Fieldfare - https://xeno-canto.org/774386Christophe Mercier – Ring Ouzel - https://xeno-canto.org/759159Lars Edinius – Dipper - https://xeno-canto.org/687370Romauld Mikusek – Mistle Thrush - https://xeno-canto.org/761994Xeno-canto - https://xeno-canto.org/

In this episode, Will Miles joins us to talk about two books that he has been involved with recently - 'The Birds of Fair Isle' and 'Best Days with Shetland's Birds'. We also hear about mistaking a Woodpigeon for a Crane, and how Will would use his time machine to go back and make a phonecall... SOCDIGITAL MEMBERSHIP - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/support-us/join-usSOC website - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/Branches – what’s going on near you? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/local-branchesWhat’s coming up at Waterston house? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/art-galleryOnline Scottish Bird Report - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/online-scottish-bird-reportWhere to watch birds in Scotland app - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/appScottish Birds - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/scottish-birds-soc-s-journalCreditsMany thanks to Xeno Canto for allowing access to the library of recordings, and in particular, the following recorders whose mega goose and swan calls were used.Xeno-canto - https://xeno-canto.org/ Pink-footed goose – Simon Elliot - https://xeno-canto.org/670475Greater White-fronted goose – Andras Schmidt - https://xeno-canto.org/698271Greater White-fronted goose – Peter Boesman - https://xeno-canto.org/603849Tundra Bean Goose – Uku Paal - https://xeno-canto.org/641876Tundra Bean Goose – James Lidster - https://xeno-canto.org/704753

Some Ornithological Chat with Paul French Mark talks to Paul French (who was wearing his British Birds Rarities Committee hat) about rarity assessment, hundreds of different trips in a time machine, and being reincarnated as an Eleanora’s Falcon for some dubious reasons…SOCCONFERENCE - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/support-us/events/events/the-2022-annual-conferenceDIGITAL MEMBERSHIP - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/support-us/join-usSOC website - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/Branches – what’s going on near you? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/local-branchesWhat’s coming up at Waterston house? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/art-galleryOnline Scottish Bird Report - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/online-scottish-bird-reportWhere to watch birds in Scotland app - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/appScottish Birds - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/scottish-birds-soc-s-journalCreditsMany thanks to Xeno Canto for allowing access to the library of recordings, and in particular, the following recorders whose mega rare chat and Hume’s Warbler calls were used.Xeno-canto - https://xeno-canto.org/Siberian Blue Robin – Yong Ding Li - https://xeno-canto.org/115946Siberian Blue Robin – Hans Matheve - https://xeno-canto.org/154622Rufous-tailed Robin – Per Alstrom - https://xeno-canto.org/154622Rufous-tailed Robin – Geoff Carey - https://xeno-canto.org/743692Siberian Rubythroat – Eric Defonso - https://xeno-canto.org/364335Siberian Rubythroat – Jelle Scharringa - https://xeno-canto.org/647572Humes Leaf Warbler – Peter Boesman - https://xeno-canto.org/472917Humes Leaf Warbler – Thomas Bergman - https://xeno-canto.org/612553

In this episode, Mark Talks to Scott Mayson of the BTO about BirdTrack, and in particular, the new BirdTrack app. Scott also gives us the nicest Time Machine answer we could hope for and describes creeping up on a bottle which he thought was a Collared Flycatcher...SOCSOC website - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/Branches – what’s going on near you? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/local-branchesWhat’s coming up at Waterston house? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/art-galleryOnline Scottish Bird Report - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/online-scottish-bird-reportWhere to watch birds in Scotland app - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/appScottish Birds - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/scottish-birds-soc-s-journalBIRDTRACK QUESTIONNAIRE - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/5FP3DDQCreditsMany thanks to Xeno Canto for allowing access to the library of recordings, and in particular, the following recorders who’s Coal Tit and Pipit calls were used.Xeno-canto - https://xeno-canto.org/Stuart Fisher - XC627893 Coal Tit (Periparus ater) :: xeno-cantoLars Edenius - XC668177 Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) :: xeno-cantoStanislas Wroza - XC485233 Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) :: xeno-cantoLars Edenius - XC494676 Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus) :: xeno-canto Intro and outro birdsIntro – Fulmar - https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/479358681#_ga=2.102379649.1857291985.1662713811-793423854.1624359117Outro – Lesser Black-backed gull - https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/479358511#_ga=2.102379649.1857291985.1662713811-793423854.1624359117Both recorded on the Isle of May in August 2022 BirdTrackMore about BirdTrack: https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/birdtrack 

On this podcast we talk to Sarah Harris. Until recently, Sarah managed the BTO's Breeding Bird Survey, and in the first half of this episode she'll be sharing some of the fascinating insights that this survey has given us, including the biggest winners and losers in Scottish birds, and some of the reasons for their good or bad fortunes. Sarah changed jobs recently to take over management of the Seabird Monitoring Programme, and we'll also find out about this vital survey. After an interlude of bird calls, we find out when Sarah would travel to in her time machine, why she prefers Hobbys to Swifts, and her prediction for the next first for Scotland...SOCSOC website - https://www.the-soc.org.uk/Branches – what’s going on near you? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/local-branchesWhat’s coming up at Waterston house? https://www.the-soc.org.uk/about-us/art-galleryCreditsMany thanks to Xeno Canto for allowing access to the library of recordings, and in particular, the following recorders who’s sandpiper and Mediterranean Gull calls were used.Xeno-canto - https://xeno-canto.org/Niels Van Donink XC580136 Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) :: xeno-cantoMarc Anderson XC732012 Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) :: xeno-cantoUku Paal XC725188 Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) :: xeno-cantoIrish Wildlife Sounds XC717681 Mediterranean Gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus) :: xeno-canto BTO SurveysIf you’re interested to get involved in the BTO surveys that Sarah described, have a look here: https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/birdtrack/surveysIf you’d like to know more about the Breeding Bird Survey results, you can access all of the reports back to 1994 here: https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/breeding-bird-survey/bbs-publications/bbs-reports