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/

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

On this podcast we talk to David Steel. David works with seabirds on the Isle of May and as such is well placed to talk about the spread of Avian Influenza through our seabird colonies, which species we should be most concerned about, and why we might remain hopeful. After this, David tells us where (or when, I guess!) he'd go if he had one go in a time machine, shares some of the best birding advice he's been given, and toys with the idea of putting Northumberland seawatchers into a birding room 101....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 Redshank and Greenshank calls were used.Xeno-canto - https://xeno-canto.org/Stanislas Wroza -XC588469 Common Redshank (Tringa totanus) :: xeno-canto Peter Boesman - XC640465 Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) :: xeno-cantoAvian InfluenzaIf you find any single dead or dying raptors, geese, ducks or swans, or groups of five or more dead birds of any species, please note:DO NOT TOUCH the birdsPlease report the bird(s) to DEFRA, using the phone number 03459 33 55 77.Be prepared to give some details of the location – a grid reference or what3words can be helpful.The purpose of this GB Wild Bird Surveillance Scheme is to capture information on the general location and strains of avian influenza that might be prevalent in the UK. This data then helps government build up a picture of the current risks, and shapes how they then respond in policy terms. The scheme does not attempt to identify every bird with HPAI in the UK, nor even within a specific area. Indeed, further birds will not be tested within a 10 km radius and within a fortnight of an original positive finding.' As such, there will be many reports of dead birds that will appear not to have been responded to. Please do not assume your information has been ignored, and please do continue to report dead birds (as requested above) for as long as this outbreak of Avian Flu persists.https://www.gov.scot/publications/avian-influenza-bird-flu/pages/dead-or-sick-wild-birds-what-to-do/#:~:text=Report%20an%20injured%20animal%20to%20the%20Scottish%20Society,pass%20to%20humans%20but%20this%20is%20very%20rare.