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Andrew Harrop

@ahjharrop.bsky.social
635 followers 390 following 194 posts

For sound recordings go to xeno-canto.org/contributor/HNYFHZLJ…

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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Leaving aside the trivial pursuit of rarities, the main avian movements in recent days in addition to PF Geese have involved thrushes, Robins and finches. Amongst scarce migrants, my personal highlight has been Richard’s Pipit on Out Skerries. #BirdingScotland
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
In addition to Siberian Blue Robin and Two-barred Warbler, one of the most interesting birds I saw today was this Lesser Whitethroat. Without a recording of call or DNA it remains unidentifiable, but an eastern origin looks likely. #BirdingScotland
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My early-morning circuit had the whiff of a false dawn, though Pink-feet were still moving. Later I managed to see a Little Bunting at Quendale and the Buff-breast again at Fleck. After tomorrow’s wind and rain, the end of the week might prove interesting. #BirdingScotland
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Graham Appleton @wadertales.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
WaderTales started with a bang OTD in 2015. 🎂 First blog asked why volcanoes can be good for breeding waders/shorebirds. wadertales.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/t... 160 blogs have been read in 210 countries wadertales.wordpress.com/about/ #ornithology
wadertales.wordpress.com
How volcanic eruptions help waders
Areas of Iceland that have experienced high volcanic ash deposition can accommodate up to three times as many breeding waders. When Tómas Gunarsson began his PhD at the University of East Anglia on…
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Two recent anomalies. Leucistic House Sparrows aren’t unusual in Shetland, but this one at Boddam is particularly striking. This Lesser Black-back at Clevigarth today was late by Shetland standards, though climate change may affect future patterns. #BirdingScotland
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A detailed discussion of Lesser Kestrel identification (in English): #BirdingScotland marcduquet.com/wp-content/u...
marcduquet.com
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Mark Lewis @fatpaulscholes.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Walked up at Crathes this afternoon. Expected, and eventually heard a nuthatch. This species has made a remarkable expansion into NE Scotland - they are all over the place now, and were basically unheard of ten years ago.
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Dutch statement about recording of hybrids (English summary at the end). #UKBirding www.dutchavifauna.nl/news/2137/be...
dutchavifauna.nl
Beoordeling van hybriden - Dutch Avifauna
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Personal highlights during the past week have included passing flocks of Pink-footed Geese, the first handful of Yellow-browed Warblers, and this Icterine Warbler today which slightly to my surprise took a liking to our lawn. #BirdingScotland
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
When I discovered the second Common Rosefinch for Suffolk in 1982, it was still treated as a national rarity. Since then it has become a regular scarce migrant, and this month I have found six in Shetland. Autumn numbers remain quite stable, but FIBO data hint at a recent decline. #BirdingScotland
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Wilson Ornithological Society @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Your Friday bird read: What scientists are learning from a feather fossilized inside dinosaur feces. (Via NPR.) www.npr.org/2026/09/10/n...
npr.org
A fossil feather from the age of dinosaurs may explain why only some birds survived
An extremely well preserved fossil feather could reveal why some birds survived the dinosaur-killing asteroid, and others did not.
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Wilson Ornithological Society @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Today's bird read, via Audubon: "Scientists found that the lives of female perching birds—the biodiverse taxonomic group that contains all songbirds and flycatchers—are, on average, shorter than those of males." www.audubon.org/magazine/man...
audubon.org
Many Female Songbirds Have Shorter Lifespans Than Males, Scientists Find
A massive study uncovered significant survival differences between the two sexes of North America's perching birds.
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
During the past week I have enjoyed seeing Baird's Sandpiper, 2 Pallid Harriers, a surprise Kingfisher at Virkie, 2 Wrynecks and this Greenish Warbler in our garden (our second). On the debit side, numbers of most migrants are a mere fraction of historic levels. #BirdingScotland
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Pallid Harrier, Wryneck and Wood Warbler on Out Skerries today with Chris Ridgard. Also 2 Quail, and probably the best variety of migrants this year, though only Willow Warbler reached double figures. #BirdingScotland
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Ornis Fennica @ornisfennica.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Special Issue of Ornis Fennica: Euro-African Flyways. Read about stopovers, natal dispersal, migratory patterns, irruptive migration and migration counts. And about linnets, blackcaps, kingfishers, wigeons, nutcrackers and eiders. ornisfennica.journal.fi/issue/view/1... #ornithology #OpenAccess
Start of the Editorial of the Special Issue
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I had been hoping for easterlies, but my disappointment was mitigated when I noticed a Buff-breasted Sandpiper flying over Exnaboe. Happily it landed and enabled me to get ‘proof’ (with Ruff in second image). Just 46 years since the last one I found in Shetland! #BirdingScotland
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Martin Collinson @docmartin2mc.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Also, given this bird, I think there's a significant possibility that Britain's only Cat A Egyptian Nightjar (Dorset, June 1984), a single (brilliant) observer record supported only by field sketches, could have been a plumipes European Nightjar. @alexanderlees.bsky.social @britishbirds.bsky.social
Photo of page from British Birds vol 92: 157 with field notes of Egyptian Nightjar seen at Portland, Dorset.
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The RSPB bumblebird crop on Out Skerries today. Few migrants, but a Quail which presumably summered, Snipe still displaying so probably on second broods, and a Minke Whale on the crossing. #BirdingScotland
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
A productive day in Northumberland included eclipse male Mallard x Eider at Seahouses, ageing Caspian Gull at Amble, and Roseate Terns at Coquet where they have had a successful breeding season (155 pairs). #UKBirding
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Jente Ottenburghs | Avian Hybrids @jenteo.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Your daily Avian Hybrids story! Genetic analyses uncover a hybrid population between Brent Goose subspecies avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2024/05/29/g... #ornithology
avianhybrids.wordpress.com
Genetic analyses uncover a hybrid population between Brent Goose subspecies
A potential reservoir of genetic and behavioral diversity.
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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Where Have All the Tufted Puffins Gone? Researchers are trying to solve the mystery of why these adorable seafaring birds are disappearing. www.sierraclub.org/sierra/where... #conservation #biology #ornithology #ecology #science #SciChat
sierraclub.org
Where Have All the Tufted Puffins Gone?
Researchers try to solve the mystery of why these adorable seafaring birds are disappearing
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
The Long-tailed Shrike at Eastleach was showing well this morning. Many thanks to the locals, whose management of parking was exemplary. #UKBirding
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
My daylight encounters with Tawny Owl are few and far between, so this one at Woodwalton Fen, Cambridgeshire, was a rare treat. #UKBirding
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Kinoulton church, south Notts, home to one of several successful Swift projects in the UK. If a fraction of what some people invest in fantasies of life on Mars were redirected to conserving life on Earth, we would be in a much better place. #UKBirding
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
An Arran Brown recently in Norway. Named following its claimed discovery on Arran in 1804, it is one of several butterflies for which there are historical records which lack any confirmed modern equivalent. See Salmon’s ’Aurelian Legacy’ and Eeles’ online ‘History of British Butterflies’.
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Roof-nesting Kittiwakes in Tromsø, Norway, where they arrived as recently as 2015 and despite initial controversy have been accommodated partly by building Kittiwake hotels. Not enough to compensate for losses of former big colonies, but something. Also of interest to #UKBirding
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Since seeing my first in Rutland in 2016, Purple Emperors have increased and are no longer difficult to find - here two of at least four at Pickworth Great Wood today. @ukbutterflies.bsky.social
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
New in #BirdStudy When ringing birds, measurement error is fairly common and is greater for larger species and when taking weights. Evidence for a relationship between bird body size and uncertainty in individual morphological measurements at ringing: doi.org/10.1080/0006... #ornithology
showing a mallard wing for identification during duck banding at Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado. Photo: Dana Shellhorn/USFWS
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mallard_wing_(49694282466).jpg
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Felix Neff @felixneff.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Check out the publication in @natecoevo.nature.com here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #insects #landuse #climate #timeseries #lepidoptera #coleoptera @agroscope.bsky.social @wslresearch.bsky.social @vogelwarte.bsky.social @unibas.ch @usyseth.bsky.social @ebdonana.bsky.social
nature.com
Ninety-year trends reveal sharpest insect declines in the mid-twentieth century - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Assessing the magnitude and drivers of recent biodiversity losses requires informative, long-term baseline data. Here the authors reconstruct the temporal trajectories of butterflies and saproxylic be...
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British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) @bou.org.uk · 18/06/2026
NEW on #theBOUblog from Chris Batty and Alexander Lees Revision of Category E of the British List bou.org.uk/blog-batt... #ornithology 🪶
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
After a spring notable for low numbers of migrants, early June has brought a sprinkling of Marsh and Icterine Warblers and Red-backed Shrikes, including this male which graced our garden. #BirdingScotland
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Some interesting discussion about Italian type sparrows outside their normal range: www.dutchbirding.nl/dbactueel/21... Similar birds have occurred in Britain. #UKBirding
dutchbirding.nl
The Italian Job, part 3: the German Connection - Dutch Birding
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Nightjars are increasing in Shetland. For example in 2024 there were 13, mainly May-June but also one in October. This male at Grutness today wasn’t well-concealed and moved its position twice for no obvious reason. #BirdingScotland
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Oystercatchers in Shetland quite often nest on posts, presumably to avoid sheep and some ground predators. Meanwhile in Venice, 7% of the population now use poles to avoid flooding (Avocetta 48: 2024). One for wadertales? #BirdingScotland #ornithology
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Portland Bird Observatory @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Fascinating example of the workings of modern social media, togging and AI 'editing': the same photo of a Turtle Dove that's clearly been run through AI in some way before being posted on two different Facebook groups three days apart by two apparently different people (we've blanked out the names)
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Questions, questions. Thanks to Tim Birkhead we know that a pale Merlin egg in a 2023 clutch will have been laid after the others. But what about the browner egg in this Snipe clutch today? #BirdingScotland #ornithology
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
While some of our later migrants are still arriving, earlier breeders already have young: here Greylag (left) and Pied Wagtail. #BirdingScotland
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/l... Don’t be deterred by the opening banter - after about 25 minutes some inspirational stuff about Bar-tailed Godwit migration in here. Relevant to #UKBirding
podcasts.apple.com
The expanding science of avian perception with Ed Yong
Podcast Episode · Life List: A Birding Podcast · 11 May · 1hr 18min
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
My walk this morning began in 4 degrees and sleet, which must be a challenge for migrants and breeders alike. Nonetheless they are getting on with it: here are clutches of Greylag (left) and Snipe. #BirdingScotland
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Jente Ottenburghs | Avian Hybrids @jenteo.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Your daily Avian Hybrids story! The reticulated evolution of the Bean Goose complex avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2023/01/25/t... #ornithology
avianhybrids.wordpress.com
The reticulated evolution of the Bean Goose complex
Hybridization partly erased the phylogenetic patterns of three goose taxa.
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Interesting paper on White-winged Lark in France and Europe (in English) #UKBirding marcduquet.com/wp-content/u...
marcduquet.com
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
The closing days of April have brought a light passage of Whimbrel, which are now back on territory. Numbers of most passerine migrants have been low, but there have been some scarce migrants including Stone-curlew on Skerries (24th) and Great Egret at Brow (28th). #BirdingScotland
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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Announcing The Bird Guide: North America! This landmark field guide, published in association with @cornellbirds.bsky.social, will set a new standard for North American bird identification. Publishing in early 2027, the guide is now available for pre-order from booksellers everywhere. 🐦‍⬛ 📙
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Lily M @liliumnature.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Short article I wrote about some goose hybrids and their parents maavianrecords.com/a-returning-...
maavianrecords.com
A Returning Barnacle Goose and its Hybrid Offspring – Massachusetts Avian Records Committee
Barnacle x Cackling/Canada Goose hybrids in North America have long been the source of speculation. Where are these birds coming from? Which parent represents a
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
This may be of interest in relation to increasing winter records from Cornwall and elsewhere. Some exchange between Cornwall and western France during winter wouldn't be too surprising. #UKBirding marcduquet.com/wp-content/u...
marcduquet.com
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martinswarren.bsky.social @martinswarren.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
More shocking results on UK Butterfly decline. an amazing dataset covering 50 years gives us a unique insight to the fate of these invaluable indicators
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Dan Mennill @dmennill.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
This infographic summarizes the key elements of our paper "Acoustic differences persist in urban Parus major (Great Tit) over two decades of declining anthropogenic noise in Paris, France" in Ornithological Applications. #bioacoustics #ornithology @amornith.bsky.social @ibiouwindsor.bsky.social 🧵8/8
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martinswarren.bsky.social @martinswarren.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
This is craziness on a mega scale. A 5C increase in spring temperatures in the arctic alpine zone in just c 30 years. The result is that forest is spreading north at 1km a year. It’s driving several endemic butterflies extinct. www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?...
bc-europe.eu
Red List of European Butterflies 2025
Red List of European Butterflies 2025
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Andrew Harrop @ahjharrop.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Hen Harriers and other raptors still being persecuted in the Yorkshire Dales (from current Craven Herald). You can sign a petition against this persecution at friendsofthedales.org.uk #UKBirding
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Max Hellicar @birdingtothemax.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
British Columbia’s first-ever Taiga Bean Geese (middendorffii) gave fabalis views in Port Renfrew yesterday. Hot on the heels of Canada’s first Taiga Flycatcher, they continue this winter’s run of Taiga vagrants in the province. #CanadianBirding
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