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Alan Knox

@alanknox.bsky.social
374 followers 72 following 264 posts

Aberdeenshire; mainly birds, mammals, herps & selected inverts; often sidetracked ...

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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
What's the point of a nest? Recent insights into this important and at times extraordinary part of birds' lives, by Dr Catherine Sheard, Aberdeen Uni. A talk to @scottishbirding.bsky.social next Mon 5 Oct @7:30, Duncan Rice Library, Bedford Rd, Aberdeen AB24 3AA All welcome. Small £ #scottishbirding
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
And second, a Sexton #Beetle in a hurry.
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A couple of #beetles from today: first, Carabus problematicus. The Ridged Violet Ground Beetle. Lovely violet fringes. Beware, slugs.
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
What is going on? There was an unprecedented spike in Nathusius' Pipistrelle #Bats numbers during last September's migration, so are numbers this year just bats that didn't return east this spring? Note 2026 part year! @batconservation.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social @nesmammals.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Green Sandpiper in the #nocmig inland in Aberdeenshire on 13 August. Had my first nocmig Dotterel 2 days before. Other waders on the move inland including Dunlin & Curlew. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland #bioacoustics
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Does anyone have a Windows recogniser for gunshots (rifle, in this case) in audio .wav files? #bioacoustics #poaching
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Several pairs have nested again in Aberdeenshire and other areas in northern Scotland this year. Let’s hope this (re)colonisation of northern parts continues. Such magnificent birds! @birdguides.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Two young #Nightjars flying around in an Aberdeen forest this week. Paul Baxter & I caught & ringed one of them but the other was too wily. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland #thermalbirding
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The big #slugs were partying in the forest the other evening. #molluscsex
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Martin Collinson @docmartin2mc.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Just out in Dutch Birding... Galea R, Collinson JM, Cleere N. 2026. European Nightjar of Asian subspecies plumipes in Malta in November 2024. Dutch Birding 48: 236-241. First for Europe. Note genetic split between western and eastern subspecies of European Nightjar @birdguides.bsky.social
Photo by Raymond Galea of pale European Nightjar(Eastern subspecies plumipes) in the hand, from Dutch BirdingPhylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial cytb showing deep genetic split between Western and Eastern European Nightjar subspecies, with the Maltese bird in the 'eastern' group.
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
#Goshawk in the (Aberdeenshire) forest recordings the other morning. Less vocal activity from them this year than some previous seasons. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #scottishbirding
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Hmm. I haven't yet mastered taking photos of flying #dragonflies, as is obvious here. Still, identifiable Southern Hawker (not the only one) in Glen Tanar today. Only recently become established in NE Scotland. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
That doesn't happen often. FULL HOUSE! *All 7 species* of NE Scotland #bats in the garden on the night of 4-5 August: Common, Soprano and Nathusius' Pips, Brown Long-eared, Daubenton's, Natterer's and Leisler's. @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
What a mouth! What a bird!! @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland
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Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels @scotsquirrels.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
With almost all grey squirrels now removed from Aberdeen City, read our new blog to find out what day-to-day life looks like for our North East team, and how they stay motivated when there’s (hopefully!) nothing to find… scottishsquirrels.org.uk/2026/07/31/l... 📷 Raymond Leinster
A red squirrel on the side of a tree.
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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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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Back in August 2024 I found a Looped Flutter/Picture-winged #Fly Toxoneura muliebris in the house, and another yesterday (& today). Only 3 previous Scottish records - all in the Central Belt. I'm not really into tiny flies but this one's a cute character. @buglife.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Another #nocmig surprise inland in Aberdeenshire this week: Egyptian Goose, heading north. Part of two long sequences as it passed over two recorders. #birdingscotland @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social #bioacoustics @fatpaulscholes.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Picking up several Little Ringed Plovers in #nocmig inland in Aberdeenshire. This from 16 July @ 01:07 hrs. We tend to think of a lot of wader migration as being coastal. It's not! #birdingscotland #bioacoustics @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Pondskaters making short work of Large Red #Damselfly the other day. There was another already dismembered nearby. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Someone please tell me this huge silo in a wood in Strathdon isn't just for holding grain for Pheasants! @raptorpersuk.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
2 dead Swallows inside window at remote bothy on #KingCharles' estate at Delnadamph today. Possibly trapped by person blocking broken windows who didn't check? Bad enough; but not many potential nest sites in these areas; shame a gap could not have been left. #birdingscotland
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Always been a puzzle why the rare Northern #Damselfly was apparently completely absent in mid/upper Donside when it is common in Deeside. Turns out it isn't absent. Just not many suitable ponds along the Don. Found several NDs at one pond today nr Strathdon. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Do these things exist for any reason other than to make my skin crawl? #ticks #LymeDisease #countrydangers #scottishbirding
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I have 5 static recorders in Aberdeenshire forests & have had Quail in all: 1. 4 nights 23/5-3/7 2. 5 nights 21/5-19/6 3. 1 night 10/6 4. 10 nights 21/5-4/7 5. 8 nights 21/5-3/7 On only 2 nights calling started <midnight. @markaeaton.bsky.social @ukrbbp.bsky.social @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
First Leisler's #Bat in the garden this year (last night). Still a rare occurrence here this far north (Aberdeen) - apart from in our garden where we get a few each year now! @nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
A lonely Gold Swift #moth lekking deep in an Aberdeenshire conifer restock last night. #teammoth
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Gosh. Was not expecting that ... Mandarin Duck over an Aberdeenshire forest in the #nocmig at 0310 hrs on 29 June. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social 📷John Toon (not the actual bird ...)
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Young Moorhen @490m a.s.l. nr Loch Builg y'day. V rare nester in the uplands, tho previously reported breeding here by Adam Watson in 1945. Best birds of the day! Love those UTCs to distract me. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Long-eared Owl and Tawny Owl last night in the forest in Aberdeenshire. Don't seem to be as many LEOs this year. #birdingscotland @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social @ukrbbp.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Vagrant Yellow-browed Warblers don't come from near edge of range, but from ~2,000km east of the western limits. Suggests mass misorientation in near reverse direction. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #birdingscotland @alexanderlees.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social
biorxiv.org
The road to nowhere: geolocation-by-genotype traces large-scale yellow-browed warbler vagrancy to central Siberia
Vagrant animals – individuals found far outside their normal range – offer powerful natural experiments for understanding migratory mechanisms. The yellow-browed warbler ( Phylloscopus inornatus ) pro...
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Prob a bit late to the party this year, but first 4-spot Chaser and Green Grasshopper today, and pleased to see better nos of butterflies, esp Painted Ladies, also R Admiral & Ringlet.
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
There was a tiny moribund Field Mouse outside the back door this evening. It was even covered with fly eggs. We managed to revive it, but we don’t know if it’ll make it through the night. @nesmammals.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
3 dead Common Crossbills together at the roadside at Tillypronie today. Such a shame. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Hi mothers - is this a Map-winged Swift (or a Gold Swift), in our garage this evening? Obsidentify seems unsure.
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Jente Ottenburghs | Avian Hybrids @jenteo.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Your daily Avian Hybrids story! An Italian Sparrow in the Netherlands turns out to be a House Sparrow avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2023/07/19/a... #ornithology
avianhybrids.wordpress.com
An Italian Sparrow in the Netherlands turns out to be a House Sparrow
Genomic analyses confirm that we are dealing with a weird House Sparrow.
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
200 dead White-lipped #Snails on 150m of verge @ Loirsbank Road. Did ACC spray something #toxic? What else died? #Biodiversity?? I hope none were eaten by the Song Thrushes or Hedgehogs. This seems mindless. @aberdeencc.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
After last autumn's mega Nathusius' Pipistrelle #bat spike, they have been popping up in the garden through the winter which is most unusual, and have been *much* more common this spring. Graph shows comparison with more typical recs last year. @batconservation.bsky.social @nesmammals.bsky.social
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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 Whitehouse @anthrobirder.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
We have another event at Greyhope Bay on Saturday afternoon: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/explore-th...
eventbrite.co.uk
Explore the Sounds of Greyhope Bay! A Listening and Creative Adventure
Create Sonic Postcards with us while we explore the outdoors!
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Andrew Whitehouse @anthrobirder.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
A quick plug for some sound workshops I'm involved with at Greyhope Bay and St Fittick's Park this week, together with the excellent Rebecca Macklin and Roxane Permar. The first workshop is tomorrow morning: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/greyhope-m...
eventbrite.co.uk
Greyhope Morning: Exploring Local Heritage through Sound
Explore the Heritage of Greyhope Bay and the surrounding area through sound during this listening and art-making workshop
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Hi - @scottishbirding.bsky.social - the excellent Online Scottish Bird Report seems to be inaccessible at the moment. I used it yesterday but can't get at it today. www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/online...
the-soc.org.uk
Online Scottish Bird Report
Search Reports from all over Scotland Online Scottish Bird Report (oSBR) puts hundreds of local bird reports (and over 100,000 species accounts) at your fingertips. Want to know where to find Corn Bun...
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Dozens of Sand Martins nesting between the granite blocks of the old bridge pier, mid-river at Crathes Bridge, Aberdeenshire. Similar to recent note in Scottish Birds 45: 255, but more watery. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland @nickpicozzi.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Goosander nest update: not sure all this down on the ground under the nestbox in the garden is a good sign. Looks like probably the Magpies have been at it again. Will check later with the thermal but suspect the worst. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland
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Andrew M Allport @amallport.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Not every day you get to photograph a bat during the daytime. This apparent Daubenton's Bat was flying around @flamboroughbird.bsky.social early afternoon yesterday. Here's a sequence of shots to show it taking insects off the water. Click on images to expand. @batconservation.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
The female Goosander seems to be incubating at the moment. Thermal image from below the nest box in the garden in Aberdeen - note the hotspot! @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Today's surprise ... Goosander nest in decaying box in the garden in the Aberdeen 'burbs! Thanks to @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social for holding the ladder ... At least one egg already predated on ground so I thought the box would be empty. @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Also at Inchgarth today - my first Comma #Butterfly of the year, and quite an early one, presumably having overwintered locally, plus about 18 Peacocks. @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Did you say Clark's Mining #Bee @inchgarthbirding.bsky.social ? This one at Inchgarth today, along with quite a few others. Did it just pee and turn round to drink it or rub it on its legs/body?? #buglife
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Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Monday 7:30: Dr Mark Bolton talking about the changing fortunes of Scotland's 2 small breeding petrels. @scottishbirding.bsky.social MR1 in University Library, Bedford Road, Aberdeen AB24 3AA. All welcome. #petrelheads Added Bonus: (brief) branch AGM!!
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