Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 11/10/2026Hi Andrew. They certainly aren’t easy! You’ll find a very different interpretation of their taxonomy in the revised Birds of the World account to be published in the next few weeks. 110
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 02/10/2026What'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 082
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Hmm. Maybe ok on the bird ID but need to brush up on the molluscs? 🤔 110
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 07/09/2026It's not rogue, but it is misplaced. Should be: Ornithologists' 000
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 07/09/2026A couple of #beetles from today: first, Carabus problematicus. The Ridged Violet Ground Beetle. Lovely violet fringes. Beware, slugs. 030
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Hi Peter: I extracted the audio and cut out most of the gap (left side); right side is a bit of Crane from XC1152690. Seems a reasonable match given the degraded audio quality, both to listen to and the sonagram. 260
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 21/08/2026What 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 171
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Green 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 0140
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Does anyone have a Windows recogniser for gunshots (rifle, in this case) in audio .wav files? #bioacoustics #poaching 011
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Several 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 0150
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Two 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 0271
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 16/08/2026The big #slugs were partying in the forest the other evening. #molluscsex 020
Reposted by Alan KnoxMartin Collinson @docmartin2mc.bsky.social · 14/08/2026Just 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 23810
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 070
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Hmm. 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 062
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 08/08/2026That 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 3222
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 07/08/2026What a mouth! What a bird!! @scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland 1140
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Hi David - Lochan Feurach is just on the Aberdeenshire side of the border (or it was when I was there a couple of weeks ago). The boundary with old Banffshire is very close along the south end of Builg. 100
Reposted by Alan KnoxSaving Scotland's Red Squirrels @scotsquirrels.bsky.social · 31/07/2026With 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 1205
Reposted by Alan KnoxJente Ottenburghs | Avian Hybrids @jenteo.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Your daily Avian Hybrids story! Genetic analyses uncover a hybrid population between Brent Goose subspecies avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2024/05/29/g... #ornithologyavianhybrids.wordpress.comGenetic analyses uncover a hybrid population between Brent Goose subspeciesA potential reservoir of genetic and behavioral diversity. 0114
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Back 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 073
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Another #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 0140
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Picking 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 1140
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Interesting, but decades of burning Grouse moors in Britain doesn't seem to have eliminated ticks here. 110
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Yes, but I think they do go there, but just think these species not worth recording in such 'obvious' places. Squirrels and Roe Deer in Scottish forests... 020
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Interesting the *apparent* absence on the map from almost all the big forests along Deeside - lack of recording. Broadly similar pattern of non-recording reported for Roe Deer in the annual NE Mammal Reports. @nesmammals.bsky.social 120
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Pondskaters making short work of Large Red #Damselfly the other day. There was another already dismembered nearby. @britishdragonflies.bsky.social 041
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Someone please tell me this huge silo in a wood in Strathdon isn't just for holding grain for Pheasants! @raptorpersuk.bsky.social 2156
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 14/07/20262 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 051
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Always 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 041
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Do these things exist for any reason other than to make my skin crawl? #ticks #LymeDisease #countrydangers #scottishbirding 2193
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Difficult to know if some of these are breeding or just passing over. 140
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 11/07/2026I 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 2234
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 11/07/2026First 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 081
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 10/07/2026A lonely Gold Swift #moth lekking deep in an Aberdeenshire conifer restock last night. #teammoth 080
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Gosh. 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 ...) 0160
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Young 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 070
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Long-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 0152
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Vagrant 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.socialbiorxiv.orgThe road to nowhere: geolocation-by-genotype traces large-scale yellow-browed warbler vagrancy to central SiberiaVagrant animals – individuals found far outside their normal range – offer powerful natural experiments for understanding migratory mechanisms. The yellow-browed warbler ( Phylloscopus inornatus ) pro... 1229
Alan Knox @alanknox.bsky.social · 30/06/2026No. It's a Field Mouse. I understand why you might think that. 110
