Alan Knox
alanknox.bsky.social
Alan Knox
@alanknox.bsky.social
Aberdeenshire; mainly birds, mammals, herps & selected inverts; often sidetracked ...
Or, rather, not distinguishing the subspecies!
tidsskrift.dk/Wildfowl/art...
February 12, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Excellent advice here. It is much harder to get a good audio recording than a good photograph, although Alan makes it seem easy.
#bioacoustics #ornithology
February 9, 2026 at 11:14 AM
As if anyone in #Aberdeen needed confirmation that it's been wet recently. Grim if you wanted to go birding, and no sign of it letting up.

#climatechange #birdingscotland
February 5, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Field #Mouse and Bank #Voles in the garden in Aberdeen today. First voles seen here for many years. Dull day, and photographed through the window ...
@nesmammals.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social
February 3, 2026 at 3:57 PM
Orkney waders! Leah Gray talking about her work to help understand & conserve waders on the islands.
Tonight @ 7:30 in University Library (top floor), Bedford Road
All welcome.
@scottishbirding.bsky.social
February 2, 2026 at 12:50 PM
And I should add that #farmers and any other landowners who try to prevent this happening should also be liable for consequential problems. They have no grounds to moan when #Beavers disagree with their actions.
January 22, 2026 at 4:04 PM
A useful reminder to #PropertyDevelopers that this is what #floodplains are actually for. River Dee at #Cults this afternoon. You should be held liable in perpetuity for consequential problems.
January 22, 2026 at 3:51 PM
New #ladybird for me, from the garden this evening - 10-spot, black variety. Cute little beast.

#buglife
January 21, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Snow's gone - time to get out! Six short talks tonight about local bird ringing by Grampian Ringing Group, for anyone interested.
7:30pm, Monday 12 Jan, top floor University Library, Bedford Road
All welcome
@scottishbirding.bsky.social
January 12, 2026 at 2:59 PM
A bit soggy, but the squirrels are back now the snow is going.
@scotsquirrels.bsky.social @nesmammals.bsky.social
January 11, 2026 at 1:13 PM
News from @scottishbirding.bsky.social / Tay Ringing Group Motus project! First Rock Pipits tagged & 1st foreign bird picked up by the Fife receivers! Great news. Looking forward to further results.
@btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland
www.birdguides.com/news/pioneer...
Pioneering Rock Pipit study launches in Scotland
The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is now being used in Fife, Scotland, to study Rock Pipit migration. Additionally, the system recently picked up the migratory movements of a Blackbird from Norway.
www.birdguides.com
January 8, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Emerging from the heavy snow today. Great to see a bit of colour.
#ChristmasCheer #rhododendron
January 3, 2026 at 11:55 PM
Turned colder last night - though only just on freezing & calm with a bit of snow. Wow! Let's party! 110 Soprano Pipistrelle clips, 38 Commons and 1 Nathusius' on night of 1-2 Jan in Aberdeen.
Happy New Year everyone!

@nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social
January 2, 2026 at 2:24 PM
2025 #bat closing scores in Aberdeen:
Soprano Pip 16 Dec nights, last on 30th
Common Pip 11 nights, last 31st
Nathusius' Pip 8 nights, last 23rd (only a couple of prev Dec recs in NE Scotland)

Last Daubenton's: 18 Oct; Brown Long-eared: 31 Oct

@nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social
January 1, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Alan Knox
Christmas can be an expensive time of year, so how about something for free?

The @scottishbirding.bsky.social and Scottish Birds Records Committee are hosting a FREE online conference over the evenings of February 24th to the 26th. Three talks per night and some real belters among them.
December 18, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Alan Knox
How do we tackle the substantial and growing threat to sensitive habitats from Sitka Spruce? Useful commentary on key issues...
Who should pay when commercial forestry creates conservation problems? New analysis shows 200,000-971,000 ha of UK peatland at risk from conifer invasion. Based on our @iucn-uk-peat.bsky.social poster. #peatlands

Link - tinyurl.com/yc3b2s9h

Feedback/ comments welcome—not my usual writing style!
The Silent Invasion
How Non-Native Conifers Are Threatening Britain’s Peatlands
open.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Reposted by Alan Knox
Research and Survey Grant applications

The Endowment Fund supports amateur research projects which further the knowledge of the birds of Scotland.

The deadline to submit your application is 31st January.

For more details and to apply, please visit: www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/resear...

#ornithology
December 15, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Alan Knox
I’ve AviListed the North-east Scotland checklist, available as a free Excel download (v10 January 2026) from the SOC site below. Don’t shoot the messenger (!) #birdingscotland

www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/local-...
North-East Scotland
The SOC
www.the-soc.org.uk
December 15, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Still getting Nathusius' Pipistrelle #bats in the garden - the latest ever here in NE Scotland. Several last night.
@nesmammals.bsky.social @batconservation.bsky.social
December 12, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Picked up an unwelcome passenger today. A #tick while outdoors in the suburbs. Even in December. There doesn't seem to be any 'safe' time of the year any more. With so much more #LymeDisease around, a constant need for vigilance.
@scottishbirding.bsky.social @btoscotland.bsky.social #birdingscotland
December 9, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Alan Knox
One week remaining. Applications need to include two references, so don't leave it too late to apply for this @srucnews.bsky.social CASE partnership with @ptes-org.bsky.social.

Details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Two weeks left to apply for #PhD on declines in rural #Hedgehogs.
🦔
This is a @srucnews.bsky.social EastBio CASE project in partnership with (and co-supervised by) @ptes-org.bsky.social.
🦔
Details: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
🦔
Applications close 15 December
🦔
📷 Silviu Petrovan
December 8, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Want to hear about #Aberdeenshire's newest/largest nature reserve on the outskirts of the city? Talk by David Hunter for the SOC @scottishbirding.bsky.social on Monday 8 Dec @ 7:30, top floor, Abdn Univ Library, Bedford Road. Free car park. All welcome.
@btoscotland.bsky.social
December 7, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Alan Knox
Extraordinary record of Willow Tit from Moray!! - 250km-ish from nearest breeders or 550km from Scandinavia! @richardkbroughton.bsky.social birdsinmorayandnairn.org/bird-recordi...
Recent records — Birds in Moray and Nairn
birdsinmorayandnairn.org
November 28, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Alan Knox
There’s so much we can learn about birds by listening to them. Acoustic Monitoring involves the placement of small programmable recorders to capture the sounds of birds and other wildlife, particularly in remote places. Find out more & donate➡️ www.bto.org/support-us/a... #bioacoustics #ornithology
November 27, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Alan Knox
#Thanksgiving 🦃 with our amazing volunteers in the bird collections of National Museums Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿! 😉

Do you live nearby and would like to join? We're capturing data from all our #birds. Well, now's your chance! Don't wait...

careers.nms.ac.uk/job/800113

#museum #ornithology 🪶
November 27, 2025 at 3:47 PM