free downloads

Highland Bird News

The SOC Highland Branch newsletter can be downloaded from the Highland Branch page.

Scottish Bird News

Some back issues of SBN, the SOC's quarterly magazine, can be downloaded from the Publications page.

Accommodating Swifts in New Developments and Existing Buildings

Edinburgh City Council's Natural Heritage Section has produced a guide for developers on how they can accommodate Swifts in new developments and building refurbishments. Swifts have suffered a serious decline in recent years, due largely to the loss of suitable nest sites as older buildings are replaced or refurbished.

Click here to download (200KB PDF file).

Birdwatching in the Scottish Borders

Borders SOC, with assistance from a number of other organisations and individuals, has produced a superb 76-page full-colour guide to birdwatching in the area. This can be obtained FREE from Waterston House, plus Tourist Information and Visitor Centres, Forestry Commission Visitor Centres and some private estate visitor centres throughout the Scottish Borders.

If you can't track down a copy, click here to download (5.6MB PDF file). Note that this is a large file, and probably unsuitable for downloading if you have dial-up access.

The photographs in Birdwatching in the Scottish Borders are the property of the named photographers. They must not be used in any other context without the permission of the photographers (who can be contacted via the SOC).

White Wagtails in Autumn

At the 2004 SOC conference, Iain Livingstone gave a presentation on White Wagtails in the west of Scotland. Previously thought to appear in relatively small numbers on return passage, recent studies have revealed that the 'continental' White Wagtail can often outnumber the Pied Wagtail at autumn roosts, with perhaps 300,000-600,000 birds passing through between late August and early October. Counts and catches at inland sites in Lanarkshire, Lothian and on Sanda Island have shown that White Wagtails account for up to 80% of all Pied/White Wagtails present in September.

Iain has produced a guide to identifying the two races in autumn, and has kindly allowed us to make this available from the SOC website. Although primarily for ringers, it will also be of interest to general birdwatchers.

Click here to download (700KB PDF file).