North-East Scotland

We're delighted to share details of the meetings season (September 2023 - April 2024) for members to enjoy. The full list, which will be held as a hybrid (online/in-person) programme, will be added to the website in due course. 

More information about each talk will be emailed to members around a week in advance of the event. To receive these emails (including Zoom joining instructions for online meetings), you must be signed up to the Branch News & Events - Talks & Workshops mailing list.

When:

7.30pm

Monday 4 December 2023       
Daisy Burnell – Seabird Atlas (in-person)

Wednesday 13 December 2023
Prof. Debbie Pain – Lead from ammunition: A toxic problem affecting birds and other animals (online). For further information, please click here.  

Tuesday 9 January 2024        
Steve Brusatte – How birds evolved from dinosaurs (online - joint meeting with local RSPB Members Group)

Palaeontologist, bestselling author, movie consultant, and professor at Edinburgh University Steve Brusatte recounts the evolution of these spectacular giants, their near extinction when an enormous asteroid hit, and how some of them lived on as today’s birds. How has modern technology advanced the study of dinosaurs?

Wednesday 17 January 2024
Q & A with Prof. Tim Birkhead & Prof. Neil Metcalfe – The Great Auk (online). For further information, please click here. 

Monday 5 February 2024
Jos Milner – Sustainable moorland management and more in the East Cairngorms (in-person)

For the last five years wildlife biologist Dr Jos Milner has been coordinating the East Cairngorms Moorland Partnership, which aims to deliver public benefits such as habitat restoration and species conservation, alongside private interests. How is the partnership, which brings together the Cairngorms National Park Authority and six upland estates, progressing?

Wednesday 21 February 2024
Ros Green, Claudia Tapia & speaker TBA – Tracking birds' movements (online). For further information, please click here.

Monday 4 March 2024
Short talks by SRUC MSc students on Goshawks & forestry; monitoring breeding waders using Audiomoths & BirdNet; and waterfowl & Crassula (online)

Wednesday 20 March 2024
Dr. Phil Atkinson, Dr. Jude Lane & speaker TBA (NatureScot) – Avian flu (online). For further information, please click here.

Monday 8 April 2024
Speaker & subject TBA

Wednesday 17 April 2024
Helen Aiton, Michal Jezierski & Kevin and Mike Sinclair – SOC Endowment Fund Projects (online). For further information, please click here.

Contact:

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01467 651296

Venue for in-person meetings:

In-person meetings will be held at Main Lecture Theatre, Zoological Dept., University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Ave, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ (click here to view a map of the venue and surrounding area).

Outings

No outings are currently planned.

Contact:

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Secretary:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 01467 651296

Chair & representative of the branch on SOC Council:

Alan Knox

Treasurer:

Mark Sullivan

Committee Members:

Ian Broadbent (ex officio as Branch Recorder) and Claire Marsden

North-East Scotland recorder:

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Talks reminders:

Members who've consented to Local Branch news and events e-communications from SOC, are sent a reminder about forthcoming talks (with more information on the speaker and subject where possible), usually a week or so in advance of the meeting. If you don’t already receive these alerts and would like to, please make sure you've completed a Mailing List Consent Form to allow the Club to contact you. If you've already completed a form, check your junk/spam/clutter folders to make sure our emails aren't landing there. Still nothing? Contact Headquarters as we may not have a correct or up to date email address on file for you.

Branch Newsletter:

North-East Scotland Branch Newsletter is published once or twice annually and emailed to branch members, as well as being made available to view below. The newsletter shares details of notable bird sightings and records in the region, research and survey developments and updates, branch news and activities and often includes contributions from the Grampian Ringing Group.

• Branch newsletter - Spring 2023

Click here to read back issues of the branch newsletter.

Social media:

Facebook: Type ‘ABZ Rare Birds’ in the search bar

Birding Guide to North-East Scotland

North-East Scotland is often overlooked by birdwatchers. Yet just a very brief visit reveals an incredibly rich area for birds and even those living and working here may not know some of the more hidden sites. Over 150 species are known to nest, and regular winter and passage visitors and vagrants bring the total to 387. This detailed illustrated guide shows how to find birds and other wildlife at many sites and contains a full checklist of birds recorded. It is the most comprehensive guide yet published on where to see birds in Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City.

Production of the guide was supported by the local RSPB team, Aberdeenshire Council and via the SOC’s Birds of Scotland Fund.

To order your copy, please send a cheque for £10 per copy + £2.50 p+p made payable to ‘Aberdeen and District RSPB Group’, to M. Sullivan, 29 Earlswells Rd, Cults, Aberdeen AB15 9NY, along with the completed order form (download here) or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Mark.

Click here for our guide to Birdwatching the Ythan Estuary

Visit the RSPB’s Loch of Strathbeg nature reserve website 

Bird recording in this area

Visit the North-East Scotland recording area page for details of the latest bird reports, back issues, species considered locally and for Local Recorder contact information.

The Breeding Birds of North-East Scotland

Click here to read about this atlas, which covers Moray, Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City.