North East
Scotland Breeding Bird Atlas 2002 - 2006
Welcome to the new North-East
Scotland Breeding Bird Atlas. This exciting new project aims to produce up to
date bird breeding distribution maps for Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray.
Beginning in 2002, the maps have been created by contributions from very many
people - in fact all those with an interest in birds in North-East Scotland.
These web pages provide some newletters and maps of breeding birds, as well
as information about progress towards the publication of the atlas. Further
information about the results for Aberdeenshire / Aberdeen can be obtained from
Ian Francis at ian@farmland.plus.com
or from Moray from Martin Cook at martin.cook99@btinternet.com.
The 2006 newsletter below provides general information about the background
to the project.
We intend to send the book to the printers early in 2010, and hope to
see publication by around March. We do not yet have a firm price and
further details will be added to this web page when the budget for the
project is finalised. We have received or been offered financial support
from the authors of the first 'Birds of North-East Scotland' (1990),
Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland, the Cairngorms
National Park Authority, RSPB Scotland, the East Grampian Coastal
Management Partnership, Aberdeenshire Council and a range of individual
donors, all to be fully acknowledged in the book. We are very grateful
indeed for this support. Please check this web page periodically for
further information. As soon as we have full details of publication we
will provide details of availability and how to order.
Atlas update: 23rd September 2009
With virtually all species accounts now submitted by authors, we are
working hard to finalise the drafts and source photographs. If anyone
still has any photos taken of any aspect of the breeding cycle of birds
in our area, please consider offering them for use in the atlas. Most of
the general and introductory parts of the book have now been written, we
now have the necessary Ordnance Survey map licence, have found a printer
and obtained grant aid from a number of sources. There are many small
tasks that need to be completed but we are still aiming to send the book
to the printers by the end of the year. In the meantime, if anyone
wishes to use any atlas information or see a draft species account,
please contact us.
Atlas update: 21st May 2009
Work continues by the editors and many other people on finalising the
species accounts for the atlas and writing the rest of the book.
Quotations for production are being sought and funding applied for. We
are still working to an end-of-year deadline for completion, but there
is still much work to be done!
You could help the project by sponsoring a species for a small sum of
money - please contact us if you are interested in this. Our main need
at the moment though is for photographs of breeding activity of each
species, ideally take in Scotland (or better still, North-East
Scotland!). If you think you can help with this, please contact us for
further details.
The two maps here show aspects of species richness
(the number of species per tetrad), recorded during the atlas. The first map
shows all species recorded, regardless of breeding status, and the second shows
the areas holding the greatest number of woodland birds (those which are mostly
associated with woodland and not habitat generalists). These maps are part of
the ongoing analysis of data during the preparation of the atlas. Species
information is now with compilers, who are now drafting species accounts, and we
are aiming for a publication date of late 2009.
Atlas update: 16 May 2008
Comparison is underway between the 1981-1984 atlas
of Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City and the 2002-2006 atlas. Here are maps
illustrating the change for two species: Little Grebe shows evidence of an
increase in range, whereas Grey Partridge shows evidence of a retraction from
more upland areas.
The original atlas ‘Birds of North East
Scotland’ by Buckland, Bell and Picozzi (1990) has long been out of print.
With the permission of the authors, and thanks to Ian Andrews, we can now offer
this book on CD as a .pdf file (readable using Abode Acrobat) for £10. If
interested, please send a cheque to Ian Francis, payable to ‘Scottish
Ornithologists’ Club’. Proceeds will go towards the publication of our new
atlas. Please send to "NE Scotland Breeding Bird Atlas, c/o 10 Albyn Terrace,
Aberdeen AB10 1YP".
Atlas update: 31 March
2008
Information from the atlas has been checked for
errors, a new base-map has been produced (see example for Curlew) and comparison
maps between the 1981-84 Aberdeenshire atlas and the 2002-06 period have been
produced. The breeding bird atlas species accounts are about to be written by a
number of local birdwatchers, with the aim of finishing this by autumn 2008. We
hope to be able to publish the atlas by the end of 2009.
We will be seeking photographs of breeding activity
of birds nesting in NE Scotland. If you have any photographs that you might be
prepared to offer for use in the species accounts, please contact us. We are
looking for any breeding activity - from display to nest sites, eggs, nests,
chicks, or any other kind of breeding-related activity. We'd be delighted to
receive any offers like this. All species breeding in NE Scotland are needed -
and it would be even better if the photos were actually taken in our
area!
Atlas data (excluding some rare and sensitive
species) are soon to be deposited with the North East Scotland Biological
Records Centre (www.nesbrec.org.uk) and
also uploaded to the National Biodiversity Network (www.searchnbn.net).
Ian Francis
Did you enjoy participating
in the North East Atlas? Why not take part in the new National Bird Atlas Project
- see www.birdatlas.net, or contact Paul Doyle
on 01358 751384 for details. The National Atlas is being organised by the BTO
and SOC in Scotland, but you don't have to be a member to take part.
Pages last updated 25th January 2010
This
website was produced and is maintained by P. Doyle
