@anthrobirder
Anthropologist at the University of Aberdeen. Likes birds. A lot. Does stuff on environmental anthropology, landscape, conservation, human-bird relations, sound, perceptions of ecological change. https://andrewjwhitehouse.wordpress.com/
The system is better in Scotland than England, with students usually doing four subjects in first year and narrowing down as they go along. Our students don't commit to a degree until they go into third year, and it's often a joint degree. We even have a liberal arts degree at Aberdeen now.
Another 'dropped out of A Levels and now a university lecturer' here. Probably the best thing I ever did.
Quite literally an absolute unit of a Wordle.
1/ Calling all ECRS - we have 4x 3 year post docs on Multispecies Mutualisms working with us at Sheffield. Don't want to read through all the stuff to work out if its right for you? Here is a short video explainer 🎥
digitalmedia.sheffield.ac.uk/media/Multis...
Rhinos have their own charm but I agree on Parakeet's cuteness.
Lovely photo. Did you mean Parakeet Auklet.?
A Glaucous Gull is sitting down on top of a harbour wall, with some Herring Gulls behind it.
A Glaucous Gull is standing on a rocky, seaweed covered shore with some Herring Gulls.
A Glaucous Gull from Aberdeen Harbour this afternoon. Seems to be a 3rd calendar year and a different bird to the one I saw a few weeks back.
#SuperSeabirdSunday #Birds #BirdingScotland #UKWildlife #PatchBirding
A Long-tailed Skua is flying right to left over a blue sea.
A Long-tailed Skua is flying right to left over a blue sea.
Skuas don't look their best on their South Atlantic wintering grounds. Long-tailed Skua was the commonest species, like this one off the Argentinian coast in January.
#SuperSeabirdSunday #Birds
A Sooty Albatross is flying right to left against a blue sea. It's a slender, brown albatross that's a bit darker on the face.
A Grey Petrel is flying right to left against a blue sea. This shows the grey upper side and slightly darker face.
A Grey Petrel is flying right to left over a blue sea. This shows the white underside and dark greyish underwings.
Acutely bad photos of a couple of rarer South Atlantic seabirds that were seen north of the Falklands in January. First, an immature Sooty Albatross and second a distinctively plain Grey Petrel.
#SuperSeabirdSunday #Birds
A Chilean Seaside Cinclodes is standing on a rock facing slightly forward. Behind is a frothing sea and there's a small sprig of seaweed on the rock.
A Chilean Seaside Cinclodes is perched on a seaweed covered rock facing right. It's a dark brown songbird with some white on the throat, a white eyebrow and some white streaking on the breast.
A rare passerine entry for #SuperSeabirdSunday, a Chilean Seaside Cinclodes exploring its favoured habitat in Algarrobo in January.
#Birds
A group of gulls are standing around on some warehouse rooftops. A Lesser Black-backed Gull is second on the right. The others are all Herring Gulls.
A mildly exciting annual event in Aberdeen is my first sighting of Lesser Black-backed Gull in the spring. This year the day arrived earlier than usual, with this bird on the rooftops in Torry today.
#Birds #BirdingScotland #PatchBirding
I like the eyepiece cover on the ATB a lot more than the ATX one, as it's much sturdier and fits more snugly. If you do ever use it on a shoulder strap, I'd recommend using something other than the supplied one.
Looks like Allister agrees with you.
There appear to be some birding applications for the Allister Heath headline generator. #UKBirding
I actually prefer the zoom range on the ATB to my ATX85 because I like the lower end at 18x with a very wide angle for scanning. The upper end on my ATX doesn't get used much due to wind/ atmospheric distortion effects so I'm not losing anything useful in most conditions I bird in.
I have the angled version. It's absolutely great in wind and makes a massive difference on a tripod in those conditions. Even in light winds, it's still a better view on a tripod with the stabilisation on, particularly when panning. The best scope I've ever used.
An Atlantic Petrel is flying right to left against a blue sea, showing its upper side.
An Atlantic Petrel is flying right to left against a blue sea, showing its under side.
An Atlantic Petrel is flying right to left against a blue sea, showing its under side.
Atlantic Petrels were quite frequent along the continental shelf east of Buenos Aires province last month. A large, skua-like Pterodroma, most were in heavy wing moult like this bird.
#Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday
A Soft-plumaged Petrel is flying left to right over a bright blue sea, showing its underside.
A Soft-plumaged Petrel is flying left to right over a bright blue sea, showing its upperside.
A Soft-plumaged Petrel is flying left to right over a bright blue sea, showing its underside.
Welcome to the Pterodromas. Soft-plumaged Petrel is a classic small Pterodroma and was numerous in the South Atlantic last month, particularly north and south of the Falklands.
#Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday
A Wandering Albatross is flying left to right against a blue-grey sea. It has mostly black wings, a black tail, white upperparts and a pink bill.
A young Wandering (Snowy) Albatross cruising the South Atlantic north of the Falklands last month.
#Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday
Thanks! They're very characterful.
It looks as though things may improve by the weekend. I should probably start wearing wellies to go to work!
Looking at the forecast, we should get to three weeks with rain every day in Aberdeen. And basically no sun at all in that time. It's the longest spell of bad weather I've ever known.
A superb Austral Pygmy Owl is sitting on a tree branch facing towards us but slightly up. In the background are green leaves and blue skies.
A superb Austral Pygmy Owl is sitting on a tree branch facing towards us. In the background are green leaves and blue skies.
Here's a superb Austral Pygmy Owl from Algarobbo in central Chile last month.
#SuperbOwl #Birds
Interesting! Hard to say if it's down to photographic effects/ light conditions. Mine looks more obviously contrastingly white around the bill base, as well as more solidly dark underneath.
A juvenile Glaucous Gull is flying left to right over a grey sea.
A juvenile Glaucous Gull is flying left to right over a grey sea, dangling its legs. Some other gulls are on the water and flying.
A juvenile Glaucous Gull is flying right to left against a concrete wall.
A juvenile Glaucous Gull is standing on top of a pier with other gulls around it, standing and flying. A rough sea is behind.
It took a while to pin down this lovely dark juvenile Glaucous Gull at Girdle Ness today, after it had been found nearby by @fatpaulscholes.bsky.social Eventually it turned up around the harbour mouth before perching on the pier.
#Birds #BirdingScotland #SuperSeabirdSunday #PatchBirding
Nice! Saw something that looked a bit like it from a long way off earlier.
A Black-bellied Storm-Petrel is flying over a silver sea. It's a small, dark seabird with a white rump.
A Black-bellied Storm-Petrel flying over a silver sea. It shows its white underparts with black belly stripe.
A Black-bellied Storm-Petrel is flying over a grey sea, angling its legs and feet towards the sea surface.
A favourite from the southern oceans was Black-bellied Storm-Petrel. Similar to the numerous Wilson's Storm-Petrels they share the seas with from above, they show their striking underside as they bank. Often seen delicately bouncing over the surface, feet pattering.
#Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday
A large group of Franklin's Gulls are landing on a sandy beach. Ocean waves are breaking in the background.
Part of a huge swarm of rose-tinged Franklin's Gulls that were wintering along the Pacific shore at Mantagua, central Chile last month.
#Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday
A Dolphin Gull is walking through some seaweed covered rocks and pools. It's a dark gull with blackish wings, greyish body and red bill and legs.
A Dolphin Gull busying itself amongst the seaweed in Ushuaia, Argentina recently.
#Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday
A Southern Giant Petrel is flying against a blue sky. It's a large brown seabird with a thick bill and paler head.
A white Southern Giant Petrel is flying against a grey sea.
Here are a couple of Southern Giant Petrels, seen recently in the South Atlantic and Antarctic. They have a face only a mother could love, but also a striking white phase that was regularly seen in Antarctica.
#Birds #SuperSeabirdSunday