Over one hundred and twenty birds have been recorded on Arran over the last two winters..... A great start has been made collecting data for the local Arran Bird Atlas that the Arran Natural History Society would like to produce for the wintering...birds on Arran.   more »

Weather, a major talking point for humans, can be a matter of life or death for birds.   more »

Anting and sunning   more »

Summer can be a time when there seem to be different looking birds around. There are two main reasons for this: firstly, there are lots of young birds around and, secondly, adult birds are renewing their feathers   more »

Recently a regular visitor to Arran shared a digital photograph with me showing a male Blackbird with an orange/red beak rather than a yellow beak. What could be the significance of beak colour?   more »

With their colour, their feathers, their structure and their movement, birds are a great subject to photograph.   more »

In Arran, May 2009 was cooler and wetter than May 2008. The mean temperature in May 2009 was 10 degrees centigrade, three degrees cooler than May 2008. The rainfall for May 2009 was over 80mm, nearly three times more than May 2008. How do breeding birds react to the weather? A simple question, but one which has intrigued people for centuries.   more »

One of the birding delights of May is to listen to the dawn chorus. By May, most of our summer visitors have arrived and our woods and gardens particularly are full of bird song.   more »

In 2008, over two hundred and fifty people contacted me with more than four thousand sightings on one hundred and sixty one species of birds seen on Arran. These sightings have been distilled into the “Arran Bird Report for 2008” published by the Arran Natural History Society.   more »

The weekend of 24-25 January was the weekend when many of you stocked up your bird feeders, watched your garden birds for an hour, and noted down the highest number that you saw of each bird species.   more »

Please send all sightings for 2008, giving “what, when, where”, by Monday 13 January 2009 to me at Kilpatrick Kennels, Kilpatrick, Blackwaterfoot, KA27 8EY, or e mail me at james.cassels@virgin.net.   more »

This article is a brief report on the first year of the survey. On 1st November the second year starts.   more »

How do you become a birdwatcher?   more »

Interesting examples of ringed birds found on Arran.   more »

What impact does the weather have on the breeding of small birds?   more »

Feathers are what make birds unique. There is an enormous variety of shape, colour, and function of feathers in the bird world. Feathers are part of the fascination of birds.   more »

On Arran we are fortunate to have breeding populations of the following rare British species: Red-throated Diver, Hen Harrier, Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Barn Owl, and Common Crossbill   more »

getting on with the business of breeding   more »

Seeking volunteers to help with BirdAtlas   more »

monitoring non-breeding waterbirds in Arran   more »

there are concerns when a large number of birds are attracted into an area to feed. One is the increased danger of the spread of disease. One such disease is caused by a trichomonas parasite.   more »

studying the movement of wintering geese   more »

RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch some results from North Ayrshire and Arran   more »

Answering the question, “What’s that bird?” can sometimes be a challenge. Birds are very active. The obstacles are many—the light may be dim, it may be blowing a gale, or the bird may “disappear” into a bush. So to stand the best chance of putting a name to a bird here are some handy hints.   more »