We were lucky again with the weather this year for our annual winter bird race. There was, however, a lot of snow and ice around, but the day stayed bright and dry in the east although there was rain and mist in the west. The cold temperatures created a few problems for participants, but spare a thought for the poor birds struggling to survive in the prolonged freezing conditions!
12 teams took part this year with the object of seeing as many different birds as possible between 0000hrs and 1700hrs, within the Highland Recording Area. Teams joined from Inverness, Strathspey, Glen Urquhart, The Black Isle, Dingwall and Eigg with several teams opting to do a walking-only bird search. Some team members even made the effort to come up from Edinburgh to join in! With teams gaining an extra 3 points if they included someone under 30, there were a good number of ‘young birders’ taking part and 6 teams benefited from these bonus points.
Teams planned their own route and stayed out as long as they liked, so long as they remained in the Highland recording area. In a spirit of camaraderie (as opposed to competitiveness) we set up a WhatsApp group for the day so that folk could keep in touch with photos and locations of birds seen. Several teams bumped into each other at the local birding hotspots and shared birdy news and commented on how cold it was!
We were lucky again with the weather this year for our annual winter bird race. There was, however, a lot of snow and ice around, but the day stayed bright and dry in the east although there was rain and mist in the west. The cold temperatures created a few problems for participants, but spare a thought for the poor birds struggling to survive in the prolonged freezing conditions!
12 teams took part this year with the object of seeing as many different birds as possible between 0000hrs and 1700hrs, within the Highland Recording Area. Teams joined from Inverness, Strathspey, Glen Urquhart, The Black Isle, Dingwall and Eigg with several teams opting to do a walking-only bird search. Some team members even made the effort to come up from Edinburgh to join in! With teams gaining an extra 3 points if they included someone under 30, there were a good number of ‘young birders’ taking part and 6 teams benefited from these bonus points.
Teams planned their own route and stayed out as long as they liked, so long as they remained in the Highland recording area. In a spirit of camaraderie (as opposed to competitiveness) we set up a WhatsApp group for the day so that folk could keep in touch with photos and locations of birds seen. Several teams bumped into each other at the local birding hotspots and shared birdy news and commented on how cold it was!
Embo Sunrise (Thomas Plant)
Some great birds were seen during the day, including the White-fronted Goose at Alturlie, Black Scoter along with Common, Velvet and Surf Scoters off Dornoch beach, King Eider at Dornoch, Brambling in Fortrose, Water Rail, Greenshank and Kingfisher at Merkinch nature reserve, a Nuthatch at Strathpeffer and Golden Eagle and 4 Great Northern Divers off Eigg. The total birds seen during the day was 126 – pretty impressive.
C:\Users\carol\Documents\birds\SOC\Bird race\2026\SOC Highland Winter Bird Race Checklist 2026 Total Birdlist.docx
C:\Users\carol\Documents\birds\SOC\Bird race\2026\SOC Highland Winter Bird Race Checklist 2026 Total Birdlist.docx
Fieldfare, Waxwing and White-fronted Goose (Josh Allan)
We met in the evening over Zoom to swap stories and to award some virtual prizes. The team that saw the most birds, Lord of the Wings, Matt Broadbent, Emily Hill, Oscar Puls and Sophie Hodson, saw or heard a whopping 107 birds, with 3 extra points taking their total to 110. Very well done! Runners up were Totally Aukless of Peter Stronach, Emma McBride and Craig Forsyth with 104 birds +3 taking their total to 107, so a very close run race! 3rd with 92 points, 89 species +3, came Josh & Tracy Allan, Ruaridh Edmonds and Ross Macleod who managed to beat their total from last year. A special mention goes to our lone West Coast birding team on Eigg, The Eigg Eagles, who had difficult conditions, still managed to get 36+3=39. Well done everyone, you are all winners!
Rum from Eigg (Norah Barnes), Team Snow Bumtings (Thomas Plant - AI assisted) and Wigeon (Josh Allan).
Best Team Name – ‘No Hoodies No More’, chosen by Alex Joss
Best Bird – E coast – White-fronted Goose. W coast – 4 Great Northern Divers
Bogey Bird – Goldfinch. Not seen by the ‘Dingwall Dippers’ team
The Eco Award for most birds on foot – “Bumbling Brambling’s” who managed to clock 61 species in their walk in the Fortrose area.
Best photo – Waxwing by Josh Allan
Thanks to everyone who joined in and helped to make it a fun winter day out birdwatching!
Carol Miller
Best Bird – E coast – White-fronted Goose. W coast – 4 Great Northern Divers
Bogey Bird – Goldfinch. Not seen by the ‘Dingwall Dippers’ team
The Eco Award for most birds on foot – “Bumbling Brambling’s” who managed to clock 61 species in their walk in the Fortrose area.
Best photo – Waxwing by Josh Allan
Thanks to everyone who joined in and helped to make it a fun winter day out birdwatching!
Carol Miller
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