AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD: Where to Watch Birds in Scotland, SOC's free mobile app
To download the app now simply click on either button below:
Where to Watch Birds in Scotland, the Club's free mobile app for Apple and Android devices, now has over 580 sites. New sites will continue to be added and existing ones updated as far as possible. The app launched in April 2019 and since then has been downloaded by more than 15,000 users and amassed over 750,000 site views. It won 'Product of the Year' in Birdwatch and BirdGuides' 2019 Birders' Choice Awards, and the BTO/Marsh Award for Local Ornithology 2020.
You can download the app to discover the best places to birdwatch around Scotland and the bird species likely to be found at these sites. Some will be well known locations, others may be less familiar.
This unique resource (no digital or up-to-date printed resource like this currently exists) will bring Scotland’s birds to a new generation of birdwatchers and appeal to beginners and seasoned birders, as well as general nature and wildlife watchers.
About the app
The guide displays the following information about each birdwatching site, including:
- directions to the site by public transport or car
- the best season to visit
- how to navigate the site
- what birds to look out for on a seasonal basis
- recent sightings in the area as uploaded to BirdTrack
- rare/unusual species previously recorded at the site
- how to submit bird sightings to the Local Bird Recorder and/or to BirdTrack
- other notable wildlife spectacles to look out for
The app will help birdwatchers visiting Scotland from across the UK and overseas, drawn to these shores by the country’s internationally- important seabird colonies, wader and wildfowl populations as well as its iconic and exciting upland species. The app’s built-in search facility will tell users where particular bird species are likely to be seen as well as allowing them to tap into detailed species information from the SOC’s award-winning publication, The Birds of Scotland.
Generating valuable conservation data
In line with the charity’s recording objectives, users are encouraged to help bird conservation by submitting their sightings via a direct link to the Local Bird Recorder and BirdTrack.
A network of volunteers
The development of the app is also a wonderful demonstration of what volunteers working together can achieve. The project is the result of three years of in-depth research and meticulous planning by a small working group comprising Jane Allison, Martin Cook and Alan Knox, assisted by network of nearly 140 local co-ordinators and contributors around the country. A list of contributors can be viewed below.
Would you like to help?
If you are familiar with a site that should be included in the app, or to suggest changes to existing site accounts, please get in touch with Martin Cook at martin.cook99@btinternet.com
Local Co-ordinators
Angus & Dundee Jon Cook
Argyll Jim Dickson
Ayrshire Fraser Simpson
Borders Malcolm Ross
Caithness Sinclair Manson
Clyde Marion Osler
Clyde Islands (unfilled)
Dumfries & Galloway Paul Collin
Fair Isle Ian Andrews & David Parnaby
Fife Graham Sparshott
Highland Peter Gordon
Isle of May Iain English & Stuart Rivers
Lothian Dave Allan & Ian Andrews
Moray & Nairn Martin Cook
North-East Scotland John Wills
Orkney Russell Neave
Outer Hebrides Yvonne Benting
Perth & Kinross Scott Paterson
Shetland Helen Moncrieff
Upper Forth Chris Pendlebury
Site contributors
Hugh Addlesee, Dave Allan, Ian Andrews, Tristan ap Rheinallt, Rob Armstrong, Ian Bainbridge, Paula Baker, Keith Ballantyne, Alex Banwell, Heather Beaton, Neil Beilby, Mike Bell, Yvonne Benting, Andrew Bielinski, Joe Bilous, Rosie Black, Scott Black, Alisdair Blair, Kim Blasco, Phil Bloor, John Bowler, Tom Bowser, Richard Bramhall, Tom Brewis, Ian Broadbent, Allan Brown, William Bruce, Emma Castle-Smith, Mike Chandler, Graham Checkley, John Chester, John Clark, Jon Clarke, Paul Collin, Jon Cook, Martin Cook, Anne Cotton, Jim Coyle, Will Cresswell, Ben Darvill, Simon Davies, Colin Davison, Dougie Dickson, Jim Dickson, Chris Donald, Hayley Douglas, Norman Elkins, Henry Farquhar, Isobel Filor, Ron Forrester, Ian Fulton, David Galloway, Graeme Garner, Rachel Gooday, Caroline Gordon, Peter Gordon, Dave Grant, Christopher Green, David Haines, Ian Halliday, Iain Hamlin, Kath Hamper, Mike Harrison, Robin Harvey, Bryan Hickman, Angus Hogg, John Holland, Mark Holling, Ian Hopkins, Mike Howes, Rob Hughes, Kevin Ingleby, Stephen Inglis, David Jardine, Alan Kerr, Bruce Kerr, Alan Knox, Colin Leslie, Mark Lewis, Nick Littlewood, Dean MacAskill, Robbie MacEwen, Angus MacIver, Sinclair Manson, Tony Marr, John Marshall, Tim Marshall, Claire Martin, Jimmy Maxwell, Gordon McAdam, Marco McGinty, Alistair McGregor, Chris McInerny, Suzanne McIntyre, Michael McKee, Ian McKenzie, Bob McMillan, Gordon McMullins, Alastair McNee, David McNee, Alan and Judy McNeilly, Doug Menzies, Will Miles, Brian Minshull, Neil Mitchell, Helen Moncrieff, Martin Moncrieff, Pete Moore, Sean Morris, Roderick Morrison, Andrew Mossop, Rebecca Nason, Jim Nicholson, Jonathan and Marilyn Nugent, Nina O'Hanlon, Donald Omand, Scott Paterson, Chris Pendlebury, Allan Perkins, David Pickett, John Poyner, Anand Prasad, Catriona Reid, Simon Ritchie, Stuart Rivers, Andy Robinson, Malcolm Ross, Tommy Ross, Allan Russell, Calum Scott, Rab Shand, Ken Shaw, Maggie Sheddan, Alex Shepherd, Daryll Short, Fraser Simpson, Gordon Smith, Julian Smith, Richard Smith, Richard Somers Cocks, Moray Souter, Graham Sparshott, Brian Stewart, Ranald Strachan, Bob Swann, Dave Tanner, Danni Thompson, Mike Thornton, Brian Turner, Richard Vernon, Malcolm Ware, Dan Watson, Richard Watt, Robert Wemyss, Richard Wesley, Susan White, Andy Williams, John Wills, Mark Wilson, David Wood.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the British Trust for Ornithology for help with links to BirdTrack, Keith Naylor for updated statistics on rare birds, and the editors of The Birds of Scotland (2007) for permission to use population data and distribution maps extracted from this landmark publication. Technical advice was provided by Robin Knox, Paul Walton and their colleagues at Intelligent Point of Sale in Edinburgh, subsequently Boundary Technologies.
Development of the app began with a conversation between Alan Knox, the late Ray Murray and Jane Cleaver (now Allison) at an SOC Council meeting in 2016. Sadly, Ray died later that year. However, we think Ray would be proud to see the project completed with many of his ideas and suggestions realised in the finished app.
A number of authors permitted the use of their material in the app or helped with other information. Thanks are due to:
- Ian Andrews and Stephen Hunter, Online Scottish Bird Report
- Julian Branscombe and RSPB Scotland, Discover Orkney Wildlife app
- Jim Cassels, Arran Birding website
- Raymond Duncan, Grampian Ringing Group
- Ian Francis and Mark Sullivan, Birding Guide to North-East Scotland, including part of the Cairngorm National Park
- Bob McMillan, www.skye-birds.com website
Supported by
The app’s development was generously financed by the SOC’s Birds of Scotland Fund – supporting ornithological publications and special projects in Scotland – as well as legacies to the Club from members and a donation from Glasgow Natural History Society. 
Support our work
In line with the Club's constitutional aims, the SOC developed this app to encourage and enable more people, from across the world, to study, enjoy and promote the conservation of Scotland's wild birds. Such investment would not be possible without the support of our members and the wider birdwatching community. Donate now.
Subscribe to our mailing list below to be notified of future app-related updates.
