Moray Bird Club (the Moray branch of SOC)
Big Birdwatch 15-16 May
Between Friday 15th and Saturday 16th May, spend 24 hours immersed in your biggest birdwatching event of the year!
Once again, we are encouraging people to get out and about in Moray & Nairn for a day, listing all the birds seen.
For details of how to take part, visit Moray Bird Club > News and Events
The results of the Moray Bird Club 2025 Corn Bunting Survey can be seen here: Moray Corn Bunting Survey 2025 – Results
They are also available, together with more detail of the methodology, on this website under Surveys > Moray Bird Club Surveys
First dates for summer migrants in 2026:
Little Tern 1 Lossie estuary 13/5
Swift 1 Rothes 7/5
Arctic Tern 2 Lossiemouth 26/4
Redstart 1 near Drynachan 24/4
Whitethroat 1 Hillockhead 21/4
Cuckoo 1 Hillockhead 21/4
Grasshopper Warbler 1 Dallas 18/4
Sedge Warbler 1 Laiken Glen 18/4
White Wagtail 1 Spey estuary 12/4
Ring Ouzel 1 Auchnahyle 10/4
Tree Pipit 2 Clunas 7/4
House Martin 1 Kingston 7/4
Willow Warbler 1 Fochabers 6/4
Blackcap 1 Fochabers 6/4
Common Tern 1 Cullen 6/4
Swallow 1 Hillhead 3/4
Wheatear 1 Findhorn Bay 1/4
Osprey 1 Spey estuary 28/3
Common Sandpiper 1 Garmouth 26/3
Sand Martin 6 Loch Spynie 20/3
Sandwich Tern 1 Lossiemouth 12/3
Chiffchaff 1 Rothes 4/3
Birds in Moray & Nairn 2023
The report on birds in Moray & Nairn in 2023 can now be found here:
Birds in Moray & Nairn 2023
Alternatively, look under ‘Bird Reports’ for this and previous editions
The Birds of Moray & Nairn
Thirty years on from the first book, the new edition of The Birds of Moray & Nairn has now been published. Look under ‘Publications’ – ‘The Birds of Moray & Nairn’ for more information and sample pages.
AGE CATEGORIES OF GULLS
Glaucous Gull [2CY], Lossie estuary March 2019 (David Main)
For example, such as the Glaucous Gull pictured above:
From hatching in June 2018 until 31 December 2018 = 1st calendar year (or 1CY)
From 1 January 2019 until 31 December 2019 = 2nd calendar year (or 2CY), as pictured
and so on through 3CY [1 January 2020-31 December 2020] etc.
Birds with no sign of immaturity = adult