Field observations mainly in the 1940s and comparison with recent records. Adam Watson as a schoolboy made field observations on birds in north-east Scotland during the 1940s and early 1950s. These are of special interest because hardly any local ornithologists lived there, and his main set of observations is published here for the first time. As well as accounts for all species seen, there is detailed information on several species whose status has changed greatly since: declines of breeding greenshanks and ring ouzels, and rapid increases in the proportions of feral doves and carrion crows. These and other observations form a useful baseline for comparison with what is now being seen and recorded by hundreds of ornithologists living in and visiting the area. Ian Francis came to north-east Scotland in the early 1990s and has taken part in many aspects of local ornithology. He was first editor of a major book: The Breeding Birds of North-East Scotland, published in 2011, which documents the current breeding distributions of birds and assesses changes over 40 years, allowing a modern perspective on Adam Watson's observations from the mid-1900s. The current book by Adam Watson and Ian Francis, Birds in north-east Scotland then and now, also includes a previously unpublished account of long-term research by Adam Watson, Rik Smith and Mick Marquiss on summering snow buntings, one of the UK's rarest regularly breeding birds.

A study of Celtic, Scots and English place names across large sections of north-east Scotland, based on interviews with indigenous residents working the land and the sea, along with historical sources and maps.

Timings of antler-shedding by red deer were noted, as well as deer-beds and winter deaths of red deer. The author recounts some old published statements about sheep, deer and vegetation in the Highlands, and uses old sources to estimate the numbers of red deer in Scotland at low ebb in the 1780s. Next he collates field observations by several colleagues and himself on vertebrate animals in the Cairngorms. He documents the abundance of mountain hares amongst different areas, and changes in their numbers within study areas and across years. This leads to a chapter on recent reductions of mountain hares by heavy killing on grouse-moor estates.

This is a fully updated second edition of 2009's well reviewed RSPB Handbook of Scottish Birds detailing Scotland's rich birdlife. Over 250 species are covered in detail with one page per species, including Gaelic names newly added for this edition. The detailed distribution maps have been fully updated and show when birds are breeding, wintering or on migration. More than a thousand superb colour illustrations by some of the world's leading bird artists have been integrated into the text for easy reference at home or in the field. Each detailed species account includes information on identification, voice, habits, habitat, food, breeding ecology, seasonal movements, population and conservation.

Describes the factors affecting the bird life of woodland and the effects of habitat management.

'The most important work on the birds of Scotland ever published' - British Birds This comprehensive study and review of the birds in Scotland follows on from where the celebrated two volumes of The Birds of Scotland (1953), by Dr Baxter and Miss Rintoul, left off. It does more than that, however, since not only has there been a profound increase in ornithological coverage and data (as reflected in the species accounts), there have also been great changes in habitat and environment since the days of Baxter & Rintoul. These aspects form the themes of the ten preliminary chapters reviewing the Scottish scene today in terms of habitat, conservation, birdwatching and the changes in species status and distribution. The species accounts, the backbone of the book, review the period 1950-83 but include, where practicable, records of rarities and details of counts up to the spring of 1985; there are also brief summaries of earlier data based on the researches of Baxter & Rintoul. In all, 497 species are dealt with. The texts of major species accounts are complemented by 173 distribution maps and many tables of relevant data, and there are 129 species drawings by a team of artists under the editorship of Donald Watson, who also contributes chapter head pieces and other drawings. A section of photographs illustrates the varied habitats typical of Scotland today. There are, further, appendices and an extensive bibliography. The book will be of great interest to all birdwatchers in Scotland but of special value, too, to the many thousands of birdwatching visitors from elsewhere in these islands and from countries abroad. The Scottish Ornithologists' Club, for whom the book is published, and all whose records and researches made the author's work possible, have reason to be proud of Valerie Thom's achievement.

Timing of blaeberry growth, tree regeneration, land use, plant orientation The author noted when blaeberry buds on Scottish alpine land began growth in spring and compared this with climatic data. He mapped natural tree regeneration on Deeside and Donside. The author criticises invalid claims about land use in Scotland and Norway, and about the alleged effects of sporting estates in reducing land fertility. Signs of orientation by plants and animals are described.