Birding and science

Watching, listening, counting, monitoring, recording, sharing – some of the ways that we, as SOC members, enjoy and contribute to the collective knowledge and conservation of Scotland’s birds.

Many members contribute through direct involvement, perhaps through undertaking projects or contributing regular records to BirdTrack. Others share their interest and enthusiasm and thereby motivate others. Whichever your preference, it’s all important and infinite. As people and organisations in Scotland strive to achieve sustainability targets relating to climate change, resource use and biodiversity our knowledge of birds’ changing distributions, numbers, behaviours and survival rates is a critical part of measuring developments and identifying future actions.

Club-wide, SOC has supported Local Bird Recorders for 55 years, coordinates the Scottish Birds Records Committee and is a partner in both the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme and in BirdTrack. Our Birding & Science Committee maintains a strategic view of our priorities across all these fields while focussing on areas where SOC can contribute or inspire the most. This is a vital part of SOC’s function, for and by its members, delivered through fieldwork, reports, publications, conference papers and training, and highly regarded by other organisations. Online, social media and app use is also growing.

The SOC Birding & Science Committee is led by one of our two Vice Presidents, currently Professor Jeremy Wilson. Jeremy has chaired the Committee since its inception and has been on SOC’s Council, as a Vice President, for some seven years. He stands down this summer, having helped us still further by accepting an extension of his term up to this time. When I myself joined the Council last year, one of the most significant in-house pieces I read was Jeremy’s 2019 paper identifying, in discussion with colleagues, SOC’s strategic goals for continuing to secure “high quality knowledge on Scotland’s birds (at national and local level) available for conservation and research”. The ‘Knowledge Gaps’ paper in this edition of Scottish Birds derives from that, gives us an online resource and invites us to consider what we don’t know enough about and how we can help plug the gaps.

Jeremy says “the SOC was a huge source of expertise and advice to me when I first came to Scotland, as a PhD student, over 35 years ago. So, it has been a great privilege to support the Club through the establishment of our Birding & Science Committee, and the appointment of a full-time Birding & Science Officer.”

Our sincere thanks to Jeremy for the leadership he’s provided for many years; we know he’ll continue to be an active SOC member. Following him in the role of Vice President (Birding & Science) will be Chris Wernham, a current member of SOC’s Council whose co-option to the position was agreed at Council’s last meeting. Her own ornithological, scientific and management expertise will stand us in very good stead.

Ruth Briggs, SOC President