A free app for nature lovers that reveals some of the best places to enjoy the Scottish countryside and its birds has been voted Product of the Year in the Birders’ Choice Awards.
The Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC)’s guide for Apple and Android devices helps enthusiasts discover and enjoy many of Scotland’s top-class birdwatching sites. The app was the runaway Award winner, with almost 60% of the vote. As of 23 January the app has been downloaded an incredible 9,000 times.
Launched in April 2019, the Where to Watch Birds in Scotland app offers birdwatchers detailed site information and the ability to record their own sightings.
For each of over 540 birdwatching locations, users find out what birds to look for and when, satnav details of how to get there, and recent sightings at that location as reported on BirdTrack (the online bird recording platform). Other wildlife such as adders, butterflies or otters, are also listed.
New sites continue to be added and existing ones are updated by dedicated volunteers. This unique resource (no digital or even up-to-date printed guide like this currently exists) helps beginners and seasoned birders alike and appeals to general nature and wildlife watchers.
One App reviewer Alec said: ‘It has had a transformative effect on my birdwatching – many more species seen, much less time spent wasted trying to work out where I am trying to get to. I can’t recommend the app highly enough and have regularly passed on info about it to people in bird hides the length and breadth of the UK.’
The guide helps 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 distinctive and exciting upland species.
The app’s built-in search facility tells users where particular species are likely to be seen as well as allowing them to tap into detailed information from the SOC’s award-winning publication, The Birds of Scotland.
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/or BirdTrack.
The project is the result of three years of in-depth research and meticulous planning by a small working group assisted by nearly 150 contributors around the country. The app’s development was generously financed by the SOC’s Birds of Scotland Fund as well as legacies to the Club from members and a donation from Glasgow Natural History Society.
The Birders’ Choice Awards are run annually by the popular Birdwatch magazine.
To download the app, search for ‘Where to Watch Birds Scotland’ in the app stores or follow the links from www.the-soc.org.uk/app .
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