The areas covered by aerial surveys in 2003/04 were Scapa Flow, the west coast of the Outer Hebrides, Coll and Tiree, part of the west coast of Mull, the Dornoch, Moray and Inverness Firths, Aberdeen Bay, the Firth of Forth, the Firth of Tay and St Andrews Bay.  Surveys were conducted from light aircraft, following a line-transect method designed to collect data that were suitable for both distance sampling (to estimate total numbers of birds) and geostatistical modelling (to identify areas with the highest densities of birds).  In addition, shore-based counts were conducted within the Aberdeen Bay area in February, March, April and May 2004 to provide additional data on inshore waterbird numbers.

 

Eight species of inshore waterbirds were recorded comprising: red-throated diver Gavia stellata, great northern diver Gavia immer, common eider Somateria mollissima, long-tailed duck Clangula hyemalis, black scoter Melanitta nigra, velvet scoter Melanitta fusca, common goldeneye Bucephala clangula and red-breasted merganser Mergus serrator.  In addition, birds were recorded that could be identified only as diver species, grebe species, scoter species, or seaduck species.  Little gulls Larus minutus were also recorded.

 

Within the areas surveyed, several sub-areas were particularly important for inshore waterbird species: the waters around Burra, Fara, Flotta and Graemsay in Scapa Flow; the southern half of the Dornoch Firth; Spey, Burghead and Nairn bays in the Moray Firth; the inshore parts of St Andrews Bay, north into the mouth of the Firth of Tay; the inshore parts of the Firth of Forth; the Sounds of Harris, Monach and Barra in the Outer Hebrides; and the waters around Coll and Tiree.