Abstract
Between December 2007 and March 2008, JNCC conducted a series of aerial surveys of non-breeding aggregations of seaducks, divers and grebes within a number of Scottish inshore areas. The aim of the surveys was to collect data on the numbers and distribution of inshore waterbirds in areas of the UK known to be important for these groups of species.
The surveys were carried out as part of JNCC's annual programme of surveillance of non-breeding populations of inshore waterbirds in the UK. The areas surveyed by aircraft were: Luce Bay; the Firth of Clyde; the Sound of Gigha; Loch Indaal (Islay); Coll and Tiree; Wester Ross Inner Sound and sealochs; north Orkney; and east Unst, east Mainland and south-west Mainland areas of Shetland. Surveys were conducted from light aircraft, following a line-transect method designed to collect data that are suitable for both distance sampling (to estimate total numbers of birds by correcting for a decrease in detectability with increased distance from the transect line) and spatial modelling (to identify areas with the highest densities of birds).