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Sottish Bird News

No 79 Mar. 2006

Hen Harriers at a winter roost in Calloway (grateful acknowledgement to owner Roger Clarke)

Chris Rollie writes this account of the life
of Donald Watson (28th June I918-7th
November 2005).

I travel quite widely in the UK through my
own work with the RSPB, and everywhere
I meet people who have a fondness for
Donald and his work, including very many
who have never met him. The mere
mention of St lohn's Town of Dairy in a
talk or conversation is enough for them to
recall the name Donald Watson. Very
many of them do know him, of course,
and like us know how kind, supportive
and encouraging he was to us all.

Scottish ornithology loses an elder
statesman and master craftsman;
Galloway loses its own Donald Watson.

Donald Watson was born at Cranleigh in
Surrey on 28 June 1 91 8 of a Scots father and
an English mother. He first began to draw

birds before he was five years old and
copied illustrations by Archibald Thorburn,
the great wildlife artist of late Victorian and
Edwardian times. Indeed in 1 930, Thorburn,
a near neighbour and by then in his late 60s,
invited young Donald to tea and
encouraged his early interest, leaving an
impression on him that was to remain
throughout his life. However, painting was
already in his blood, his father's sister
(Margaret Stephens) having won a
scholarship from Aberdeen to attend the
Slade School of Art in London, while on his
mother's side his uncle was H.John Pearson,
an architect whose paintings were exhibited
in the Royal Academy. His older brother Eric
too became a most accomplished artist.

Shortly after Donald's father died in 1931,
his mother took her three sons to live in
Edinburgh, where he attended Edinburgh

Academy from 1932 to 1937. It was there
that he came under the influence of
George Waterston, a former pupil, founder
of the Midlothian Ornithologists' Club and
giant of Scottish ornithology in the 20th
century. Waterston enrolled him in the
Midlothian club, of which Donald was the
last surviving member, and which
developed into the Scottish Ornithologists'
Club in 1936, with both becoming
founder members. His bird art continued
to develop during this period, as did his
skill and experience as a birdwatcher. He
first visited the Isle of May in 1 933, where
he met the 'good ladies', Misses Baxter
and Rintoul, who were just finishing their
final visit to 'the May.' Fired on by the
migration studies of these ladies, though
employing somewhat less fatal methods of
capture, Donald was to visit the island
almost annually for the next fifty years.

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

1

In 1937, he won a scholarship to St )ohn's
College in Oxford and graduated with an
honours degree in Modern History in 1940.
His war service began in the Royal Army
Medical Corps, but he soon transferred to
the Royal Artillery as a second Lieutenant
and subsequently made Captain. Following
various postings at home, he sailed in 1944
from the Clyde to India to join the 6th
Medium Regiment in Bihar. However, after
a month in the relative peace of India, his
regiment moved east along the coast to take
part in the autumn offensive in Arakan,
Burma. There Donald was to experience
that common sense of purpose and deep
camaraderie that was to form such a
characteristic bond between countrymen in
the face of wartime adversity and horror.
Throughout his time in the army, where
possible Donald continued to paint and
Burma was no exception. Artistically, he
was always inspired as much by landscapes
as birds, and he found the Burmese varieties
of colours and tone, from bright light to
deep shade, irresistible. The birds were an
exciting and rich mixture of resident birds
new to him and familiar migrants from the
Palearctic. He enjoyed a lucky break when
he found that the GOC, General Christison
(a fellow Edinburgh Academical), was a
keen and expert ornithologist, who ignored
the restlessness of his staff officers to talk at
length with Lieutenant Watson about birds.
In this way, Donald discovered that there
was a network of keen naturalists

throughout the British services in India and
Burma, and so in his own way he was able
to contribute to this pool of information.
This was something of a comfort as the
fighting became fierce through the
mangroves and jungle swamps of Arakan,
culminating in the allied landings and
capture of Rangoon, abandoned very
hastily by the Japanese.

He returned home to Edinburgh in April
1 946, where George Waterston soon
introduced him to Rev.J.M. McWilliam and
Arthur Duncan (later Sir Arthur, Chairman
of the Nature Conservancy and Lord
Lieutenant of Dumfriesshire). Both men
were keen ornithologists and near
neighbours at Tynron in Dumfriesshire, and
moreover both were instantly taken by
Donald's paintings. Arthur Duncan invited
the young artist to stay with him at Tynron
and undertake an ambitious series of
paintings of birds in their habitats. In this
tranquil and supportive setting, Donald
began honing his skill as a professional
artist, trying various techniques and
methods, and attempting to emulate his
favourite bird artists such as Crawhall,
Seaby, Ennion and Thorburn, but always
with an eye on the French impressionists,
especially Monet, and other landscape
masters. Although skilled in many methods,
from oils to scraperboard, he settled largely
on gouache and watercolour, perfecting a
natural manner of painting out of doors in a

courageous and open style of great
vibrancy that characterised his work in the
late 1940s and 50s. Still partly undecided
on whether to become primarily either a
bird or landscape artist, he made up his
mind on discovering the works of Swedish
nature artist, Bruno Liljefors; he could be
both! Thereafter, Donald said that he was
always happiest in relating birds to their
environment', and he was a leader in the
genre for several decades, inspiring and
encouraging many of the present
generation of wildlife artists.

In the spring of 1949, the Edinburgh art
dealer, Ronnie Wheatley, gave him a
critically acclaimed one-man exhibition.
Others followed in London, Glasgow,
Newcastle, Oxford, Kirkcudbright,
Dumfries and elsewhere. He also exhibited
at the Royal Scottish Academy, Water
Colour Society, Glasgow Institute and Royal
Institute, as well as being represented in
international exhibitions such as Animals in
Art (Toronto, 1975) and Nature in Art
(Luxembourg, 1989). In 1950 he married
Joan Moore, whom he had first met as a
child in Surrey, and in 1951 they moved to
settle in St lohn's Town of Dairy in
Galloway, overlooking the Rhinns of Kells,
where they were to raise their four children
and live happily for the rest of their lives.

Donald's ability to relate wildlife, especially
birds, to their landscape was truly magical,
with the natural movement and
'choreography' of birds in flight captured in
his distinctive and evocative style that so
impressed art lovers and experienced
ornithologists alike. This derived, of course,
from his own expert knowledge of his
subject, his eye for detail and his special art.
Although birds in their landscapes became
his trademark, he continued to paint
portraits, and in 1962 he began his long
series of bird illustrations with the Oxford
Book of British Birds (OUP), which
involved him painting a total of 96 colour
plates, one every week for two years. These
included all birds that had been authen-
tically identified in the British Isles up until
that time. Somewhat to the alarm of the
editor, he dared to paint much landscape
into the plates, but the former needn't have
worried as the book immediately became a
classic and has been reissued in various
formats on numerous occasions since.
Indeed, Donald was to go on and illustrate
over thirty other books, perhaps most
notably those in the prestigious Poyser
series, where he collaborated with his
friends Desmond and Maimie Nethersole-
Thompson on Greenshanks (1979) and
Waders (1986), and with friend Derek
Ratcliffe on The Peregrine Falcon (1 980). In
1 964, he became a founder member of the
Society of Wildlife Artists, which holds
annual exhibitions in London, and in 2002
Continues on page 6.

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

Scottish Bird News
No 79 March 2006

Edited by

Jimmy Maxwell
Ian Francis

Assisted by

Kate Walshaw
Jean Torrance

Contents

Donald Watson

- an appreciation of his life 1

News & Notices 3

Bannerman and Lodge 7

Forestry and Birds in Scotland - part 2 10
The rise and fall of North-east Scottish

inland gulleries 12

North-East Scotland Breeding

Bird Atlas - the final lap 13

Birding Links 14

Windfarms, birds and Scottish Power 16

Notes & Comment 1 8

Book Reviews 20

Recent Reports 23

Contributions for the next issue of SBN
should be submitted not later than 9th
May 2006 to:

SBN Editor, SOC, The Scottish
Birdwatching Resource Centre,
Waterston House, Aberlady,

East Lothian EH32 0PY.

Articles can be sent on disc or by e-mail
(mail@the-soc.org.uk), although we do
still accept typed or handwritten material.

Designed by

Harry Scott, Pica Design, Aboyne

Printed by

Meigle Colour Printers Ltd, Galashiels

NEWS & NOTICES

200 Club

The latest prizewinners are - November:
1st £150 Mr. J.C.Jackson, 2nd £75 Mr. J.
Ballantyne, 3rd £50 Dr. A.M.Insh, 4th £30
Miss S. Stuart, 5th £20 Mrs. J. Denny, 6th
£10 Miss R. Davidson December: 1st £30
Miss J. Wilcox, 2nd £20 Mrs. M.C. Lawrie,
3rd £10 Mr. C.G. Pearson. January: 1st
£30 Mr. J.C. Jackson, 2nd £20 Mr.C.G.
Pearson, 3rd £10 Mr. D. Clugston.

Please note that the "new year" starts in
|une and any new members would be very
welcome. They must be SOC members and
over eighteen. Please contact Daphne
Peirse-Duncombe at Rosebank, Gattonside,
Melrose, Roxburghshire, TD6 9NH.

New SOC members

We welcome the following new members to
the club: Ayrshire: Dr J Cassels, Mr & Mrs C
Conner, Mr A Maxwell. Borders: Mr M
Aungier, Mr & Mrs J Craig, Mr M J Geen.
Central Scotland: Mrs A Carrington-Cotton,
Miss R Cumming, Dr E M Humphreys, Ms J
Kaye, Dr A G Renwick. Clyde: Mr J
Edwards, Mr M Given, Mr R Lennox, Mr H
MacDondald & family, Mr W A Mackintosh,
Ms E McLaughlin, Mr R Wilson-Parr.
Dumfries: Mr D R Baillie and family, Mr L
W Gibb. England, Wales & Nl: Mrs W M
Black, Mr & Mr I Davidson, Mr J Fenton, Mr
P Johnson, Mrs T J Spring-Smythe, Mr N R
Winn. Fife: Dr E A P Adams, Mr P Dean.
Highland: Mr M Benson, Mr & Mrs
Campbell, Dr I Evans, Mr J D Law, Prof W
W McBryde. Lothian: Mr & Mrs A C Baird,
Mr & Mrs P S Bolt, Mr & Mrs D W H
Cameron, Mr | N Daisley, Mr & Mrs I G
Dalton, Mrs A J DeBusk, Mr Al W Dickie,
Miss & Dr A E Doherty, Mr & Mrs J Fraser,
Mr G J Fitchett, Mr & Mrs P Freshwater, Mr
K J Garden, Dr M A Grubb, Mr R J Hewat,
Mr G Hills, Miss C A Hooper, Mr S Lee, Mr
R Leslie, Mr R | MacLeod, Mr & Mrs J Marr,
Mr D F Mather & Dr H Hart, Mr S Maxwell,
Mr & Mrs A K McDiarmid, Mrs J I McKeand,
Mr D McNee, Mr R Menzies, Mr G Moffat,
Mr G Morrice, Mr & Mrs M J Muir, Mr J
Nicholls, Miss J H Parmee, Mrs B Porter, Mr
G F Reed, Mr S M Robertson, Mrs C & Mr A
Robson, Ms E Seawright, Mr C D Shepherd,
Mr P Summers, Mr M Thornton, Prof & Mrs
C Trevarthen, Mrs D Tudhope & family, Mr
& Mrs D M Watson, Mrs M A Whale.
Orkney: Mr D Kent. Overseas: Mr L Kiff.
Tayside: Dr R G Paul, Mr J Roy. West
Galloway: Mr P Robinson.

Mapping local bird records
using spreadsheet facilities
on domestic computers

The mapping of bird records is clearly one
of the best ways to portray distribution, but
it is often assumed to require the purchase

of specialised computer programmes.
However, most domestic computers (PC or
Mac) include a spreadsheet with a variety
of options for presenting data graphically
and it is basically not difficult to use one of
these options to plot data on a square grid
and add in simple topographical
information to make a basic map.

I am not a computer expert but have been
messing around with various computer
generated diagrams available on Excel
spreadsheets for some years and anyone
trying to use the instructions should be
familiar with the general background to
producing such diagrams. Although the
principles of mapping using standard graph
techniques are quite straightforward, their
practical implementation involves a great
deal of finicky detail. I have produced some
detailed instructions, available to those
interested, which will help when read in
conjunction with using their computer.
They refer to a system developed on a
Macintosh (Claris Works) version of the
widely used Excel spreadsheet, but they
should be applicable to Microsoft versions
(though some of the nomenclature and
detailed keyboard procedures may differ
slightly). I would be interested to hear from
anyone who has problems or finds slightly
different procedures if they are using a
Windows (PC) version of the spreadsheet. It
is of course most straightforward if the
original records (whether on cards or a
computer database) have a National Grid
map reference entered by the observer, but
I was especially interested in using records,
especially old ones, that only have a
locality label and the detailed instructions
start with this problem.

I would be happy to email the detailed
instructions to anyone interested. Please e-
mail: cjh@cliffhenty.plus.com

Cliff Henty

Update on the Scottish
Raptor Monitoring Group

I am the SOC's representative on the above
group, launched in 2003 as a partnership
between RSPB Scotland, BTO Scotland,
SOC, SNH, JNCC, Scottish Raptor Study
Groups and the Rare Breeding Birds Panel.
Membership of this group continues to
build on the reputation of the SOC as
Scotland's bird club, representing the
views of birdwatchers across the country
and promoting our network of members
and the wealth of bird information within
the SOC. I try to emphasise this aspect at
the meetings and participate fully in the
decisions made. No longer SOC President,

I now update Janet with activities of the
group so that she can keep Council up to
date. Three or four meetings are held each
year, hosted by one of the member organ i-

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

3

sations. Now that Waterston House is
open, the SOC will host the spring meeting
- the first time we have been able to invite
the group to our centre.

Much of our recent business has been
drawing up plans for a series of Species
Conservation Frameworks. Some
independent research on Golden Eagles
pioneered this approach and new work on
Hen Harrier and Peregrine is starting this
spring. Buzzard and Merlin have been
identified as other priority species. The work
will analyse what we know about Scottish
populations of these raptors and assess what
environmental factors are affecting them
both across the whole country and, where
appropriate, on a regional basis. Such
information is key to presenting sound
scientifically based recommendations for
the conservation of birds of prey.

The group also leads on the compilation of
the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Report,
compiled by the Raptor Monitoring
Officer, Brian Etheridge, and distributed
free to all SOC members. The SOC can
continue to publish this report through
grant aid from SNH. Last year's report
(covering 2003) moved to a new format,
and further improvements are planned for
the next report due later this year. The data
for the report is collected by Brian largely
from the work of Raptor Study Group
members. The improved data-handling
processes now in place give greater
authority to the data presented and will
allow us in time to have a robust series of
data from which to analyse population
trends and other factors.

Another aspect of the work of the group
has been the compilation of a manual for
raptor monitoring, which will be launched
in late March/April, after the Scottish
Birdwatchers' Conference this year.

Mark Holling

The 2005 BIO Conference

Conferences are not everyone's cup of
tea, and those that do attend are likely to
be regulars. It is a time to meet old
friends and make new ones, but also to
learn more about our birds. The annual
BTO Conference held in December at
Swanwick, in Derbyshire, is perhaps a
relatively long journey for us north of the
border. This most recent conference
proved that some consider this journey
well worth undertaking. Of the 300 or
more delegates, Scotland provided 23
from as far afield as Shetland and the
Western Isles (with even a kilt on show at
the annual dinner). While the talks are
perhaps a little more scientific in content
than at our own conferences, in keeping
with the BTO's aim at marrying conser-
vation with science, speakers pitch their

4

talk at the right level to an audience
ranging from garden birdwatchers to
academics. Indeed, the Witherby
Memorial Lecture this year was called
'Science and Conservation', and was an
excellent and often humorous presen-
tation by Bill Sutherland, Professor of
Ecology at the University of East Anglia.

The theme of the conference was 'Tracking
Birds' with talks based on radar, ringing
and satellite studies and results from
national surveys. The speakers were also a
varied group from Sweden, Ireland,
Denmark, England and three from
Scotland (Raymond Duncan, Will
Cresswell and Sarah Wanless). For me, the
highlight was hearing Thomas Alerstam,
Professor of Ecology at Lund University,
Sweden, talking about his work on radar -
and satellite-tracked birds of northern
latitudes. We heard of the techniques used
by Swifts when roosting on the wing, the
travels of Great Skuas, of which some
spend a long period in mid Atlantic and
the movements of arctic geese crossing the
Greenland icecap. Indeed, a recurrent
theme in the conference was the
increasing sophistication of technology,
some methods almost superseding ringing
as a tool to discover the detailed
movements of birds. Devices used in
tracking continue to get smaller, so that
perhaps one day we may be able to track
small passerines - what revelations we can
expect if that becomes possible! As it is,
current studies are revealing mind-
blowing complexities in bird movements.

Displays included the results of both
national and local surveys and there were
the usual quizzes, shops and the art
exhibition. BTO conferences also allow
Regional Representatives to get together to
discuss current and future surveys and
their problems so that you, the birders
who contribute so much, are able to enjoy
your fieldwork at the same time as
gathering vital data that goes towards
understanding our birds and, eventually,
helping to conserve them. Of the 50 UK
reps present, five were from Scotland, the
most present for many years.

The BTO and SOC have been partners in
some of the most important ornithological
projects over the years. The forthcoming
National Atlas repeat in 2007-11 is yet
another major collaborative undertaking.
This will be a vital project that will show
how our own Scottish bird populations
have fared in recent decades, and will
need all our support. Those of you who
are BTO members (and there are around
1000 in Scotland) will have read Chris
Wernham's complimentary article in BTO
News about the Waterston House
opening, indicative of the close ties
between the two organisations.

If you are a BTO member who has not
attended a BTO weekend conference,
consider it in the future; it's well worth it.

Norman Elkins

Photo winner

The photo of a Meadow Pipit and Cuckoo
(opposite) won the British Birds bird
photograph of the year award for 2004. It
was taken near Beeswing
(Kirkudbrightshire) by Edmund Fellowes on
21st April 2004 - many congratulations.

Update on the Atlas of
Birds in Britain and Ireland
2007-2011

Since I last wrote a year ago (SBN7 5), there
have been two further meetings of the Atlas
Working Group and the two representatives
from Scotland (Martin Cook of Moray and
myself) have attended both meetings down
at the BTO in Thetford. You will remember
that the new Atlas will include fieldwork in
both the winter period (November to
February) and the breeding season, and that
the survey starts in the winter of 2007-08,
less than two years away now. The
methodology for the breeding season will
be broadly similar to that used last time
round (1988-91 ), but there will be changes
to the winter fieldwork. Some of you may
have been helping fashion the methods by
doing development fieldwork over this last
winter. I'm pleased to say that up to 19 10-
km squares have been surveyed in Scotland
this winter, a good showing, especially
when the work required was quite rigorous.
Those I have spoken to have enjoyed doing
the work and, as ever, have enjoyed the
excitement of discovering new species in
new and unexpected places. "Roving
Recorders" have been trying to find as
many species as possible in each 10-km
square, which has introduced a bit of
competition in the survey. In the square
including Aberlady, we have volunteers
doing timed counts in all parts of the square
and a small team of roving recorders. At the
end of December we were pleased to have
found exactly 100 species in the area, and
more were added as the New Year's visits
took place. Martin and I would be
interested to hear of any other experiences
of the fieldwork undertaken this winter, or
any other aspects of the Atlas. Please write
to us, or email us, via the SOC HQ.

Over the summer, scientists at the BTO
will pore over the results and find the
best methodology for logging the
maximum number of species in an area
at minimal effort by the fieldworkers -
that's you and I! Martin and I also met
with the Scottish BTO Regional
Representatives in February to discuss the
future implementation of the project
across the country, and all these points go
into the process of refining the project.

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

Cuckoo and Meadow Pipit

(Edmund Fellowes)

As well as planning how the fieldwork will
run, the meetings have been looking at how
data will be collected this time round.
Twenty years ago, everything had to be
paper-based, but there is an opportunity to
collect records on computers and over the
internet now, as well as on paper. The group
is being careful to learn from the
experiences of the previous Atlas projects,
both national and local ones. Martin and I
are making a strong case for methods which
take account of the remoteness and inacces-
sibility of many Scottish squares, and the
paucity of fieldworkers in many areas.

As was mentioned before, the SOC will
provide the lead in co-ordinating
fieldwork in Scotland and the organisation
will be run from Waterston House in
Aberlady. We do hope that there will be a
tremendous response to the call for
fieldwork in the years ahead, but if you
really are unable to contribute in this way,
we hope that you will be able to
contribute financially through forthcoming
appeals. However, the results, the maps,
the book and the essential information for
conservation will all make it worthwhile.

Mark Holling

New Year's Honours

Two eminent SOC members were
awarded an MBE in this year's honours
list. Patrick Stirling-Aird, Secretary,
Scottish Raptor Study Groups, for his
services to wildlife conservation, and
Bryan Nelson, ecologist and ethologist for
his services to marine ornithology,
especially conservation of Abbot's Booby
and Christmas Island. Heartiest congratu-
lations from everyone.

SBRC choice

Alan Lauder is its candidate for joining
that body next autumn. Alan currently
lives in Dunblane, and has served in
various conservation roles, including
posts with the BTO, and his current post
with RSPB in Scotland. A skilled
birdwatcher, he has carried out much of
his hobby within Scotland and has an
excellent working knowledge of Scottish
birds, enhanced by experience gained
from several overseas trips.

Photographs for BS3

The BS3 team are looking for even more
photos for use in BS3. We have received a
superb response to our requests and we
are making good progress in reaching the
target of 500 photos - but we still need
more! Rather than limiting ourselves to
text-book, full-frame images, we would
also like to include a wide range of
atmospheric, group, flight, habitat,
behavioural shots - even two birds
together rather than one. Remember that
we require all photos to have been taken
in Scotland. A new cut-off date for the
submission of images has now been set for
the end of December 2006.

I'm sure with everyone's help we will be
able to amass, for the first time, an
amazing collection of photographs
depicting the very best of Scotland's birds.

The first list includes common/scarce
species for which we would like to build
on what we currently hold - sometimes
this is nothing.

European White-fronted Goose, Canada
Goose (moulting flock?), Shelduck (with
young or large moulting flock), Wigeon
(flock in flight?), Gadwall, Teal (flock/flight),
Pintail, Pochard, Common Scoter, Velvet

Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Great
Crested Grebe (display?), Red-necked
Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Sooty
Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Leach's
Storm-petrel (not flash), Hen Harrier
(display/flight), Moorhen, Grey Plover, Ruff,
Turnstone, Long-tailed Skua, Little Gull,
Roseate Tern, Common Tern, Little Tern,
Black Tern, Little Auk (flock in flight), Feral
Pigeon (in urban habitat), Collared Dove,
Stock Dove, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail,
Pied Wagtail, Waxwing (the ultimate shot!),
Greenland Wheatear, Ring Ouzel,
Redwing, Grasshopper Warbler, Lesser
Whitethroat, Blackcap, Willow Warbler,
Magpie, lackdaw, Brambling, Greenfinch
and Linnet.

If you think you can help with the above
species, please contact: Ian Andrews, 39
Clayknowes Drive, Musselburgh, EH21
6UW. email: ian@andrewsi.freeserve.co.uk

We are also seeking images for a few of the
more obscure species for which no
photograph has yet been submitted (even a
'record shot' would be sufficient). In some
cases, we are hoping to find better images
of birds for which we already have
photographs. With one year to go, we are
asking that you bear in mind the following
list of rare species in case you are fortunate
enough to see them in Scotland this year
whilst out with your camera? For some of
these birds, we know images do exist - can
you help in tracking them down?

Photographers we are trying to contact;
David MacLeman: Sandhill Crane/Spotted
Sandpiper/Franklin's Gull, Noel Kerns:
American Robin, Alan Josey: River

Warbler, Nick Wall: Needle-tailed Swift,
George Winslow: Cretzschmar's Bunting,
Mary MacIntyre: Chimney Swift and M H
Blattner: Trumpeter Finch.

Rare species we still require photographs

of; Lesser white-fronted Goose, Golden
Pheasant, Cory's Shearwater, Balearic
Shearwater, American Bittern, Purple
Heron, Marsh Harrier, Hobby, Sora, Marsh
Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted
Sandpiper, Bridled Tern, Royal Tern,
Whiskered Tern, Great Spotted Cuckoo,
Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift,
Woodlark, Siberian Blue Robin, Eastern
Bonelli's Warbler, Spanish Sparrow,
Marmora's Warbler, Trumpeter Finch,
White-crowned Sparrow, Cretzschmar's
Bunting, Pallas's Bunting, Cinamon Teal,
Red-headed Bunting and Pallas's Rosefinch.

Rare species to be improved upon; Ruddy
Shelduck, Blue-winged Teal, Green-
winged Teal, Garganey, Surf Scoter, Pied-
billed Grebe, Squacco Heron, Little Crake,
Avocet, Black-winged Pratincole, Greater
Sandplover, Broad-billed Sandpiper,
Franklin's Gull, Sabine's Gull, Gull-billed

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

5

Tern, Caspian Tern, Lesser Crested Tern,
Black-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-billed
Cuckoo, Calandra Lark, Tawny Pipit, Red-
throated Pipit, Common Nightingale, Red-
flanked Bluetail, Dusky Thrush, Melodious
Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Radde's
Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Southern Grey
Shrike, Serin, Chestnut Bunting.

If you can help in any way with the rarity
requests list above, please contact: Harry
Scott, 51 Charlton Crescent, Aboyne,
Aberdeenshire AB34 5GN. E-mail:
picades@ifb.co.uk

Birdwatch with caution

As the nesting season approaches,
members are reminded that the
Birdwatchers' Code of Conduct (see SOC
website) should be observed. With new
access legislation, the main concerns are

Donald Watson appreciation continued;

they made him their first Honorary
Member. His involvement in ornithology
continued unabated and he was President
of the Scottish Ornithologists' Club from
1969-72, becoming Honorary President in
1986 to mark the Club's 50th anniversary.
He was local bird recorder in Galloway for
some 30 years.

In addition to his war service overseas,
Donald painted in various parts of the
world, including France, Africa, America,
Spain and the Seychelles. However, it was
his evocative and atmospheric paintings of
birds in Galloway that were to attract the
greatest acclaim, together with his
wonderful treatment of waders and
wildfowl on wet sands in the Hebrides and
the Solway. His skies were legendary. Of his
own art, Donald said 'My eyes respond to
colour, tone, light and modelling forms,
whether of living creatures or land masses.

I enjoy painting skies, water, wet sand or
mud and coping with the technical
problems that lack of solidity presents.' That
great wildfowl expert, Hugh Boyd, now
living in Canada, rated him amongst the
very finest painters of geese. Other
experienced field ornithologists marvelled
at his ability to capture the essence of spring
in a humble Willow Warbler perched on a
budding sprig, the 'choreography' of a
group of lekking Blackcock on a moor, or a
gathering of Hen Harriers at roost in the
gloaming. In 1972, Scottish Academic Press
published Birds of Moor and Mountain,
written and illustrated by Watson, and this
book showcased his distinctive birds-in-
landscape approach, hinted at in the earlier
'Oxford volume', to a very wide audience.
Most of the paintings in this book were in
an attractive Galloway setting, often
depicting relatively unspoilt countryside

disturbance to Schedule 1 species and in
sensitive habitats like along water margins.

Keep disturbance to a minimum. Birds'
tolerance of disturbance varies between
species and seasons. Therefore, it is safer
to keep all disturbance to a minimum. No
birds should be disturbed from the nest in
case opportunities for predators to take
eggs or young are increased. In very cold
weather disturbance to birds may cause
them to use vital energy at a time when
food is difficult to find. Wildfowlers
already impose bans during cold
weather: birdwatchers should exercise
similar discretion.

Rare breeding birds. If you discover a
rare bird breeding and feel that
protection is necessary, inform the
appropriate RSPB Regional Office, or the

that had disappeared from so much of the
rest of the country, together with its
dependent wildlife. Moreover, this book
demonstrated Donald's complementary
talent as an evocative writer - he could
paint wonderful pictures with words as
well. His talent for writing was evident as
early as his sixteenth year, when he won the
RSPB's public schools essay competition
with his 'Wings and their uses.' An avid
reader, he loved lyrical poetry and prose,
especially in the hands of expert naturalists
such as John Clare and Frenchman, Jacques
Delamain. Donald wrote beautifully and
compellingly married his artistic and
literary talents together in The Hen Harrier
(Poyser, 1977), and the autobiographical A
Bird Artist in Scotland (Witherby, 1988) and
One Pair of Eyes (Arlequin, 1994). In this
way, Donald was able to convey the beauty
and mysterious enchantment of nature that,
remarkably, stimulated so many people to
write to him or visit his home to give thanks
for so skilfully capturing and relating the
essence of their own wonder.

Undoubtedly, the species that he was most
associated with was his beloved Hen
Harrier, one of the most beautiful and
artistically pleasing of all our birds, yet the
most persecuted because of its ability to take
Red Grouse. Widespread conifer
afforestation in Galloway from the 1950s
brought a reduction in game preservation
and an early flush of vegetation that was to
benefit many species, including Hen
Harriers and Golden Eagles. Donald meticu-
lously studied and recorded the breeding,
hunting and roosting habits of the former in
a pioneering way, and his book on the Hen
Harrier is a classic marriage of bird study
and art that stimulated a generation of field
ornithologists and bird artists. Although
communal roosting of harriers was well
known in Europe and North America, it had

Species Protection Department at the
Lodge. Otherwise it is best in almost all
circumstances to keep the record strictly
secret in order to avoid disturbance by
other birdwatchers and attacks by egg-
collectors - though it is highly desirable
that the record should be reported to
local bird recorders for proper documen-
tation. Never visit known sites of rare
breeding birds unless they are
adequately protected. Even presence
may give away the site to others and
cause so many other visitors that the
birds may fail to breed successfully.
Disturbance at or near the nest of species
listed on the First Schedule of the
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is a
criminal offence.

Mark Holling

been little recorded in the UK, and in collab-
oration with R.C. Dickson, R. Gladwell and
others, Donald unravelled some of the
mysteries of this behaviour, with published
papers in Scottish Birds and elsewhere. He
also recorded the subsequent maturation of
these forests with the resulting loss of
important wildlife, and collaborated with his
great friend Derek Ratcliffe, former Chief
Scientist of the Nature Conservancy, who
died earlier this year, in pressing for the kind
of improvements in forestry practice that we
are now beginning to see.

The Tourist Board surely owe Donald a great
debt of gratitude, because for the past fifty
years he has portrayed the beauty, bird life
and tranquillity of Dumfries & Galloway to
a very wide audience. Very many of them
have visited Galloway to enjoy for
themselves the wonderful scenes that he
painted. In addition to his wonderful art and
writings, surely one of his most enduring
legacies is his kindness and attentiveness in
stimulating and encouraging the interest of
all who in some way shared his passion for
birds and the countryside. He will be greatly
missed by all who knew him, and Galloway
has lost one of its greatest devotees.

Donald Watson died at Dumfries on 7
November 2005, after a short illness. He
was buried at St John's Town of Dairy,
Galloway, on Monday 14 November
2005. His wife Joan died on 10 September
2004. They are survived by son Jeff, a
Director with Scottish Natural Heritage,
and daughters Pam, Kate and Louise.

Chris Rollie

6

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

George Lodge at work in the 1940s (Illustrated)

So who were the similarly long-lived
Bannerman and Lodge?

with the purposes of the Trust. The trustees
asked that part of the Fund might be used to
support bird illustrations and bird book
publications and suggested that some of it
might be applied in an appropriate
memorial to Lodge to which his name could
be attached. As this last request does not
appear to have been realised, and as we no
longer have a named George Lodge Fund,
now would seem to be a good time for SOC
to finally make some sort of permanent
gesture in recognition of Lodge's contri-
bution.

David Armitage Bannerman (1886-1979)

Raised in London, David Bannerman was
educated at Wellington College and
Cambridge University, where he
graduated with an honours degree in
science. He wrote his first book at the age
of eight, and told his mother early in life
"I am going to be an ornithologist and
join the British Natural History Museum".
This he did in 1910, when he became a
trainee in the "Bird Room" under W. R.
Ogilvie-Grant. It was there he met for the
first time the bird artist George Lodge
who was 26 years his senior. He was
determined to work in the field as much
as possible, preferably abroad, and
between 1908 and 1913 carried out an
extensive zoological survey of the Canary
Islands. There he met his first wife who
he married in 1911. Before the 1914-18
war, he also made expeditions to Africa,
South America and West Indies.

The George Lodge Trust Fund grew with
income derived from sales of The Birds of
the British Isles and was used subsequently
to support publication of ornithological
books and particularly the cost of their
illustration. After Bannerman's death in
1979, the Trust was chaired by his cousin
General Sir Philip Christison, and it included

George Lodge in his studio (1951)

(H. Savory)

Bannerman and Lodge

SOC members may recall that, until a few
years ago, the substantial "George Lodge
Fund" used to feature regularly in the
club's Annual Report and Accounts. Sadly,
its identity now seems to have disappeared
as it was amalgamated in 2004 as part of
the "Endowment Capital Fund".

The George E. Lodge Trust was formed in
1944 in order that its funds would be used
to support the cost of publication of The
Birds of the British Isles and "similar
original works in Natural History". The
twelve volume The Birds of the British
Isles, written by David Bannerman and
illustrated by George Lodge, was published
by Oliver and Boyd from 1953 to 1963. It
was a mammoth undertaking and, even by
the much more scientific standards of
today, remains a hugely impressive
memorial to both writer and artist. In his
preface to the first volume, Bannerman
wrote that "In addition to contributing 384
original paintings, Mr Lodge most
generously donated £5000 [a lot of money
then] towards the cost of reproduction".
Lodge took on the project in 1942, at the
remarkable age of 81, and died in 1954
after publication of just three volumes.

SOC members Donald Watson, Archie
Bryson and Andrew Macmillan. In 1 985, the
trustees agreed to wind up the Trust and
transfer its funds (over £1 0,000) and stock of
about 3000 copies of volumes 6-12 of The
Birds of the British Isles to the SOC
Endowment Fund. This was duly done and
no restrictions were placed on the payment
except that it be used by SOC in accordance

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

7

Despite failing his army medical after the
outbreak of war due to partial deafness
caused by childhood measles, he soon
managed to get to France as an
ambulance driver and was then
appointed staff officer to HQ British Red
Cross Society. He was awarded the MBE,
Order of St John, Mons Star and French
War Medal for his services. In 1919, he
turned down the opportunity of taking
charge of the Bird Room at South
Kensington, preferring to become a
supernumerary member of the museum
staff. He said he had tasted too much
freedom to be tied down to the restricted
life of a London civil servant.

Between the wars, he travelled
extensively, mainly on British Museum
expeditions, collecting and reporting on
the birds of several West African
countries. He was a skilled horseman,
excellent shot and loved fly fishing. He
took a prominent part in BOU affairs and
was assistant editor of The Ibis for ten
years. By the age of 40 he had published
about 100 scientific papers. In 1922 he
wrote The Canary Islands: their History,
Natural History and Scenery, and was
later commissioned to write his first
magnum opus, the eight volume The
Birds of Tropical West Africa (1930-51).
To provide the plates for this series, he
recruited some of the leading bird artists
of the time and invited George Lodge to
illustrate the more colourful species such
as glossy starlings and sunbirds. Thus
began his collaboration and friendship
with Lodge, and it was during the 1939-
45 war, when he was a censor and
sergeant in the Home Guard, that they
discussed and planned The Birds of the
British Isles. Field Marshal Lord

Alanbrooke was one who took a great
interest in the progress of this book and
wrote the foreword to its first volume.
Bannerman was a peerless compiler who
greatly enhanced his text with contri-
butions from specialists, many of whom
were his personal friends. As an
ornithologist, he was deeply rooted in the
older traditions, and had no time for
much modern scientific writing.

Between 1950 and 1952 he visited
Morocco with his second wife Mary,
herself a distinguished ornithologist, and
lived among Atlas tribesmen. After his
retirement in 1952, they moved to
Kirkcudbrightshire and took up farming
under the shadow of Criffel. They often
birdwatched in the Galloway countryside
and travelled abroad regularly in the
winter, gathering material for further
books. The Birds of Cyprus appeared in
1 958, and the four volumes of The Birds of
the Atlantic Islands were published from
1 963 to 1 968, the last two with his wife as
joint author. More followed and, in spite of
recurring illness, he continued writing in
his final years, encouraged by his wife. He
had almost finished The Birds of the
Balearic Islands, illustrated by Donald
Watson, at the time of his death.

Altogether Bannerman wrote more than
30 volumes on birds, the like of which will
not be seen again. He was a Fellow or
member of several ornithological societies
and received many honours and awards,
among them OBE, LLD, FRSE and the
Gold Medal of the BOU. As an Honorary
President of the SOC, he often travelled
from his home on the Solway to take an
active part in council meetings.

David and Mary Bannerman

(Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers Ltd.)

George Edward Lodge (1860-1954)

In 1860 were born three outstanding
wildlife artists who set new standards in
their genre. Most famous of all was the
Swede Bruno Liljefors, and in Britain there
were Archibald Thorburn and George
Lodge. Lodge was born at Scrivelsby in
Lincolnshire, the seventh son of a seventh
son, and one of a family of eleven. His
father was a Canon of Lincoln and for
many years Rector of Scrivelsby, who
wrote a history of the Champions of
England, of whom Scrivelsby is the home.
He inherited his artistic skills from his
mother, who was descended from Francis
Wheatley and Clara Pope, both celebrated
painters who exhibited at the Royal
Academy. Educated at home from an early
age, he and his brother Reginald, the
pioneer bird photographer, were keen
naturalists and roamed the local
countryside in search of subjects. At the
age of 12 he stuffed his first bird, an owl,
at 14 he won prizes for drawing at the
Lincoln School of Art and at 16 he was
apprenticed to a wood engraver.

Lodge soon became an expert at hand-
engraving his own artwork on the end
grain of very hard box wood. This
exquisitely detailed illustrative work
required the use of a magnifier for one
eye, and his sight suffered for this
subsequently, so much so that he lost the
use of that eye towards the end of his life.
His draughtsmanship was superior to and
his engraving was equal to those of the
great Thomas Bewick, and one can find
fine examples of his engraved illustrations
in books by Lord Lilford, Millais,
Saunders, Seebohm and others. When
wood-engraving was superseded by
modern printing techniques in the 1890s,
Lodge took to painting in tempera his
illustrations for bird books. He also
painted in oils and twelve of his works
were exhibited in the Royal Academy
between 1881 and 1917.

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

In 1885, he was introduced to the sport
of falconry by T.J. Mann, a member of the
Mann brewing family, after being
commissioned to illustrate an article on
the subject written by E.B. Michell. Thus
began his lifelong passion for hawking
and a close friendship with the Manns
whom he accompanied on their regular
Scottish shooting holidays. Like
Bannerman, he was an all-round
sportsman, being a first-rate shot, deer
stalker and fly fisherman as well as
falconer. Many of his shot specimens he
mounted expertly for use in his paintings.
From 1885 to 1913, he kept a diary
recording his frequent hawking
expeditions, first with the Manns in
Lincolnshire, Norfolk and

Cambridgeshire, and later with Gilbert
Blaine in Islay and Caithness. In the early
1930s he was artist observer at the
annual meets on Salisbury Plain of the
recently formed British Falconers' Club.
These gatherings included well-known
falconers like Jack Mavrogordato, Phillip
Glasier and also my father, Harry Savory,
whose friendship with Lodge continued
until Lodge's death.

Lodge was a modest man who never
married. He lived in London from 1880
to 1920 and then moved with an elder
sister and niece to "Hawk Flouse" in
Camberley where he remained for the
rest of his life. He travelled widely, to the
West Indies in 1896, to Norway several
times for shooting and fishing with his
friend lohnny Millais and round the
world in 1903 with John and Percy
Mann. He loved Scotland, where he

stayed many times, and his Highland
sporting paintings were in great demand
like those of his friend Thorburn.

By the time I compiled George Lodge:
Artist Naturalist , published by Croom
Helm in 1986, illustrations by Lodge had
featured in at least 90 published works
and I have found more since then. His
paintings were also used in illustrated
articles in various magazines. The only
book he wrote himself - Memoirs of an
Artist Naturalist, with 24 plates, appeared
in 1946, and in 1942 he told Bannerman
that it was his ambition to illustrate

The female peregrine Sylvia, on Red Crouse

(C. Lodge)

entirely a book on British birds, hence The
Birds of the British Isles. However, his
eyesight was going, and his portrayal of
species, where he had to work from
museum skins, was never as successful as
those with which he was familiar. Lodge
and Thorburn were equally expert at
painting landscapes, gamebirds and deer,
but Lodge was better with oils and
Thorburn conceded that he was also the
master at birds of prey. He was not so
good at other subjects and, since their
deaths, Thorburn's paintings have
commanded higher prices.

Lodge was active in ornithological
circles, being elected a member of the
BOU in 1897 and one of its Vice-
Presidents in 1945. He was a Fellow of
the Zoological Society of London and
attended the 1934 International
Ornithological Congress in Oxford. He
was also a Council member of other
societies, some of which, including the
RSPB, used his paintings as Christmas
cards.

In his obituary of George Lodge in The
Field, 25 February 1954, J. K. Stanford
wrote "What a lesson to all of us, what a
life to have led. To have made a living out
of the thing you liked best in the world. To
have known that your work sends those
who see it back delightedly in thought to
the salmon river, the forest, the crags and
the hills, and the deer and the birds they
have watched there".

lohn Savory

Hunting group (c. 1 890) with Lodge
and TJ. Mann sitting on the right

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

9

Moira Baptie, Environment Manager at
Forest Enterprise Scotland , continues her
perspective on how the relationship
between forestry and birds in Scotland
has developed.

Part 2

External verification of management
practices is always reassuring both for our
external stakeholders and ourselves.
Management of the national forest estate
by Forest Enterprise Scotland is audited
annually against the UK Woodland
Assurance Scheme (UKWAS) as part of the
FSC certification process. FSC certification
allows purchasers of timber to be sure that
the timber has come from a sustainably
managed forest. All of the Scottish timber
donated by the Forestry Commission for
Waterston House as part of our Concordat
with SOC, came from UKWAS and FSC
certified forests managed by FCS.

Many UKWAS requirements are very
positive for birds. UKWAS requires the
identification and careful management
of semi-natural wooded and open
habitats. It requires a minimum of 1 5% of
the forest area to be managed with
conservation and enhancement of
biodiversity as a major objective and has
a whole section on the protection of rare
habitats and species including UKBAP
species. It also requires the restructuring

Ospreys at Clentress

of conifer forests to create a diverse age
structure and species mix, and an
increase in the use of lower impact
sivicultural systems such as continuous
cover rather than clearfell. It requires
natural reserves and long- term retentions
to be designated. It recognises the
importance of ancient woodland sites
and requires restoration plans and targets
for the sites that have been planted,
which are known as PAWS (Plantations
on Ancient Woodland Sites). It also
requires the retention of standing and
fallen deadwood within both plantation
and semi-natural woodland.

Many of our forests were planted relatively
recently and it takes time for deadwood
and veteran trees to develop. Deadwood is
therefore an important element that is
found in natural forests, which we need to
try to recreate in our Scottish forests. It is
extremely important both for invertebrate
species and for hole nesting birds. Each
Forest District has a statement describing
how they will locally increase and manage
deadwood so that it will have the greatest
environmental benefit.

Owls, both Barn and Tawny have
benefited from the nest barrels that have
been erected in Galloway, Kintyre,
Cowal & Trossachs and Fort Augustus.

(Forestry Commission)

Forests could provide three of the
elements that owls require - hunting
habitat, an abundance of small prey and
freedom from frequent disturbance. The
barrels provided the fourth vital element
- nest sites. Some schemes such as the
one in Galloway have been running for
over 20 years.

Barn Owl nestbox (Harry Scott)

Forestry Commission Scotland has been
instrumental in assisting the spread of
Ospreys throughout Scotland. Through the
work of wildlife rangers and their tree
climbing skills many nesting platforms for
Ospreys have been built in safe secure
places. These artificial sites can attract
young birds and save them time building

10

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

nests thus increasing the likelihood of
successful breeding and chick survival.
Ospreys' 50th, a partnership project with
RSPB, is a three-year celebration of the
50th anniversary of the return of Ospreys to
breed in Scotland in 1954 after an absence
of 38 years. Other partners include the
Scottish Wildlife Trust, Kailzie Gardens,
Dumfries & Galloway Council, the Scottish
Raptor Study Groups and the Highland
Foundation for Wildlife. The project covers
six Osprey viewing facilities in Scotland
that allow the public to see these
magnificent birds at close quarters. The
sites are managed by FCS, RSPB, SWT and
Dumfries & Galloway Council and
wonderful stories have come out of all six
sites that have captivated the public and
the press. The two FCS sites at Aberfoyle
and in Glentress have also had their nail
biting moments, when a natural nest site
was blown out of a tree at Aberfoyle and
David Anderson raced to save the chicks
and build a new nest for them. In Glentress
this year we watched with baited breadth
to see if the youngest chick of four, that had
been named "Errol", would survive the
wrath of his siblings in the fight for food.
Luckily both stories had a happy ending! If
you would like to watch the stories unfold
next season and see live images then visit
www.forestry.gov.uk/tweedvalleyospreys,
which also has links to the FCS viewing site
at Aberfoyle. All the Ospreys' 50th partners
also have websites, but rather than just visit
the website you might like to visit the
actual sites.

Sometimes creating nest sites isn't enough
as populations have actually been lost in
certain areas. We have worked closely
with Roy Dennis and SNH over the years
to help provide chicks for translocation
projects to other areas, both in Scotland
and further afield. This has resulted in
Osprey chicks from Scotland helping to
recolonise England under the Rutland
Water translocation project. Rutland birds
have gone on to form the basis of the
nascent Welsh breeding population. Other
chicks have been donated to a project in
Spain. Within Scotland, Red Kites have
been translocated from FCS nest sites on
the Black Isle to Perthshire and to
Dumfries and Galloway. The Red Kite trail
in Galloway, which allows the public to
see them, is a partnership project with
RSPB and local bodies.

The Golden Eagle, one of the most iconic
birds in Scotland, has also been helped by
building suitable nesting platforms on the
edge of forests adjacent to open moorland.
In Kintyre as part of a windfarm
development, we have been involved in
recreating important open moorland
habitat within an eagle's home range by
removing planted conifers and on Mull we
plan not to replant key areas after they

have been felled to help Golden Eagle
ranges. We are not only helping Golden
Eagle conservation in Scotland but also
helping partners in Ireland by providing
eaglets from eyries on the forest estate for
the Golden Eagle Trust Ltd reintroduction
scheme in Donegal, led by Lorcan
O'Toole, with which the Irish Raptor Study
Group is involved. A female Golden Eagle,
taken from an eyrie on FCS land in Glen
Affric in 2001 , became the first to lay eggs
in Ireland for almost 50 years.

Scotland has itself benefited from the re-
introduction of Sea Eagles from Norway
and several of the FCS managed forests
down the west coast now provide nesting
sites for these huge birds. The nest site on
Mull that the public can view during the
breeding season is on FCS managed land.
We work closely in partnership with RSPB,
the Mull & Iona Community Trust and local
volunteers to run the sea eagle viewing
facility and to protect the nest throughout
the season. There are several CCTV
viewing facilities in tourist information
facilities or visitor centres around Scotland,
which use nest sites within FCS
management. These include Hen Harriers,
Red Kites, Peregrines and Herons. Getting
the public involved in conservation and
allowing them to appreciate the richness of
the habitats and species that Scotland is

lucky to have, is one of the objectives of the
Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, and FCS is
keen to play a part in delivering this
objective. Well managed wildlife viewing
also has a key role to play in sustainable
rural development through green tourism
and we are keen to work with responsible
local businesses and partners to develop
projects that both safeguard the species and
allow the public to see them.

There are many other projects and species
that I could describe involving work with
Crested Tits and Crossbills in our
Caledonian Pinewood Reserves, boxes for
Goldeneyes and habitat management for
Nightjars in Dumfries and Galloway.
Satellite tracking of Honey Buzzards and
Ospreys with Roy Dennis' Highland
Foundation for Wildlife has also given
spectacular results.

Forestry has had its critics but the
wonderful thing about being asked to
write an article like this is that it makes me
realise just how much work is actually
being done. I think that the future is
extremely positive for the care of
Scotland's birds within the land managed
by Scotland's foresters.

Moira Baptie,
Forestry Commission , Inverness
Moira.baptie@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

Golden Eaglet (Forestry Commission)

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

11

The rise and fall of North-east
Scottish inland gulleries

k.

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Common Cull colony at Bluemill

(Ian Francis)

One of the more remarkable ornitho-
logical features of North-east Scotland is
the inland Common Gull colonies, once
alleged to be among the largest in the
world. The birds were first reported by
Dr.J.O. Wilson in 1889, on the hills
around Huntly and feeding on the lower
surrounding farmland. He said they had
first been noticed with a few Herring and
Lesser Black-backed Gulls twelve or
fifteen years before (in the 1870s). He
suggested that this might be due to the Sea
Birds Preservation Act of 1869 or
institution of the Gun License (though I
wonder if the Victorian slaughter of
predators was also important?). By the
1930s they were widespread, but there
was no suggestion that many colonies
were large. They appear to have increased
when people were away or busy with little
transport during World War II, and when
myxomatosis led to a decline of Rabbit
predators, especially Foxes, in the 1950s.

When I first visited the area in the late
1950s there was a huge population of
Herring Gulls breeding along the coast,
where they overflowed over the cliff tops.
They fed behind fishing boats at sea or on
farms inland according to the weather.
There were scattered colonies of Black-
headed Gulls on the waters and Common
Gulls on the hills inland. When I returned
in the 1970s the Rabbits were back, and
more people were visiting the coast. The
Herring Gulls were moving into town,
while the inland gulleries were being
displaced by drainage and forestry. The
Common Gulls in particular occurred in a
few large colonies, where the total may
have reached many thousands in the
1980s, with much smaller numbers of
large gulls, especially Lesser Black-backs,
with some Herring Gulls and a few
Greater Black-backs and Common Terns.

Map showing some inland Common Cull
colonies in North-East Scotland

I was usually away then, but when I
returned in the 1990s most of the large
gulls and the terns had gone, and the small
gulls were declining (see map). The
Common Gulls from the small colonies
deep in the hills normally appear to feed
by quartering the moorland alone a few
metres above the ground, and while their
nesting sites may move around they do not
show obvious fluctuations in breeding
success. The more numerous birds
breeding on the hilltops overlooking
agricultural land (where the Common
Gulls may benefit from game preservation
though the big gulls may become targets),
behave differently. They disperse high
overhead and descend in numbers on
possible food sources such as fields cut for
silage, ploughing, pig-farms, dumps, and
food put out in the garden. They show
more variation in their breeding success.
Large colonies are characterised by

heather giving way to grass when fertilised
by the birds, and are usually located
overlooking agricultural land suitable for
feeding (see photo on page 1 3).

A breeding failure was first noticed at a
huge colony in the Correen Hills during the
hot summer of 1973, when many chicks
starved in July. The converse situation was
seen there after storms on 12 June 1993.
One to two thousand pairs of Common
Gulls breeding on a ridge above 400 m
had lost interest in their nests, only five of
which still held one or two whole eggs,
though there were many broken eggs,
some still fresh, apparently sucked by an
unprecedented flock of about fifty corvids
working their way through the colony
unhindered by the gulls. Other lower
colonies were affected less. Over the next
few years the exposed and increasingly
overgrown Correen Hills were deserted,
and Common Gulls returned to a former
site in a sheltered valley at 300m, 1 2 km to
the south-west in Strathdon at Bluemill.

Low chick productivity was also noticed in
1977, 1991, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2004 and
2005, sometimes when there was also a

y J

Common Cull colony on the Correen Hills in 1 993
- now almost deserted (Ian Francis)

12

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

Cull colony in open moorland (Bill Bourne)

poor breeding success among seabirds
along the coast. This is being followed by
a decline in the population. It is difficult to
follow events at large gull colonies
dispersed over remote broken ground in
the hills, where in good years the whole
hillside may appear to move with chicks,
but in bad years they may be hard to find.
When a few dozen birds breeding on
Leuchar Moss near Aberdeen moved to an
adjacent gas pipeline inspection station
surrounded by bare gravel inside a
predator-prooffence in the late 1990s, the
birds arrived in March, started to lay in late
April, all had chicks by June, and all left in
July with few or no losses. In two years
with a poor success elsewhere, 1999 and
2005, some did not lay at first, but later,
together in late May, and in 1999 there

were still one live and ten recently dead
chicks after other birds had left on 12
August. There were few late nests in the
colonies in the hills, where the birds
usually left in July, and in poor years many
may not have bred at all.

Thus in north-east Scotland, Common
Gulls appear to have adapted successfully
to modern agriculture, feeding in the fields
and breeding on bare outlying hills lacking
cover for predators, which in some cases
are destroyed by gamekeepers. When the
hills were progressively afforested from the
1 950s the gulls congregated in a few large,
high colonies, where they are exposed to
bad weather, and drought sometimes also
affects the invertebrates on which the

Common Cull on farmland near Alford (Ian Francis)

chicks feed. Not only may there be a
breeding failure, but also mortality of the
adults on the shore during the subsequent
moult, as I noted in 2003.

There may be a similar problem with
Black-headed Gulls breeding around
inland waters on the low ground. Several
sites on Deeside were deserted after early
gales and a later drought which also
affected Common Gulls in 2003,
including a long-established colony of
over a thousand in a National Nature
Reserve at Dinnet (Hans Kruuk and Harry
Scott, per David Jenkins, pers. comm.).
Possibly when conditions are poor, large
gull colonies become vulnerable to
intraspecific competition for food leading
to a total breeding failure, after which
gulls are liable to move elsewhere. The
main factor affecting the breeding success
of such species appears to be not so much
long-term climatic change as weather
events in a particular year.

Documentation and acknowledgements
will be found in Birds in Moray and Nairn
2003 : 91-101. I am particularly indebted
to the Editor, Martin Cook, for assistance.

W.R.P. Bourne , Aberdeen University.

North-East Scotland Breeding Bird Atlas - the final Sap

Fieldwork continued well in 2005, the
fourth year of our five-year Breeding Bird
Atlas in Aberdeenshire and Moray. Although
it is a challenge meeting our annual
coverage targets, there is still tremendous
enthusiasm for the project. Over 300 people
have contributed so far, producing some
80,000 records. The map shows the general
level of coverage, with land over 300m
shaded. We now have records from 2,202 of
the 2,340 tetrads, though intensity of
coverage still varies greatly. The gaps can be
seen, and the Turriff to Keith area is a high
priority for targeted visits! Parts of the
Mearns in the south are also poorly covered
- are there any Angus birders out there who
wish to help?

All species and all records 2002-2005, scaled by no of species per tetrad

9012345678901

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

One of the aims of the atlas is to allow
comparison with the previous
Aberdeenshire breeding atlas carried out in
1981-1984. The tetrad data have to be
converted into the recording units used in
that project, but some fascinating maps can
be produced. For example, the Tree
Sparrow (see maps) appears to have
increased in range here over the last 20
years. We can easily make such
comparisons, but we will also have to
interpret them, including questions about
coverage levels in the two atlases, and
while some species clearly have changed in
status, interpretation may be more complex
for others. These issues will be considered
carefully as the project draws to a close.

Tree Sparrow 1981-1984

We are still in need of help from
birdwatchers from out of the area in
2006. If any SOC member wishes to
spend a weekend helping, we would be
delighted to hear from them. Any birders
living close to the borders of the area
might also consider participating - if so,
please contact me at: ifnp@clara.co.uk
(019755 62457) or Martin Cook for
Moray on martin.cook9@virgin.net

Ian Francis

Tree Sparrow 2002-2004

Girding Links

It seems strange that the Scots, normally
noted for their outstanding practicality and
common sense, should lay claims to have
invented the game of golf - surely one of
the most frustrating pastimes "enjoyed" by
millions across the world. However, I
doubt if those early pioneers could have
guessed at the positive impact their game
was to have on our bird populations.

As those amongst you who are strictly
non-golfers will know, golf is played on
what at first glance looks like a short-
cropped and carefully manicured swathe
of greenery, with the occasional hazard
zone e.g. bunkers and bushes. As far as
coastal courses, or links, are concerned,
the reality is much better than this may
appear. Having long been an advocate of
golf course development, I believe that
these recreational areas have actually
become 'reserves' which prove partic-
ularly useful for many species encoun-
tering problems elsewhere.

Over the past 35 years I've had the
privilege of being able to visit Turnberry
Golf Course and, more recently, Royal
Troon. Along with occasional outings to
other courses, the picture which has
emerged is one which is very encouraging
for wildlife. So, what makes links courses
so good for birds?

Presently, all of Ayrshire's golf courses
encompass a huge area of over 3000
hectares, almost 60% of which is classed
as 'out of play'. Royal Troon links course,
itself, is over 7000 metres in length.
Coastal courses occupy a considerable
slice of land, much of which would
otherwise be threatened by
developments such as housing or
industry. Coastal sand dunes are

Royal Troon C.C. (Angus Hogg)

vulnerable habitats, susceptible to
problems such as erosion, and increases
in human activity might result in serious
damage to the plant and animal
communities there. Naturally, this threat
alone suggests that some action should
be taken to protect these sites and the
wildlife therein.

Most golf courses, including Turnberry and
Royal Troon have management plans
which include nature conservation as a
key element. The active management of
features such as turf grass and greens also
takes in many of the needs of wildlife.
Most plans involve programmes to control
invasive species such as Sea Buckthorn,
regenerate Gorse and the cover it provides,
along with the maintenance of a diverse
habitat. The planting of protective zones of
Marram grass not only strengthens the
coastal defences of the course, but further
provides for the needs of birds.

Additionally, many courses also work with
both statutory and voluntary bodies such as
Scottish Natural Heritage and the SOC to
conduct survey work aimed at identifying
potential action points. This can become
particularly important for links courses
before and after high prestige events such
as The Open. Like most of what happens in
our countryside today, the theme of
'management' becomes almost a necessity.
Hackneyed though it might seem, the term
'stewardship of the countryside' is
something equally appropriate to the
wellbeing of golf courses.

The wide range of wildlife existing within
links courses may first become apparent
during the first quarter of the year. Much
of Ayrshire's Grey Partridge population
has declined significantly in farmland
during the past 25 years, so it's always a

real treat to see one or two coveys out
feeding on stubble adjacent to the courses
during the winter months. Turnberry has at
least two pairs of this scarce gamebird
breeding on the course. Gorse, Broom and
the scattered trees (mostly native) provide
valuable feeding areas for small passerines
such as Coal Tit, Blue Tit and Goldcrest
during this season. Although the courses
play host to a wide range of wintering
species, the coastal Marram zone is
important too, with seed-eaters such as
Reed Bunting, and occasionally Snow
Bunting, making use of it.

Spring is the time of year when the links
come alive though, and the important
range of near impenetrable bushes play
their part in this. Species such as Wren,
Robin and Dunnock (or Hedge Accentor if
you really prefer) all take advantage of the
scrub cover, with Royal Troon currently
supporting at least 30 pairs of the first
species. This cover also proves extremely
important for species such as Linnet
which, until recently, appeared to be
declining in many farming regions. Gorse
and large patches of Rosa rugosa form
havens for both this species and incoming
migrant warblers such as Sedge Warbler
and Whitethroat.

Sedge Warbler (Lang Stewart)

In the past two years Royal Troon has held
as many as 20 pairs of Whitethroats. The
coming years might yet prove to be more
interesting, with singing Lesser
Whitethroats having turned up at three
links courses in recent Springs.

Large tracts of 'rough' might trouble some
American golfers unused to such extensive
areas of thick grass, but bird species such
as Skylark and Meadow Pipit thrive on
them. Once more, the former species has
faced problems over much of the UK due
to changing land use, but the rough on
Royal Troon supports around 30 pairs,
with Meadow Pipits topping 40 pairs.
Clearly the care taken by management
staff here, especially since The Open
Championship, has helped maintain a very

14

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

Turnberry light

(Angus Hogg)

Although I might not have required too
much convincing, having recently been
involved in a bird survey of the Royal
Troon course, it's become even more
apparent to me that links courses (and
doubtless inland ones too) are extremely
important refuges for birds, especially
some species suffering the effects of habitat
loss. It might not have been quite so
obvious to me 35 years ago, but any time
a planning application for a links course
crops up in Ayrshire, there really are few, if
any, alternatives which can support and
maintain such a diversity of wildlife in
coastal areas. I probably won't see any
eagles, and certainly no albatrosses, but
the future for many Ayrshire birdies
remains bright on the links.

Angus Hogg

healthy population of both these grassland
species. Isolated clumps of trees such as
Scots Pine, and small Hawthorn shrubs
add further to the diversity of breeding
birds on most links courses, with Carrion
Crow, Woodpigeon and Stonechat
occurring within them.

Many migrant species use the short grass
of the fairways to 'top up' as they move
through. Late March into May can provide
you with wonderful mornings when the
fairways and greens are full of Northern
Wheatears or White Wagtails, quite apart
from the sight of hordes of hirundines and
pipits moving up the coast. Unusual
species to occur, often in association with
those migrants, include Merlin,
Sparrowhawk - and even Hobby. During
early May, it is quite possible for many
species to enjoy at least 3 or 4 hours of
undisturbed feeding before the first
humans appear - usually the greens staff.
This is the time of day when most courses
seem to be bursting with life, and a good
time to take stock of what is actually
breeding or passing through.

As summer progresses, the variety of insect
life on links courses also becomes a bit
more obvious with common species of
butterfly such as Small Heath, Common
Blue, Meadow Brown and Peacock all
appearing. Less common species like Dark
Green Fritillary, Grayling or even a passing
Clouded Yellow can sometimes brighten
up a day when birds are starting to quieten
down. Autumn migration is no less
spectacular, with the coastal location of
links courses offering views of passage

geese, incoming Whooper Swans and, at
Turnberry, the chance to indulge in a spot
of seawatching (on days when even
golfers complain about the weather!).

Where the links course includes small
water features, the opportunity to add to
the list of species increases and these spots
can act like magnets to migrating
passerines - the appearance of a Siberian
Stonechat on Turnberry was at just such a
location. Waterfowl such as Mallard, Teal
and Tufted Duck use the small pools on
Turnberry, often with passage Snipe for
company around the margins. If the rodent
population has hit a peak in its cycle,
Short-eared Owls can turn up, seemingly
oblivious to the activities of golfers.

Much of what happens on links courses
is not the result of a happy accident. The
variety of habitats and the security
offered to birds is the result of carefully
developed strategies to develop the assets
of what is basically a rural landscape.
The fact that 'environmental
management' now features largely in
most plans has come about because of
the genuine interest shown by many
golfers in the wildlife present. Many
courses have now produced booklets and
information packs for golfers which they
can use before or during their round to
add that extra interest to their day out.
Most courses provide limited access to
birders but, providing responsible use is
made of rights of way and access points,
the links can be rewarding places to carry
out your pursuit in safety.

Stonechat

(Harry Scott)

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

15

WimcSfarms,
birds and
Scottish Power

David Fotheringham of Scottish Power sets
out the company's approach to windfarm
planning and construction and describes
how land around wind turbines can be
managed for birds. We welcome any
further contributions to this debate (Eds).

Windfarms and their effects on birds
continue to be a controversial issue, with
negative examples of badly-sited turbines
in Spain and US being used by critics to
condemn windfarms in the UK. But
Scottish Power, the UK's biggest onshore
wind energy developer, has a positive
story to tell. At a recent seminar, conser-
vation groups were briefed on the
company's best-practice approach to
windfarm development and management,
including positive conservation work and
ongoing research that will directly benefit
rare birds and their habitats.

Already 34 km2 of land is being managed
to promote biodiversity at Scottish Power's
three key windfarms - at Black Law near
Forth, Lanarkshire and at Beinn an Tuirc
and Cruach Mhor in Argyll. The habitat
management plans in Argyll, which go
beyond mitigation for the effects of the
windfarms, are helping some of Scotland's
most impressive species, such as Golden
Eagle, Hen Harrier and Black Grouse.

Black Law, Lanarkshire

Here, Scottish Power has launched the
most ambitious landscape restoration and
habitat creation project ever undertaken
by a UK windfarm developer. Delegates
from the RSPB, SNH, BTO and SWT
toured the site - at 97 MW, the largest
windfarm in the UK - and heard about the
positive action at Black Law, where 1,440

16

Seminar personnel at Blacklaw Windfarm

(Scottish Power)

hectares are being actively managed to
create and improve conditions for birds
and other wildlife.

Central to the habitat management plan
has been Scottish Power's restoration of an
abandoned 150-hectare opencast coal
mine at Climpy. The hole in the ground,
with a capacity of 1 .5 million cubic metres,
was a blight on the landscape and devoid
of wildlife interest. The void has now been
filled and Scottish Power ecologist David
MacArthur explained: "The reinstatement
techniques we've used will benefit wading
birds. A clay cap over parts of the site will
deliberately impede drainage while a peat
and soil mix on the surface will result in
ponds and wet grassland for feeding and
nesting waders. In some respects we have
started from a baseline of zero. Our target
species - Lapwing, Snipe, Oystercatcher
and Curlew - just weren't present in any
numbers during our initial surveys. We
expect to see an upward trend as the
habitats take shape." Around 300 metres of
the Abbey Burn, that used to run through
the Climpy site, have also been reinstated
to their original course and six metres on
either side of the bank are being developed
specifically for Water Voles and Otters.

Aerial view of Blacklaw site (Scottish Power)

Meanwhile, over 900 hectares of blanket
bog and acid grassland are being managed
for their biodiversity - including 400
hectares that had been dried out and
degraded by non-native conifer
plantations. The commercial forestry -
more than a million trees - is now being
removed and drains dammed to raise
water levels. The gradual improvements
will offer David and his colleagues a
chance to study blanket bog restoration
techniques that can be applied at other
sites. David said the company also plans
to enhance the diversity of deciduous
woodland and scrub, improving the site's
visual amenity, while sensitive planting
could entice Black Grouse back to the
area for the first time in 1 0 years.

On lower ground in the habitat
management area, "sacrificial crops" - left
unharvested to provide food for farmland
birds - will optimise numbers and

diversity while a nestbox programme will
encourage breeding species. David told
the conference: "Our habitat management
plan at Black Law goes well beyond mere
mitigation for the effects of the windfarm
construction and operation. It is all
positive conservation work and we hope
to demonstrate at Black Law that our
windfarm developments and the

environment can go hand in hand."

The RSPB and SNH are both represented
on the habitat management group and
have offered encouragement and advice.
Simon Zisman, the RSPB's Central Scotland
conservation officer, said: "Black Law has
taken a badly-scarred site and vastly
improved it. The terrible damage done by
opencast mining has been reversed. This
will benefit a range of wildlife - notably
breeding waders and farmland birds. It
would be fantastic to see the level of
commitment and resources invested in this
project by Scottish Power continued
throughout the rest of the industry."

The Argyll experience: Beinn an Tuirc

Habitat management work by Scottish
Power is enabling Golden Eagles to co-
exist successfully with its 46-turbine
windfarm at Beinn an Tuirc in Kintyre.
David MacArthur told the seminar that the
presence of a pair of eagles was identified
during the environmental assessment for
the 30 MW windfarm. In response,
mitigation was designed in at the planning
stage, with the turbines re-sited outwith
the birds' core territory.

Meanwhile 1,215 hectares of upland moor
- including 450 hectares that have been
cleared of commercial forestry - north of
the windfarm are being managed to
benefit the eagles' main prey species, Red
Grouse. The aim is to reduce the risk of
collision by encouraging the eagles to
hunt at the mitigation area and away from
the turbines. At the seminar, ornithologist
Mike Madders, of Natural Research, gave
his independent assessment of the success
of Scottish Power's conservation
measures. Mike explained the upland
habitat had suffered long-term degradation
for birds such as Golden Eagle and Hen
Harrier due to the impact of sheep farming
and mature commercial forestry.

His studies, that began in 1 997 prior to the
windfarm's construction and have so far
included more than 1,000 hours' of
observation, examined two key issues -
any displacement of eagles caused by the
turbines and the risk of collision. He
reported: "There has been a substantial
shift by the eagles into the habitat
management area. They may simply be
avoiding the windfarm, however the
clearance of commercial forestry has
enabled the birds to exploit habitat that

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

was previously not suitable for them. We
cannot separate this out at this stage. What
I can say is that the mitigation appears to
have been successful for the eagles. If you
take a windfarm of this scale and provide
a habitat area that's suitable, it appears to
reduce the likelihood there could be a
collision involving a turbine. We had just
one incident where an eagle flew over the
windfarm and it appears to have been an
anomaly - an immature bird rather than
one of the territorial pair."

Cruach Mhor

On the Cowal peninsula, studies are
continuing into Hen Harrier and Short-
eared Owl interaction with the 35-turbine
windfarm at Cruach Mhor windfarm.
Here, 577 hectares are being managed
following the clearance of 386 hectares of
conifers to enhance existing areas of
blanket bog and acid grassland. Although
his study was incomplete, Mike believed
there had been little or no displacement of
harriers from the windfarm area. A pair
nested at the site during the construction
phase and, in summer 2005, a pair fledged
four young successfully from a site within
300 metres of the nearest turbine.

"This is an interesting research opportunity,"
said Mike. "We are learning a lot from
studies at Cruach Mhor that will be of great
use in the debate about harriers and
windfarms. Trees are still being felled, so the
full effects of habitat management have not
yet kicked in, but it appears the existing area
is adequate for birds to rear young. It could
be we will see an increase in the number of
harriers using the new habitat once it is able
to support them." Mike said his studies were
continuing - especially into the potential
risk posed to juveniles and displaying adult
harriers - and he appealed to Scottish Power
to ensure flexibility was built into their plan
so that a response could be made should
conditions change.

Habitat management groups, with
representatives from the RSPB and SNH,
are in place at both Argyll windfarms. Both
sites have also been planted with areas of
native woodland to improve conditions

View to Sound and Paps of Jura (Scottish Power)

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

for Black Grouse. Scottish Power is also
supporting the species in the wider
community by sponsoring a project officer
with the Black Grouse Recovery Project in
Argyll and Bute.

The focus on responsible planning

Scottish Power is the largest owner of wind
power in the UK, with 13 operational
windfarms and a total capacity of 255 MW
- enough energy to power 140,000
households. The company has proposals
for a further 1,000 MW of wind power,
including a 322 MW site at Whitelee Forest
south of Glasgow which will be the largest
windfarm in Europe. Its wind power
programme represents a significant contri-
bution towards UK climate change targets,
with Black Law's 97 MW being enough to
supply 54,000 homes and displace
1 70,000 tonnes of C02 each year.

Head of Renewables Policy Alan Mortimer
said Scottish Power's programme was
being advanced in a responsible manner,
with a site selection policy that embraced
extensive environmental monitoring and
exhaustive consultation with stakeholders,
such as the RSPB, SNH and local people.
In 2004, the renewables team published a
policy document detailing its sustainable
approach to windfarm development,
following input from SNH, RSPB, WWF
and Friends of the Earth Scotland. It states
that Scottish Power will avoid sites that
would have an unacceptable impact on
landscape character and only pursue sites
in areas with nature conservation
designations if mitigation measures were
likely to be acceptable. Indeed the
company walked away from a proposed
site at Tressady after two years of planning
because it felt unable to mitigate
sufficiently for the effect of the windfarm
on birdlife, particularly birds of prey.

Crucially, site selection and planning are
carried out by an in-house team with
almost 20 years' experience in windfarm
development. And, once developed, the
windfarms are operated and managed by
Scottish Power, ensuring high levels of
environmental responsibility from start to
finish. Alan stressed: "It is important to
draw a distinction between Scottish Power,
who intend to own a windfarm for the long
term, and some companies out there who
are simply looking to gain planning
permission for a site before selling it on.
Because of our long-term interest we apply
particular rigour at the development stage
to ensure our projects are sustainable in
every sense of the word. We also recognise
the potential for large windfarms in the
right places to make a significant contri-
bution towards renewable energy targets.
We then incorporate environmental and
community benefits into all of our
developments wherever possible."

To date, the company has assessed more
than 400 locations across Scotland but
only one site in 10 passes the exhaustive
screening process that examines the
proposal's impact on environmental
factors, including birds, wildlife, habitat
and visual impact issues. And of those that
pass the screening, less than half the sites
progress to development following more
detailed assessments based on the best
possible environmental information.

Alan added: "Site selection is a core skill
for Scottish Power and something we are
proud of. In respect of birds, this means
on-site monitoring for a sufficient period
of time and to an appropriate standard
before we decide whether to take the site
forward for development. Our impact
assessments are of a very high standard
and we use experienced consultants."

Each of Scottish Power's 10 proposed
windfarm sites has its own habitat
management plan, with measures to
benefit a range of raptors, Black Grouse
and Capercaillie - plus Red Squirrel at
Harestanes, a planned 200 MW site in
Dumfriesshire. These mitigation areas
would bring the total area managed for
biodiversity at Scottish Power's windfarms
to 57 km2 - approaching the size of the
city of Dundee (65km2).

Bill Band, of SNH, said he was concerned
at the effects on landscapes of a large
number of windfarms being concentrated
in one area. But he said: "Scottish Power's
site selection process has been excellent -
particularly its large windfarms at Black
Law and Whitelee, which are sites we
judge as having the lowest level of
environmental sensitivity." Simon Zisman,
the RSPB's Central Scotland Conservation
Officer, added: "The challenge that
windfarms present is uncertainty of risk.
We know relatively little about the
impacts on birds from windfarms and have
to deal with that as best we can. We also
have limited access to the data that is out
there - developers often claim commercial
interest to keep the information to
themselves. Scottish Power's site selection
process is very welcome. They have an
excellent track record in using quality
consultants and we appreciate the effort
they and their consultants have made in
sharing information."

Although Scottish Power's renewables
focus is principally on onshore wind, its
portfolio includes hydro-electric schemes
at Galloway and Lanark. The company is
also supporting trials of Ocean Power
Delivery's 'Pelamis' wave power generator
and has carried out scoping surveys for
tidal power in Argyll.

David Fotheringham
17

NOTES & COMMENT

Pheasant catching
and eating Coal Tit

Can I suggest a possible explanation for
Mike Fraser's apparently bizarre
observation of an immature cock Pheasant
catching, killing and eating a Coal Tit, as
reported in SBN 78? This explanation
assumes that this Pheasant was captive-
reared, as is the case with the vast majority
of these birds. Feather-pecking and
cannibalism are a major problem in
captive-reared flocks of Pheasants, just as
they are in commercial flocks of that other
member of the family Phasianidae, the
laying hen (domestic fowl). Despite
preventive measures that are taken
routinely, as a former poultry scientist, I
can confirm that injurious pecking can still
sometimes lead to death and genuine
cannibalism in both species. Such severe
damage is usually caused by just a few
individuals. Hence, in the case of
Pheasants, it seems possible that, just
occasionally, an individual that has
developed a taste for eating flesh while in
its rearing flock, might persist in this
behaviour if the opportunity arises after it
is released.

In pine plantations, there are fewer large
snags because the trees are felled at the
end of a stand rotation. The trees that do
die during the life of a stand tend to be the
smallest trees, which die due to
competition from larger trees. Thus, the
Crested Tits are forced to use what is
available. Here, we describe a nest site
that was found in spring 2005 in a mixed
Scots Pine and Lodgepole Pine plantation
at Newtyle Wood in Morayshire.

Forestry Commission Scotland is aware of
the biodiversity value of deadwood in their
plantations, and is now creating high
stumps, which, in time, may be suitable for
nesting Crested Tits. It was notable that there
were several freshly created high stumps in
a clear-felled area close to the nest. This
should ensure that there will be suitable nest
sites for Crested Tits in the future.

Kenny Kortland & Ron Summers

John Savory

A Crested Tit nesting
in a tiny dead pine

Crested Tits usually construct their nest
sites by first excavating a nest chamber in
the soft rotten wood in a standing dead
tree (known as a snag). In the ancient
native pinewoods like Abernethy Forest,
they select the largest snags, typically with
a trunk diameter of about 45 cm. In such
snags, they excavate the rotten sapwood
between the bark and the central
heartwood. The heartwood rots very
slowly and remains hard because the cells
of the wood are resinous when a tree dies.
Given the limited amount of sapwood, the
tits seek out the largest snags.

Nesthole in Pine (Ron Summers)

Kenny Kortland at site (Ron Summers)

The nest site was located by the tapping
noise of the excavating bird. The Scots Pine
snag was only 3.1 m high and had a trunk
diameter of 1 1 cm at breast height. The nest
was 40 cm from the top of the snag where
the trunk diameter was probably only about
5 cm. The nest entrance faced west where a
branch had broken away from the trunk.
The snag was in an unthinned, dense stand,
with a surrounding density of 2200 live
pines per hectare. However, the nest was
within 5 m of a ride. The surrounding trees
probably sheltered the snag from stormy
weather, which may otherwise have
toppled the snag.

"The Ladies " and the

isle of May Bird Observatory.

In an otherwise splendid obituary of
Donald Watson in the "Independent" on
29 November Des Thompson writes "In
1934... W.B. Alexander gave a brilliant
lecture at Oxford on the Heligoland Bird
Observatory. This stimulated Watson into
helping plan and build the Heligoland
Trap... on the Isle of May off the Fife coast.
A year earlier he had made his first visit
there, where he met Dr Evelyn Baxter and
Miss Leonora Rintoul" (otherwise known
as The Ladies)...

Since this wasn't quite what I remembered
about the foundation of the Isle of May
Bird Observatory, I consulted Joe
Eggeling's The Isle of May (Oliver & Boyd,
1960: 118-20), where he reproduces a
report by H.F.D. Elder, its first Secretary:
"About this time (1933) an article by W.B.
Alexander appeared in British Birds
describing the bird observatory on
Heligoland, and R.M. Lockley was writing
in The Countryman about his bird trap on
Skokholm. We knew W.B. He had helped
us already in many ways... and promised
to assist us in any way he could. Soon
afterwards he visited Edinburgh to talk to
the Royal Physical Society about
Heligoland, and he ended his lecture by
explaining what we had in mind. The
reaction of the meeting was most
encouraging..."

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

Aquatic Sparrowhawk

On the 16th January I was heading up
Craigmill Den, east of Carnoustie, and met
a birding friend who was accompanied by
an Australian visitor. Within a few minutes
of watching Treecreepers, Goldcrest and
Bullfinch, the Australian visitor called out
"Sparrowhawk!" A female had hit a
Blackbird with such force that both birds
tumbled down the river bank and into the
fast flowing water. The Blackbird was
submerged under the Sparrowhawk which
was being carried down the stream on the
surface of the water with its wings
outstretched.

Eventually, the Sparrowhawk managed to
lodge itself under a small projecting
overhang and, with amazing tenacity,
began to pull itself and its prey up on to a
small ledge. It lay there for some time
before manoeuvring another few inches
up the bank with its prey still locked in its
talons. There was another long pause
before it began the plucking process; its
prey was long since dead either by
drowning or crushed by the talons which
were still locked on.

The three if us were amazed by the
strength of the Sparrowhawk and its ability
to overcome seemingly impossible odds to
live another day.

Dan Carmichael

Hooded Crow dropping winkle (Frank Stark)

Actually there was a bit more to this story
than is recorded there. I had a great
respect for Wilfrid Alexander, who was the
first really senior ornithologist to be nice to
me, and after he retired I visited him in
Swanage to debrief him about the history
of British ornithology. He had not much
respect for the Skokholm "observatory",
which he regarded as a pretentious labour-
camp, and much more for that on the Isle
of May. He reported that in Edinburgh that
Svengali (or Diaghilev?) of mid-century
Scottish ornithology, George Waterston,
took him aside, said he foresaw one
problem, territorial behaviour by The
Ladies, who considered that they had
inherited the Isle of May from John Harvie-
Brown, and asked if W.B. could help here.

So W.B. put on his best bib and tucker,
paid a courtesy call on The Ladies, and
repeated his lecture to them. After
expressing great respect for their work on
the Isle of May he then suggested they set
up a Heligoland Trap there. When they
began to make excuses, he then suggested
that if they played their cards right they
might be able to persuade the young folk
to do it, and eventually offered to go and
put the case to them. The rest is better-
known history.

W.R.P.Bourne

Hooded Crow dropping Winkle

I spotted this enterprising Hooded Crow at
a jetty in Stornoway trying to break a
winkle by flying up and dropping the
mollusc on to a small concrete pier from
about 20 feet. The crow then landed,
inspected the shell carefully, stabbed at it,
threw it about a bit, had another look, then
repeated the process. Finally it extracted
what I suspect was a dead, or at the very
least, stunned winkle. Four other Hoodies
in the area have learnt the same trick.

Frank Stark

White Stork (Eric McCabe )

Caption Competition

Provide a caption for the White Stork
pictured above and have a chance of
winning an SOC hat. Each SBN edition
will feature a new photo. The winner and
other best captions will be shown in SBN
80. Send your single caption by E-mail to:
jimmy.maxwell@virgin.net (or of course
by mail to the SOC - see Page 3)

The winning Caption from SBN 78 (see Teal
photo above) came from John Reid with
"On reflection, I really am a handsome
fellow!"- Well done! Others - "I'll show
that Antipodean who's boss around here!"
- Margaret Dunn. " So who's this Harry
Worth fella?" - Nick Carter

C jj/?-

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

19

BOOK REVIEWS

The Bedside Book of Birds, Graeme
Gibson, 2005. Bloomsbury, London,
370pp, ISBN 0-7475-7812-5, £20.

Compiled by a Canadian author, and
subtitled 'An Avian Miscellany', this book
is what it says it is, a collection of short
stories, legends, poems and folk tales
about birds. Naturalists such as W.H.
Hudson and classical authors such as
Shakespeare are represented, while
paintings by Audubon and Gould are
featured.

My interest in the book peaked very early
on, and subsequently I found it rather a
tedious read. The images are good,
however, and are drawn from many
sources ranging from cave art to modern
sketches.

Norman Elkins

From Dawn till Dusk by Darren
Woodhead 2005 1 56pp ISBN I-
904078-19-2 Langford Press £35
Available from SOC Bookshop at
Waterston House, Aberlady or
Langford Press.

Darren Woodhead is a young
Yorkshireman who is a very accomplished
wildlife artist, as well as a knowledgeable
field naturalist (see SBN 73, Sept. 2004)

Reliant (Robin?) three-wheeler, which
clearly set him on a wildlife path. Darren
describes the many influences that have
shaped his approach to drawing and
painting, acknowledging Tunnicliffe,
Busby, Ennion, Lars Jonsson etc, plus his
tutors at Art College in Wales and the
RCA, where he studied for a Masters.

The book is organised around the four
seasons and is profusely illustrated with
his watercolours and delightful line
drawings. He manages to capture both the
time of day and season of year as well as
the activities of the birds - all this with an
engaging commentary that always adds
interest and information for the reader.

Darren paints directly from nature and the
freshness of the images catches your
interest. Not only that, his control of light,
pattern, textures, composition and the rare
ability to portray natural behaviour of his
wildlife subjects puts him in a privileged
position amongst his contemporaries.

Publisher Ian Langford is to be congrat-
ulated on such a fine production, along
with Nye Hughes (also a participant in the
same D&P Course!) of Dalrymple Design,
who designed the layout and typography.
We all look forward to seeing many more
books from Darren and the Langford Press.

Bill Gardner

Birds New to Britain 1980-2004

Adrian Pitches and Tim Cleeves, 2005
T & A D Poyser, London. 344pp. ISBN
0-7136-6692-7 Hardback £35.00

Before even opening this book, the picture
of a Black Lark on the front cover is
enough to set the pulses racing and one
can only imagine what it must be like to
actually be the birder who finds a 'First for
Britain'.

The book is a compilation of finders'
accounts for 76 birds new to Britain and
follows on from Birds New to Britain and
Ireland by Tim Shanock and Pete Grant
which covered the period 1946-1980. As
Eric Meek (Chairman of the BOURC) states
in his foreword "This book is about
dreams... it is a book about dreams come
true!"

The book is presented chronologically and
each year starts with a general review of
the birding highlights. This is then
followed by a personal account of that
year by guest authors. Malcolm Roxby's
twitching accounts of 2001 , including two
attempts to land on North Ronaldsay to
see Siberian Blue Robin, left me
exhausted! Browsing through (which is

Although the

publishers claim that
it is a perfect gift for
birdwatchers and
literary ornithol-
ogists, it is not a
book I would buy,
but may be
suitable as a
light-hearted gift
to a birding
friend or relative.

John Busby's introduction sets the scene in
his foreword and he acknowledges
Darren's expert handling of the
watercolour medium
"with the skill of an
Oriental Master".

Darren begins the
book with an
engaging passage
about his

birdwatching
expeditions in the
Dales with his
grandfather in a

most likely how this book will be used), I
came across 1 988 and remembered as
Adrian Pitches describes it ..."and
domestic ructions in many households
when a first winter male American Robin
was found at Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire
on Christmas Eve." It wasn't a first for
Britain but when Martyn Scott 'phoned me
in Aberdeen as I was peeling the brussel
sprouts on Christmas morning, I almost
sliced my finger off!

Most active birders have 'special' years
that may or may not involve seeing
rarities, and the accounts of these authors
make fascinating reading. Ken Shaw's
account of 2003 describes one of his
favourite all-round birdwatching years
which was largely based in Scotland.

Scotland is, of course, well represented in
this book, with 19 of the 'Firsts' being
found here. 1985 was a "Shetland year"
with the first Cedar Waxwing, Chestnut-
sided Warbler and Brown Shrike, supple-
mented by a Blue Rock Thrush in
Strathclyde and a Wilson's Warbler in
Cornwall.

In 2004, however, Scotland 'cleaned up'
on 'Firsts'. The Purple Martin on the Outer
Hebrides was followed by Chestnut-eared
Bunting and Rufous-tailed Robin on Fair
Isle in October and the eminently
viewable Masked Shrike in Fife. The
acceptance of Sykes's Warbler that had
been trapped on Fair Isle in 1959,
completed the picture.

As one moves through the accounts of the
years, the incredible increase in birding
knowledge, taxonomy, publications and
expertise is evident. Add to this the
communications explosion with pagers,
grapevines, CDs for identification etc. and
it is small wonder that 'Firsts' keep being
discovered. 1993 and 2002 were the only
years in which no 'First' was discovered
and only six of the years had a single
'First'.

The book is richly illustrated with a
selection of line drawings and twenty-four
colour plates in the middle. You do not
need to be a hardened 'twitcher' to enjoy
it, and anyone who experiences a thrill at
finding a personal 'first', a 'first' for the
'patch' or, better still, for the country, can
easily relate to the excitement which
permeates these finders' accounts.

Overall, a well-constructed and readable
book and any serious birder will enjoy
looking back over twenty-five years and
recalling birds they saw and those they
missed! What is heartening to read in
many of the accounts, is the tremendous
attention to detail which many of the

20

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

finders' demonstrate in the descriptions
they give. Nowadays, many twitchers are
known to merely go and 'tick the box'! So
many of the species accounts (especially
the easily confused species, or races) show
that the finders were generally well versed
in their subject but also had the determi-
nation and patience to make detailed and
critical notes to clinch the identification.
Most accounts amply prove that they
deserved their prize!

Andy Thorpe

The Crow Chronicles - The Mob by

Clem Martini (Bloomsbury 2004)

The notes on the dust
jacket compare Clem
Martini's children's
book to "Watership
Down", but it is far
less sentimental. He
explores the

dilemmas of our
lives from politics
and religion to
leadership and
loyalty, danger and
rebellion through the lives of the Crows.

There are occasional glimpses of "Animal
Farm" and "The Birds". The Crow's
observations of humans, sometimes
obsessive, and their attempts to analyse
human behaviour are wryly amusing...

With its dark themes and suspense, this
book should provide a good read for a
stormy winter evening.

jean Torrance

expanded in line with the increasing
demand for his work.

There are chapters - beautifully illustrated
- on the Western and Northern Isles,
Aberlady Bay, St Abbs, Bass Rock and
Tyninghame estuary. From the last place,
he has included a number of paintings
showing his deep interest in rock pools
and how the colours and light change with
the tides. Travel always fascinated him and
faraway places gave him fresh fields to
explore and the chance develop his
techniques. Places such as Hawaii,
Falklands & Galapagos Islands, Crete and
so on add greatly to the enjoyment of this
book. But it is not just the paintings but the
writings which reflect lohn's personality as
well as giving the background and
thinking behind much of his work. You
will not be disappointed when you buy
this book.

Frank Hamilton

Conservation Science in the RSPB 2005.

Direct from Alix Middleton, RSPB, 25
Ravelston Terrace, Edinburgh EH4 3TP.
74pp £2.50

This excellent, easily-read booklet covers
a wide range of subjects. There are two or
three page summaries of work on the
monitoring of species such as Corncrake,
Capercaillie, etc but including Spotted
Eagles in Belarus. The next section deals
with threatened species ecology including
Reed Bunting, Tree Sparrow, albatrosses,
vultures, etc. Lastly, some fascinating work
on subjects as diverse as bird communities
in oil palm and rubber plantations, cats
and collars, use of fire for pine
regeneration and so on.

Land Marks & Sea Wings John Busby
Published by Wildlife Art Gallery,
Lavenham, Suffolk. 1 60pp ISBN
0952623692 £45

What a lovely book! It
is a joy to handle,
fascinating to read
and contains truly
interesting pictures.
This is a book you
really must try to
keep out of the
bookcase so that
you can look
again and again
at the huge range of
paintings. They reflect John's life from
his early years when his passion for
landscapes was formed and developed.
Art College in Edinburgh was the start of
his love of Scotland by which time his
pictures of birds and wildlife were

All the subjects are superb examples of
concise, readable writing, illustrated
throughout and with lists of publications if
you want more information. My view is
that all birdwatchers should read this. (This
publication is available in the SOC Library)

Frank Hamilton

Pelicans, Cormorants and their
Relatives: the Pel icani formes J. Bryan
Nelson, illustrated by John Busby,
Andrew Mackay and Bas Teunis,
Oxford University Press 2006, ISBN 0-
19-857727-3, 661 pages, £95.

As the 17th volume in OUP's series on
"Bird Families of the World", this is in every
sense a global book about the breeding
biology of pelicans, cormorants/shags,
darters, gannets/boobies, frigate birds and
tropic birds.

Well-known for his fieldwork on the Bass
Rock and the Gannets, and on the
Galapagos, Ascension Island and the
Boobies, Bryan Nelson has put his local
and worldwide experience into writing
this weighty handbook.

Half of the book goes generally into family
and then deeply into species accounts.
The other half goes widely into discussing
key issues facing the Pelicaniformes and
their researchers (including use and
potential of modern techniques such as
DNA analysis and remote sensing).

The issues discussed are: taxonomic
relationships; behaviour; breeding
ecology; and the impact of humans. The
last topic is alarming - drainage or
degradation of wetlands, persistent
pollution, discarded plastics and lines or
nets, and enormous loss of marine food
resources are all serious threats to the
Pelicaniformes. Most salutary for watchers
or researchers is the evidence about the
disruptions caused to seabird colonies by
human disturbance, especially with the
rise in eco tourism.

On the brighter side, as Nelson outlines,
efforts are afoot to compile adequate
species databases, to model population
trends and interactions with fisheries, and
to improve cooperation between seabird
biologists and between their discipline
and others. There is also a need to raise
public awareness and to promote interna-
tional marine reserves.

From the broad and fluent discussion of
such issues, the book narrows into the
species accounts, which are reference
entries packed with details, well comple-
mented by maps and diagrams, and partic-
ularly valuable in the way they lead in to a
comprehensive listing of the literature. For
instance, the list cites a great deal of
Scottish research by Bob Furness and by
Sarah Wanless, as well as R.W.J. (Bob)
Smith's survey of Scottish Cormorant
colonies ( Scottish Birds 1969). Indeed, I
even found myself guided to the literature
on a distant aspect that interests me,
namely 'the Cormorant problem' on
Switzerland's lakes and rivers.

For the fieldworker, the species accounts
are backed up by an appendix of
measurements of each species.

The actual birds really come to life in John
Busby's 12 pages of masterly and charac-
terful drawings of territorial and pair
behaviour. Andrew Mackay's identifi-
cation colour plates are clear, concise, but
rather emblematic and flat.

Peter Holt

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

21

Seton Gordon's Scotland: an

Anthology. Compiled by Hamish
Brown, 2005. Whittles Publishing
Limited, Caithness, 329 pp, ISBN 1-
904445-22-5, £25.

If, like me, you are one
of those who enjoys » 1

reading books by and
books about the grand
old naturalists of the
past, then this new
anthology of

writings by Seton
Paul Gordon
(1886-1977), f
compiled by the
mountain walker and
writer Hamish Brown, should appeal
to you. Recently, Gordon was the subject
of a feature article in SBN 76, written by
his friend Arthur Ferguson. Included in
that article was a short letter from him
dated May 28 1965, which, in just a few
sentences, transports the reader to share
his experience while watching a Golden
Eagle eyrie in Skye. This is typical of many
of the selected extracts in this evocative
anthology. Not only does it remind us of
Gordon's remarkable life and
achievements, but it also serves as a taster
for his wide range of mostly out-of-print
books which can now be obtained readily
through the internet. I had previously
found his "The Golden Eagle, King of
Birds" (1955, republished 1980) to be a
fascinating and comprehensive account of
that species, typical of an era when
knowledge was based on field observation
and anecdote rather than on systematic
data gathering and analysis.

But the invariably kilted Seton Gordon
was much more than just a dedicated
field naturalist. Raised on Deeside, he
graduated with honours in biology at
Oxford, came to know the Hebrides
while a naval patrol officer in the 1914-
18 war, and spent 50 years living in Skye.
He began taking photographs of birds
and writing articles for publication in his
teens, and produced his first book "Birds
of the Loch and Mountain" in 1907. After
his death, Adam Watson wrote in Scottish
Birds (1977, 9(6)) that his early books
"brimmed with enthusiasm and already
showed his wide interest in birds, rare
plants, snow beds, regeneration of the old
Caledonian forest, piping, weather, folk
lore, history, place names, the survival of
Gaelic and a deep appreciation and
knowledge of the Highlands". He was
well travelled and his output was prolific.
As well as his many other publications,
he was sole author of 27 books from
1907 to 1971, about a third of which
were concerned mainly with birds. A
final letter of his about Whooper Swans
was published in "The Field" only days

before his death. His influence on
younger writers like Desmond
Nethersole-Thompson, Adam Watson
and Tom Weir was profound.

After a Foreword by Hamish Brown and
Preface by Adam Watson, this anthology
consists of 121 extracts selected from
most of Seton Gordon's books and a few
of his other writings, grouped according
to subject under 14 headings. These are:
The Cairngorms; The Length of the Land;
The Outer Hebrides; Ways That Are
Gone; Birds Above All; Hill Days;
Western Isles; The Unrestful Past;
Wildlife Notes; Islands of the Edge;
Stories to Tell; The Isle of Skye; Bird
Notes; A Vanished World. Gordon's great
skill as a writer was his ability to convey
such a vivid sense of presence when
describing journeys, events, scenery and
weather that the reader can imagine
being there with him. Generally his
easily flowing prose is a pleasure to read,
but just occasionally he wrote in an
embellished style that some will find
poetic and others overdone. I liked his
frequent translations of Gaelic place
names and quotations, and I found three
of his alternative names for Scottish birds
that are not listed in Jackson's and
Mitchell's "A Guide to Scots Bird
Names" (1 996)1

Birds are referred to frequently
throughout this book, although only two
sections deal with them specifically.
There are numerous interesting
anecdotes of unusual types of bird and
mammal behaviour. Evidence, for
example, of red deer eating carrion; a fox
carrying a lamb on its back; a Heron
eating a Blackbird; a young Ptarmigan
swimming in a lochan; and a Golden
Eagle killed in flight by a stoat it had
caught. Seton Gordon's bagpipe playing
attracted seals and red deer, and he
reproduced a Greenshank's song on his
chanter. On one occasion he even cooled
a panting Dotterel by placing a large
snowball next to it! My particular
favourites are his description of the
piratical behaviour of Bonxies seen at
Noss and Hermaness in Shetland, a flight
from Skye across St Kilda to Rockall to
count Guillemots in 1944 and amusing
accounts of disruption caused by that
"terrible pest" - the Highland midge. At
the end of the 1914-18 war, a stalker
friend found a "bomb" near Derry Lodge
that was later identified as a flare
dropped by a German Zeppelin in 1916.
Gordon's day-to-day pocket diary entries
for 1945 are included at the end of the
book and they illustrate just how active
he still was in his sixtieth year in
maintaining his travels and wide range of
interests, in spite of wartime restrictions.

The book is well illustrated with black
and white photographs taken of and by
Seton Gordon, though the placing of
these is sometimes obscure. Also, a map
of Scotland would have been useful to
show places referred to in the extracts.
These are minor quibbles, however, and
we should thank Hamish Brown for
producing this historic collection to
treasure. I recommend it.

John Savory

RSPB Children's Guide to Bird
watching, David Chandler & Mike
Unwin, 2005. A & C Black, London,
1 28pp, ISBN 0-7136-7157-2, £9.99.

This small book, with a
tough waterproof
cover, is packed with
advice on every
aspect of the art of
birdwatching.
Aimed at 8-12 year
olds, it would also
be a mine of
information for
adults new to the
hobby. The book
includes tips on identification, mainly
in a succinct mini field guide of 70 pages,
in which the illustrations are mostly
excellent, coming as they do from several
well-known artists. My main criticism is
that a few are over-coloured, especially an
orangey Dunnock, reddish-winged Long-
tailed Tit and a Sedge Warbler with an
enormous supercilium. These are minor
quibbles though and the rest of the book
has good advice on equipment, habitats,
notebooks, recording and how to actually
watch birds.

A nice touch is the section on binoculars
and how to use them - some adults would
find this useful! For the more serious
youngster, there are suggestions on where
to go next e.g. websites, surveys and
travel. A really good idea is the highlighted
(in red) advice on personal safety, such as
walking near banks, on mud and in remote
spots, and the necessary accompaniment
of adults. A section on the birding year is
geared towards the school holidays. There
is a glossary at the end, a map of RSPB
reserves inside the front cover and a
checklist inside the back cover. This must
be one of the best children's bird books I
have seen and I would even say that it is a
must for every school classroom and home
bookcase. An ideal gift, but the price
would also be affordable to most keen
youngsters. Get out there and buy this for
your budding Bill Oddie today!

Norman Elkins

22

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

BirdLine

SCOTLAND
09068
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Hotline 01292 611994

RECENT REPORTS

A review of winter 2005-06

A comparatively disappointing winter for
rarities, the highlight was undoubtedly the
Brunnich's Guillemot on Shetland that
commuted between Lerwick harbour and
Bressay on 30th Nov-15th Dec at least -
the first live bird in British waters since
1997 and the first truly twitchable
individual since 1989, both those previous
two having also been on Shetland.
Although the bird appeared healthy
enough, it did show very well, often close
in off the main harbour area at Lerwick or
off the pier on Bressay. Very low numbers
of Little Auks were seen in the period, e.g.
only 1 0 were reported in the whole of Jan,
all from Orkney and Shetland. In contrast
there were some late dates for other
seabirds and good numbers of Pomarine
Skuas seen, with 33 reported in Nov
including at least 9 seen from a boat
survey between Whalsay and Sullom
(Shetland) on 18th, three off Lossiemouth
(Moray) on 26th and 3 past Kinghorn
harbour (Fife) on 27th. Up to 12 Pomarine
Skuas were then reported in Dec, mostly
from North-East Scotland and Shetland
and apparent over-wintering occurred in
both these areas with up to four juveniles
continuing to be seen on Shetland in Jan
and Feb. In Dec a Long-tailed Skua and a
Sooty Shearwater were reported off Mains
of Usan (Angus) on 3rd with an even later
Sooty seen off Catterline (North-East
Scotland) on 27th and single Grey
Phalaropes were seen in Dec on Orkney
and in Lothian.

It was a comparatively poor winter for
white-winged gulls with around 20
Iceland Gulls and 20 Glaucous Gulls
reported in Dec and at least 37 of each
species seen in Jan with numbers
remaining low into Feb. The peak count of
Iceland Gulls was again at Stornoway
harbour, Lewis (Outer Hebrides), with
seven seen on 1 4th Jan though five were at
Thurso (Caithness) on 7th Feb, whilst five
Glaucous Gulls were at Peterhead (North-
East Scotland) on 23rd Jan. Amongst
Iceland Gulls, an ad was back at Ayr
(Ayrshire) for its fifteenth winter though it
was still upstaged by the ad Ring-billed
Gull on Orkney, back at Stromness for its

Brunnich's Guillemot, Shetland (www.hughharrop.com)

eighteenth winter. Up to six different Ring-
billed Gulls were reported from Argyll in
the period, including two, an ad and 2nd-
winter, at Oban whilst an ad Ring-billed
Gull at Lunan bay on the 5th-6th Jan is
only the second record for Angus. This
bird was found by observers looking for an
ad Bonaparte's Gull that was seen
between Montrose and Lunan Bay on 3rd
Jan-2nd Feb. It proved very elusive, only
being seen on three occasions (third
county record). Up to four adult Yellow-
legged Gulls were reported in the Clyde
area with the only other one being an ad
at Peterhead (North-East Scotland) from
14th Dec. Following on from the six
Laughing Gulls seen in Nov (and covered
in the last SBN report), another three birds
were found in Dec and Jan - an ad at Ayr
(Ayrshire) briefly on 19th Dec, an ad at
Campbeltown (Argyll) from the 11th Jan at
least and an ad at Ardrossan (Ayrshire)
from the 24th Jan (3rd-4th Ayrshire
records). These records are part of the UK-
wide influx of 60+ birds from the 2nd Nov
onwards.

with a second bird also on site there
during the month and another reported at
Seafield Pond (Lothian) on 18th Jan. Six
Rough-legged Buzzards were reported
from Shetland (2), Orkney, Outer
Hebrides, Lothian and Lanarkshire though
only two, on Fetlar (Shetland) in Nov and
Mainland Orkney in Jan/Feb lingered for
any length of time. Also on Shetland, two
White-billed Divers were seen (in South
Nesting and Mousa Sound) with one
reported off Flotta (Orkney) on 29th Jan.
Amongst waders, a very late juv American
Golden Plover at Ness, Lewis (Outer
Hebrides) may have been the bird first
seen there in Sept, whilst a 1 st-winter
Temminck's Stint on North Ronaldsay
(Orkney) on 28th Jan-6th Feb at least is
unsurprisingly the first winter record for
Scotland. An over-wintering Spotted
Redshank was again at Newshot Island
(Renfrewshire), a Little Stint was seen at
Outhead (Fife) on 21st Jan and single
Whimbrels were again spending their
winter at Stevenston Point (Ayrshire) and
Dunglass (Borders).

Two Snowy Owls were again on the Outer
Hebrides, being seen on and off on North
Uist and Lewis. Another was reported near
Kinlochewe (Highland) on 12th Dec. Four
Little Egrets were seen, at Loch Leven
(Perth & Kinross) still, in Dumfries &
Galloway and more unusually on Orkney
and Skye (Highland). Also on Skye a
Bittern was picked up exhausted near Uig
on 5th Jan, it was taken into care and
released at the RSPB Loch of Strathbeg
reserve (North-East Scotland) on 10th,

Lewis (Outer Hebrides) is proving itself to
be the rare wildfowl capital of Scotland
as five species, all of North American
origin, were seen there this winter.
Leading the way was a drake Redhead at
Brue on 14th Jan with remarkably
another reported, a female, on Tiree
(Argyll) from the 14th Dec onwards (2nd-
3rd Scottish records). Back on Lewis, a
drake Ring-necked Duck, drake Green-
winged Teal and drake American Wigeon
were all seen, all presumed returning

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)

23

Lesser Scaup, Caerlaverock (Tristan Reid)

birds, and a 1 st-winter female Lesser
Scaup was at Loch Barvas/Arnol on 11th-
20th Dec. Another female was seen in
Dec at Loch Leathan (Argyll) on 18th
whilst a drake was at Kilbirnie Loch and
on the nearby Barr Loch
(Ayrshire/Renfrewshire) from the 27th
Nov and a popular bird was at WWT
Caerlaverock (Dumfries & Galloway)
from the 16th Jan. Away from Lewis,
further drake Ring-necked Ducks were
reported in North-East Scotland and
Caithness, drake American Wigeons were
at Wick (Caithness) again and at RSPB
Loch of Strathbeg (North-East Scotland),
at least 10 further drake Green-winged
Teals were seen.

Three different King Eiders were on
Shetland in the period, the only one seen
elsewhere was a drake at Peterhead
(North-East Scotland) from 11th Dec. Up
to 1 2 Surf Scoters were seen in North-East
Scotland, Orkney, Moray & Nairn, Fife
and Lothian with Burghead Bay (Moray &
Nairn) proving to be the best site with up
to six seen there in both Nov and Dec.
Around 25 Smews were reported,
including a count of five birds including
four drakes at Loch Leven (Perth & Kinross)
on 8th Jan. The Central Scotland Taiga
Bean Goose flock numbered at least 275
birds this winter, with six seen at Loch
Connell (D&G) on 24th Dec and singles
reported on Orkney in Dec and Angus in

Taiga Bean Goose, Central (Stuart Green)

Jan. Up to two different Tundra Bean
Geese were on Mainland Orkney in the
period, whilst two birds proved popular
between Skateraw and Torness (Lothian)
from the 1 2th. Only one Snow Goose was
reported, a white morph, in North-East
Scotland at the end of Nov, then at
Montrose Basin (Angus) on 7th Dec and
the Eden Estuary (Fife) on 8th Dec-22nd
Jan at least. Good numbers of presumed
vagrant Canada Geese were reported,
including up to seven on Islay (Argyll) and
two birds amongst the Solway Barnacle
Geese (Dumfries & Galloway) - one of the
type hutchinsii and one of the type
taverneri (both now of course part of a
separate species, Lesser Canada Goose). A
Bewick's Swan was reported at Vane Farm
RSPB on 4th Feb - the only report received
from anywhere in Scotland this winter.

It was another Waxwing winter, even if the
numbers seen were not as spectacular as
last winter. 350+ were reported in Nov
including a flock of 199 birds in Aberdeen
on 1 8th, up to 800 were noted in Dec with
a peak count of 1 78 in Edinburgh on 1 1th
and 500+ were still around in Jan with
most again around Aberdeen and
Edinburgh including a flock of 140 in
Aberdeen on 26th and a flock of 1 04 in
Edinburgh the same day. By the end of the
month though, numbers had increased in
the west of Scotland with a flock of 101
birds in Glasgow on the 31st. Four
Northern Bullfinches were reported from
Shetland in Dec with three birds seen in
Orkney in Jan and then three in Lerwick
(Shetland) on 2nd Feb. Also on Shetland,
up to four Black-bellied Dippers were
reported in the period including a
Norwegian ringed bird at Voe. The only
Shore Lark was between Barns Ness and
Skateraw (Lothian) on 10th Dec and,
despite good numbers being seen in the
autumn, only five Lapland Buntings were
reported in Dec (on Fair Isle, Tiree and
Islay) and four in Jan, all from Lothian.
Hawfinches were seen at Scone Palace
(Perth & Kinross) throughout with a peak
count of 60 birds there on 31st Jan. It was
a poor winter for Great Grey Shrike with
only four reports: two in the Clyde area
and singles in Borders and Perth & Kinross.
Four Water Pipits were seen from Dec at
Hunterston Sands (Ayrshire), Kinneil
(Upper Forth) and two on Islay -
potentially the first records for Argyll. An
Arctic Redpoll at Aberlady Bay (Lothian)
from the 1 9th Dec onwards was probably
the most "well twitched" rarity of the
period. The bird, a classic 1 st-winter of the
form exilipes, associated with a small
group of Mealy and Lesser Redpolls on the
saltmarsh there and is the first twitchable
mainland Scotland individual since the
influx of winter 1995/96.

Angus Murray

24

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES

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Scottish Bird News

Scottish Bird News is the magazine of the
SOC. It acts as a channel of communication
for SOC members and disseminates
information relevant to Scotland's birdlife. It
is published four times a year in March,
June, September and December. Articles
and notices are welcomed and should be
sent to the Editors at the address below no
later than five weeks before publication. The
views expressed are not necessarily the
policy of the SOC. Contributors should note
that material has to be edited, often at short
notice, and it is not practical to let authors
see these changes in advance of publication.

The Scottish Ornithologists' Club,
The Scottish Birdwatching Resource
Centre, Waterston House, Aberlady,
East Lothian EH32 0PY,

Tel: 01875 871330
Fax: 01875 871035
E-mail: mail@the-soc.org.uk

The Scottish Ornithologists' Club (SOC) was
established by a group of Scottish ornithol-
ogists who met together in the rooms of the
Royal Scottish Geographical Society in
Edinburgh on 24th March 1936.

The Club now has 2200 members and 14
branches around Scotland. It plays a central
role in Scottish birdwatching, bringing
together amateur birdwatchers, keen birders
and research ornithologists with the aims of
documenting, studying and, not least,
enjoying Scotland's varied birdlife. Above
all, the SOC is a club, relying heavily on
keen volunteers and the support of its
membership.

Headquarters provide central publications
and an annual conference, and houses the
Waterston Library, the most comprehensive
library of bird literature in Scotland. The
network of branches, which meet in
Aberdeen, Ayr, the Borders, Dumfries,
Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness,
New Galloway, Orkney, St Andrews,
Stirling, Stranraer and Thurso, organise
field meetings, a winter programme of talks
and social events.

The SOC also supports the Local Recorders'
Network and the Scottish Birds Records
Committee. The latter maintains the
'official' Scottish List on behalf of the Club.
The Club supports research and survey
work through its Research Grants.

The Club maintains a regularly-updated
web site, which not only contains much
information about the Club, but is also the
key source of information about birds and
birdwatching in Scotland.

www. the-soc. org. uk

Passwords to access members' web pages

on the new SOC web site:

'reed' & 'bunting'

Scottish Bird News 79 (March 2006)