GROUP LEADER'S REPORT As I am going away in July I am writing this in June on one of those frequent wet days. So much for “flaming June”. However, looking back at our mild winter I was pleased to see a pair of mallards on my pond for months, departing in late spring, but earlier a moorhen had arrived and remains here. Visited twice by another I have now happily seen one youngster. The swallows did not return until early May but are busy at present feeding their young.

In late February, 14 group members were given a guided walk round the Crook of Baldoon by warden Paul Tarling. This was most enjoyable despite the cold wind, with good views of 1400 golden plovers flying over the merse, dunlins, oystercatchers, shelduck, some geese and a nice group of twite twittering in a nearby tree. Earlier in the month, while walking at Glencaple on a cold, sunny day, I had seen about 150 whooper swans, hundreds of barnacle geese and a fair-size group of lapwings flying up the Nith valley.

The good weather in March brought out a number of butterflies, more in fact, than people turning out for Brian Nolan's seven film nights held at various venues. Dalry produced the biggest audience at 17 closely followed by Castle Douglas. We are very grateful to Brian for making such an effort to publicise RSPB's excellent new film about the European crane which is available on a DVD and can be purchased at our monthly meetings. Brian also participated, along with me, in the Mersehead sponsored walk on 17th March. Jointly we raised £143 which will be spent on that reserve. Our thanks to all those who sponsored us.

The two of us once again attended the Scottish Volunteers Day later in March and I was lucky enough to have Stuart Housden, RSPB's Scottish Director, join me at lunch. This gave me an opportunity to ask him about some of the queries and comments made by group members. During the previous session the question of bird strikes with wind turbines had been raised. As we know, raptors are susceptible to strikes, as are divers in the Western Isles but much development does not have an impact on birds. However, the easy less

damaging sites are becoming scarce now, so RSPB is having to examine more sites than ever and that takes time and money just when there is less money available from government agencies. This means RSPB will have to manage with less cash. Their international work is funded from sources unavailable for UK work, for example, foreign funding from the Green Investment Bank, so no cash used for this could have been used for bird protection in the UK. I raised with Stuart the wisdom of getting involved with Tesco but was told that their carbon footprint is less than most other major stores. They want to be involved in overseas environmental projects. The latest campaign, Together For Trees, is a partnership between Tesco and RSPB to help save rainforests all over the world, from Asia and Africa to the Caribbean thereby also helping to save threatened species. These forests are home to at least 70% of the world's land-based plants and animals. While most charities receive cash from big business the RSPB gets a very small percentage of its total income from this source. I know some of you think RSPB sends out too many appeals but I was assured by Stuart that there are only four a year and that some members tell HQ that they only want to receive appeals for certain areas. Incidentally, during the year 2011/12 £37,000 was raised from recycling ink cartridges and mobile phones taking the total income since this appeal began to over £362,000. After failing to recruit any volunteers to take part in the “Love Nature Week” can collections on 2nd and 9th June, it fell to Brian and me to do all day which is too much. One man in Dumfries did a few hours at Morrison‟s which was a great help. Our joint effort for the two days raised £673 which was less than last year. This year we were not at Tesco but that is yet to come on Friday and Saturday 21st and 22nd September. This is your chance to volunteer for two or three hours please. It is EASY and FUN so if you can help please contact Brian on 01644 420474. All money collected will go towards helping to save the rainforests.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity:

England and Wales No 207076; Scotland Charity No SC037654

a million voices for nature

RSPB GALLOWAY LOCAL GROUP

NEWSLETTER 51

LAPWING

AUTUMN 2012 Editor: Stephanie Dewhurst

The RSPB speaks out for birds and wildlife, tackling the problems that threaten our environment.

Nature is amazing - help us keep it that way.

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At last year's AGM I told members that I did not intend to stand for re-election as leader this year having served in that office for five years, preceded by over 12 years as group treasurer. That remains my decision so this is my last newsletter report. I hope you have enjoyed reading them twice a year and enjoyed the meetings etc over that time. I look forward to seeing you all again at the first meeting of the winter on 25th September.

Cynthia Douglas

GALLOWAY’S RED KITES Despite a mild winter and a good start to the spring, wet and windy weather in April/May has played havoc with the breeding efforts of all wildlife this year. George Christie (Red Kite Officer) and his team of volunteers managed to locate 72 territorial pairs and 68 active nests, showing an increase on last summer. However, 13 nests failed this year, with poor weather at the early chick or incubation stage. This resulted in lower productivity with 94 chicks processed, 80 of which were ringed and 77 tagged.

This now brings the population to over 380 kites in Dumfries and Galloway and with this being the tenth summer of breeding, it demonstrates that these birds are faring very well in this part of Scotland. Their breeding range is expanding with kites now breeding in Nithsdale, the Fleet Valley and near both Carsphairn and south of Kirkcudbright. Reports have been received of kites around Creetown and Glentrool and we are always keen to hear about any kite sightings away from the Loch Ken area.

George was assisted with a few volunteers this year, in tagging some of the red kite chicks. Lenka Sukenikova (Natural Heritage Officer for the „Building Opportunity in the Biosphere‟ project) took the excellent picture (below) of Judith Hartley, while both attended a tagging session with George.

Judith spent a few weeks with the red kite project, analysing data from visitor questionnaire feedback on the kite trail. Judith not only reported her findings, as students have done in previous years, but also updated findings for a study on the economic impact of the trail (reported back in 2010). She has helped to show that these birds of prey really are an asset to the area, contributing to an increase in visitor spending in our region. Not only are we seeing kites successfully return to SW Scotland but the interest generated is helping to support other wildlife too, through the work of RSPB Scotland and local communities.

Breeding range of red kites in Galloway,

showing the expansion since 2003

(white line) to present.

Judith with one of the 2012 chicks

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The feeding station has also seen some recent development. Anne Johnstone of Bellymack Hill Farm is having a new indoor viewing facility built at her farm, to accommodate visitors as they view the feeding red kites. This will include a viewing area, small cafeteria for light refreshments and toilet facilities. Anne also hopes to include exhibitions of rural crafts, such as crook making and wool spinning. The project has been funded by Anne and part-financed by SRDP (Scottish Rural Development Programme). Although work has seen various delays, the new facility should be open after summer.

A new guide has now been distributed to businesses and visitor centres across the kite trail to help many of our visitors find other wildlife attractions in and around the region. The manual – Places to Enjoy Wildlife in Dumfries & Galloway is just one of the

ways that we are encouraging more people to get out and enjoy nature, from birds to bluebells. The summer has seen a number of visitors to the kite trail. The most memorable „visitors‟ were not one but three cuckoos on telegraph wires below where kites were being fed. Two adults were attracted to a recently fledged cuckoo which was also approached by a meadow pipit carrying a mouthful of grubs. The juvenile appeared distracted by these adults, more interested in them than its surrogate parent, the bemused pipit. It provided very entertaining birdwatching. Let‟s hope that they make a safe return to Africa and that the pipit did eventually rear a brood of her own.

Calum Murray, GKT Community Liaison Officer

REPORT FROM CHRIS ROLLIE, AREA MANAGER, DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY I write in the afterglow of a fantastic three weeks spent in glorious Auvergne, where dear friends have a house that they let out to us for a few weeks most years. I had a week‟s hard birding with raptor group friends, then a more relaxing fortnight with family. The countryside seemed full of birds, with red-backed shrikes in better numbers than in recent years, woodland and farmland passerines abundant, and a wide variety of raptors, including short-toed eagle, Montagu‟s and hen harrier, honey buzzard, hobby, goshawk, red and black kites. At one point we counted 56 red kites on freshly mown fields to our right, and then a similar number of mixed kites on and over the slope to our left. Just a fantastic population of kites and other raptors in a countryside of mixed arable and hay meadows, with a wealth of blooming wild flowers, and the butterflies and other insects that go with these. Kites soared everywhere, including low over towns and villages, as they always have – and no-one was unsettled by this.

Therefore, I‟m sure you can imagine my horror upon returning to read in the Galloway News that some people think there are too many kites and that they are killing lots of small birds and even pheasant poults! There were also claims that we were putting out misinformation on kite diet. We have never denied that kites can and do take small live prey on occasion, especially when they are feeding chicks, but they are certainly not significant predators of small birds and there is no scientific evidence of them having a significant impact on a prey species anywhere under any circumstances, ever; they are largely carrion feeders. We released the kites in Galloway with the direct help of three shooting estates, and have since had the support of very many more, including a significant number of amateur and professional gamekeepers. This replicates what has happened in all of the other release sites in Scotland, England and Ireland. There has been no issue with kites killing pheasant poults in over twenty years, and indeed in Central Scotland both were released from adjacent pens in the same wood. However, as birdwatchers I guess we have to accept that not everyone likes birds of prey and resentment and prejudice towards them is very long standing in some sectors. Hopefully, there‟ll soon come a day when everyone can look out on gatherings of raptors and be awe-inspired or at least as unfussed about them as the relaxed residents of Auvergne always have been. The Crossmichael team has had two recent changes in personnel, with newly-wed Allie Mitchell (nee Graham) going off travelling with husband Ben; and Alison Robertson securing a post with the Solway Firth Partnership at the Crichton, just a short bus journey from her home in Glencaple. We all wish them well, and I am personally grateful for their hard work and professionalism with RSPB Scotland. The new Conservation Officer from 3 September will be Julia Gallagher, who is currently the RSPB‟s Machair LIFE Project Officer in the Uists, while Hazel Stewart, originally of Moniaive, will join us on 7 September to replace Alison as Area Administrator. A warm welcome to both awaits.

REPORT FROM CROOK OF BALDOON We celebrated the first open day for the Crook of Baldoon on the 15th April this year. Lisa Hooper, local wildlife artist and print maker, was there with some beautiful pictures for sale. Representatives from Cree Valley Community Woodland Trust, SNH, SEPA and Galloway Fisheries Trust came along and Brian Nolan launched the Crook of Baldoon summer raffle, at the RSPB sales stand. A great day was had by all and raffle tickets are still on sale, available through Brian or in the Wigtown Bay Visitor Centre. A snip at £5 per book or £1 per ticket, please

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support the Crook, our newest reserve in the region and have a chance to win a lovely Paul Collin print and other great prizes. Over the past months, the main activity has been survey work on breeding birds and monitoring the re-wetted areas at the northern end of the Crook. The re-wetted areas are looking promising, although the survey results have yet to be assessed. Redshank, lapwing, shelduck and shovelers have all shown interest in the area, and shovelers may have bred this year. I am pleased to report that, on the 1st of April, the Society purchased another 40 hectares of grassland to the south of the farm buildings. The area is, at present, grazed organically by a local dairy farmer and will be grazed in winter by organic sheep. August was going to see the harvest of the willow biomass to make room for further habitat development but this is now to be September due to technical difficulties for the harvesters. One piece of bad news is that the osprey female HD did not return this year to Wigtown Bay; it may be that she passed away naturally or was killed by one of the many hazards ospreys face each year on their migration. EP, the male of the pair, did return but another mate did not appear and he spent the summer roosting away from the original nest site and was seen sporadically through this period. The 24th July, one of our Remarkable Raptor events brought more excitement than expected with one of our Wigtown Bay Visitor Centre volunteers Jan, spotting an osprey on the camera nest. Alexa Seagrave, our new Wigtown Community and Wildlife Officer, rang the town bells from the County Buildings to welcome an osprey back to the nest. Later, we were able to establish that it was a bird new to Wigtown Bay but with ancestry in the area. Blue HJ (this is the colour of its leg ring) was rung as a male and hatched in 2010 at Caerlaverock but his father was hatched on Wigtown Bay in 2004 and rung green AW. HD‟s grandson is back in town. The return of HJ from Africa at two years of age is early but not unknown to happen. Young birds usually spend their first three or four years in sunnier climes before returning to the UK to seek a mate and nest site. HJ is clearly hoping to get ahead of the game, checking out his home turf. HJ spent half a day on the nest and even EP joined him for a short while until the ravens came and disturbed them. Additional branches and twigs had been brought to the nest by one or both birds. However in the days following the departure of the ospreys, the ravens gradually disposed of these, returning the nest to a grassy mound. Both birds have been seen around the bay and it is hoped that

they will return next year with partners in tow. The most regular raptor to the Bay has been a peregrine falcon, which has been sighted on almost a daily basis, sitting on the gargoyles of the County Buildings. Beautiful to see, but not quite so good to see the remains of wader chicks at the bottom of the tower! In addition to Remarkable Raptor events, held every Tuesday throughout July and August, Alexa was involved with Wigtown Community Festival, building a bug hotel which will hopefully be installed in the town gardens with the approval of the Community Council. Alexa will also be running children‟s events and guided walks around Wigtown during the Wigtown Book Festival. The Festival programmes are now available, and with activities to suit all tastes, why not consider a trip to Wigtown and visit our new reserve too? The RSPB will have a stand throughout the Book Festival in the „Flavour Marquee‟; please drop in to see us or if you‟d be interested in volunteering at any point during the Festival, please contact Alexa on 01988 402130. Next on the events list (but missing from the Hidden Gems list), are Gaggles of Geese events on Wednesday 17th and 24th October, and a Feed the Birds Day on Saturday 27th October. Come along and join in these family events, with lots of activities to keep the children or grandchildren happy and help the birds. The events will be held from 10-4pm in the County Buildings, Wigtown. Hope to see you there.

Paul Tarling, Warden, Crook of Baldoon

DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY RESERVES

Summer – what summer?! The one constant on the reserves front this summer has been the rain – it has barely stopped. This, plus the economic recession, appears to have had an impact on our visitor numbers, with much fewer folk around this summer. The team at the Mull of Galloway have certainly seen a drop off in visitors this year so far.

What has been changeable, though, are the reserves staff, with a number of departures and new arrivals. Will Cranstoun left his post as Galloway Reserves Warden at the end of June to join the Suffolk Wildlife Trust as Sites Manager for their western reserves. Will did a great job in the time he was with us and we wish him well in his new job. His replacement is Crystal Maw, who starts with us in October. Crystal has been working for the RSPB for a number of years on various posts, latterly on Islay, where she has been heading up a project on choughs and corncrakes.

Also leaving us is Hannah Doyle at the Mull of Galloway. After two seasons at the Mull and working at Kelvingrove and Mersehead during the last

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the bad weather and predation from outside the anti-predator fence. The new fence proved to be working, with no evidence of foxes or badgers entering the enclosure. However bird use inside the area was low, with a pair of lapwing displaying over the area and a pair of oyster catchers nesting and fledging two chicks. It would appear that more time will be required to allow ground nesting birds to find the new enclosure. Below I have listed the pairs of key breeding birds

surveyed this year at Mersehead.

couple of winters, Hannah has decided to become a teacher and is off to train at a Steiner school near Watford. She has been a very popular staff member at the Mull and elsewhere and we‟re very sorry to see her leave the Society, but wish her the very best in her new career. We recently had some bad news at the Wood of Cree where the Forestry Commission have identified an outbreak of Phytophthera ramorum disease in some larch trees. This is a fungus-like pathogen of plants that is causing extensive damage and mortality to trees and other plants in parts of the United Kingdom. Phytophthora species in general - and P. ramorum is no exception - thrive in damp environments, which is partly why larch trees on the milder, moister, western side of Britain have been found affected so far. It spreads easily in moisture and water, so moist air currents, mists, fog and watercourses all provide the potential for movement. It can also be spread as contaminating spores by animals and possibly also by birds, as well as on footwear, vehicle wheels, and machinery and equipment used in forests or other habitats where it is present. For this reason we have acted speedily to kill chemically the infected trees and to cordon off the area to try and prevent visitors inadvertently spreading infected needles to other parts of the reserve and beyond. An additional worry is that the disease has a number of plant hosts, including blueberry, so we will be monitoring this species as well. Hopefully, though, our prompt action will nip the infection in the bud (if you‟ll pardon the pun).

Andrew Bielinski

Area Reserves Manager

MERSEHEAD RESERVE REPORT

As I reflected on the last few months at Mersehead, the first thing I pondered upon was what happened to the spring and summer this year! Despite the inclement weather the wildlife, staff and volunteers have soldiered on. In the early spring the reserve enjoyed visits from various birds of note such as the green-winged teal, red-breasted goose, ruff and a glossy ibis, Ross‟s goose and a leucistic barnacle goose. The usual spring migrants arrived with the first of the sand martins seen on 21st March and we prepared ourselves for the annual breeding season surveys, with the added incentive of the new anti-predator fence in hope of ensuring the safety of lapwing nests from ground predators. Needless to say the breeding season was a mixed bag of fortunes with very unseasonable weather in May, resulting in a rather poorer breeding season than expected. However most species seem to be on par compared with the previous breeding season. Waders did suffer again this spring mainly from

Species prs Species prs

Little Grebe 1 Blackbird 8

Mute Swan 1 Song Thrush 6

Shelduck 7 Grasshopper Warbler 1

Wigeon 2 Sedge Warbler 44

Gadwall 1 Reed Warbler 8

Teal 8 Lesser Whitethroat 4

Mallard 51 Whitethroat 29

Pintail 1 Blackcap 3

Garganey 2 Chiffchaff 9

Moorhen 2 Willow Warbler 15

Coot 2 Spotted Flycatcher 1

Oystercatcher 9 Long-tailed Tit 1

Lapwing 21 Blue Tit 5

Snipe 14 Great Tit 8

Curlew 5 Yellowhammer 17

Redshank 1 Starling 2

Woodpigeon 5 House Sparrow 3 Col-lared Dove 1 Chaffinch 48

Skylark 78 Greenfinch 3

Meadow Pipit 54 Goldfinch 8

Pied Wagtail 11 Linnet 9

Wren 31 Redpoll 3

Dunnock 8 Reed Bunting 41

Wheatear 15

But of course it‟s not all about birds: the natterjack toads are still doing well at Mersehead and great efforts from staff and volunteers to maintain the population on the reserve continue, with positive results showing they are spreading from the original breeding ponds, and of course this was duly noted in the filming of them for the BBC Countryfile programme in May.

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The spring saw the start of the seasonal events programme which was kick-started with the „Wildfowl and Wader Wander‟ sponsored walk with over 60 participants champing at the bit ready to go, and first calculations showed we'd raised over £2000 for the continuing nature conservation work at Mersehead! Absolutely amazing!! A huge thank you to all the people who took part and to all those who sponsored them of course. Since then the usual Wild Wednesdays and Family Fun Fridays have continued throughout the season, and an additional sprinkling of various event such as Natterjack Walks and evening walks were well attended. The weather unfortunately has hampered us in some of the events and on a couple of occasions flooding closed us down for a day or two. Probably the most unusual event we hosted affected by the weather this year was the Dumfries Astronomy Club, with whom we partnered to watch the transit of Venus across the sun on 5th June. It rained constantly from 4am until 8am that morning and the eight diehards from the club and myself had to huddle around a laptop in the centre and watch the event online via NASA TV.

As many of you may know there have been a lot of changes at Mersehead over the last few months. We said farewell to Ben Mitchell, Assistant Warden for three years at the reserve. We recruited our first volunteer intern, Adam Reid, in March. Adam has settled in well to the site and thrown himself into the role getting involved in all aspects of the operation. This month (August) we also said good luck and an „au revoir‟ to Becky Jones for 12 months, as she goes off on maternity leave.

We welcomed our new Assistant Warden Rowena Flavelle, who joined us in August. Rowena has come straight from Titchwell, Norfolk and will spend the next two years learning the ropes at Mersehead. Of course we have had to cover Becky‟s role for the next 12 months and we will welcome Liz Hancocks at the end of September when she joins us after leaving her current post at Twycross Zoo in Warwickshire.

Colin Bartholomew Site Manager, Mersehead

VISIT TO ISLAY In early June, Heather and I enjoyed a four-day holiday on Islay/Jura. It was not intended specifically as a birdwatching trip but we enjoyed seeing and hearing some interesting birds. On one morning we went to the west of the island and, using the car as a hide at times, we saw three pairs of hen harriers (one male very close) within a couple of hours; also a cuckoo flying along from fence post to fence post, and a merlin; and we then heard a corncrake from Kilchoman churchyard. Later in the morning we drove along Loch Gruinart and walked towards Ardnave Point. Here on the sandy 'cliffs' there were many choughs and lots of sand martin nest banks being used. In one particular area, lapwings were plentiful and it was great to see chicks of various sizes running around in the fields. I later learnt that there are no foxes, badgers or mink on Islay, so less chance of predation. Rock doves and eider ducks were also plentiful. During our visit we stayed at the Port Charlotte Hotel, which was good but expensive. We were lucky to see a great northern diver from our bedroom window on two mornings (just fifty yards away). We had been told by a local about this bird and he had found a dead one on the beach a few days earlier. Was this perhaps a grieving mate? The day we went to Mull of Oa, we had to abandon our golden eagle and peregrine search due to the low cloud/mist. We couldn't even see the sea from the cliffs. Of course, Islay is probably most famous for the barnacle geese in the winter. (We did spot one with a broken wing on the beach!) We also saw lots of seals on the rocks beyond Ardbeg Distillery – and therein lies another story!

David Kay

Anyone interested in outdoor meetings in autumn and/or spring? Please let David Kay

know (Tel : 01556 650201) If there is sufficient interest, he will try to

arrange something. One suggestion has been to go to Leighton

Moss RSPB Reserve in spring 2013. Any other ideas?

THE OSPREYS AT NTS THREAVE ESTATE (OR, THAT’S WILDLIFE FOR YOU!) 2012 looks like being a year to remember as far as the ospreys at Threave have been concerned. At the beginning of the breeding season, all was going according to plan – if such a thing is possible. The male bird returned for his fifth season, having first shown up here in 2008. He was hatched at Glaslyn

‘LOVE NATURE WEEK’ IN JUNE: Brian and Cynthia in full plumage with their collecting cans

at Morrison’s in Dumfries

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in north Wales in 2006 and wears a ring, black 80, which was positively identified soon after his arrival on 26th March. We anticipated the arrival of his usual mate, an un-ringed female who had also first arrived here in 2008. Although they didn‟t raise any chicks in 2008, they returned in 2009 and successfully reared two chicks, followed by three in 2010 and two again last year. After his arrival this year, black 80 was noted bringing in sticks and he proceeded to repair the nest ready for the return of the female. He could be seen flying about, perched by the nest preening and bringing in occasional fish but, as time went on and his former mate didn‟t appear, we were beginning to get concerned – and so was black 80. The weather was not helpful, with persistent northerly winds during April and reports of severe storms in Spain, which may well have affected birds trying to migrate northwards.

Into May, there was still no sign of his mate but, on 11th May, a new female turned up (two in fact!) and he mated with his choice of new bird which began to lay on 29th May – some five weeks later than normal. Up to that point, both birds had been flying around but from then on, one of them was always on the nest, incubating the eggs. The young began to hatch on cue, 37 days later and the parent birds were seen feeding into the nest. Within a couple of weeks, the head of one chick could definitely be seen, and subsequently two were visible at feeding times. Then on Saturday 21st July some rather odd behaviour was noted, by various different people. It was a fine, calm day with light cloud cover, and as one of the team of Osprey Volunteers, I was looking forward to seeing plenty of visitors and giving them the opportunity of viewing, through the telescope, the parent birds feeding the chicks at the nest. When I arrived at the osprey viewing platform near Threave Castle at 1pm, the volunteer who had been on duty that morning informed me that the birds were not landing at the nest, nor had they brought in any food while she had been there, but they were flying around and occasionally coming near the nest only to veer away again. This had been going on for three hours. I took over at the osprey platform for the afternoon and was disconcerted to find the same pattern of behaviour continuing until almost 3pm when the female landed on the side of the nest with a fish, was briefly joined by the male and then they both flew off again seconds later, taking the fish with them. Two visitors and I all saw one chick‟s head in the nest at this point – the first sign of life all day! The adults repeated this behaviour another couple of times over the next five minutes, only to disappear again. It is true that the parent birds could frequently be seen flying about, singly or together, but often at a considerable distance from the nest, or very high in the sky. While they might have been able to observe the nest, they would have been too

far away to prevent any predation, especially when there were several flocks of gulls, the occasional buzzard, and even a third osprey in the vicinity. During the course of the afternoon, those of us at the platform were thrilled to watch a grey heron fishing on the opposite side of the river, to observe two mute swans with their family of six cygnets gliding serenely past us, and to see the rapid fly-past of a couple of kingfishers just above the water. At least some things were normal! Finally, at 3.40pm both birds returned to the nest, again with a fish, and suddenly two little heads appeared and the parents began feeding their chicks. By the time I left, at 4.45, the male was perched on the side of the nest and the female had tucked herself into the nest over the chicks. During the course of the afternoon, there were numerous visitors, several of whom had spent long periods observing the birds‟ behaviour and were equally puzzled. What had been going on? It is surely unusual for the parents to leave a nest for prolonged periods when the chicks are so tiny – only a fortnight old – and we were all very relieved to see the return to what we think of as „normal‟ osprey behaviour. Was it perhaps that the chicks had been fed very well early in the morning and were fast asleep for so long? Two days later I received an email from local group member, Mike Coupe, who had been down at the osprey platform early on Saturday morning and had also noted the absence of the parents at the nest. After 45 minutes of watching, during which he was able to take the above photo of the osprey as it flew over the platform, he had come to the conclusion that the parents had perhaps deserted the nest. Happily this wasn‟t the case and the chicks

Photo credit: Mike Coupe

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have continued to grow well. They were ringed on 7th August and both chicks are thought to be male. Chick 1 has Darvic ring – blue/white CU3; BTO ring 1408278 and weighed 1.673kg. Chick 2 has Darvic ring – blue/white CU4; BTO ring 1408279 and weighed 1.474 kg. They should fledge towards the end of August and be ready to migrate five weeks later. Follow further progress of the ospreys on the NTS Dumfries and Galloway Countryside Team blog: http://dandgrangers.blogspot.co.uk/

Stephanie Dewhurst

Opposite: ringing one of the osprey chicks

Annual Dalry Bird Festival: 21-23 September 2012 St Johns Town of Dalry

Join us for a weekend celebrating birds in the arts, music and sciences

Events and attractions

Annual Bird Art Exhibition: This year we have an exciting mix of artists and bird illustrators capturing a diverse approach to representing bird life in art. Exhibiting artists include: Malcolm Davies, John Hills, Bill Neill, John Threlfall, Lisa Hooper, Paul Collin, Suzanne Stuart Davies and others

Watson Raptor Science Prize Lectures: A series of lectures and discussions on the plight of the hen harrier (see overleaf)

Saturday Night Concert: A night of musical entertainment with Jo Miller and friends

Children’s Art and Nature Activities: Lots of fun events and activities running throughout the weekend

Dalry Illuminated: Inspired by Donald Watson's paintings, photographs from Dalry School Photography Club will be projected onto buildings in Dalry

Sunday Afternoon Music with harpist Rhona MacKay and friends

To find out more please contact: sarah@watsonbirds.org

or leave us a message on 01644 430457

WATSON RAPTOR SCIENCE PRIZE LECTURES Saturday 22 September 2012,

St John’s Town of Dalry

THE PLIGHT OF THE HEN HARRIER 2012 marks the 35th anniversary of the publication of

Donald Watson’s classic book The Hen Harrier. Sadly, this is now one of our most threatened birds - it has virtually ceased nesting in England, and is scarce in

southern Scotland. We are holding an event to mark the importance of this bird, and to hear about some of the new and exciting research being carried out. The work

on Orkney's hen harriers has been specially commended by the Watson Raptor Science Prize Panel.

13.00 - 14.00 Lunches available at Lochinvar Hotel or

Clachan Inn 14.00 A history of hen harriers in the south of Scotland -

Chris Rollie, RSPB 14.20 Hen harriers in Orkney: a success story -

Eric Meek, RSPB 15.00 Hen harriers and grouse on Langholm moor:

managing a special challenge - Aly McCluskie, Langholm Moor Demonstration Project

15.30 Tea/coffee 16.00 Hen harriers in Scotland today:

what does the future hold? - Brian Etheridge, Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme

16.30 Discussion

Chris Rollie is RSPB Area Manager for Dumfries and Galloway and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the

birds and naturalists of the area; Eric Meek has lived and worked in Orkney for more

than 30 years and is the widely recognised expert on Orkney’s birds;

Aly McCluskie is one of our most active raptor researchers with a special flair for communicating

his work; Brian Etheridge is the Scottish Raptor Monitoring

Scheme Officer with vast hands-on research experience of raptors, notably red kites, honey buzzards,

sparrow hawks and hen harriers.

Photo credit: Joyce Simpson

N.B. ANOTHER NEW VENUE for RSPB Galloway Local Group meetings!

Commencing on 25 September 2012, these will be held in Castle Douglas Town Hall,

1 St Andrew Street, Castle Douglas, DG7 1DE starting at 7.30 pm

RSPB GALLOWAY LOCAL GROUP WEBSITE: http://www.rspb.org.uk/groups/galloway/