november, 2009 newsletter - scottish wildlife trust · knowledge of the “tweetie birds” was...
TRANSCRIPT
Youth in Demand
Looking for a sign—some of our members at Torwoodlee in June
November, 2009
CENTRAL BORDERS MEMBERS CENTRE Issue No 4
NEWSLETTER
After the recent heat wave, it was disappointing to
awaken to a bitterly cold east wind and spots of
rain, for our guided walk to Torwoodlee Estate near
Galashiels, as part of “Wildlife Week”.
Owner Mr James Pringle, had kindly agreed to lead
the group, on a guided tour of the farmland, its
woodlands and open hill country.
On arrival, the 20 enthusiasts, who consisted of a
mixed bag of old and young and one canine conser-
vationist, soon forgot about the weather as their
host led them off on the tour. He imparted his vast
knowledge of the fascinating history of the estate,
which his family had farmed for generations, and
the surrounding landscape. He admitted that his
knowledge of the “tweetie birds” was scant, but
there was no shortage of birders in the group to
help identify things.
After quite a lengthy climb up a tree lined track, a
pause for a breather was taken at a crossroads
which offered stunning views over Galashiels
PASSING THE BUCK AT TOR-
BIRDS, BANTER AND A BREAKDOWN
towards the Eildons. Just over the wall was
Torwoodlee Golf Course. As the group watched,
a roe deer buck suddenly appeared and began
walking up the fairway towards them. Eventu-
ally it panicked and leapt the fence and disap-
peared into a nearby wood, not before some
jokes ensued about this being the place to come
for a “deer” round of golf!
A climb to the ancient Broch followed where
some of the more upland flora and fauna were
encountered, before heading back down to the
starting point at the steading.
How refreshing it was to encounter a landowner
going out of his way to welcome the public onto
his land and to give an insight into the com-
plexities of running such a large and beautiful
estate. We certainly learned a lot and I’m sure
that he managed to glean some new information
about local wildlife from some of our assembled
sages.
It was a case of all aboard the Bird
Bus for the 20 plus members and
friends who had decided to make the
trip this year to Hauxley on the
Northumberland Coast. It is managed
by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust
and is a reclaimed open cast mine,
which we have visited before.
Normally it is Eric who is close to a
breakdown every year trying to organ-
ise the bus, but this year it was the
bus which broke down – just a few
miles short of its destination.
John, our usual driver, managed to
nurse it over the final stage, but had
to about turn and limp all the way
back to Jedburgh to pick up another
coach, thus missing his usual bird
watching stint with our group, which
he always enjoyed.
One heavy shower in the afternoon
failed to dampen the spirits and a good
tally of birds was quickly accumulated.
Eric managed 54 species and as he
sheltered in one of the hides from the
rain, managed to clock a “lifer”. Alan
Pringle’s daughter first picked out a
small group of 4 terns which looked a
bit different and once brought under
the scrutiny of binoculars, it was soon
discovered that they were rare Roseate
Terns, which nest just offshore on
Coquet Island.
It just shows that every rain cloud has
a silver lining (or roseate in this case!)
Watch out for details of next year’s
Bird Bus when you can be sure of a day
filled with bags of birds and brilliant
banter.
At our AGM in April, Bob Straffen stood down after 4 years of sterling and
effective chairmanship. I am pleased to thank him for all his work and for
that of his wife, Stella, who has also retired from the Committee. I am de-
lighted to report that both Bob and Stella will remain active members of our
Centre. I am now feeling my way into the chair, very ably supported by your
hard working committee.
A highlight of this year for me was a day of crystal clarity on the hills and
moors of southern Roxburghshire. The wide-angle views of fresh greenery
that only May can bring were a delight on the drive south. On closer focus at
my destination I lingered over a view into a sun-flecked birch glade where an
Orange-tip butterfly flew through the dappled light. Finally and in close-up I
found my target of that day, tiny Green Hairstreak butterflies flitting over
moorland banks of heather and blaeberry, and in quite unexpectedly large
numbers.
It was a day to remember and a reminder of the precious landscapes and
habitats which we are so fortunate to enjoy in the Borders and in Scotland
and which must be maintained for the next generations.
At our Centre meetings, both indoors and outdoors, these next generations are
not well represented. We are top heavy with oldies like me and while all our
wisdom is much appreciated we would greatly value an increased presence of
younger members and young families. So, when our winter programme be-
gins in September, please do consider coming along, whatever age you are.
You will be made most welcome.
With best wishes
Malcolm Lindsay Chairman
August 2009
A sub-committee of the Members
Centre have been working with Julian
Warman (SE Scotland Reserves Man-
ager) to develop our reserve at Hare
Moss.
This work has the full and helpful
support of the landowner.
Hare Moss is a small and intimate
reserve but holds a pleasing diversity
of wildlife much of which can be
easily seen from the hide and from the
access path.
Particular highlights are its interest-
ing range of wetland and grassland
plants, a strong population of Little
Grebe (which can be studied at very
close range), breeding Water Rail
(more often heard than seen), good
populations of butterflies, day-flying
moths and damselflies and a variety of
winter wildfowl.
Our Centre has very recently pro-
vided funds to replace rather awk-
ward access styles with gates. The
SWT Tweed Valley Conservation Team
under the guidance of Eddie Degnan
will shortly undertake the installation
of these new gates. We are also plan-
ning the erection of road signs as the
small access road off the busy A7 is
difficult to identify.
Once these access tasks have been
completed we hope to see more visi-
tors using the reserve and, in due
course, this may include parties from
local schools.
We are also seeking funding for a full
perimeter pathway that would further
enhance the reserve.
2009
THURSDAY NOV 12
Peter Leach “Eye of Newt, Tongue of
Frog”
THURSDAY DEC 10
Graham Bell “Images of the Arctic”
2010
THURSDAY JAN 14
“Members Night” Bring along slides,
photos, curios etc (10 mins per member)
THURSDAY FEB 11
David Long “Botanical Exploration of
China”
THURSDAY MAR 11
Liz Hanson “The Art of Nature”
THURSDAY APR 8
AGM followed by Henry Gray
“Wildlife on Film”
*All events except walks and outings are illus-
trated talks held in the Langlee Centre, Marigold
Drive, Galashiels, at 7.30pm. Admission to mem-
bers is free and there is tea, coffee & biscuits and
a raffle at the interval.
Raffle prizes are always welcome, so why not
bring something along.
WATCH GROUP
Galashiels SWT Wildlife Watch Club For 8
– 12 year olds, meets last Tuesday of
month, 3.30 – 5pm, Focus Centre,
Livingston place, Galashiels. Lots of activi-
ties and outings for youngsters interested
in learning more about local wildlife.
Contacts:-
Susan Kevan (01896) 752889
Toni Coyle (01896) 753143
Dates for your Diary
pointing number of birds and notable
was the abundant chicory which was a
spectacular shade of blue.
The most memorable sight was the
countless thousands of Painted Lady
butterflies which were everywhere,
tending to favour scabious plants. In
all my worldly travels, I have never
seen such a concentration of butter-
flies.
The icing on the cake was the sight of
a stunning Cleopatra Butterfly.
Eric Middleton
Painted Lady numbers were amaz-
ing
Bonelli’s Warbler and lots of very con-
fiding Spotted Flycatchers.
The botany made up for the disap-
Mallorca is one of my all time favour-
ite holiday destinations and this year I
found it greatly changed since we first
went over 20 years ago.
This was our 9th trip and we found
that the last week of May was not the
best time to visit, as most of the mi-
grant birds had left.
Nonetheless, I did manage to see one
species for the first time ever – a Col-
lared Pratincole, which is a unique
cross between a swallow and a wader.
Some of the highlights of the 84 spe-
cies encountered, included Osprey,
Eleanora’s Falcon, Subalpine Warbler,
COLLARED PRATINCOLE MALLORCA HIGHLIGHT
Page 2 The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland (registered number SC040247) having its registered office at Cramond House, Cramond Glebe Road, Edinburgh EH4 6NS. It is also a Scottish registered charity (charity number SC005792)
brisk on a drying-out afternoon which saw us raise £215 from
the stalls and hopefully generated interest in the SWT and
the Central Borders Members Centre.
Many thanks are due to all those who helped at the show and
who kindly donated plants and bottles.
This year we decided to run a stand at
Peebles Agricultural Show to promote
the activities of SWT to the agricul-
tural community in a location which
does not at present have its own
Members Centre.
On an August Friday afternoon five of
us met at the showground in pouring
rain to erect our “mini-marquee”.
This was to prove challenging but
fortunately some of our number were
able to demonstrate a degree of spa-
tial awareness sufficient for the task.
Saturday dawned even wetter. We
were relieved to find our marquee had
survived the night. Plant and bottle
stalls and information desk were put
in place and we awaited the arrival of
the public in a downpour that was
becoming heavier by the minute.
Unsurprisingly very little trade oc-
curred before lunch but became quite
Peebles Show Stand Great Success OSPREY OMNIBUS
We visited the excellent SWT reserve at Loch of the Lowes
near Dunkeld and were treated to a fine and unusual (to
us at least) display. The male returned to the nest with a
fish and handed it to the female for her to feed the
young—normal so far. To our delight, he then proceeded
to fish again in the loch, just to the right of the hide and
in clear view. He caught a second fish and again took it to
the nest and again the female accepted it. Great so far.
However we were then really surprised to see him fish
AGAIN and immediately in the same spot and with the
same success. This time he took the fish to his own perch,
away from the nest and proceeded to have his own tea.
Just showing off?
(Incidently the red squirrels were also delightful and easy
to view.)
Back in Cardrona forest more drama. One of the young
Ospreys actually fell from the nest before fledging. It
could have been caused by a wind gust or simple careless-
ness but luckily the event was witnessed by volunteers
who raised the alarm. The experts searched carefully and
found the bird unharmed! Seemingly the bracken below
had cushioned the fall. The chick was fed with small
pieces of fish, given a thorough "medical" and returned to
the nest from where it fledged normally in its own good
time.
Isn't nature wonderful!
Stella & Bob
DISCOVER SCOTLAND’S WILDLIFE WITH NEW BOOKLET
An excellent booklet has recently been published by author Rosalind Jones entitled “Discover Scot-
land’s Wildlife” and is an excellent introduction to the best places in Scotland to see wildlife and what
to look for. All the profits are going to SWT funds so it is even more attractive, especially to our mem-
bers. It only costs £2.99 and we hope to have copies available for sale at our monthly meetings in Ga-
lashiels. (See above for details)