Arriving in Ayrshire in 1969, with a somewhat vague interest in birds, my move to Crosshill in 1970 took me into an area which I quickly realised was home to a rich diversity of wildlife and, more particularly, birdlife. I could see and hear all sorts of farmland species from my house, from secretive Spotted Flycatchers breeding in the garden, to jingling Corn Buntings at nearby Garpin Farm. However, I soon became aware of a rather special location which I could watch from a minor road (B7045) between Kirkmichael and Minishant – Blairbowie.
Any sighting of the diminutive European Storm Petrel is a delight in itself and this year in particular has been a bumper year for Ayrshire sightings. My personal tally of sightings whilst sea watching from my favoured spot at Dunure between 23rd May and 30th August is 46 birds with a high count of 15 on 28th June including a flock of ten birds at one point in my scope view. Viewing from Dunure with its height above sea level definitely gives an advantage to seeing Storm Petrels.
A small update to the Photo Gallery but some cracking images. Firstly, Hayden got lovely pictures of a Yellow-browed Warbler he managed to find at Bracken Bay. This also made it onto the Ayrshire Species List. Then Dave showed that birds don’t need to be rare to be spectacular with his stunning pictures of a Blue Tit in his garden, and a flock of Lapwings.
My thanks to Hayden Fripp and Dave Grant for sending them in.
With birds quietening down after a busy Spring, I can catch up with submissions to the Photo Gallery. As well as a lovely collection of great photos, Hayden managed to also get an entry in the Ayrshire Species List with his picture of a White-billed Diver. I’m sure he won’t mind me saying it isn’t going to win any photographic prizes but it will probably convince the various records committees! (And for those of us still needing this species, it leaves us very envious!) We have photos for most of the species on the Ayrshire List but there are gaps that could be filled, e.g. anyone got any old slides of Roseate Tern from Lady Isle? Or a nice picture of that family of Hawfinches that kept appearing on your bird table…? Please send them in.
My thanks to Hayden Fripp, Dave Grant, Angus Hogg and David Lynn for sending them in.
After the excitement of a certain New World visitor it’s back to our bread-and-butter birds, and what better way to pass a wet Sunday afternoon than to update the Photo Gallery. My thanks to Dave Grant, Angus Hogg and Bruce Kerr for sending them in.
Recently I was looking through the web-site of the Ayrshire Archaeological and Natural History Society and came across a number of documents published by the Society about birds in Ayrshire stretching back to 1948. I thought these might be of interest to readers of this site and so, with kind permission of the Society, I have included links to them below. Note, these are pretty big PDF documents.
A bit of excitement as Ayrshire’s first Yellow-rumped Warbler (aka Myrtle Warbler) turned up in a birder’s garden in Kilwinning. Cue the twitch. It was surreal standing with a bunch of birders in a back garden watching it while the neighbours were putting out their bins (and not the Leica kind). Here’s the first photo received, this from Dave Grant. Expect to see more of this obliging bird…
Dave has put together an identification sheet from photos taken of the Kilwinning bird that will help you should you join the twitch. Click on the icon below.
The Myrtle Gallery
As expected, more photos of this obliging bird have come in. My thanks to Dave Grant, Angus Hogg, Bruce Kerr and David Lynn
Welcome to the 2021 Ayrshire Bird Report. With the completion of yet another bird report, and it seems like we might even manage to get the report back on track by 2025. Of course, none of this would be possible without help from a great variety of people, and particular thanks must go to our local recorder, Fraser Simpson, for his assistance with numerous queries regarding records.
The report is available for free as a PDF download by clicking here.
Welcome to the 2020 Ayrshire Bird Report: the COVID Special Edition. With the completion of yet another bird report, and it seems like we might even manage to get the report back on track by 2025. Of course, none of this would be possible without help from a great variety of people, and particular thanks must go to our local recorder, Fraser Simpson, for his assistance with numerous queries regarding records.
The report is available for free as a PDF download by clicking here.
A quick update of the Photo Gallery seemed in order given we have a new entry for both the Ayrshire Species List and the Rarer Birds List thanks to Andrew Russell‘s photos of the adult White-tailed Eagle that has been frequenting Hunterston (except when I’m there!). My thanks to Dave Grant, Angus Hogg, Bruce Kerr, David Lynn and Andrew Russell for sending them in.
