The Birds of the Island of Bute (1927)

The Birds of the Firth of Clyde (1936)

Two sought-after bird guides by the Rev. J. M. McWilliam, a founding member and Honorary President of the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club, have been republished as eBooks. Proceeds are being donated to the SOC. The Birds of the Island of Bute (1927) and The Birds of the Firth of Clyde (1936) have long been collectors’ items with copies sometimes selling for more than £100.

Next season’s evening programme of events for the Central Ayrshire RSPB group and their outdoor programme in conjunction with the Ayrshire SOC group are now on the Events page. Events for other organisations will be posted if and when I receive them (did you notice that subtle hint to their committees?)

Update 16-June: SOC Ayrshire Branch picked up the hint – their winter programme is now posted.

The Ayrshire Bird Report 2010 has now been published. Please see the Bird Report section for the contents and where to get a copy.

Please see the attached flyer  for information on the BTO Heronry Survey in 2012.

Brian Broadley, BTO Representative, Ayrshire

Here is the final issue of the Ayrshire Atlas Newsletter.
Part one and Part two

Brian Broadley, Ayrshire Atlas Coordinator

Dave Grant has put together a film of a Short-eared Owl out hunting at Bogside.  The music is “Maid with Flaxen Hair” by Debussy (and yes, he knows about the missing apostrophe!).  Enjoy.

• Enhance the natural environment
• Increase understanding and appreciation of East Ayrshire’s natural environment and wildlife
• Engage with local communities to increase participation in wildlife conservation

These winter sessions are all indoors and are to produce important resources for wildlife conservation in the area around New Cumnock. We are working with landowners to improve habitat and these sessions will provide resting places for many species being supported through this work.  Details of the various sessions are in this document .

The regional office in Glasgow has managed to get a hold of a limited supply of a new RSPB Stonechat pin badge. This badge is not available anywhere else in Scotland and will be available at the next indoor meetings of both the North Ayrshire and Central Ayrshire RSPB local groups. Why not head along for a good night’s entertainment and get a hold of one of these exclusive badges at the same time!

Neil O’Donnell
Public Affairs Administrator, RSPB, South & West Scotland Region

The Ayrshire Species List has been revised to bring it up-to-date with recent sightings and a few enhancements:

• Each entry may have a coloured icon giving the trend in how this species is doing in the country. means things are looking good; means things are looking bad; no icon means there is no real change. This is a very rough, subjective indicator to give a quick gestalt of the species status in Ayrshire.
• For those odd people who like sub-species, the list now has separate entries for the different races of species.
• The status codes have been updated to reflect the current state: those that have been changed are highlighted in red.
• The list is now arranged into the sort du jour favoured by the people with PhDs in Ornitholgical Taxonomy.  (Ed.: personally I think this regular reshuffle is just a way for these people to keep their jobs – it seems pretty unintuitive to me!)  This was a horrendous edit and I’m sure I’ve messed up somewhere so please let me know where and I’ll feign interest.
• One thing that didn’t make it into the new table is the species’ BOU category.  (Angus added them, but the Editor’s decision is final.)
• If these codes are of interest to you then I assume you already have the BOU web site on your favourites fo easy reference and don’t need them repeated here (especially as they keep changing).
• This is a work-in-progress and we’d like your feedback.

You have only until 31st August to vote for the UK’s most wildlife-friendly farmer. Cast your vote at www.rspb.org.uk/farmvote and enter our prize draw and you could win a luxury weekend break for two.  The RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award celebrates the fantastic work farmers are already doing for wildlife – with a top prize of £1,000 for the very best!