Red Kites Breeding in Ayrshire

Background – Red Kite (Milvus milvus) formerly nested in Glen App during the early 1830s, but vanished as a breeding species soon afterwards (Gray & Anderson 1869). The last 19th century sighting of a live bird was at Lendalfoot during Oct-Nov 1892, by which time the species had become extinct over much of Scotland, largely due to persecution and egg-collection. Between 1856 and 1859 Gray recorded it breeding in Argyll (Bonaw), and Loch Lomond around the same time.

Since that time, Red Kite has remained a rare visitor to Ayrshire – until 1989, when they were re-introduced to several parts of the UK. A steady increase in sightings resulted from their re-introduction to Dumfries and Galloway in 2001, after which time records within Ayrshire became almost annual, often involving more than one bird after 2010, as the breeding numbers in D&G increased.

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Improvements to the Site

The very observant may have noticed slight improvements I’ve made to the Ayrshire Birding website (well, the weather has been awful). Read on for the details.

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Ayrshire Bird Report 2018

*Short-eared Owl at Bogside* (*Angus Hogg*)

Welcome to the 2018 Ayrshire Bird Report. The catch-up work continues, and we’re pleased to have managed to produce two bird reports within this year. it is available for free as a PDF download by clicking here.

Once again, the report has been supported by the Ayrshire Branch of the SOC, and both editors are grateful for the help, advice (and patience) received from the SOC local recorder for Ayrshire, Fraser Simpson, especially when pestered for extra details regarding some entries.

Angus Hogg and Dave Grant, Editors

Book Review: Collins Bird Guide 3rd Edition

The Collins Bird Guide was first published in 1999 and instantly became the go-to guide for all birders. The 2nd edition was published in 2009 with a subsequent reprint with further amendments in 2018 (though not enough amendments to call it a 3rd edition). The long-awaited 3rd edition was finally published earlier this December. Is it still the go-to guide for birders?

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December 2022 Photos

Long-tailed Gull, Stevenston Point, ©David Lynn, 2022

Kingfisher, Ayr, ©Dave Grant, 2022

Male Eider, Largs, ©Bob Ross, 2022

Snow Bunting, Stevenston Point, ©Bruce Kerr, 2022

As a distraction from peeling sprouts, I’ve managed to catch up with the recent batch of photos sent in for the Photo Gallery. There are some festive delights such as Dave Grant’s Kingfisher pushed down to the coast by the cold snap. Bruce Kerr got a stunning close-up of the obliging Snow Bunting at Stevenston Point which was also the location for David Lynn’s great duo of Long-tailed Duck and Little Gull. Bob Ross’s lovely picture of a male Eider proves that you just can’t have too much colour.

As usual, the above are just a taste of what has been added and are merely the Editor’s pick while enforcing the rules (e.g. an ex Recorder of this county tried to sneak in some great Red Kite pictures but they were not taken in Ayrshire – so no joy – harsh but fair, I’m sure you’ll agree!).

My thanks to Dave Grant, Angus Hogg, Bruce Kerr, David Lynn and Bob Ross for sending their photos in.

Festive best wishes to you all and I hope Santa brings the new optics and bird guides you asked for.

Nice Garden Tick

It’s always nice to get a new tick on your garden list. So you can imagine Selina Wilkinson‘s delight at adding Cattle Egret to her garden list when not just one but eleven birds appeared in the field behind her house in Girvan in October. And it wasn’t just new to her garden: it was new for the county. Cue twitch. Amazingly, more birds turned up, this time in North Ayrshire at Hunterson and Kilwinning. The photos below show some of the birds. My thanks to Dave Grant, Angus Hogg and David Lynn for sending them in. As fastest off the shutter, Dave’s picture also makes it to the Ayrshire Bird List.

Cattle Egret, Girvan, ©Dave Grant, 2022

Cattle Egret, Girvan, ©Angus Hogg, 2022

Cattle Egret, Kilwinning, ©David Lynn, 2022

September 2022 Photos

Arctic Terns, Meikle Craigs, ©David Lynn, 2022

Common Tern, Stevenston Point, ©David Lynn, 2022

As more wet and windy weather hits I took the opportunity to catch up on the photos sent in over the summer. It’s comforting to look back on birds against blue skies and David Lynn’s picture of Arctic Terns does the job and nicely complemenets his other picture of a Common Tern. Dave Grant has started a whole new genre with his set of gull chick pics. Aaaww. Bob Ross got a great picture of a Great Northern Diver in summer plumage from the ferry coming into Loch Ryan: I’ve decided that it was definitely on the Ayrshire side of the loch! As usual, these are just a taste of what has been added to the Photo Gallery. My thanks to Hayden Fripp, Dave Grant, Angus Hogg, David Lynn and Bob Ross for sending them in.

March 2022 Photos

In a desperate attempt to clear the decks before the arrival of the Spring photos, here’s a quick update with some late Winter photos. I’ve also included a very old picture from Angus of a Yellow Wagtail taken back in the 1970s taken on something called “film”. :-) As usual, these are just a taste of what has been added to the Photo Gallery. My thanks to Dave Grant, Angus Hogg, Bruce Kerr and David Lynn for sending them in.

Taxonomy Gone Mad

Every now and then the birding professionals at the BOU declare that the way we order our lists is all wrong and needs to be sorted. So they have lengthy and heated meetings where lots of Latin gets banded about, and then produce their new taxonomy. Well, here in Ayrshire, we like to keep up-to-date with this and so the Ayrshire Species List has had its decadal refresh. I won’t spoil the ending, but here are some highlights:

Lots of species now have a geographic prefix, e.g. Western Jackdaw and Atlantic Puffin.
Other species get a title bump, e.g. Great Cormorant (that’s going to annoy the anglers!)
Some sub-species have been added for the ~~anoraks~~ specialist birders, e.g. Greenland Wheatear.
Some things pop up in unexpected places, e.g. why aren’t Spotted and Pied Flycatcher together?

I’d like to thank Angus Hogg for doing the tedious list updates and for sending in some historical photos to use in the list for stuff no longer with us, e.g. Reeve’s Pheasant, Yellow Wagtail and Corn Buntings.

Ayrshire Bird Report 2017

Welcome to the 2017 Ayrshire Bird Report. Having felt that something was missing in our lives (!) – in the form of the annual Ayrshire Bird Report – the decision was taken to bring the series up to date, starting with the 2017 edition. The main reason for doing this was to improve access to information on Ayrshire’s birds. This time, however, the medium used is not the familiar printed version but instead it is available for free as a PDF download by clicking here. Once again, the report has been supported by the Ayrshire Branch of the SOC, and both editors are grateful for the help and advice received from the SOC local recorder for Ayrshire, Fraser Simpson.

Angus Hogg and Dave Grant, Editors