The Newsletter of the Highland Local Group
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Highland Birds The newsletter of the Highland Local Group Issue 88 September 2015 Blackbirds & blue tit fledglings © Steve Austin Andy Hay (rspb Andy In this issue… Indoor reports: Office Update • Birds, Rivers & Environmental Law Field trip reports: Birding towards Nairn • In Search of Divers again • Loch Ruthven & Strathdearn • Assynt • Logie Steading & - Lochindorb • Banff coast & boat trip to Troup Head images.com) Future trips: Tarbat Ness area• Roseisle & Burghead • Torridon & Kishorn • Inverness area • Kildary Loch & Cromarty firth • Black Isle Christmas Birding coach trip The trip along the Cromarty Firth, including a visit to Editorial Kildary Loch, on Saturday 28th November and will be led by Gillian and Ian Wylie. Contact: Gillian or Ian on 01463 237836 Welcome back to another new season – On Saturday 12th December Doreen Manson will take I hope you are inspired by and enjoy our us on a coach trip around the Black Isle, followed by new Programme (enclosed). Please note lunch at the Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club. The booking form for this event is on the back of this that we will be using a new venue for newsletter with the coach costing £8. Lunch will be a the indoor meetings (directions below). limited choice menu (including Christmas dinner) at a cost of £12 for one course or £16.50 for two, payable on The new venue will be the Culduthel Christian Centre. the day. The coach will set off from the golf club at Directions: From the Inshes roundabout, turn onto the 9.00am. Contact: Doreen on 01997 433283 Southern Distributor road (B8082) (Tesco will be on your left). Go straight on through the next 5 roundabouts & Please note that the starting time for Saturday trips is then turn right at the next roundabout into Culduthel 9.30am at the Highland Council car park (unless stated Avenue and follow the road round – a sharp bend going otherwise in the programme). The time and place for to the right, then along the narrow road with small park Thursday trips is 9.30am at Inverness Retail Park. and woods to your left before turning right into the Keith Barnes Culduthel Christian Centre access road. The Centre is just up on the left hand side and there is parking at the front of the Centre and to the rear of the Church House. Please note that access cannot be Committee Members gained from the other end of Culduthel Avenue as it has been blocked off. We have now come to a stage where we really are in need of new committee members. Some of us have The blackbirds in our garden raised 2 broods this year served in this capacity for many years (in my case, in (from the same nest) in a Pyracantha at the back door, various capacities, in excess of 25 years). You can see and blue tits nested in a nest box just above it. It was that it is time for a change. In fact if no members come amusing to see the blue tits fledging on the same day as forward to help in some small way it is beginning to be the second blackbird brood – all looking at each other! difficult to see a way forward. I would hate my legacy to (see front cover). be a failed group, so please give some thought to the Meanwhile, many thanks again for all the contributions to position of the group. It’s true that we need some the Newsletter, and also to the NSRO for their help in the younger members, so can you think of any way to printing of it and of the Programme. Note: the drawings encourage new members? The group has always been are courtesy of RSPB Publishing Resources. successful and friendly – please help us to continue in Ed this vein: COME FORWARD AND JOIN THE COMMITTEE! Field trips September – December 2015 From your group leader The new season of field trips starts on Welcome back to our new season. As Saturday 26th September with a visit you can see we have once again to the Tarbat Ness area led by Ian and produced an excellent programme of events and talks. Gillian Wylie. They will be hoping to find some autumn migrants, both on land and sea. Contact: Ian or Liz in her first year of compiling and contacting speakers Gillian on 01463 237836 has produced an interesting and varied list of talks and On Thursday 8th October Hilary Rolton will be leading a we all appreciate the work that goes into this task and trip along the Moray coast looking for seaducks and thank Liz for taking on and managing this undertaking in waders. Places to be visited include Roseisle and such an efficient manner. Burghead. Contact: Hilary on 01309 611210 st Keith once again has produced a programme of field On Saturday 31 October we will be heading to the trips, both varied in habitats and in bird species – I west coast, visiting Lochs Torridon and Kishorn, with wonder if we are still in search of the white-billed diver! Keith and Rosie Barnes leading. Contact: Keith or Rosie – Thank you Keith for another job well done. And thanks on 01997 421193 also to the various leaders of trips and to Steve for In November we will be touring the Inverness area with producing the new Programme so efficiently. Doreen Manson on Thursday 12th. Contact: Doreen on 01997 433283 We will be at our new venue, the Culduthel Christian Centre, for our first meeting in September. l hope that you will all find it satisfactory; it looks good to us! But if you have any problems, complaints or suggestions then Birding towards Nairn please let me or any other committee member know. Saturday 28 February 2015 What a summer it has been – we have despite the weather seen good numbers of young birds in the It was certainly very overcast, cold and garden and this year the kite produced a young one for the first year since 2012. Among the usual small birds windy when we all met up at Milton of yellowhammers have been in good numbers; they have Culloden for a walk along the old A9 certainly found the bird table! overlooking the shoreline. Another common site in the garden has been the pine Apart from whistling waders and some gulls it didn’t martens, which seem to be nesting in the roof space of seem that we would stay long in the area. However this the house. We are planning putting up a box for them patch came up trumps with goldcrest, goldfinch, somewhere in the wood hoping that they will move chaffinch, tits and a handsome treecreeper as we house! made our way along to overlook the last bay on a turning tide. As luck would have it the sky cleared and we had My favourite moment this year, in mid May, was after a glorious bright sun for the next hour (only!). The blue thunder storm with torrential rain. Suddenly l heard sky was mirrored in the pools of sea water and the many birds calling, chirruping and tweeting. l looked up reflection of oystercatcher, shelduck, curlew, bar- to see the sky filled with hundreds of house martins tailed godwit and knot were worthy of a Walter Scott weaving in and out of the trees. What a sight; they painting. Every now and then the flock of knot were stayed for about half an hour and were never seen spooked by something, took off into the air and twisted again! Not even one pair remained to nest in our very and turned with the bright sun catching their white and hospitable eaves! grey plumage alternatively as they wheeled around and then resettled as before. A lovely sight to behold. Nine Thinking back to when l became group leader l mute swans including a few of cygnets from last year remember Richard’s advice: ‘first priority should be to were grouped together in the shallows, and goldeneye find a successor’. Did l ignore that advice ... NO; I’m still and a few scaup were also spotted. trying! Next stop Ardesier where a large number of handsome At our March meeting we presented a cheque to George fieldfares were foraging on the football pitch together for £1,000 to be used for work at Loch Insh. I have with lots of starlings. The cemetery was a received a letter from George thanking us for this disappointment as the wind was bitter and every self- contribution, which will be used towards replacing the respecting bird was sheltering out of sight with the roof on the steading – recently storm damaged. exception of an intrepid skylark singing tunefully above us: certainly my first seen this year. En route to Nairn It just remains for me to say l hope to see you all at our we spotted yellowhammer, greenfinch, buzzard, indoor meetings and the field trips in the following year. greylag and magpie. Doreen Manson There were several people in the group who hadn’t seen the striking and renowned Brent geese of Nairn golf Reminders Seating at Meetings: The front row of seats is available for those of you who have difficulty with walking, seeing or hearing, so please avail yourselves of this facility. Stamps: Rosie Barnes is still collecting used postage stamps on behalf of the RSPB, where they are still being collected to fund the ‘save the albatross campaign’. Bad weather contacts: If you’re in any doubt that a meeting will take place due to bad weather conditions please contact any committee member for up to date information.