Scottish
Specialities
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Photo copyright Stuart
Potter
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Photo Courtesy of Shetland
Wildlife Tours
Photo copyright Stuart
Potter
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Photo Courtesy of Shetland
Wildlife Tours
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Photo copyright Frode
Falkenberg
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Photo copyright Nick
Lowton
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Photo Courtesy of Shetland
Wildlife Tours
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Photo copyright Alan
Spellman
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Photo copyright Tina
MacDonald
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Photo copyright Nick
Lowton
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Photo Courtesy of Shetland
Wildlife Tours
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Photo copyright Jeremy
Barker
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Photo Courtesy of Shetland
Wildlife Tours
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Photo copyright Lawrence
Poh
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 ....RSPB
Nature Reserves - this clickable map provides information on
approximately 36 nature
reserves in Scotland.
....The
Annotated Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance -
United
Kingdon - this site contains brief information on each of the Scottish
RAMSAR sites.
....Where
to watch birds in Scotland. Information is organized
according to a map of Scotland.
The site identifies good birdwatching opportunities in each area. The site,
part of the Wildlife Web,
is maintained by Paul Doyle (paul@wildlifeweb.f9.co.uk)
at Grampian and Cairngorms Wildlife Services, Aberdeen, Scotland.
....Where
to Birdwatch in Scotland - these pages, by the Scottish
Ornithologist's
Club, provide information about birdwatching in Scotland.
...."Stamping
Around Britain" - an illustrated trip report by Tina
....Baron's
Haugh RSPB website - near Glasgow. Baron’s Haugh
is
an important community nature reserve on the edge of Motherwell (Map Sheet
64 Grid ref : NS755548). Managed since 1983 by the RSPB (present site manager
– Mike Trubridge) it comprises 107.3 hectares of richly varied habitats.
The main water body (20 hectares) is controlled by a sluice enabling waterfowl
to nest in safety and also areas of mud to be exposed for passage waders.
The other habitats include marshland, woodland, meadows, parkland, areas
of scrub and a section of the River Clyde. Over 25,000 people visit the
Reserve each year – birders, dog walkers and other recreationists. It is
nationally important for its numbers of wintering Whooper swans and breeding
Gadwall, is a well know site for passage waders and hosts an excellent
bird spectacle at all times of year.
....Skye
Birds - A Birding Guide to the Island of Skye. This website is
dedicated
to the birds which find a niche in the in the wild and sometimes harsh
environment which makes the Island of Skye so unique. Though many aspects
of Skye's geology, topography, culture and history have been extensively
studied, other than for a few key species, little has ever been published
about its bird life.
....John
Molloy's Clyde Area Wildlife Site - information on Possil Marsh
....Local
Birding Sites - provided by the Highland Members RBP group.
Follow
the link to local birding.
....The
Best Places to See Birds - provided to you by Famous Grouse
Whiskey
(drinking and birding can lead to Great Auk sightings...)
....Wildlife
and Wetlands Trust - Caerlaverock is a 1,350-acre nature
reserve packed with wildlife.
It has the following facilities for visitors: 3 observation towers, 20
hides and wild swan observatory linked by screened approaches and seasonal
nature trails. Please note: Wellington boots are sometimes useful in winter.
See also Wildfowl
& Wetlands Trust.
....Bird
Watching Sites in and around Edinburgh - This
is a list of
some good birdwatching sites
in the Edinburgh and Lothian area. It includes description of habitat,
expected species, best time to visit, and travel arrangements from the
centre of Edinburgh.
....Places
to watch birds in Angus - by Andy Wakelin
Here are some of the places
to go birdwatching in Angus. A mix of reserves and countryside ranging
from cliffs and sea-watching to woodland to mountains. Andy also provides
some additional infomation on the Montrose
Basin. - a great place to watch birds.
....Birding
in Ayrshire - produced by the Ayrshire Branch of the SOC.
This
site contains a county map (with links to location reports), as well as
information on Ayrshire birds and best birding locations.
....The
Best Places to see Birds - Outdoor Places in the
Highlands
....Kinnaird
Head, a Mecca for Gulls - by I. M. Phillips - an article from
Birding
Scotland Magazine. Kinnaird Head, Fraserburgh (North East Scotland), is
a small headland as seawatching points go. It faces north-east into the
North Sea or entrance to the Moray Firth. It is not a pretty place! It
does, however, have several redeeming features if you are a birder, and,
particularly, a gull watcher. The proximity of an active fishing port and
related fish processing plants attracts large numbers of gulls to the area.
This together with an inshore outflow pipe just off the car park means
that the gulls come in very close (50m or closer).
....The
Birds of the Bass - by Dr Bryan Nelson. This article, part of the
great
Scottish
Seabird Centre site, outlines the history of the gannet colony on Bass
Rock, located in the North Berwick Harbour. In addition to gannets, the
Bass is home to guillemots, razorbills, puffins, fulmars, shags (no cormorants),
kittiwakes, herring gulls, lesser black-backs and now a few great black-backs
and eiders.
....Shetland
- a Birdwatcher's Paradise - by Hugh Harrop of Shetland
Wildlife
Tours. Lying 93 miles north of the Scottish mainland like the pieces
of an elongated picture puzzle, the Shetland Isles must rate as one of
the best birdwatching areas in Britain. The archipelago of over 100 islands
boasts spectacular seabird colonies, supports several arctic species breeding
at the southern limit of their range and hosts an array of both common
and scarce migrants during the spring and autumn.
....Seeking
the Speyside Specialities - by John Girdley. Birders wishing
to
see Crested Tit, Scottish Crossbill, Capercaillie, Ptarmigan in the UK
have little choice but to travel to Scotland, and for the first two species
especially there is little choice but to visit Speyside. Other rewards
for a visit to this beautiful area in the summer months include reliable
sites for Osprey, Golden Eagle, immaculate summer plumaged Slavonian Grebes
and a chance of Dotterel on the summit plateau of the Cairngorms.
The best time to visit is late May to June because this will give the widest
possible species range, although the resident species can be seen with
less reliability in any month of the year.
....Where
to watch Birds in Shetland - Shetland is famous for its large
seabird
colonies, spectacular cliffs and the number and variety of rare and scarce
migrants it attracts.
....Birding
with Bill Oddie - This brief article on birding in Shetland
includes
some information on Fetlar RSPB, Noss, Mousa, and Sumburgh Head.
....RSPB
Reserves in Shetland -
....Birding
on Fair Isle - Fair Isle, Britain's most isolated
inhabited island,
is situated mid-way between
Sumburgh at the southern tip of Mainland Shetland and North Ronaldsay in
Orkney. It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is roughly rectangular,
3 miles long and 1.5 miles wide.
....Fair
Isle (Autumn 1998) by Mark Prestwood. Part of John Girdley's
trip
report site (follow the Europe, then UK links). This Fair Isle
regular
describes his experiences on this lonely Shetland outpost. Storm
Petrel ringing, plants, moths and of course, rare birds. See also Mark's
1999 report.
....North
Ronaldsay Bird Observatory, Orkney - North Ronaldsay
is a
small island (4 miles long)
situated at the northernmost end of the Orkney islands, off the north coast
of Scotland. This website contains maps of Orkney as well as information
on what birds can be found at the various times of year.
....Fair
Isle Bird Observatory - Fair Isle is Britain’s most remote
inhabited
island, situated 25 miles south of Shetland and 25 miles north of Orkney.
Fair Isle is home to an internationally important population of seabirds
with over 250,000 seabirds of 17 breeding species, ten of which nest on
Fair Isle in nationally or internationally important numbers (Fulmar, Gannet,
Shag, Arctic Skua, Great Skua, Kittiwake, Arctic Tern, Guillemot, Razorbill
and Puffin).
....Deerness
- Orkney - These islands are a
major breeding ground
for sea birds, and the entire
group is an RSPB reserve.
....Scottish
Highlands in Summer - Less than a day's drive
from
Glasgow, the Highlands of
Scotland is Britain's last great wilderness. Spectacular scenery meets
sensational birds, although careful planning and time are needed to make
sure you see all the target species.
....The
RSPB Reserve Loch of Strathbeg -
The Loch, together with
its surrounding marshes and dunes is listed as a SSSI (Site of Special
Scientific Interest). The Loch is principally important for the large and
varied population of ducks, geese and swans. These birds use the reserve
as a staging post during their migrations from Iceland and the Continent.
....Birdwatching
in Grampian - Grampian is a large region of Scotland,
taking up the whole of the
north-east, incorporating the old "counties" of Morayshire, Banffshire,
Aberdeenshire, and Kincardineshire. Information is provided on:
-
The East Coast
-
The North Coast
-
Deeside and the Cairngorms
-
Donside
-
lists of birds you might see
in Grampian
....Birdwatching
on the Solway Firth - The glories of the Solway are
manyfold
- but the reason most birders (and it still really is undiscovered) come
here is for winter watching of geese, barnacles particularly, and its wildfowl
(scaup a speciality!).
....Birdwatching
on Islay - Birdwatchers find it difficult to resist
the
rareties and Islay has a
remarkable record for unusual birds.
....Islay
- Islay is one of the best places to watch birds
in the British Isles, especially
during the autumn, winter and early spring.
....The
Trennish Isles - This small group of islands lies
about 3 miles
(5 km) from the nearest
point on Mull and is much less well known than neighbouring Staffa. The
Treshnish Isles are now uninhabited and form a sanctuary for birds and
grey seals.
....Mull
Birds - this website about the birds of Mull also contains general
information
about birding on the island, as well as a photo gallery, species list and
recent reports.
....Sanda
Island, Scotland - The little island of Sanda sits at the
convergence of the Irish
sea and the Forth of Clyde, just to the east of the Mull of Kintyre. The
island is only about 1/2 mile in diameter, there are two land falls, one
on the north by the house and the other by the unmanned lighthouse at Prince
Edward's rock.
....Ospreys
at Loch Garten - Since 1959, osprey have been
breeding
at Loch Garten in the Abernethy
Forest Nature Reserve, near Aviemore. The reserve is owned by the RSPB
who have installed a surveillance camera looking into an osprey nest. This
is a unique set up allowing continual pictures to be fed back to the public
hide.
....Fowlsheugh
RSPB Reserve - 'Fowlsheugh' means bird cliffs.
This aptly-named place supports
one of the three largest seabird colonies on mainland Britain. Tens of
thousands of auks and kittiwakes return here to nest each spring, as they
have done for centuries.
....Loch
of Kinnordy RSPB Reserve -
....Scotland
- Nature Reserves - Directions to a number of
Scotland's
RSPB Reserves are provided
- no other information is given on this site.
....Exercise
Flannan Flyby 98 - The Log - 31 May to 14 June 1998 -
Trip Report by: Group Captain
Robin Springett, Chairman of Royal Air Force Ornithological Society. The
Flannans consist of 3 groups of small islands - the main group of Eilean
Mor and Eilean Tighe, the southern group of Soray, Sgier Toman and Sgier
Righinn about a mile to the south, and the western group of Roareim, Eilean
a Ghoba and Brona Cleit, about 2 miles to the west. These islands are collectively
known as the Seven Hunters and are some 24 miles west of the Outer Hebrides,
and 44 miles north east of St Kilda. See also the RAFOS Expedition reports
on:
....Trip
Report: Scotland, NW England, and Oxford, March 20-25, 1995
....Trip
Report: Norfolk and Scotland, United Kingdom, May 1997 by
....Trip
Report: Scotland and England, May 7-20, 1998 Or: Birding:
UK
vs. US by Joan Dziezyc
....Trip
Report: Scottish Highlands, May 9-22, 1998 by Gordon Hamlett
....Trip
Report: Scotland: April 1999 - By Jon Uren. Trip notes from
7
Oxon birders on a long weekend in Scotland trying to get "the Scottish
species".
....Trip
Report: Scotland and East Yorkshire - August 29 - September 3,
1999.
By Peter Jones. I arrived at a rain-soaked Loch Garten only to be told
"The last of the Ospreys left the reserve 3 days ago, and Capercaillie
are virtually impossible to see this time of year" by the RSPB Warden.
Hardly an ideal start to my short holiday in the Speyside region of Scotland!
The 3 days spent here did, however, turn out to be very successful.
....Trip
Report: Scotland and Skye, May 6 - 11. 2000 - by David Collinge.
Once
we reached the highlands, the weather was marvellous, though it was not
consistently so throughout the week. Scotland has a reputation of bad weather.
For the European birder, north west Scotland is a good place to go to see
divers (centre of population for both Red-throated and Black-throated Divers),
seabirds and mountain birds. This trip was very (though not highly) successful
for these.
....Trip
Report: Scotland, 26th August - 2nd September 2000 by Steve
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