Visited the Slamannan Plateau this morning to finds the fields at Luckenburn very quiet with no geese present.
Spoke with one of the local farmers and his son whose property adjoins one of the fields that the geese use at this time of the year. Ian (the son) has heard some geese recently flighting overhead but unable to identify them. I saw a small flock of Pinkfeet (30) at Gardrum Moss yesterday along with a few Canada Geese.
News today from North Ronaldsay of a flock of bean geese in flight over the islands. Perhaps making their way south.
Plan to visit the plateau again tomorrow at dawn.
Light easterlies this afternoon so fingers crossed that something may occur.
Monday 29 September 2014
Tuesday 23 September 2014
Bean Goose searching
With a spell of settled weather there is always the possibility that our bean geese will arrive on the plateau. However I have been out the past couple of days and there is no sign of them at Luckenburn. One of the locals has heard geese flying over his house but was not able to identify them.
At the weekend I was in Galloway at the WatsonBirds festival in St Johns Town of Dalry. There were two excellent presentations from Dutch birders on the migration of Raptors from Europe down into Africa.
Roy Dennis from Moray also gave a superb presentation on why it is necessary to use telemetry methods to follow the life of our Golden Eagles in Scotland.
On the way home traveled down the west side of Loch Ken and was rewarded by the sight of many Red Kites and the odd Buzzard. Just think of what it would be like to have Red Kites on the Slamannan Plateau. Perhaps one day!
At the weekend I was in Galloway at the WatsonBirds festival in St Johns Town of Dalry. There were two excellent presentations from Dutch birders on the migration of Raptors from Europe down into Africa.
Roy Dennis from Moray also gave a superb presentation on why it is necessary to use telemetry methods to follow the life of our Golden Eagles in Scotland.
On the way home traveled down the west side of Loch Ken and was rewarded by the sight of many Red Kites and the odd Buzzard. Just think of what it would be like to have Red Kites on the Slamannan Plateau. Perhaps one day!
Wednesday 17 September 2014
Update on Bean Geese Autumn Migration 2014
Just had a look at Simon's blog and see that our flock of c160 birds are still with him in Norway.
I had planned to have a trip to the plateau this morning to check on any arrivals but I think that is unlikely although we have had easterly and south easterly winds this past few days. However with that direction of wind in the north sea you get low cloud and rain so most unlikely our geese will have found that suitable to move in our direction.
The bean goose action group have a meeting on Friday of this week to discuss future monitoring and telemetry work. The past three years has given us lots of information and it is now time for us to sit down and assess which direction we should move in with future research. Funding for such work is important and no doubt we will have to be thinking of where such funding can be obtained.
My visit to Glasgow recently to talk to the Glasgow SOC group was very enjoyable and nice opportunity to meet some old friends. There was a good size audience who were appreciative of my talk on the Slamannan Bean Goose flock.
I had planned to have a trip to the plateau this morning to check on any arrivals but I think that is unlikely although we have had easterly and south easterly winds this past few days. However with that direction of wind in the north sea you get low cloud and rain so most unlikely our geese will have found that suitable to move in our direction.
The bean goose action group have a meeting on Friday of this week to discuss future monitoring and telemetry work. The past three years has given us lots of information and it is now time for us to sit down and assess which direction we should move in with future research. Funding for such work is important and no doubt we will have to be thinking of where such funding can be obtained.
My visit to Glasgow recently to talk to the Glasgow SOC group was very enjoyable and nice opportunity to meet some old friends. There was a good size audience who were appreciative of my talk on the Slamannan Bean Goose flock.
Monday 8 September 2014
News update on the Slamannan flock
Pleased to report some news from Simon in Norway.
He has been out recently looking for our bean geese and located a flock of 163 birds north of Oslo in the staging area that he located last autumn.
He has been able to take some shots of this flock and they can be seen on his blog. oslobirder.blogspot.co.uk.
Also some news from Thomas Heincke that some of our birds have been seen in Sweden at Lake Brosjon.
I was out on the Slamannan Plateau this morning for a look around and saw no early arrivals. Overnight I heard Pinkfeet coming through central Scotland so a movement from Iceland has taken place. I believe there are Pinks now at Aberlady. Always a good place at dawn/dusk to see the spectacle. Montrose Basin have also probably got Pinks there now.
He has been out recently looking for our bean geese and located a flock of 163 birds north of Oslo in the staging area that he located last autumn.
He has been able to take some shots of this flock and they can be seen on his blog. oslobirder.blogspot.co.uk.
Also some news from Thomas Heincke that some of our birds have been seen in Sweden at Lake Brosjon.
I was out on the Slamannan Plateau this morning for a look around and saw no early arrivals. Overnight I heard Pinkfeet coming through central Scotland so a movement from Iceland has taken place. I believe there are Pinks now at Aberlady. Always a good place at dawn/dusk to see the spectacle. Montrose Basin have also probably got Pinks there now.
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