News Update 20 January 2017

During the last week I and others have tried to confirm whether our flock size had increased as reported in the last blog.

Unfortunately the increase in birds has not been consolidated with many observations of less than what was reported.

I have spoken with the observer and he has confirmed that his increased total may have been mistaken as some birds were moving back and forward between two field systems and he did not have the time to make further checks before he left the area.

At this time of the year it can be frustrating for observers of the bean goose flock as they rarely join up together in one flock so that total flock numbers can be observed. Instead they split up in separate groups and some of them cannot be located easily because of the topography of the area.

Further efforts will be undertaken in the next week or so to see if any increase has taken place.

News Update 7 January 2017

Some good news to report that a visitor on his way through central Scotland has managed to record a total flock size of 236 which is the highest count this winter so far.

The birds were seen north west of Slamannan in two flocks and the viewer thought there may be more birds than that.

I have been out today after a NewYear holiday in mid Wales.

Poor visibility in the morning with visibility as low as 100m made looking for birds difficult but thanks to our GPS collared birds I was able to guess where to look.

I managed to find a flock of c100 birds in the same area as before but was unable to find further flocks today to confirm that we have had an influx of birds during the past two weeks.

News Update 15 December 2016

A large flock of bean geese (c150) have been present much of this past week north west of Slamannan

A roost visit tonight at Fannyside saw a flock of c100 birds fly in from the north and land in West Fannyside Loch.

I attach a couple of pictures taken recently of weather patterns seen on the plateau.

 Ben Vorlich and Stuc a'Chroin

viewed from Slamannan using a telephone lens

during the recent cold spell in November

Sunset at Slamannan 15 Dec 2016

Update on Bean Goose movements 3 Dec 2016

The wintering flock are quite widely spread in the Slamannan area most days.

Small groups have been noted well to the north and west of the plateau. But a look around the minor roads can often be rewarding.

I had a visit this past week by Larry Griffin from WWT who had come north from Caerlaverock to try and catch up with the bird 7T. This bird was caught in 2013 and fitted with a GSM collar which allows the information contained within to be downloaded periodically to follow its movements.
Luckly we caught up with it within the hour and were able to download data from March 2016 right through to October. It is fantastic that this collar is still working so well as it was made up by Larry at the time and virtually stuck together with glue.

The total flock size is still the same with 216 being the highest count so far.

Further checks for juveniles within the flock have been disappointing with only 4 seen this past week.

Update on Bean Geese flock Slamannan

In recent days most of the birds have been feeding to the north of Parkhead Farm.

The recent cold weather and some snow has not been a bother to them and they continue to feed away quite easily.

Saw a nice female Sparrowhawk today skirting around the field near where the bean geese were feeding. Needless to say they never lifted their heads.

No Pinkfeet flocks have arrived in the area yet to feed although roosting is taking place on Loch Elrig or Gardrum Moss. Well worth a visit to this area at dawn or dusk.

Update on recent location of bean goose flock

Two flocks were found today totaling 164 birds.

One flock of c70 birds was beside the main Slamannan to Falkirk road just north of the Dyke Farm

The other flock comprising c94 birds was to the north of Parkhead Farm Slamannan.

 Pictures below are courtesy of John Nadin who visited the plateau recently

The top picture shows the geese in an 'alert' posture which would normally indicate that they were aware of the photographer.

The picture below shows them in a much more relaxed mode possibly due to the sunlight which often can shine in their eyes making the viewer less distinct.

Update on Bean Geese flock at Slamannan 24/10/2016

The bean geese have now began their usual winter routine of breaking up into different groups and moving about separately within their wintering area.

Sadly one of the juvenile birds that was caught last year with two other siblings has not returned this winter. (photo below)

The highest count is still at 216 but I have a suspicion it is actually higher. Hopefully further field counts will confirm this.

Roosting is still largely taking place at the Fannyside Lochs area.

Large numbers of Pinkfeet are presently roosting on Loch Elrig or the nearby Gardrum Moss.
Also of interest is the large numbers of Canada Geese (c250) roosting on Gardrum Moss
There was also c100 Canada Geese seen recently at East Fannyside Loch roost site.