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.

News Update on Bean Goose flock at Slamannan

A large bean goose flock was seen at Luckenburn this morning.

Approximately 200 birds present in the flock. Estimate of flock size at present is in the region of 216 birds.

If anyone reads collar codes please advise me of what you see and when and where. Thanks.

Bean Geese arrival at Slamannan

A large bean goose flock left south coast of Norway at 1200 on 2 October and came ashore south of Berwick and north of Seahouses around 2200 hrs.
It looks like they quickly changed their flight route and re-located to Slamannan as by 0600 they were on the Fannyside Moss roost site.

Observations yesterday confirmed that we had 178 birds back so far and hopefully more to follow.

Still awaiting to see if tag10 has returned but other 'live' tags have made it. This should give us good location information again this winter.

The flock was seen yesterday south of Wester Jawcraig Farm.