Dumfries & Galloway

[Remote]

Hi

I'm going to be spending Christmas in Dumfries & Galloway in the south east of Scotland and was wondering if anyone could offer advice on good places to go bird watching and what species I might have a chance of seeing?

Thanks guys

[Rob Smallwood]

Remote,

Good choice!

Firstly, Caerlaverock WWT is a must visit. Tens of thousands of Barnacle Geese withe good numbers of Whooper Swan and the chance of rarer geese (Ross's, Snow, Lesser Canada etc.). There are also raptors including Hen Harrier, Deer and if you are very lucky Otter. Try an earlt start to watch trhe geese fly in from the Solway for an unforgetable experience.

The Merses (saltmarsh) nearby also hold Geese, waders, ducks and raptors, and there are Pink-footed Geese too.

Dumfries town centre is excellent for Goosander - try the weir, and last year had good numbers of Waxwing.

RSPB Mersehead is similar to Caerlaverock, but if anything wilder and more attractive.

Carsethorn and Southerness can be good for waders, sea-duck, divers and grebes, last year Southerness had Black Redstart and small numbers of Twite.

Inland the Lock Ken area is good for raptors including the re-introduced Red Kites, and White-fronted Geese can be seen around the lake. There is a kite feeding station and "REd Kite Trail" that I'm sure you wil be able to trace on t'Internet.

Further afield Loch Ryan beyond Stranraer had divers, gerebes, sea-duck (including King Eider last year) and white-winged gulls are regular.

I'm sure that there are more places that people will suggest- but these are just a sample and I am sure that you will find the area both beautiful and rewarding!

[TonyC]

I did a similar trip a while back - some details on my web page

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tony.coatsworth/trips/Solway.htm

[Sandra (Taylor)]

Before you go phone Dumfries Tourist Information office and ask them to send you a booklet "Where to Watch Birds in Dumfries & Galloway". An excellent publication with all birdwatching sites in that area, together with maps. We find this very useful and we update our copy as new ones are published.

Sandra

[markgrubb]

An excellent 30 page booklet(Birdwatching in D & G) can be downloaded from the SOC at http://www.the-soc.zenwebhosting.com/docs/dumfries-and-galloway.pdf

[Nick@Salisbury]

A couple of other places that we found good in D & G.

Threave castle on the river Dee has a number of hides and should be worth a look. If you are considering going across to Stranraer and Loch Ryan, then drop down to Wigtown from Newton Stewart. Wigtown has a good hide near the old harbour and should have pinkfooted geese and whooper swans. Our visit in October found large numbers of Snipe, Black tailed Godwit and an obliging kingfisher.

Nick

[Sandra (Taylor)]

Hi there - Good choice of area.

See my posting and the one following - above #3 & #4 above I think. The publication is really helpful and shows all the areas you can possibly visit in that county.

Our favourite reserve up there is Mersehead. It has everything: fields, marshes, reed beds, woodland, dunes, beach .....

Sandra

[Rob Smallwood]

Bumping this up because we are off for our annual weekend visit to Caerlaverock this weekend.

Just wondering if anyone has any up to date local news that might interest us?

We are hoping that the Lesser Scaup is still there (wherever it came from!), and that we might catch up with one of the Lesser Canadas. In the past we have found Gren-winged Teal so who knows!

Fairly familiar with the general birding in the region, but as I say, any up to date info appreciated, including reliable Red Squirrel or Otter too?