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Winter 2016 Newsletter of the Aberdeen and District RSPB Local Group Issue 3

Not just peanuts!

Local Group member, Bill Craigie, handed a cheque for

£10,000 to Simon Busuttil, Regional Reserves Manager for

the RSPB, at the start of November. This is the latest tranche

of money raised by the Friends of Strathbeg (which Bill

leads) primarily from the sale of bird food.

The idea started in 1990,

when the then Aberdeen

YOC group started selling

peanuts to raise money for

conservation projects. Bill

was one of the leaders of

the YOC group, and when

the group ended in the late

90's he carried on selling

bird food and other bird

related items. The Friends

have sold an average of 12

tonnes of bird food per year, in addition to £3,000 worth of locally made

nest boxes and squirrel feeders.

Since 1990 £95,370 has been raised in this way - much more than a

peanut sized sum! Of this total £87,405 plus matching grants has been

donated to various Loch of Strathbeg projects. A great example of

money raised locally going

to local projects. The

money handed over in

November goes towards

the current refurbishment

and re-building project at

Strathbeg. Those of you

who have visited the site

recently will see the

extensive changes

underway. Note parking is

limited and the Visitor Centre is closed until further notice. You can

follow the progress of the work by visiting

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/seenature/reserves/guid

e/l/lochofstrathbeg/

The accompanying photo shows where the new window, paid for by the

Local Group Chairman's Appeal and a generous donation from Ian

Duncan in memory of his mother, will be located.

At a glance

Bill Craigie .............................. 1

Letter from the Chairman...... 2

Red-backed Shrikes .............. 2

Birding NE Scotland .............. 3

2017 Calendar ........................ 4

Sparrows ................................ 5

Seabird season 2015 ............. 6

The RSPB and shooting ........ 7

Group Outing to Islay ............ 8

Islay goose strategy .............. 9

Come along to our

Indoor meetings -

second Tuesday each

month, January to April.

See the separate

Programme sheet for

details of our outings

We hope that there is

something for everyone.

Please come along - it

doesn't matter whether

you are a novice or an

experienced

birdwatcher, all are

welcome.

Also sign up for our

work parties on RSPB

reserves. We have

achieved a lot in the

past - so please come

along and help out if you

are able. It really makes

a difference! Contact

Mark Sullivan for information.

Simon Busuttil (left) and Bill Craigie (right)

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Local Group website

More information about

the local group and its

activities can be found

on the group's website:

http://www.rspb.org.uk

/groups/aberdeen

Local Group donation

£5,500 donated to

Strathbeg in 2015,

from the Chairman's

Appeal, including

£1,000 from Ian

Duncan.

Welcome to our new

members

Margaret Stewart

Richard Thompson

David White

John Imrie

John & Liz Summerwill

Look out for...........

Scotland's Big Nature

Festival on 21st and

22nd May 2016 at

Levenhall Links, Lothian

The Royal Society for

the Protection of Birds

[RSPB] is a registered

charity; England and

Wales number 207076,

Scotland number

SC 037654

Letter from the Chairman

A Happy New Year to all members of the Local Group, and

all best wishes for a wildlife filled 2016.

I will have completed five years as Group Leader on the 1st April - I

really don't know where the time has gone. I hope that the various

changes brought in during the past few years have improved your

experiences within the Group. I would like to thank all the committee

members, past and present, for their support. They have worked

really hard to make sure that the Local Group continues to reflect the

wishes of you all and provides a wide range of indoor and outdoor

activities that will enhance your birding.

This edition of the newsletter contains a range of topics, from Tim

Marshall "gripping us off" with his NE Scotland list to more serious

topics regarding Barnacle Goose "control" and shooting game birds.

If you wish to comment on any of the articles or would like to have a

subject covered in the next edition, please contact the editor (Mary

Middleton - marybirdmiddleton@gmail.com).

Hopefully the 2nd January Ythan Wander will have got our year lists

to a cracking start, so good birding and I look forward to seeing you

out and about throughout the year.

Mark Sullivan

Red-backed Shrikes and Common

Cranes

by Ian Francis

This year, one pair of Red-backed Shrikes successfully fledged three

young in Aberdeenshire. This is the first confirmed breeding attempt

here since 1981, though there was a case of probable breeding, not

the same site, in 1998. However, a pair bred in

Moray in 2013.

There appears to have been only two pairs

successfully breeding in the UK in 2015, the other

being on Shetland. The sites chosen by this

species in our area are completely typical of the

land uses present – there is nothing obviously

special about them – so it is worth keeping an eye

open in any suitable area of heath, scrub and forest edge. How many

are overlooked in Scotland? (If you do find such rare breeding birds

while you are out and about, please contact the local RSPB office

and speak to Ian, and do not spread the information further).

The pair of Common Cranes which breeds in our area also produced

young, however no young birds fledged, due to predation (by a fox).

We are grateful to Ian for allowing us to publish this information.

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Birding NE Scotland - 347 species to date and counting!

by Tim Marshall

My work brought

me up to

Aberdeenshire on

17th October 1982,

which was about

the time of a large

influx of Pallas’s Warblers: I had never

heard of a Pallas’s Warbler and knew

nothing of east coast ‘falls’.

I was already a keen birder but when I arrived up

here my life list was probably about 120 and

although I could identify common birds, things like

small waders, pipits, warblers, etc were a

nightmare! I was very lucky in that my mentor was

Steve Palmer who was a very enthusiastic and

knowledgeable birder up here at the time. Survey

work for the first Atlas of NE Scotland Birds was

starting, and Steve would take me out on his trips

mapping the birds of the area, and I was able to

get to know the birding hotspots which, of course,

included Rattray Head - this was to become my

‘Patch’ over the next 30 years.

I think my first rarity was a pristine Water Pipit in a

wet field at the back of my house outside

Longside in April 1984. This was a first for NE

Scotland (it has since been rejected by the

Rarities Committee! - but I saw it and it WAS a

Water Pipit!!). I then saw three absolute 'megas': a

Kentish Plover at Rattray in April 84, a Wilson’s

Phalarope at Cotehill Loch in September 84 and a

Black-winged Stilt at Meikle Loch in September

84. These really got me hooked on finding rare

birds, but I did limit my twitching to Scotland. I

now only twitch within the NE Scotland Bird

Report area, because I would often drive down to

Fife or Dumfries etc to see a bird and sure enough

one would appear in our area sooner or later - I let

them come to me now!!

Highlights over the years have been many, but

most involve self-found birds like Short-toed Lark,

Rustic Bunting, Subalpine Warbler, Dusky

Warbler and Little Bunting all at Rattray. I was

particularly proud to find the first Hume’s Warbler

at Buller’s of Buchan in November 94, I had only

come across the species in "British Birds" a few

weeks before and was looking for migrants at the

Buller’s when I heard an unfamiliar call. I couldn’t

locate the bird, but on my way back to the car a

Yellow-browed Warbler popped up in front of me,

nice I thought, but then it gave the strange call

and it wasn’t till I got home that alarm bells went

off and I spread the news (morse code if I

remember correctly!!). It stayed for 3 days and

was twitched by many birders.

My first Pallas’s Warbler was also very satisfying.

Having missed the big influx in 84, there was a

period of strong easterlies and rain in mid-October

88 and I thought I would go and find a Pallas’s

(like you do!!), so I went to Cruden Bay woods

and eventually a small stripey warbler with a

lemon rump flew across the path in front of me -

Result!! It was blowing a gale and pouring with

rain so I went back next morning and got great

views (I have seen about 20+ since then!).

Another memorable bird was the American Robin

that was found at Inverbervie on Boxing Day 88.

Not what I expected to be doing on Boxing Day

but a drive down on a very pleasant day was

suitably rewarded and there wasn’t much traffic!!!

One bird was quite hard work and that was a

Citrine Wagtail that turned up in late September

98. It would drop onto the putting green at

Girdleness for about 5 mins at about 07.00 in the

morning and then disappear. I went down there on

three mornings in succession (leaving home

before 06.00) and finally connected with it – a

lovely bird and the only one I have seen to date.

As this is the RSPB Local Group newsletter I had

the honour of finding the first Avocet that was

seen at the Loch of Strathbeg in January 86, Jim

Dunbar (The Warden) was well pleased to get

‘official’ recognition for the reserve!!

We are fortunate to live in one of the best birding

areas in the UK and the variety of commoner birds

go from Ptarmigan to Puffin with plenty in

between.

My list of species seen in NE Scotland presently

stands at 347 (the most recent being Black-

winged Pratincole, Arctic Warbler and Paddyfield

Warbler). For future additions to my list, I expect

Nuthatch will arrive in the area soon, a twitchable

Red-throated Pipit would be nice (I have seen one

at Rattray!).

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I have missed a couple of Olive-backed Pipits, while Alpine Swift and Golden Oriole are another couple that

are high on the hit list!!

The bottom line is to get out there and keep looking. Spring and Autumn are most productive but amazing

birds can turn up anytime such as Sandhill Crane, Rock Thrush and Harlequin Duck to name a few!!!

Good Birding!

Photographs for a Local Group 2017 Calendar

Get out your cameras, and sort through your old photographs. The Local Group will be producing a 2017

calendar, available for sale from October 2016, with photographs provided by YOU! Any wildlife (not just

birds) that can be found in our local area (that covered by the "Birding Guide") is to be included. Rules as

follows:

Photographs to be A4 landscape format (digital files of the 12 selected to be available)

Photographs to be submitted in 4 categories:

Winter (December to February)

Spring (March to May)

Summer (June to August)

Autumn (September to November)

Write your name and contact details, plus category on the back of each photograph

Maximum of 8 photographs per entry

Deadline Tuesday 8th March 2016 (the March Indoor Meeting) - prints can be given to Rob or any committee

member at the January - March indoor meetings, or posted to Rob Leslie, 3 Brander Place, AB22 8QP.

Rock Thrush, Black Stork, Harlequin Duck, Avocet & Snowy Owl - all photos by Tim Marshall

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The photographs will be exhibited at the April Indoor meeting (12th April 2016) where attendees will select

the winning 12 photographs.

No prize will be awarded this time, but all the chosen photographs will be acknowledged on the calendar.

The Aberdeen and District RSPB Local Group retains the right to use any of the photographs entered in

future publications or on the website.

Sparrows

A prose poem by Richard Price

(reproduced by kind permission of the author and Carcanet Press)

You don't see many hedges these days, and the hedges you do see they're not that

thorny, it's a shame, and when I say a hedge I'm not talking about a row of twigs between

two lines of rusty barbed wire, or more likely just a big prairie where there were whole

cities of hedges not fifty years ago, a big desert more like, and I mean thick hedges, with

trees nearby for a bit of shade and a field, not a road, not too far off so you can nip out for

an insect or two when you or the youngsters feel like a snack, a whole hedgerow system

as it says in the book, and seven out of ten sparrows say the same, and that's an

underestimate, we want a place you can feel safe in again, we're social animals, we want

our social life back, and the sooner the better, because in a good hedge you can always

talk things over, make decisions, have a laugh if you want to, sing, even with a voice like

mine!

Tree Sparrows M. Sullivan

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0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

1992 1999 2006 2009 2012 2015

Fowlsheugh seabirds

Guillemot (Ind)

Kittiwake (AON)

Razorbill (Ind)

Fulmar (AOS)

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

1969 1979 1995 2001 2007 2011 2015

Troup Head seabirds

Guillemot (Ind)

Razorbill (Ind)

Kittiwake (AON)

Fulmar (AOS)

How are our seabirds faring?

by Kath Hamper

Every three years a full colony count at the seabird reserves of Fowlsheugh and Troup

Head takes place, and 2015 was one of these years. Every single bird on these two huge

colonies is included, and it’s a challenging job – this year over 100,000 birds and nests were

counted!

After weeks of counting, checking and

recounting some final figures are

available, and the news is

encouraging for some species.

There’s good news for both

Guillemots and Razorbills this year,

with numbers up significantly on the

last count back in 2012. Fowlsheugh

saw Guillemot numbers (recorded as

individuals rather than nests) increase

from 44,922 in 2012 to 55,507 in

2015. Over the same period,

Razorbills went from 5,260 to 7,426.

Kittiwake numbers had a very slight

increase, although not of the same

magnitude as the auks, with numbers of AONs (Apparently Occupied Nests) going from 9,439 to 9,655. This

may not seem much of an increase, but following a massive national decline and poor productivity (the

number of chicks raised each year) it’s still encouraging. Productivity studies this year (following a number of

nests through the breeding

period and seeing how many

chicks each nest fledges)

have shown them to have had

a brilliant year! From nine

study plots scattered through

the colony, average

productivity was 1.38 chicks

per nest, which is the best

here since data collection on

productivity started in 1993!

They aren’t out of the woods

yet, but it’s certainly nice to

have some good news.

Over at Troup Head, it’s been a similar story for auks, with Guillemots increasing from 14,030 in 2011 to

20,539 this year and Razorbills going from 1,256 to 2,147 in 2015. Fulmar numbers are also up a little on the

last count. Gannets continue to expand at Troup, but numbers will have to wait until 2016 when their whole

colony will be counted. Sadly, it’s not all good news from Troup, with Kittiwake numbers declining again,

down to 7,180 AONs from 7,961 in 2011.

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To P(rotect) or not to P(rotect)? That is the Question.

by Alan Short (Local Group Member)

Dear RSPB local member,

Let me drag you away for a moment from the

photographs of all those wonderful birds in the

current edition of the RSPB Magazine, "Nature’s

Home". My personal favourite in this issue has to

be Titan the turtle dove who migrated from Mali to

Suffolk (Why on earth Suffolk I hear you say:

could he not have come a bit further north?)

But forget the birds, squirrels, badgers, binoculars

and books and let’s get down to the real business

of the RSPB. It is of course, the RSPB Charter.

The Charter sets out the aims and operating rules

of the RSPB and has done so since 1904 when it

was granted by King Edward VII (Bertie to you

and me). As befits something formulated in

Edwardian times when attitudes to birds were very

different from today, it has been revised a few

times. The question I want to ask is does some of

it need changing again, in particular a single

clause in section 3 which follows a statement on

the Objects of the RSPB?

The Charter lists the two main aims of the RSPB

(it calls them “Objects”):

Object one “To promote the conservation of

biological diversity and the natural environment”.

Object two “To advance education of the public in

conservation of the natural environment”.

These aims are explained in a bit more detail

through the statement that the RSPB should:

“persuade the public not only that the beauty of

birds and nature enriches the lives of many

people, but also that nature conservation is

fundamental to a healthy environment”. It’s all

good stuff and I particularly like the statement that

birds enrich people’s lives. So the inclusion of the

next clause is a bit mystifying. It’s the one I am

drawing attention to.

The Society shall take no part in the question

of the killing of game birds and legitimate

sport of that character except when such

practices have an impact on the Objects (my

emphasis).

Exactly when and why this statement was

included in the RSPB’s Charter is unclear to me at

the moment but I want to ask if, today, this clause

should be retained or removed?

Game/sport shooting is increasingly controversial

and opposition particularly to driven grouse

shooting is growing, not only on environmental

and conservation grounds but also for other

reasons including cruelty to animals/birds. Does

the statement in section 3 of the Charter

unjustifiably restrict the RSPB and its employees

from engaging in debate on some of the wider

issues that this kind of hunting raises? Or does

the clause sensibly restrict the RSPB to

comments on a narrower range of non-

controversial, scientific and conservation issues?

My own view is

that the clause

should be

removed from the

Charter. If this

were done, it

would not mean

that the RSPB had

adopted an official

policy against

game shooting. It

would simply

mean that RSPB

employees could

express their

views on a wider range of issues raised by game

shooting than they are currently allowed to. This

would surely help to clarify the issues around

game shooting for RSPB members and might

inform the Society’s thinking about what the aims

of the RSPB should actually be.

If you’re still not sure what I am getting at, ask

yourself how you would feel if a candidate for a

top job in the RSPB listed their favourite hobby as

driven grouse shooting.

I don’t intend to raise a petition, or a motion for the

AGM on this issue, but I would be grateful if

members could have a look at the Charter

(available on the RSPB website) and get in touch

with Mark (sorry Mark!) if they feel strongly, either

way. Mark and the committee can then decide if

any action on behalf of the members is required.

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Islay - Aberdeen and District RSPB Local Group - November 2015

by Mark Sullivan

Eleven Group members joined

Lesley Silcock on her new home of

Islay to explore the wildlife to be

found here.

Birding started at the Kennacraig ferry

terminal and continued until the return

ferry five days later, and a fantastic range

of species was recorded.

The main aims of the trip were to find the

raptors and Choughs which make the

island their home and to admire the vast

numbers of geese which visit during the

winter - we were not to be disappointed! By the time we docked at Port Askaig, we had already encountered

Great Northern Divers, and had seen both Golden and White-tailed Eagles from the ferry!

Huge flocks of Greenland Barnacle Geese were scanned, Greenland White-fronted Goose families were

watched, and we were surprised to find so many Pale-bellied Brent Geese feeding on the mud flats near our

hotel in Bowmore. Masses of Redwings with other thrushes

were migrating through, their very dark appearance

suggesting an origin in Iceland.

We visited the two main RSPB reserves - The Oa, where we

had great scope views of Golden Eagle perched on the

hillside, but were really excited to find a flock of 350 Twite,

and at the end of our walk a single Snow Bunting, and Loch

Gruinart. Here we had an amazing view of a ring-tailed Hen

Harrier busily feeding in front of one of the hides among

throngs of duck and waders.

Saving the best until last, Sunday afternoon was dedicated to finding and watching the Choughs in the north-

west of the island - finally a flock of over 40 birds performed for us, before we met Eric Bignall, "the Chough

man" who provides a small daily ration of mealworms as supplementary

feeding to young birds. This has helped to stabilise the rapidly declining

population of Choughs on the island. He gave us a short talk in the evening

sunshine, and answered our questions. He also made a plea for us all to

contact our MSPs and MEPs to protest about the cull of Barnacle Geese on

the island (see article below). As a farmer himself, he is now in a position

where he cannot access grants to maintain pasture for geese as he is unwilling

to allow shooters onto his land!

The weather was generally kind to us (for November!), and the 10 "Islay

Virgins" amongst us were very impressed by the wildlife and the varied

landscapes, and will return!

A total of 102 species of bird was recorded, along with 10 mammals (including

Otter, two of which were encountered). Thanks go to Lesley for showing us

around, and to Eric for giving us the chance to learn more about the problems

facing the Islay Chough population. Lesley is able to provide B+B and information about birding sites on the

island. Contact her on lachmhara@gmail.com.

Photo P. Grant

Barnacle Geese

Barnacle Geese

Chough

Choughs

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The Islay goose strategy and why the RSPB has

complained to Europe

taken from Stuart Housden's blog, with kind permission from Stuart

The Hebridean island of Islay is one of the key sites for wintering geese, holding more than

half of the world populations of Greenland Barnacle Geese and a quarter of the world's

Greenland White-fronted Geese. The geese have arrived each autumn and, in the past, fed

on the merse and boggy grasslands. But over time these have been improved for

agriculture, and many geese are now found on farmers' fields, a longstanding issue in

Scottish conservation. Farming is an important industry on Islay and it benefits a range of

key wildlife, including corncrakes and choughs. RSPB Scotland owns and manages

farmland nature reserves on the island, notably at Loch Gruinart.

Wintering Barnacle Goose numbers increased on

Islay until 2005/6, since when the population has

levelled-out, fluctuating at around 40,000 birds.

Greenland White-fronted Geese, in contrast, have

been in steady decline since 1995 and are a

species of serious conservation concern across

their global range. Grazing geese can

undoubtedly impact farm pastures – this fact is not

at issue. Nor is the fact

that Scotland has a global

conservation responsibility

for these migratory goose

populations, and for

implementing wildlife

legislation properly.

Following some intense

exchanges between

agricultural interests and

conservation interests in

the 1980s and 1990s, culminating in court cases

brought by RSPB Scotland and the Wildfowl and

Wetlands Trust (WWT), the Scottish Government

established Local Goose Management Schemes

in areas of conflict, including Islay. The local

groups were advised by the National Goose

Management Review Group, including RSPB

Scotland, WWT and the National Farmers’ Union

of Scotland (NFUS) among others. The local

schemes combined management payments to

affected farmers, designation of protected goose

feeding areas and programmes of scaring to

protect vulnerable fields. Some involved the

shooting of a limited number of Barnacle Geese

under licence as agreed under the EU ‘Birds’

Directive. A workable deal that met the needs of

farmers and geese seems to have been found.

This ‘deal’ lasted up until the financial crisis,

Scottish Government sought to save money and

its policy changed. Late last year, the Scottish

Government, and its agency Scottish Natural

Heritage (SNH), teamed up directly with the NFUS

to produce a new strategy for Islay geese. This

strategy proposes:

“... that the Islay barnacle goose population is

lowered, in increments, to a minimum range of

28,000 to 31,000 geese and is then maintained at

that level. This represents a maximum reduction

of 25-30% of Barnacle Geese…”

In our view, this new strategy:

Is not based on sound evidence - in

particular regarding the relationship

between goose numbers and

agricultural damage (research we have

been calling for repeatedly)

Risks non-compliance with international

wildlife law-in particular on the existence

of satisfactory non-lethal alternatives, for

example via the type of well-funded

local scheme that was in place

previously

Threatens the declining Greenland White-

fronted Goose through increased

disturbance

May prove unfeasible in practice

(shooting such high numbers of

Barnacle Geese is untested)

Is actually more expensive to the public

purse than alternatives, certainly in the

short term

White-fronted Geese

Page | 10

Will be a highly visible campaign killing

large numbers of protected wild birds

and is generating concern among

tourism operators with respect to Islay’s

reputation

We have made our concerns clear to the national

goose group and to Scottish ministers – but the

Scottish Government/NFUS Strategy is now being

implemented. In response the RSPB has,

reluctantly, resigned our seat on the National

Goose Management Review Group, and has

lodged a formal complaint to the European

Commission. We feel this situation is deeply

regrettable – but at the very least, we hope to

ensure that the EC will thoroughly scrutinise the

Scottish Government/NFUS plan and that in this

way a damaging precedent in the Scottish

Government’s application of international wildlife

law can be avoided. As for the affected farmers –

we believe that they should be given the practical

support they need to farm, as well as to support

our globally important wildlife populations. We see

this as the delivery of a precious public benefit in

today’s Scotland, and deserving of sustained

investment.

Geese will remain fully protected on RSPB

Scotland’s reserves on Islay. If you are concerned

about this shift in policy by the Scottish

Government, you can make your views known by

contacting your MSPs or MEPs.

Postal and E-mail Contacts - Information required

It seems that several of our members have changed their e-mail address, or the e-mail address we hold on

file is no longer valid. In order that we can continue to send you information regarding the Group activities, if

you have changed e-mail address recently could you please contact Mark on geolbird_abz@btinternet.com

so that our records can be updated. If you have moved postal address could you also contact Mark with the

new details.

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

The RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch is the world's biggest bird survey and regularly attracts nearly half a

million participants. Records from people counting birds in their gardens provide a vital snapshot of the UK's

birds each winter. The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2016 will take place on the weekend of the

30th and 31st January 2016