Ornithology

Completion of the whole-county 2010 census of Rook Corvus frugilegus nests in Dumfriesshire is the most recent in a series which began in 1908. The results confirm that the decline in the number of Rook nests, first noted in 20035 , continues and now at 12,350 is at the lowest level ever recorded. This number is less than 50% of that recorded in 1993 when 25,489 nests, the largest number for the area was counted, meaning that the number of breeding Rooks has more than halved in the 17 year intervening period since that survey. In 1993, 22 colonies each held more than 200 nests, in 2010 (as in 2008) only one colony (not the same one) had more than 200 nests, symptomatic of the unabated fragmentation of large rookeries that has occurred resulting in ever smaller average rookery size, now just 33 nests per rookery.

Extracts from the ornithological and wild-fowling notebook of James H Wilson a Glencaple Wildfowler 1872-1947. Full species records are provided as also records of communications with noted ornithologists of the period such as Sir Hugh Gladstone, Sir Pete

During the complete county census of 2008 the total of 13,459 rook nests was recorded. Thus, in the five years since 2003, there has been a 25% decline in nest numbers. This continues to confirm the 5% per annum rate of decline extrapolated from the parti

The speaker explained that the birdlife of Scotland continues to evolve and our knowledge and understanding of these changes is much greater than in the past. Over one hundred and fifty Scottish birdwatchers and ornothologists had contributed to a new boo

Wildlife Art as such is a fairly recent development coinciding with a desire to celebrate the natural world and to conserve it. Animals and birds have featured in art of one form or another however down the centuries, from cave paintings onwards, but subs

The Solway islands are little known beyond Dumfries and Galloway, indeed several books about the islands of Scotland omit them altogether (e.g. H.Haswell-Smith. 2004. 'The Scottish Islands a comprehensive guide to every Scottish island)'. Progressing fr

Lecture to the Society, 17th February, 2006. The recovery of the Svalbard Barnacle Goose population from around 300 in the late 1940s to 27,000 in the winter of 2005-6 has been a huge success for conservation but with a changing global climate what will t

Summary of a lecture given to the Society on 21st October, 2005. An overview of the ecology of black grouse was initially described from identification, breeding behaviour, where they live and what the birds ate at different times of the year. The status

Throughout the latter part of the 19th century, while shooting was widespread, ‘flightnetting’ emerged as an alternative method of obtaining wildfowl and waders for the table, barter or the market. Netting was practised intensively only on the north shore

Summary of a lecture delivered to the Society on 21st January 2005.
Red Kites were extinct in Scotland by the late 19th century. The first young birds, from Germany and the Chilterns, were released from cages on a private estate forestry site in Galloway

A survey of the entire county of Dumfriesshire in 1993 recorded a total of 25,489 rook nests. A repeat of the census in 2003 found only 17,853 nests, a decrease of 30%. This decline prompted a survey of a large part of the county in 2004, which confirmed

Rooks have nested in Dumfriesshire since time immemorial and their numbers have been surveyed since at least 1908. During the decade (1993-2003) they decreased dramatically by 30% and by a further 5% between 2003 and 2004. The climate and topography are c

Summary of a lecture delivered to the Society on 6th February 2004 by Stan Tanner, Planning and Environment Forester, Forest Enterprise. Forestry Enterprise manage the Forestry Commission estate to create attractive productive woodland and manage them fo

A type of place-name formation in which the word hall is preceeded by a bird-name has long been recognised in northern England but has only recently been identified in Scotland. The Scottish corpus is still so small that any new additions have a significa

The 2003 Dumfriesshire Rookery census has revealed that since 1993, the number of nests has fallen from 25,489 to 17,853, a decline of 30%. Earlier surveys in 1908, 1921 and 1963 had indicated a relatively stable population. Subsequent censuses in 1973, 1

Linear measurements and masses of over 700 geese, most shot around the Solway Firth in 1938-1960, provide scare information on total length and wing span and identify some differences in mass and in linear measurements from those reported elsewhere. The s

WeBS is a partnership between the British Trust for Ornithology, The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
This paper summarises, on a species by species basis, the results

A history of the development of cannon-netting as a procedure to capture and ring birds as a part of migration studies on the Solway Firth. The equipment developed is described in in detail and the the paper is supplemented by statistics of birds captured