Only essential items for the journey
Twenty years ago
Tag: bird notes
Outdoors
Little egret a highlight of October migration
This is the third year in a row that this colonising species has been reported on Arran and it is the first time that records have included more than one bird.
Leisure
Osprey sightings are increasing on Arran
Through images on TV, the Osprey is a familiar bird plunging into water and rising with a fish in its talons. It is a fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. In the tropics and sub-tropics it is resident. The European population migrates to Africa after breeding.
Outdoors
Single swan spends summers on Arran
On Arran there may a single whooper swan that has not migrated to its breeding grounds in the north.
Outdoors
First signs of migration after August downpour
On the higher ground the rain was almost unprecedented, causing road closures and flooding. It was the wettest month of the year. Some sand martin colonies were washed away. Towards the end of the month there was more than a hint of the approach of autumn.
Leisure
Double July rainfall was good for breeding season
In comparison to June, the mean temperature of July was two degrees warmer. In comparison to last July the mean temperature was similar but the rainfall was 50 per cent more. The rain this year was concentrated in fewer days and 20 days in July had less than 0.2mm of rain. Generally, the month was warm and settled.
Leisure
Will water pipit return this winter?
The first official record for Scotland was in 1968. At that time it was considered a sub-species in the Rock Pipit family but in 1987 it became a full species.