Youth in Demand

Looking for a sign—some of our members at Torwoodlee in June

November, 2009

CENTRAL BORDERS MEMBERS CENTRE Issue No 4

NEWSLETTER

After the recent heat wave, it was disappointing to

awaken to a bitterly cold east wind and spots of

rain, for our guided walk to Torwoodlee Estate near

Galashiels, as part of “Wildlife Week”.

Owner Mr James Pringle, had kindly agreed to lead

the group, on a guided tour of the farmland, its

woodlands and open hill country.

On arrival, the 20 enthusiasts, who consisted of a

mixed bag of old and young and one canine conser-

vationist, soon forgot about the weather as their

host led them off on the tour. He imparted his vast

knowledge of the fascinating history of the estate,

which his family had farmed for generations, and

the surrounding landscape. He admitted that his

knowledge of the “tweetie birds” was scant, but

there was no shortage of birders in the group to

help identify things.

After quite a lengthy climb up a tree lined track, a

pause for a breather was taken at a crossroads

which offered stunning views over Galashiels

PASSING THE BUCK AT TOR-

BIRDS, BANTER AND A BREAKDOWN

towards the Eildons. Just over the wall was

Torwoodlee Golf Course. As the group watched,

a roe deer buck suddenly appeared and began

walking up the fairway towards them. Eventu-

ally it panicked and leapt the fence and disap-

peared into a nearby wood, not before some

jokes ensued about this being the place to come

for a “deer” round of golf!

A climb to the ancient Broch followed where

some of the more upland flora and fauna were

encountered, before heading back down to the

starting point at the steading.

How refreshing it was to encounter a landowner

going out of his way to welcome the public onto

his land and to give an insight into the com-

plexities of running such a large and beautiful

estate. We certainly learned a lot and I’m sure

that he managed to glean some new information

about local wildlife from some of our assembled

sages.

It was a case of all aboard the Bird

Bus for the 20 plus members and

friends who had decided to make the

trip this year to Hauxley on the

Northumberland Coast. It is managed

by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust

and is a reclaimed open cast mine,

which we have visited before.

Normally it is Eric who is close to a

breakdown every year trying to organ-

ise the bus, but this year it was the

bus which broke down – just a few

miles short of its destination.

John, our usual driver, managed to

nurse it over the final stage, but had

to about turn and limp all the way

back to Jedburgh to pick up another

coach, thus missing his usual bird

watching stint with our group, which

he always enjoyed.

One heavy shower in the afternoon

failed to dampen the spirits and a good

tally of birds was quickly accumulated.

Eric managed 54 species and as he

sheltered in one of the hides from the

rain, managed to clock a “lifer”. Alan

Pringle’s daughter first picked out a

small group of 4 terns which looked a

bit different and once brought under

the scrutiny of binoculars, it was soon

discovered that they were rare Roseate

Terns, which nest just offshore on

Coquet Island.

It just shows that every rain cloud has

a silver lining (or roseate in this case!)

Watch out for details of next year’s

Bird Bus when you can be sure of a day

filled with bags of birds and brilliant

banter.

At our AGM in April, Bob Straffen stood down after 4 years of sterling and

effective chairmanship. I am pleased to thank him for all his work and for

that of his wife, Stella, who has also retired from the Committee. I am de-

lighted to report that both Bob and Stella will remain active members of our

Centre. I am now feeling my way into the chair, very ably supported by your

hard working committee.

A highlight of this year for me was a day of crystal clarity on the hills and

moors of southern Roxburghshire. The wide-angle views of fresh greenery

that only May can bring were a delight on the drive south. On closer focus at

my destination I lingered over a view into a sun-flecked birch glade where an

Orange-tip butterfly flew through the dappled light. Finally and in close-up I

found my target of that day, tiny Green Hairstreak butterflies flitting over

moorland banks of heather and blaeberry, and in quite unexpectedly large

numbers.

It was a day to remember and a reminder of the precious landscapes and

habitats which we are so fortunate to enjoy in the Borders and in Scotland

and which must be maintained for the next generations.

At our Centre meetings, both indoors and outdoors, these next generations are

not well represented. We are top heavy with oldies like me and while all our

wisdom is much appreciated we would greatly value an increased presence of

younger members and young families. So, when our winter programme be-

gins in September, please do consider coming along, whatever age you are.

You will be made most welcome.

With best wishes

Malcolm Lindsay Chairman

August 2009

A sub-committee of the Members

Centre have been working with Julian

Warman (SE Scotland Reserves Man-

ager) to develop our reserve at Hare

Moss.

This work has the full and helpful

support of the landowner.

Hare Moss is a small and intimate

reserve but holds a pleasing diversity

of wildlife much of which can be

easily seen from the hide and from the

access path.

Particular highlights are its interest-

ing range of wetland and grassland

plants, a strong population of Little

Grebe (which can be studied at very

close range), breeding Water Rail

(more often heard than seen), good

populations of butterflies, day-flying

moths and damselflies and a variety of

winter wildfowl.

Our Centre has very recently pro-

vided funds to replace rather awk-

ward access styles with gates. The

SWT Tweed Valley Conservation Team

under the guidance of Eddie Degnan

will shortly undertake the installation

of these new gates. We are also plan-

ning the erection of road signs as the

small access road off the busy A7 is

difficult to identify.

Once these access tasks have been

completed we hope to see more visi-

tors using the reserve and, in due

course, this may include parties from

local schools.

We are also seeking funding for a full

perimeter pathway that would further

enhance the reserve.

2009

THURSDAY NOV 12

Peter Leach “Eye of Newt, Tongue of

Frog”

THURSDAY DEC 10

Graham Bell “Images of the Arctic”

2010

THURSDAY JAN 14

“Members Night” Bring along slides,

photos, curios etc (10 mins per member)

THURSDAY FEB 11

David Long “Botanical Exploration of

China”

THURSDAY MAR 11

Liz Hanson “The Art of Nature”

THURSDAY APR 8

AGM followed by Henry Gray

“Wildlife on Film”

*All events except walks and outings are illus-

trated talks held in the Langlee Centre, Marigold

Drive, Galashiels, at 7.30pm. Admission to mem-

bers is free and there is tea, coffee & biscuits and

a raffle at the interval.

Raffle prizes are always welcome, so why not

bring something along.

WATCH GROUP

Galashiels SWT Wildlife Watch Club For 8

– 12 year olds, meets last Tuesday of

month, 3.30 – 5pm, Focus Centre,

Livingston place, Galashiels. Lots of activi-

ties and outings for youngsters interested

in learning more about local wildlife.

Contacts:-

Susan Kevan (01896) 752889

Toni Coyle (01896) 753143

Dates for your Diary

pointing number of birds and notable

was the abundant chicory which was a

spectacular shade of blue.

The most memorable sight was the

countless thousands of Painted Lady

butterflies which were everywhere,

tending to favour scabious plants. In

all my worldly travels, I have never

seen such a concentration of butter-

flies.

The icing on the cake was the sight of

a stunning Cleopatra Butterfly.

Eric Middleton

Painted Lady numbers were amaz-

ing

Bonelli’s Warbler and lots of very con-

fiding Spotted Flycatchers.

The botany made up for the disap-

Mallorca is one of my all time favour-

ite holiday destinations and this year I

found it greatly changed since we first

went over 20 years ago.

This was our 9th trip and we found

that the last week of May was not the

best time to visit, as most of the mi-

grant birds had left.

Nonetheless, I did manage to see one

species for the first time ever – a Col-

lared Pratincole, which is a unique

cross between a swallow and a wader.

Some of the highlights of the 84 spe-

cies encountered, included Osprey,

Eleanora’s Falcon, Subalpine Warbler,

COLLARED PRATINCOLE MALLORCA HIGHLIGHT

Page 2 The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland (registered number SC040247) having its registered office at Cramond House, Cramond Glebe Road, Edinburgh EH4 6NS. It is also a Scottish registered charity (charity number SC005792)

brisk on a drying-out afternoon which saw us raise £215 from

the stalls and hopefully generated interest in the SWT and

the Central Borders Members Centre.

Many thanks are due to all those who helped at the show and

who kindly donated plants and bottles.

This year we decided to run a stand at

Peebles Agricultural Show to promote

the activities of SWT to the agricul-

tural community in a location which

does not at present have its own

Members Centre.

On an August Friday afternoon five of

us met at the showground in pouring

rain to erect our “mini-marquee”.

This was to prove challenging but

fortunately some of our number were

able to demonstrate a degree of spa-

tial awareness sufficient for the task.

Saturday dawned even wetter. We

were relieved to find our marquee had

survived the night. Plant and bottle

stalls and information desk were put

in place and we awaited the arrival of

the public in a downpour that was

becoming heavier by the minute.

Unsurprisingly very little trade oc-

curred before lunch but became quite

Peebles Show Stand Great Success OSPREY OMNIBUS

We visited the excellent SWT reserve at Loch of the Lowes

near Dunkeld and were treated to a fine and unusual (to

us at least) display. The male returned to the nest with a

fish and handed it to the female for her to feed the

young—normal so far. To our delight, he then proceeded

to fish again in the loch, just to the right of the hide and

in clear view. He caught a second fish and again took it to

the nest and again the female accepted it. Great so far.

However we were then really surprised to see him fish

AGAIN and immediately in the same spot and with the

same success. This time he took the fish to his own perch,

away from the nest and proceeded to have his own tea.

Just showing off?

(Incidently the red squirrels were also delightful and easy

to view.)

Back in Cardrona forest more drama. One of the young

Ospreys actually fell from the nest before fledging. It

could have been caused by a wind gust or simple careless-

ness but luckily the event was witnessed by volunteers

who raised the alarm. The experts searched carefully and

found the bird unharmed! Seemingly the bracken below

had cushioned the fall. The chick was fed with small

pieces of fish, given a thorough "medical" and returned to

the nest from where it fledged normally in its own good

time.

Isn't nature wonderful!

Stella & Bob

DISCOVER SCOTLAND’S WILDLIFE WITH NEW BOOKLET

An excellent booklet has recently been published by author Rosalind Jones entitled “Discover Scot-

land’s Wildlife” and is an excellent introduction to the best places in Scotland to see wildlife and what

to look for. All the profits are going to SWT funds so it is even more attractive, especially to our mem-

bers. It only costs £2.99 and we hope to have copies available for sale at our monthly meetings in Ga-

lashiels. (See above for details)