Committee member and experienced ecologist, Julie Ellis reveals how summer is the perfect time to keep your eagle eyes on the Ochils.
‘One swallow doesn’t make a summer’ and this year has proved the proverb, as occasional swallows have already been spotted around Scotland, despite the snow falling as I write! However, it is definitely spring so we should be listening for cuckoos as April speeds into May.
The summer months can be the busiest for wildlife as, with the focus on breeding and then feeding young, adults of all species are kept busy and relatively visible for longer hours than when simply feeding themselves. There is also simply more wildlife present during this season, as the resident animals are joined by migratory species – most obviously birds – returning to the area to make use of the temperate climate, and longer hours of daylight to maximise their chances of successful breeding.
March to May mark the return to the Ochils of everything from the tiny (but beautifully noisy!) warblers, through to ‘waders’ such as plovers, to the cruising, fish-hunting ospreys. The skies around us will be filled with birdsong, as territories are reclaimed, and nests refurbished, ready for the serious job of rearing this year’s generation of feathered beauties!
Waders return from their coastal winter feeding grounds to find suitable nest sites on rough grassland and moorland. The curlew is the most vocal and easily identified, with its long, downward curving bill. May is the time to listen for the high-pitched ‘screams’ of swifts as they perform aerial acrobatics catching insects high above us.
The
Dipper
Recognisable by their sickle-shaped wings, amazingly they land only to lay and incubate their eggs – mating and even sleeping on the wing! They’re most likely to nest in buildings or (much more rarely, here) trees. Skylarks will also be voluble in the upland areas, singing as they soar and float down towards their well-hidden nests on the ground.
The Golden Eagle
In the glens, dipper will be visible in the fast-flowing burns and rivers, standing on midstream stones and preening before taking the plunge to ‘walk’ up the riverbed catching freshwater invertebrates. They nest on the riverside – often even under bridges. Trees will be alive with the calls of warblers, finches and tits using sheltered nest sites that they can find near good food sources of invertebrates and seeds.
Birds of prey can be the most awe inspiring creatures to watch. Ospreys are already back at their nest sites across the country and, with their UK population rising steadily since their return in the 1950s, chances of seeing them either on their tree-top eyries or fishing over rivers, lochs and fish farms (!) are increasing every year.
The red kite feeding station at Argaty on the Braes of Doune means we should keep our eyes open for the distinctive forked tail of a species that’s attempting to return to the area following a reintroduction project. And you never know… when you think you’re watching one of the local buzzards, you may even be lucky enough to spot a master of the food chain in the British skies – either a golden eagle or perhaps even a whitetailed sea eagle soaring over the Ochils!
The
Red Kite