Scottish birds of prey & wildlife tours mcleanscotland bird watchers & wildlife enthusiasts all over Scotland |
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MCLEANSCOTLAND CAN ARRANGE AND GUIDE TOURS FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN BIRD WATCHING OR WILDLIFE HERE IN SCOTLAND. We use very good and highly experienced guides for the bird watching & wildlife tours. Being Maclean's, we know Mull quite well, as you may expect, we can deliver excellent bird and wildlife tours here and many other superb locations all over Scotland. Drop us a note and we will get right back to you. Tours auf deutscher Sprache werden auch angeboten. Many ideas and many alternatives to tours on Mull and Argyll! Try us for size, we can arrange a wildlife and birdwatching tour for any number of people, any language (almost). Mull is one of the best places in Britain to spot Otters, Golden Eagles and Sea Eagles. Red deer and common seal, buzzards are commonplace, also Hen Harriers, Kestrels, Merlin, Short-Eared Owls and many other land birds. On the surrounding seas we have all three types of diver, oyster-catchers, cormorant, shag, razorbill, puffin, and several species of duck to name but a few!!! Does that not whet your appetitie?
12th-19th May 2010 The festival encourages people to enjoy wildlife in a sustainable way
We can assist you in travel and accommodation to the festival. ......................... First for UK as black and red kites produce two young IT HAS been a well-kept secret in the world of ornithology, but it was revealed yesterday that for the first time in Britain a rare migratory black kite has bred with a native red kite. The "unique" hatching of two hybrid chicks at a secret location in the Highlands last year was monitored by experts from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Details were kept a close secret because of concerns about the risks posed by eager "twitchers" trying to get to the site. The red kite, once virtually wiped out in Scotland, has been reintroduced over the past 20 years, particularly in areas where it used to be common, including the Highlands, central Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway. Mr Etheridge said the RSPB usually recorded one or two black kite sightings a year in Scotland. The birds migrate between Africa and countries such as France and Spain, though red kite are resident, he said.OSPREY 'AFFAIR' ENDS HAPPILY SCOTLAND'S most famous bird of prey has laid a second clutch of eggs after her mate unceremoniously evicted others following a dalliance with a rival male. Wardens at the Loch Garten reserve in the Cairngorms were dismayed after the female osprey known as EJ - who had paired with an old flame called VS - laid four eggs only for them to be destroyed by her regular mate, Henry. He had flown back late from spending the winter in Africa. But Richard Thaxton, manager of the RSPB site near Aviemore, said: "This is an extraordinary turn of events for the osprey story as a relaid clutch of eggs has only been known once before in Scotland, 25 years ago." Henry returned to the nest yesterday. Mr Thaxton added: "To our huge relief, he settled down to incubate the egg, clearly knowing this time that it was his."MULLThe entire island is bursting with wildlife-watching opportunities and the chance to see some of our most exciting species including otters, golden eagles and white-tailed sea eagles
The RSPB will undertake bird monitoring and
it is expected the Western Isles Fisheries Trust
will also carry out monitoring work on fry and parr
numbers in mink-affected fisheries. About 230 mink
were caught in the Uists and over 300 have been
trapped on Harris. A recent report indicated that
the purge was working, with evidence of birds
breeding successfully again in areas where mink had
been eradicated. In December, RSPB Scotland
monitoring work found that Arctic terns were
breeding more successfully in areas where the
voracious predators have been trapped and shot on
the Uists. Nest survival of Arctic terns was found
to be more than three times higher on the southern
islands compared with that on Lewis and Harris to
the north. A survey found that the average hatching
success for the species was about 40 per cent across
the islands. However, there were significant
differences for hatching success between islands,
with 59 per cent producing chicks on the Uists
compared with just 18 per cent on Lewis and Harris.
Of 86 nests in which the cause of failure was
established, 62 per cent were eaten by predators.
SCOTLAND'S most common bird of prey has been placed on an endangered species list following a dramatic decline in its numbers, it was revealed yesterday. The number of Kestrels north of the Border fell by 31 per cent between 1993 and 2003, according to figures compiled by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). Over the same period, the decline in kestrel numbers across the whole of the United Kingdom was just 4 per cent. The BTO also revealed that kestrel productivity - the number of young the birds produce - dropped by between 25 and 50 per cent over the past year. The decline has now led to kestrels being added to the Nest Record Scheme Concern List, which was published yesterday by the BTO. The kestrel is a member of the falcon family and feeds mainly on small mammals and insects. Latest figures suggest that there are now about 38,000 pairs of kestrels in the UK. The kestrel is one of five species that have been newly added to the concern list due to reduced nesting success. The other four are the tree pipit, whinchat, bullfinch and corn bunting. Sixteen species already placed on the list are moorhen, ringed plover, barn owl, skylark, yellow, grey and pied wagtails, dunnock, wheatear, willow warbler, spotted flycatcher, starling, house sparrow, linnet, yellowhammer and reed bunting.
MCLEANSCOTLAND CAN ARRANGE AND GUIDE TOURS FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN BIRD WATCHING HERE IN SCOTLAND.
www.rspb.org.uk/scotland/index.asp www.jncc.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=1548 www.turusmara.com on our favourite isle; MULL. We can design a tour around this break on Mull. www.snh.org.uk/scottish/species/birds.asp www.hughharrop.com/rarities.html
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