Castle Loch. 1 Great White Egret still. Via BirdGuides

BT Diver 23/2/23. Derek Farr. Ed. Many thanks for the LR report from DF 👍

2 Slavonian Grebes, seen off the Wig Bay Sailing Club, Loch Ryan. Maisie Welsh

Walk along the shoreline produced a Jack Snipe, a Red-necked Grebe, 2 Red-throated Diver & a Black-throated Diver. Ivan Lang

Message from yesterday. 6 Purple Sandpipers at Point of Lag, Monreith today (Thurs) & a Jack Snipe there yesterday (Wed). Paul Donald

Castle Loch. From western Vendace Bay, left of the Sacred Loch info board viewpoint at 1545. Disturbed after 5mins by springer spaniel entering the reeds .😠 Also 2 Great Egrets, one south shore Vendace Bay, other far eastern shore, south of ranger cottage. P

Seen on treetop at 2.45pm just below Knocktinkle Car Park above Gatehouse on the Laurieston road. Anna W

1 along the Kirtle river at Graitney 8am. Ian Irving

Photo on Facebook is more along the lines of a Lesser/Todd's type & is among Pink-feet. Gavin. Interestingly last Tuesday 12th observed a single Canada Goose on the sea/beach just to the north of Mull of Galloway on the eastern side, towards Drummore. Thought it was strange sat on sea by itself, but was one of the larger sub spp. Could have been the same bird. Ivan Lang

Possible in fields opposite & west of Kirkbride Pond this pm. Via BirdGuides https://goo.gl/maps/Uf6bbgZNM17g2YHQ6

Well I couldn't find the RND, so tried a bit of phone-scoping instead.

2 at Dalbeattie this morning engaged in nest building or repairing an old nest. A pair of Oy/catchers on the village pond with a few Bl-h & Herring Gulls. Chris and Pat Baines

2 GWE still, via BirdGuides

Ardwell ; 10-11.30am. 6 golden plvr on beach, rt diver, gc grebe, rbm, eider, wigeon, shags, black guillemots on sea/passing. New England Bay ; 10-11.30am. 3 B-t divers, 12+ razorbill, 2 rt diver, 15 ringed plvr, 2 dunlin. Kev & Sue

7 Slavonian Grebe at The Wig today & 1 Black-throated Diver off Foreland Place, near Agnew Park, Stranraer. Via BirdGuides

Over 140 Greenland White-fronted Goose at Stoneykirk, West Freugh today. Pauline Gilbertson via Twitter

Stairhaven ; 10-11am : 3 rt divers, gc grebe, a few eider, cm scoters & ♂️ goosander in the burn. Auchenmalg ; 11am-12.30pm; Eiders, scoters, ♂️ rb merganser, 2 razorbill. Kev & Sue

3 Slav Grebes, single Black-throated Diver & Long-tailed Duck, c.30 Common Scoter, 160+ Scaup & 150 Brent Geese (p-b). Russell Boland via Twitter

Tried hard to turn this into something else, but couldn't get past it being a hybrid Tufted X Scaup. Seen yesterday. Gavin

2 Great White Egret in Vendace Bay (south end). No sign of Bittern atm. Gavin

The Wig & harbourside. 8 L-t Duck, 100+ Scaup, Brent Geese (p-b), Com Scoter, RBM, Eider, Goldeneye, Wigeon, G-c Grebe, Slav Grebe, R-t Diver. Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher & Turnstone. Kev & Sue

One still in Vendace Bay reeds at Castle Loch, Lochmaben. Which reeds isn't disclosed I'm afraid. That's BirdGuides

Strange - looking hybrid at Lochrutton. Sorry it was too far away for my phone camera. Canada goose body white head black nest bill & a white neck with black speckles. Anna Ed. Sounds like one of those I've seen at Loch Ken & Mersehead

River Esk channel, south of Gretna . Low tide otter family with mum dominating the fish supper. Probably straddling the English border. "A white goose" with Barnies just visible on the English Rockcliffe Marsh. Good numbers of goldeneye, easily 50+ when combined with those off Browhouses, where there was 2 little egret, wigeon, teal, single pintail, c200 dunlin, lapwing, at least 140 golden plover. c2-300 maybe more fieldfare with only a few redwing in fields alongside approach road to Browhouses. Nothing unusual found on the Annan river viewed from Newbie but again good number of goldeneye & 12+ goosander.

15:00hrs. A pair of Peregrine at the viaduct. Kev & Sue

Loch Ken; Greenland White-fronts viewed from RSPB Ken-Dee car park. Great Northern Diver still present north end of loch, viewed from layby. 90 Whooper Swans with Greylags, 2 miles east of Townhead of Greenlaw off B795. Several Tree Sparrows. Chris & Pat Baines

Best birds; 1 greenshank graced my survey & good close view, 2 whimbrel, 1 little egret, c12 grey plvr, 1 rt diver. Barely any turnstone & no ringed plvr at all. PJ

Low tide Carse Gut. 1 Whimbrel, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank, c500 Shelduck, c1000 mxd flock Barnies & pfg in fields off A710. 23 Scaup & 2 hybrid Aythya ♂️ off Carsethorn. PJ

c50 Fieldfare & Kestrel from Troston back road near New Abbey. 50+ Fieldfare & presumably Linnet ditto at KF late pm. PJ

A75 lay-by Creetown 13.30-15.30. 2 black-throated divers, many oystercatcher, wigeon, teal, shelducks, pfg, redshank, curlews, 70+pintail, 3 porpoise. K&S

Ring-necked Duck showing from Meida Hide in channel to the left of hide. Quite sleepy at the moment. Gavin

Hooded crow on house roof Brownrigg Loaning Dumfries. Having spent weeks looking for same bird prior to the first sighting, now seen on a regular basis but never with my camera - must try harder. Rob Purdie

2 birds again at Castle Loch today. Paul M

2 Grn Wdpeckers this a.m. in Barony Woods + 3 Lt Egrets in nearby fields (there were 4 lt egrets c3 weeks ago) bt at least 3 birds on regular basis. Prob roosting at Barony pond. Stephen K

Report from yesterday. 2 GWE, one north end, one in south-eastern reeds. Per BirdGuides

Green Woodpecker yaffling near the Barony College. Heard them last year in the same area and also saw a breeding pair in the Forest of Ae last year. Stephen Kings

UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme If anyone is interested in taking part in surveying the key butterfly transect at Mabie Forest (outside Dumfries) then let Andy Riches the transect co-ordinator know. Full training and mentoring can be given if necessary. Expressions of interest welcome. Email  slioch69@aol.com

Could anyone who has 2022 records for Castle Loch LNR at Lochmaben send them to Andy Riches for inclusion in the annual report. Email;  btodumfries@gmail.com Don't delay & submit even if you have submitted records elsewhere, like DGBN. Many thanks

1 male goosander and 2 dippers on the river by The Mill on The Fleet, Gatehouse yesterday. David H

8 Whooper swans seen from the train today between Annan & Cummertrees. Yesterday Dipper in song at Dalbeattie & 2 Bullfinches in the churchyard at Kirkgunzeon. Chris & Pat Baines

Ringtail over Loch Ken this morning around here; 55°00'01.3"N 4°02'25.3"W https://goo.gl/maps/Dre7knzPbAdaaMSa8 , according to BirdGuides

Loch Ken ; 26 Greenland White-fronted Geese seen around here today ; 55°00'08.7"N 4°02'43.4"W https://goo.gl/maps/nKgh4FkKWkPzcbSh6 . Per BirdGuides

3 Purple Sands still at Point of Lag, Monreith today. Paul Donald

RSPB Crook of Baldoon: both male & ring-tailed HH active over the fields to the south of the car park. At c15.30 a Short-eared Owl (first of the winter) was briefly over the fields to the south of the car park & then headed off west. Ivan Lang

♀️ RN Duck still reliably on ponds adjacent to the Gretna Road A6071 at Longtown plus Ring Ouzel at Great Langdale 😳! Hawfinch routinely at Sizergh Castle car park. Bit of a drive... Per BirdGuides

"Went to Caerlaverock & had a ringtail Hen Harrier distantly NE from the Campbell Hide. The scaup was gone. Went for a second try at the Bittern (CL) & after 10 mins my dad picked it up to the left of the viewpoint. Awesome scope views. Think it was just the one bird we had". Andrew Russell via Twitter

Corpse found along the boardwalk at Caerlaverock NNR acc to BirdGuides. Flu, shotgun or, what? Maybe one from CL? 🤔

BirdGuides only user reports the Great Northern Diver still at northern end of the loch today.

No Bittern sighted this morning but GWE still present. Andrew R & BirdGuides

Report of 3 birds at Glencaple this morning. Seen from there on Kirkconnel Merse. All 3 flew north at 8:05am. Per BirdGuides

Wigtown LNR & RSPB Crook of Baldoon ; male not respecting boundaries flying south from former to latter 1510. PJ

I've just witnessed a springer spaniel type dog chase every bird it encountered from the beach at The Wig. Clearly the owner is either environmentally ignorant, willfully or not & happy for high tide roosting birds to be repeatedly disturbed. Is it any wonder that the world's coastal breeding birds & wildlife are in decline? There once was a breeding sandwich tern colony at The Wig, I understand. If this is a measure of the seriousness with which humans & yes, in particular dog-owning humans, are giving to declining biodiversity & combating the more profound human related impacts of climate change, then GOD HELP US! PS ; I also collected up a load of discarded crisp type packets, all together, just seemingly dropped onto the ground. A family? A school trip? A rubbish dumping campervan traveller? Who does this? Who, is endemically so lazy & irresponsible? Of course, I did the simple thing of putting them all in the bin provided, not 10m away!! Who are these i...

Unconfirmed report of large eagle type bird at Glencaple this morning (Saturday 4th) ....... return of the white-tailed eagle from a couple of weeks ago? Colin K

Wig Bay ; 1 maybe 2 GND, 5 Slav Grebe (everywhere they are!) plus LTDuck, RTD, Black Guillemot etc. Still not finding the Red-necked Grebe! West Freugh ; ringtail & 1♂️ HH (Sshhh!) plus Barn Owl in the dusk. PJ

Loch Arthur ; Raven & 2 Peregrine falcons dicing. Nothing of note on the Loch. Drungans ; Several Bramblings with the Chaffinches.  Carsethorn ; Field on right down to the point large flock of Pink-feet & 4 Whooper Swans. Falling tide; 2 Scaup,1 Red Breasted Merganser, 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Whimbrel. Chris & Pat Baines

Offshore early pm ; 1 GN Diver, c6 RT Diver, 2 BT Diver, several guillemot. PJ

Around Stranraer harbour in dricht weather; c 15 Black Guillemot, many become summer plumage, a few still winter. Loch Connell, Kirkcolm; pair Peregrine downed bh gull. One flew off unseen whilst the stooper struggled with the undead. Also flew away unseen! P

4♂️ Hen Harrier at WF. Also Barn Owl c1745 & skeins of PFG overflying to Luce Bay. PJ

Soleburn : juv greenshank still, 1 Slav Grebe & common seal just north. Loch Ryan Bay from Broadstone Road : 1 Black-throated Diver (possibly same bird saw at Wig Bay), 3+ RTD, 2 Slav Grebe, 2+ LTDuck. I'm not finding the Red-necked Grebe though, much to my detriment & disappointment! Fabulous birds all. PJ

Loch Ryan trip 2nd. a.m. As yesterday more or less! 4+ Slav Grebe, 1 GND, 1 Black-throated Diver, 2 RTD, c12 LTDuck, c20 Eiders, 2 Black Guillemot, 1 imm/♀️ Merlin, plus Shag, RBM, Com Scoter, Gc Grebe, Goldeneye, Wigeon, c200 P-b Brent's, 1♀️ Stonechat. PJ

2 still present yesterday at Castle Loch Lochmaben in Vendace Bay reeds north-ish of the castle. Per BirdGuides

One ad winter on the beach low tide Bishop Burn, Stranraer late pm. Probably same bird seen in roost off Broadstone Road. PJ

One at least still at Castle Loch. Seen in Vendace Bay location. Per BirdGuides

Wig Bay foreshore. c200 p-b Brent's. Some looking more grey-bellied tbh. 2 bar-tailed godwit. Another location for a pandemic of dog disturbance. Plus rain ☔! LR a great location to spend more than just a few days.

01/02 13:20 ; Castle Loch NR. Again on shoreline just north of jetty, north of Lochmaben Castle (13:09). Per BirdGuides

Wig Bay off Marian Cottage. 6♂️ LTDuck, 4+ Slav Grebe. PJ

Opposite St Mary's Croft ; 2 Slav Grebe, ♂️♀️ LTDuck. PJ

Soleburn. Viewed from road near freshwater Sole Burn inlet. 2 black-throated diver but distant, 4 Slav/horned grebe, c30 eider, 1 greenshank juv (good close view) plus com scoter, rbm, goldeneye, shag, black guillemot.  Rain. PJ

01/02 08:35 ; Glencaple. Male over merse opposite Church Street (08:33). Per BirdGuides