Nice to see some waders starting to move through with a mixed feeding flock of 150 Dunlin (mostly summer plumage) & 130 Ringed Plover, 1 Knot sleeping in the middle, in front of village. 4 Whimbrel would suggest new birds in & 9 Sandwich Terns fishing at high tide & resting on old pier. Gavin Chambers.

Pair of Redstarts in the woodland edge south of Greenburn on the Kirkgunzeon road half a mile from Milton. Anna White.  

Kirkcowan: 2 Grasshopper Warblers (1 seen, one heard), 1 Cuckoo. Several Willow Warblers & Siskin. Mindork: 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Grasshopper Warbler heard, many Willow Warblers & a few Chiffchaff. Rob W.

Three at Browhouses. Colin Kinnear.

1 trilling Wood Warbler, male Redstart, 2 Tree Pipits, Red Kite. Stephen Kings.

Cuckoo, Wheatear, Swallow and House Martin this morning. Anna White.

10 flew over the Crook of Baldoon at 09:38 this morning. They were heading east across the estuary. RW.

Pic courtesy of Rob Wadsworth. 

Having read the article on Curlew conservation in the June edition (not May - & received in April! Thank you for correcting me John!) of Birdwatching magazine, I'm left thinking... and the declines continue after 45 years of my adult lifetime, reading the same stories year after year & 45 years of increased conservation "industry" efforts to combat biodiversity losses.  It's simply not working. Efforts have only slowed down the process. Not enough people in the community are concerned enough, too few take it seriously enough or view it as important enough, even relevant enough for them to embrace the necessary changes required to reverse the continuing pattern of environmental destruction & depletion. Too many appear to me to be completely disengaged & disinterested in humanities negative impact upon the planet. Only when the whirlwind wipes out such folks' way of life, will they sit up & take notice. Even then, the response may be; as

6 warbler species in 100 yards yesterday [28th] = Reed, Sedge, Willow, Blackcap, Garden, Chiffchaff. Reed Warbler and a pair of Goldeneye on Mill Loch. John Miles.

Crook of Baldoon. Spoonbill flew south into the mist at 8.49am. Snipe drumming in south lagoon enclosure. Rob Wadsworth.

Back on flash south of car park. Crook of Baldoon 8.10am. Rob Wadsworth.

Cuckoo at Gledenholm Moor today, plus at least 2 pairs of Curlew in the area displaying and calling. Stephen Kings.

18:30-19:00. 2 Golden Plvr, 7 RTD offshore, 2 Guillemot, 4 Kittiwake, 1 Gannet, c20 Sandwich Tern, a few Dunlin, Grey Seal & Harbour Porpoise. PJ

At Three Lochs, Kirkcowan. Maisie Welsh.

Spoonbill back on flash south of car park at 10.15. Ivan Lang.

Bird in main tidal channel of River Cree falling tide, viewable from Wigtown LNR hide. Via BirdGuides.

Whitethroat & Grasshopper Warbler reeling today at Gledenholm Moor. 2 Groppers reeling at Windy Hill on 22nd. Stephen Kings.

RSPB Crook of Baldoon. Male on merse south of car park. Ivan Lang.

Summer plumaged Red-throated Diver drifting north past the village close in. Gavin Chambers

Pair at least alongside the Nith. Also 1 Sedge Warbler, 2 pair Com Sandpiper, 4♂️ Reed Bunting, 10 Goosander, several Orange Tip Butterflies. PJ

2 Ring Ouzels seen in flight nr the top of the Pass. Several Wheatears, Meadow Pipits + Grey Wagtail on the river. 2 Buzzards displaying. Common Lizard basking in the sunshine in the grass at the side of the road. Drove back via Elvanfoot, which of course is in South Lanarkshire & saw more Wheatears & several displaying Lapwings & Oystercatchers. Chris & Pat Baines.

RSPB Crook of Baldoon. No sign of Spoonbill so far today but ♂️ Garganey returned to lagoon south of car park at around 14:00. Ivan Lang.

Low tide. Off Carsethorn ; 47 Scaup, 26 drake, 1♂️ tufted & 1 ♂️ Aythya hybrid plus 2 Whimbrel. Walking towards Carse Pow, 1♀️ Wheatear in lefthand paddock & 1 Whimbrel calling in Carse Pow channel. 

Spoonbill on the south merse, didn't stay long, flew off towards Garlieston. Maisie Welsh.

Spoonbill feeding on the two flashes on the merse this afternoon for 3 hrs before flying south, landing on the merse towards the southern end of reserve. Also male Garganey on the lagoon south of car park (spotted by M. Welsh). Sedge Warbler singing in ditch adjacent to viewing platform. Ivan Lang.

A Cuckoo and a Garden Warbler joined the dawn chorus this morning. Kevin Peace.

Yesterday 4 singing Willow Tits just south of Woodhall Loch (Tarff Valley). Singing Redstart nearby + Cuckoo. Just north of Ringford an Osprey & 13 House Martins. Barry O'Dowd.

Some will be aware the bird has been seen overflying the merse at RSPB Crook of Baldoon, "landing on the outer merse towards Wigtown Harbour". Via BirdGuides. PJ

Although this small reserve in Dumfries is now surrounded by housing development (still not yet finished) I have made a couple of visits despite the development still on-going, & have logged a total of 31 species. These include Bullfinch, Water Rail, Treecreeper, Teal & Great Spotted Woodpecker. Today I had my first Orange Tip butterfly. The biggest problem here with the housing & playground area is the amount of rubbish which is a real eyesore. Chris and Pat Baines. PS. I have yet to see Willow Tit which is listed on the reserve. Ed; Sounds like a sorry metaphor for what we humans are CONTINUING to do to the (planets) environment, despite all the warnings & forecasts. Over- & increasing human population IS THE CENTRAL CAUSE & PROBLEM. Therefore, we have a personal responsibility to address it through actions of self-denial. Or what pray, is the problem? 

47 Scaup turning tide, 26 drake & 1 hybrid Aythya ♂️. Late WeBS count for Carsethorn to Borron Pt only produced the usual 2 Whimbrel of note. 

Collins Bird Guide 3rd Edition . It may have the dust jacket missing, it's not absolutely clear, but a super price for the hardback edition. If you're looking for the best bird book for the UK, I doubt if you'll find a keener price atm. PJ

Spoonbill again on the merse south of the car park today. Via BirdGuides.

1 Purple Sandpiper, 3 Wheatears, 4 Sandwich Terns, 1 RT Diver and a flock of 100+ Linnets. Paul Donald.

Pied Flycatcher, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Wood Warbler, Blackcap, Dipper, Great Spotted Woodpecker. Rob Wadsworth. 

Thursday 20th April 2023. Carstramon Wood SWT . Pied Flycatcher, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff & Great Spotted Woodpecker. Carsluith . Very few waders but 1 Whitethroat in the hedgerow. Crook of Baldoon . No Spoonbill but flock of Golden Plover, plus Grey Plover on the Merse. Garlieston . 7 Sandwich Tern & a few Gannets. No PB Brents. Isle of Whithorn . Whimbrel, Rock Pipit, Redshank, White Wagtail & Peregrine. Burrow Head . Gannets, Guillemot, Kittiwakes, Shag & Wheatear on the Headland. Kirkgunzeon . Wednesday 19th at 2030 Long-eared Owl flew over the Mossband park home site from the A711 towards the Village. Chris & Pat Baines. Ed. Super-sounding trip! 

It appears Mr Musk is in dispute with Microsoft, at least, over free use of automations to Twitter. It's likely then, that charges will be introduced for automated messages being sent to a Twitter account, like DGBN. Unless Microsoft absorb the likely cost, I may in turn be faced with the choice of having to pay for a "premium" account in order to continue sending automated messages to Twitter. I'm not prepared to do this.  This means either I spend more time replicating messages on Twitter, or close the DGBN account. Closure of the DGBN account is highly likely then.  This means that currently Twitter have blocked all automated messages from Microsoft at least (there are many providers of automated messages), so unless I post Tweets manually, no reports will appear on Twitter for the time being, or.. ever again. We'll see what happens. I'll LYK what transpires. PJ

Single Greenshank and Common Sandpiper were the most notable birds on the River Annan at Newbie this afternoon. Michael Lennon. 

Green Woodpecker along the track on the east side of Carlingwark along with 3 singing Blackcaps, 3 Nuthatches and plenty of willeys and chiffs. 7+ prs of Great crested Grebes on Lochrutton Loch. John Miles.

A quick look at BT for April reveals;  April 6th : 36 Manx shearwater past Corsewall Point. April 8th : Green Sandpiper on Cluden Water, north of Dumfries and 1 on the Nith at Thornhill. April 11th : Common Sandpiper on the Nith nr Kingholm Quay. April 15th : Garden Warbler at Fominoch, nr Loch Ken. April 19th : Wood Warbler at Carstramon Wood and Common Sandpiper on the river Nith at Cairnpark, north of Thornhill. All birds of interest you may not likely know about.

Still south of the car park at Crook of Baldoon, then flew to estuary around 7pm. According to BirdGuides.

Photo of the Spoonie. Ivan Lang. 

Spoonbill 😲 on merse South of RSPB Crook of Baldoon car park. Ivan Lang.

Seen & photographed at Wigtown LNR by Maisie Welsh.

Apparently found again same place at Carsethorn this morning! Not seen this afternoon thus far. So say BirdGuides. PJ

A walk round Kirkgunzeon village this morning & the highlight being a male Bullfinch feeding on the ground in the leaf litter, also the first Snowdrops out. Chris and Pat Baines

Stork still present at aforementioned Carsethorn location when I left at 7.15. Many thanks for the heads up folks. Robbie Purdie.

It can be frustrating taking handheld phone pics through a scope but this nice male Wheatear inspired me to have a go. Also c2-300 pfg in skein over, heading up the Nith mid-pm. PJ

Well I thought I'd taken some reasonable vid footage of the bird but seems not 🙄. However, evidence that I saw the bird at least whilst at Carsethorn. PJ

Jeez, it's true! It's really there in the paddock back of Carsethorn village, trundling round the flood pond! Still present at 18:15 at least 👍 PJ

Refound in flooded field to the right of road just before Carsethorn. Gavin Chambers. 

White Stork circling over north edge of wetland at Mersehead, out from Meida Hide. Now heading east. Gavin Chambers

14 Scaup in Carse Bay & 31 off Carsethorn plus 1♂️ Aythya hybrid low tide. Also pair RBM, 3 Little Egret & usual 2 Whimbrel sunbathing. Too much heat haze. PJ

From Ardwall Mains; 4 Cm Scoter I believe, c25 Tufted, pair Mallard, 6 Goldeneye, 4 Mute, 3 Greylag, c12 Canada, c6 Cormorant, 2 GC Grebe, 1 Swallow, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Green Woodp, pair Bullfinch, 1 Sphawk. That's your one-off WeBS count! PJ

3 Grasshopper Warblers singing. Kevin Peace.

Pair of Dippers mating on the Fleet at Gatehouse this evening. Also a pair of Goosander. Nigel Willits. 

White Wagtail c400m north of the car park today. Via BirdGuides.

A female Cuckoo calling at Cambret Hill, Creetown. Kevin Peace.

No Red Flag on The Dundrennan Range today - South of Balmae - 2 Sandwich Terns at 1pm. anna white. 

A juvenile on the sea off Maryport. Via BirdGuides.

Hirundine movement today with 15 Sand Martin & 25 Swallow moving northwards. Also a male Gadwall on the lagoon south of the car park, first in a while for the reserve. Peregrine was buzzing the geese just after lunch. Ivan Lang. 

Female Redstart along the main track before the woodland. Osprey seen a couple of times over the lagoon & later south over the Glenlochar bridge carrying a fish. Pied Flycatcher in evidence in the main woodland & 2 Willow Tit pairs on my survey, though 4 territories in total this season. Gavin Chambers.

Seen on the Tarff to Tongland road on Wed 12th and another over Threave Rovers football pitch tonight (13th). Chris Carter.

Nice image of what I believe is the usual carbo ssp Cormorant, taken by Maisie Welsh. 

Interesting report received from Ronnie, of Barony Country Foods seemingly.  "Hi Pete, I was up on farmland very near Ae on Monday checking some Tawny Owl boxes & saw my first Wheatear of the year in the same field as 2 Lapwing nests both sitting on 4 eggs. Also 7 Sand Martins feeding high over a small pond. Still no Swallows! On the subject of Jack Snipe, I ringed a few this year (maybe 6) using a thermal monocular, bright torch and a long-shafted landing net. I have mainly come across them while targeting Skylarks which I have ringed over 100 of this winter. The thermal has certainly opened my eyes up to just how many bird species depend on stubble fields both for feeding and for roosting. Regards, Ronnie"

Pied Flycatcher at The Hills Woodland Walks, Dumfries. Colin Kinnear.

200 swallows at Carlingwark Loch, Castle Douglas at 10am. Barry O'Dowd.

One bird at least whilst driving between Torrs Point turn-off & Auchencairn on the A711 this morning.

A bird singing in Carstramon Wood. Kevin Peace. 

The first House Martin & 3 Sand Martin over fields as well as ♀️ Garganey flying (please do not look for it as it was inside the new fence & the area is being used by breeding Lapwings) also the 2 Ruff were joined by 2 Black-t Godwit. Ivan Lang.

Three Osprey at the nest at Wigtown. Maisie Welsh. Ed. Full yarn on FB I believe.

1 Tree Pipit, 6 Willow Warbler and an early Cuckoo. Paul Collin via direct Twitter mssg.

Indication of migration this morning with a group of White Wag with couple of pied feeding on merse to north of car park. The first Sedge W. of the year in ditch near the CP. Also Ruff still present & Whimbrel over. Ivan Lang.

Crook of Baldoon. There were 2 in the end. A male showing a summer plumage coming through and a female. Both returned to the Lagoon at 17.00 but elusive. Ivan Lang.

Craignarget Hill = 3 W.Warblers, several Chiffchaff. Clayshant to Ringdoo = 1 W.Warbler, a couple of Chiffchaff & several Swallows. Torrs Warren, > 10 W.Warblers & Chiffchaff respectively & 2 Blackcaps. Rob Wadsworth. 

Crook of Baldoon. Single Ruff with Redshank on lagoon north of car-park then flew off with Redshank south. Ivan Lang. 👌

Are we doing something to combat the actions of the human "Earth 🌍 Environment Trashers"? See how you can help & take a look at practical planet support by visiting BTO surveys at; https://www.bto.org/how-you-can-help/take-part-project  

Anyone out there able and willing to report on the number of nests in any rookery between the Nith at Dumfries and the Cree at Newton Stewart? I've been surveying rookeries since 1983, to follow rook populations in the old county of Kirkcudbrightsire and have difficulty now in covering such a large area. Dumfries-Shawhead area and Castle Douglas-Dalry areas are a bit neglected by me at the moment. And anything around Dalbeattie. I need occupied nest numbers and the name and grid reference for any site you might cover. In advance many thanks. David H. Please complete the Rookeries Survey form to be found on the Rookeries Survey blog page. More background provided by David; As a research committee member of the WMBC (West Midland Bird Club), I was involved with a rook survey in the West Midlands as part of one of its many surveys in the 1970s. When I moved up here (D&G) in 1982, I decided to follow in the footsteps of the 1947 BTO survey carried out in D&G by Sir Arthus

3 Willow Warblers, numerous Chiffchaffs. Amongst the usual suspects, there was a Sparrowhawk, Raven, small flock of Siskin & a Shelduck. Rob Wadsworth. 

Sat 8th. Both Peregrine & Merlin seen flying over the course. A mixed flock of Linnets/Twite & golfers nearly pushing the barnies away while trying to play the course. They just walked away from the players! John Miles.

9th April - near Balmaclellan: Several Willow warblers and Blackcaps in song. Redwing in full song. Mistle thrush on eggs. Alasdair Grubb. 

First singing bird at Wood of Cree this morning, just north of Barclye car park. Gavin Chambers. 

Mabie; Osprey with fish heading south from Lochaber Loch (where to🤔?). Singing W.Warbler/Blackcap & many Chiffchaff. Couple peacock & small tortoiseshell. NA; weasel across the A710 & ♀️Goosander on New Abbey Pow.

2 Willow Warblers singing this morning. RKP (Kevin Peace). 

2 singing blackcaps and 3 willow warblers in song at Threave Gardens 4th April and a male merlin speeding low across my garden (Gatehouse) yesterday afternoon. David H.

Saw my first Blackcap by Orchardton Tower - Anna White

Singing bird opposite Southwick Church (Caulkerbush). PJ

3 around Mull of Galloway lighthouse, briefly. Via BirdGuides - making regional reporting redundant! PJ

Off Lefnoll Point yesterday 7th. Black-throated Diver & 4 Slav Grebe. Via BirdGuides. 

Spotted passing over Glasserton this pm, Isle of Whithorn (Monreith) by Paul Donald no doubt. Via BirdGuides.

1 Slav Grebe & 2 LT Duck off Bishopburn today. Via BirdGuides.

3 Willow Warbler there today. Via BirdGuides. 

OMG, 2 seen at the Urr bridge at Dalbeattie this morning 😲! PJ

Nice to see 7 birds at least at Mainsriddle this pm. PJ

Nice to learn, however late, of 2 birds apparently gracing Shore Road, Glencaple on 27th March. Via BirdGuides. 

Both Osprey now at the nest at Wigtown. Maisie W

Walking the Water of Luce from Glenluce viaduct down to Luce bay: 2 Willow Warblers. Both visible and singing. Many Chiffchaff. 1 Merlin, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Goosander + several more common species. Rob Wadsworth

First 2 Swallows of the year over the fields north of car park. Ivan Lang.

2 April – 1st Swallow of the year at Penpont, plus 4 Wheatears & Peregrine at Glenwhargen Craig. Today 3rd April – Great White Egret on the marshes NE of road heading north past Creetown; also 2 Purple Sands & Wheatear at Portpatrick. Stephen Kings.

Single LRP heard & seen plus half dozen Sand Martin, pair Skylark & pair Goosander. PJ

Amazing day east of Moffat with Golden Eagle, Goshawk, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard to name a few. John Miles.

Singing Willow Warbler south of Cochrans Boiler factory. Also about 20 pfg at Annan Waterfoot & c600 on the low tide sands south of Gretna. Nothing unusual at CL, a few Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, pair GC Grebe & 1 Little Egret. 

2 Sandwich Tern & 5 Sand Martin at Corsewall Pt. The Sand Martin flew over & cont'd nrth across the sea. Also present were a significant number of Red-throated Diver + at least 3 GN Diver. Rob Wadsworth. 

15:00. 32 Scaup offshore, 24 drake + 1♂️ Aythya hybrid. 3 Scaup in Carse Bay, 1 drake. Possibly a couple more. Powillimount ; c1000 pfg on the low tide beach. Several singing Chiffchaff travelling about & 2 small tortoiseshell spotted. PJ