American Wigeon still present on the lagoon north of the car park, also 34 Twite sitting on the fence by the entrance track. Ivan Lang. 

A bird reported gracing the Folly Pond, WWT Caerlaverock. 

Still present on the lagoon north of car park at Wigtown RSPB Crook of Baldoon. 

Images courtesy of Paul Massey. The luckiest occasional D&G visitor for sure! Thankful, we are!  Seen near Kirkconnel, nr Sanquhar. Paul's message; "Shorelark on private opencast coal site near Kirkconnel. Unfortunately no public access." 

26th.  Grobdale ; Skylarks back on territory and singing. Golden Eagle, Merlin, Kestrel, several Buzzards & Red Kites.  Castle Douglas to Gelston Road ; 6 Whooper Swans.  Balcary Point ; 40 Common Scoter & Peregrine Falcon. Chris & Pat Baines.

500-1000 Common Scoter offshore but nothing unusual spotted amongst them. Not easy at the distance. Not a single Scaup however. 2 Whooper heading inshore on the water. Rock Pipit, 2 Little Egret & 1 Knot in Rockcliffe Bay. PJ

A Red-throated Diver was on the Solway at high tide. Also noted were 11 Grey Plover, a single Knot and good numbers of Dunlin, Turnstone, Ring Plover and Goldeneye. Bill Jamieson. 

Eoin Fraser reports one seen in Dalveen Pass, near Moffat. Also Red Kite.  Ed. I looked long at this image & wondered & the primary "fingers" led me to issue as reported. Thanks to "Rick", my eyes agree that it's the Englishmans Eagle, the Common Buzzard. Doesn't matter how many times you see these birds, you can still be mistaken! Lesson ended 😳👍😊

23rd. This afternoon a Water Pipit present with a small flock of Meadows out at the back of the fields south of car park, primarily in the area fenced off, therefore not accessible to visitors. pp Ivan Lang. 

Bill Jamieson reports; Common Sandpiper remains on River Annan at Mein Water, this morning. At Caerlaverock in the afternoon a ♂️ Hen Harrier was excellent viewing from the Saltcot Observatory Tower hide. 

Ivan Lang reports Am Wigeon still present this morning on lagoon. 

21st. About 50 Whooper Swans at West Freugh this evening with 70 Mutes. Nigel Willits.

Rookery counts should take place between mid March & mid April. Help is requested with any rookery between the Nith in Dumfries & the Cree in Newton Stewart. Many thanks for your considering to assist with this long term survey. David Hawker.  Ed. Please go to the Rookery Survey page on the DGBN blog for information & to submit your data for this easy-to-do survey effort. Link for convenience ; Rookery Survey

19th. Third time lucky. 3 Green Sandpipers where the Mein Water meets the Annan River, plus 10 Oystercatchers. You walk down from the bridge alongside the river but the birds do not hang around and fly off up river. Chris & Pat Baines.

Elusive flock of 114 Greenland White-fronted Geese in fields before the RSPB car park around midday before they flew closer to loch. Sign of duck movement with 6 Shoveler, 4 Gadwall & 1 Tufted Duck all being a slightly unusual sight here through the winter. 116 Wigeon & a few hundred Canada & Greylag Geese also present. Gavin Chambers. 

Scaup still present on one of the ungiven ponds, presumably !

2 birds reported seen there yesterday. 

Late survey revealed no real surprises yet again. However, no Scaup or RBM's, divers or grebes. 2 Whimbrel, 16 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Grey Plover, c125 Knot, c40 Wigeon, c15 Ringed Plover, a few Dunlin & singing Thrush in the village (non-ailment per NW). PJ

2 reported again seen in Kirkcudbright. Reported by "Robert". Many thanks for the report Robert. 

Bill Jamieson reports;  4 Green Sandpiper remain at Mein Water, no sign of the winter Common Sandpiper though (last seen Feb 6th). Also worthy of note were 13 Siskin and 2 Tree Sparrow. 

Bill Jamieson reports ; Crossbills again at Auchenroddan Forest, Applegarth. A flock of 26 this morning. Interesting variation of colour, with males ranging from a bright red to orange and 2 of the females showing a lot of yellow as opposed to green in the plumage, it's highly likely the same lot I ran into last week.  Ed. Where is it? https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/woods/auchenroddan-forest/  

Great White Egret still at CL but Bittern not seen today. 1st-winter drake Greater Scaup still on the Whooper Pond at WWT & a dozen or more same, various locations as ever, on LR.

Still on Loch Ryan but where isn't given, which would be helpful... 

Bittern at Vendace Bay, Castle Loch, Lochmaben late morning. Still present 1150hrs when I left. Dave Pullan. Ed. Dave has kindly sent me pic of the Bittern at Castle Loch from today. It really does exist 😮 ! Thank you Dave!

Highlight of today's high tide was a 2cy Med Gull in with Black-headed Gulls. Am Wigeon still present. Ivan Lang. 

Useful to know that the bird has been seen "on the west side of Vendace Bay", Castle Loch this morning.

13th. 1 at the Wig, Loch Ryan. Also 12 Long-tailed Duck seen there today.

American Wigeon still present on the lagoon north of car park & showing well from the hide. 

An unsurprising but wonderful Long-tailed Duck off the slipway at the Wig today. What a duck to see! Fabulous.

Ringtail Hen Harrier over reedbed and fields to right of Meida Hide. Good mix of Teal, Wigeon, Pintail, Shoveler, Shelduck and 3 Gadwall on the wetland. 5 Greenshank on mouth of Southwick Burn along with c180 Dunlin, 18 Knot and 1 Sanderling. 11 Twite within small flock of Linnet and Goldfinch feeding on the tidal wrack before getting to beach. 3 Rock Pipit on beach. Gavin Chambers. 

Very high tide today brought some nice sightings with highlight being a Short-eared Owl sat on the track. Also a distant Red-throated Diver on the bay and a much closer Red-breasted Merganser. Am Wigeon still showing well on the lagoon. Ivan Lang. 

Not had much to report here this year but today 8 Lesser Redpoll on Willow Lane feeding on grass and flying into the alders. Also Nuthatch calling and showing well and a Song Thrush singing. Ladywell Farm is good for Stock Doves and one of these smart birds was on the wires today. Chris Baines.

Stairhaven  ; 2 Velvet Scoter among 80 Common Scoters along with 3 Long-tailed Duck, 3 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Black-throated Diver and 17 Red-throated Diver. Plus an Otter and 4 Common Dolphin. Wood of Cree ; 2 pairs of Goosander and pair of Goldeneye from the Otter Platform and a nice mix of woodland birds partly in song. Alyn & Gavin Chambers.

Falling tide. Buzzard (3+), Red Kite (4+) attended a carcass out on the merse. Peregrine, Merlin & Sparrowhawk also seen but no harriers. Best waders for me were c300 Golden Plover & a couple of Black-tailed Godwit. Water Rail squealing from the southern lagoon. Several hundred Barnacle & Pink-footed Geese in the air near Wigtown harbour. On the -ve side, a gang of probable wildfowlers gathered at the car-park towards dusk as I was leaving. Nigel Willits. 

American Wigeon on the usual lagoon north of car park. With the big high tide most of the saltmarsh went underwater with a good scattering of wildfowl and waders present, including Grey Plover, Knot, Redshank, Snipe, Barnacle Geese, Little Egret along with some Reed Bunting and Skylark. The latter starting to make it sound like spring.  Two unfortunate Hares caught on islands with the incoming tide, interesting to watch them bound and swim through the water back to the mainland. Gavin Chambers. 

Lovely flock of Common Crossbills (at least 14), at Auchenroddan Forest, Applegarth, this morning. Bill Jamieson.

Report received from Ian Carter. 50+ Scaup, 1000s Common Scoter, 2 Velvet Scoter, 3 Long-tailed Duck, Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser all from cliffs at Balcary this afternoon. Harbour Porpoise and 3 Otters putting on a good show too. Bonus Peregrine along the cliffs. 

Two Black-headed Gulls on the Nith with jewellery 6SR. Also, Hooded Crow still at the junction of Brownrigg Loaning & the Annan road. Chris Baines. Ed. As usual, thanks to Chris for the images.  

Still on the lagoon north of car park at RSPB Crook of Baldoon. 

From the BTO We're excited to contact our BTO members and supporters across Scotland with details about the Scottish Birdwatchers' Conference. We'll be joining the Scottish Ornithologists' Club and their Ayrshire Branch on the coast at Troon on Saturday 23rd March. Read on for more details! The Conference will be held in the Troon Concert & Walker Halls, Troon. The programme includes talks on a range of habitats of the Ayrshire coast and covers many of the birds (and other taxa) that call them home. We'll hear about habitat management and island life on both Ailsa Craig and nearby Arran, as well as talks on long-term monitoring and emerging technologies that help us gather valuable data on birds. There will also be plenty of opportunities to socialise with other like-minded souls- catching up with old pals or meeting folks new to the Scottish birding scene.  For more details follow this link:  Scottish Birdwatchers Conference 2024   Places are filling f

6 Waxwing at the Criffel car park at Ardwall Mains, just south of Loch Kindar. Colin Kinnear.

There is a new project being developed to create suitable nesting habitat specifically for Sandwich Tern, near the old tern colony on the Scar, Wig Bay. Other species would no doubt take advantage. There's been a public exhibition yesterday and also today (and again in March), see here for more details -  https://lochryanterns.co.uk/   I believe more plans will be made public after these events. Though, if you go to the resources tab on the above website and click on the Information Panels link, you will find quite a bit of detail in there. Gavin Chambers. 

Two Siskin are regular visitors to our bird feeders at Glebe House close to Haugh of Urr. Martin Gardner.

5 Birds still present at Dock Park Dumfries feeding on yellow rowan berries. A few Lesser Black-backed Gulls starting to reappear on the Nith. Chris Baines. 

Reported seen in Vendace Bay today but I spent a few hours seeking it & saw nowt. Someone's lucky... 

Former seen again yesterday at Dock Park Dumfries (5). Latter still at RSPB Crook of Baldoon on the lagoon north of car park today. 

2 GWE. 1 close to the boat launch/fishermens platform east side of the castle spit. Would be viewable from the hide. 2nd viewable on the opposite side of the castle spit largely hidden in the reeds, off Vendace Bay. 

A pair of Mistle Thrush appeared to be nest building yesterday morning. Goosander and Goldeneye on the River Cree and my first frogspawn of the year in a woodland pool. Gavin Chambers.

A nice pair of Siskin this morning were new for my garden list in Glenluce. They visited the sunflower heart feeder but got bullied by sparrows and chaffinches, so not sure if they'll be back. Nigel Willits. 

Still present at the Crook of Baldoon lagoon north of car park.

2/2/24. Mouth of Loch Ryan; 2 Great Northern Diver. Innermessan; 3 Red Kite, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 4 Common Scoter. Penwhirn Road; 1 Red Kite, 100+ Golden Plover. Broadstone Road; 6 Common Scoter, 1 Slavonian Grebe. The Wig; 100+ Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 2 Grey Plover, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Red-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver, 3 Great Crested Grebe. Loch Connell; 1 Pink-footed Goose, 1 Barnacle Goose (feral?), 100+ Canada Geese. White Loch; 1 ♂️ 3 ♀️ Goosander. Magille & Soulseat; 1 Pink-footed Goose, 100+ Wigeon. West Freugh; 80+ Greenland Whitefront Geese, 3 Pink-footed Geese, 3 ring-tailed Hen Harrier, 2 Sparrowhawk & 1 Peregrine Falcon. Garry Wilkinson. 

2nd. Received from Stephen Kings. There were 2 Waxwing in the village of Ae at lunchtime today. They were in the trees near the bus stop. Stephen. 

Stayed in the garden a few hours today, hiding in wait, but just couldn't catch its prey. A few over-processed pics but not too bad through a dirty kitchen window & dull light ! PJ

2nd. RSPB Crook of Baldoon ; American Wigeon still present. Also today a ringed-tailed Hen Harrier and the Marsh Harrier. 800 Barnacle Geese on the saltmarsh with a leucistic bird. Ivan Lang. West Freugh Airfield ; GWE seen at High Mye this morning. 

Greater Scaup still, on the Whooper Pond. Ed. It's Friday so Peter Jordan will be the man to thank 👍 

♀️ Ring-necked Duck at Longtown pool adjacent to the Gretna Road A6071. If you're passing...

Green Sandpiper numbers have increased to 5 (offering up super views feeding at water's edge). Also Common Sandpiper remains. 12 Siskin along the tree line of the river are worth a mention. Bill Jamieson. 

At St.Helena Isle this afternoon (mouth of Luce river): Merlin female, Greenshank, 14 Goldeneye, 5 Little Grebe, Raven. Nigel Willits. 

5 still around the pharmacy this morning. Ed. Not there yesterday morning when I was there! PJ