I'm an RSPB member, I support them, and admire (almost all) of the work they do. This is an almost abstract concept, as much of the time that my birding actively involves the RSPB, I find myself angry, frustrated, and more than a little dispirited.
The past 2 weekends are a case in point. Last week as a family the Green Sands headed to Lochwinnoch reserve- a not insubstantial journey of an hour or so from our home nest. It was Mother's Day, and the wife lies the place, meaning I was in no position to argue. Besides, I was hoping to connect with Smew and collared dove (this year's bogey bird)
It had been a couple of years since our last visit, I've shied away from it, as it had become, in my view, a shop with a feeder outside, rather than a reserve proper. Little about my visit did anything to change this opinion- the shop and visitor centre were positively heaving with people, very few of whom were actually looking at the birds outside. One birder called 'snipe' and out of the massed throngs, 3 people turned to set eyes on it. A measure of a site's 'birdiness.'
A walk along the scenic path was wonderful for old romantics, but not great for birders expecting birds. Placing a children's adventure playground net to feeding station never made much sense to me. The icing on the cake (or chocolate brownie, on sale in the shop) was the presence of 2 idiots trying to take photos of a GS woodpecker while the bird, clearly disturbed, circled the tree it had previously been hammering at. Can never fault the staff and volunteers, but the ethos of the place just doesn't sit right with me. Its not a place for birds or birders.
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Compare this to a visit to Baron's Haugh, the polar opposite of Lochwinnoch. Where Lochwinnoch is situated in leafy, wealthy Renfrewshire, Baron's Haugh is slap bang in the post- industrial town of Motherwell. Where the RSPB throw money at Lochwinnoch, 'the Haugh' struggles for any finance above general upkeep. The birds and birders, though, is where the real difference is. On Sunday, news of a Glaucous Gull at the reserve had me heading to The Haugh on a very rare twitch. (I don't twitch, cos I'm useless at it.) The assistance of 2 fellow birders got me not only the Glauc but also an Iceland gull, both in the same field of view. These two, plus the 30- odd other species made for what I would call a damned fine day's birding.
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Maybe its a sign of grumpiness, a sign of some primordial desire to be wild rather than domesticated, but most of my best times on RSPB reserves have been in wild places, without a shop or a play park to be seen. Fowsheugh was my first visit to a 'seabird city'; Loch of Kinnordy got me a hunting osprey, while Loch Leven has, on balance, been unrewarding.
We use, sometimes, the word 'connect' to denote when we've seen or ticked a bird. I rarely use it, but feel that the best way to connect with birds is to immerse myself in their world. Discard the so- called civilisation of car parks, visitor centres, shops, etc. Grab a field guide, a map, and head off track. Its the only real way to do it.
The past 2 weekends are a case in point. Last week as a family the Green Sands headed to Lochwinnoch reserve- a not insubstantial journey of an hour or so from our home nest. It was Mother's Day, and the wife lies the place, meaning I was in no position to argue. Besides, I was hoping to connect with Smew and collared dove (this year's bogey bird)
It had been a couple of years since our last visit, I've shied away from it, as it had become, in my view, a shop with a feeder outside, rather than a reserve proper. Little about my visit did anything to change this opinion- the shop and visitor centre were positively heaving with people, very few of whom were actually looking at the birds outside. One birder called 'snipe' and out of the massed throngs, 3 people turned to set eyes on it. A measure of a site's 'birdiness.'
A walk along the scenic path was wonderful for old romantics, but not great for birders expecting birds. Placing a children's adventure playground net to feeding station never made much sense to me. The icing on the cake (or chocolate brownie, on sale in the shop) was the presence of 2 idiots trying to take photos of a GS woodpecker while the bird, clearly disturbed, circled the tree it had previously been hammering at. Can never fault the staff and volunteers, but the ethos of the place just doesn't sit right with me. Its not a place for birds or birders.
********************
Compare this to a visit to Baron's Haugh, the polar opposite of Lochwinnoch. Where Lochwinnoch is situated in leafy, wealthy Renfrewshire, Baron's Haugh is slap bang in the post- industrial town of Motherwell. Where the RSPB throw money at Lochwinnoch, 'the Haugh' struggles for any finance above general upkeep. The birds and birders, though, is where the real difference is. On Sunday, news of a Glaucous Gull at the reserve had me heading to The Haugh on a very rare twitch. (I don't twitch, cos I'm useless at it.) The assistance of 2 fellow birders got me not only the Glauc but also an Iceland gull, both in the same field of view. These two, plus the 30- odd other species made for what I would call a damned fine day's birding.
*************************
Maybe its a sign of grumpiness, a sign of some primordial desire to be wild rather than domesticated, but most of my best times on RSPB reserves have been in wild places, without a shop or a play park to be seen. Fowsheugh was my first visit to a 'seabird city'; Loch of Kinnordy got me a hunting osprey, while Loch Leven has, on balance, been unrewarding.
We use, sometimes, the word 'connect' to denote when we've seen or ticked a bird. I rarely use it, but feel that the best way to connect with birds is to immerse myself in their world. Discard the so- called civilisation of car parks, visitor centres, shops, etc. Grab a field guide, a map, and head off track. Its the only real way to do it.
