All you need to know about the birds of Dumfries and Galloway - Linda's lively presentation to RSPB group

                                                      

Never happier than when she is birding on the Solway Estuary - Linda Jenkinson

WHEN birders choose Scotland for their holidays, the favoured destinations tend to be the Highlands or the islands.

By contrast, lower-profile and perhaps less spectacular places such as Dumfries and Galloway, in the south-west,  tend to keep their delights to themselves.

At the February indoor meeting of Grimsby and Cleethorpes RSPB, it emerged from a show of hands that very few attendees had visited this region even though it is not much more than 100 miles north of the border.

However, things  might change following an inspirational presentation by Leeds-based teacher, tour guide and Galloway enthusiast  Linda Jenkinson who, in words and pictures, showcased the subtle beauty of this part of Scotland's  scenery and its wealth of birdlife, especially  in winter.

In just over an hour, she took her audience on a whistlestop winter tour of RSPB Mereshead, WWT Caerlaverock, Balcary Bay and various other wildfowl-rich locations on or near the wetland fringes of the Solway Estuary.

Many species of geese and duck, often in large numbers, are invariably conspicuous, not least the 33,000 Barnacle Geese that migrate here from their breeding grounds on the Norwegian archipelago, Svalbard (and Old Norse word meaning 'cold edge').

Among other birds often to be seen in winter are  Guillemots, Black Guillemots and Razorbills plus diver species, Whooper Swans, Slavonian Grebes and many kinds of wader, both short-billed (Ringed Plovers) and long-billed (Whimbrel).

Among Linda's favourites are Pintailed Ducks, especially the "elegant" females, Green-winged Teal and "playful" Purple Sandpipers as they splash among waves breaking on rocks.

Evidently, she also has soft spot for "industrious" Turnstones which, with their hunched gait, seem to be "carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders".

But perhaps the accidental star bird of her talk was a Kookaburra, an Australian native species and one of two that are thought to have flown from an animals and birds collection in Kircudbright. 

Linda runs her own company, Start Birding, which runs courses and field excursions tailored for beginners.

It was refreshing to have a female speaker (they are a relatively uncommon breed) at the February meeting.

Following a vote of thanks from Joy Croot, Linda was warmly applauded for her excellent talk.