Flow Country is stronghold for not so common scoters
RSPB Scotland is reporting that common scoters have had a particularly successful breeding year in 2011 in their Sutherland stronghold.
During the summer, RSPB staff and volunteers at the charity’s Forsinard Flows Reserve surveyed scoters on the lochs of the reserve and nearby private estates.
They found that at least 21 ducklings had reached near adult size, at which point they are expected to survive well. These numbers are important because, despite their name, common scoters are extremely rare breeding birds in Britain.
A recent national survey estimated that there are now only 52 breeding females in the whole of Britain, half of them in the Flow Country. Elsewhere in Scotland the news is not so good this year, with very few ducklings reported.
RSPB scientist Dr Mark Hancock, who is carrying out research on the scoters, said: “These results underline the critical importance of the Flow Country for common scoters in Scotland. This huge and wonderful blanket bog, with all its lochs and wetlands, is precious for a wide range of wildlife, but especially crucial for the scoters.”
Dr Hancock, whose research is aimed at discovering what we can do to help breeding scoters, said the news from this year was really heartening.
"After recent declines in British scoter numbers, it's really exciting to find that such a large number of scoters have bred successfully in the Flows this year. As a bonus, the good breeding season has allowed us to study the behaviour of the young ducklings in much greater detail. Freshwater insects like mayflies and caddisflies are probably key food items for scoters, as they are for the important trout and salmon populations of the Flows."
“We’ve been doing our research on the Forsinard Flows RSPB reserve, and also on land belonging to neighbouring landowners, whose cooperation during the scoter work has been invaluable.
"We've also had a lot of support from Scottish Natural Heritage and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. Working in the Flows has its own special appeal, despite the hordes of biting flies. The wide open skies and special wildlife liven up our work and common scoters are such intriguing birds to study.
"It’s fascinating to see the courtship displays, in which the males try to outcompete each other for female attention, all the while making their soft piping calls.
"Later in the season - at peak midge time - it's thrilling to find the secretive females, intently guarding their young, while the ducklings dive busily in the shallows.
"By then, the males have abandoned the area for their winter quarters at sea and take no part in rearing the young at all. Let's hope we can look after these special birds into the future, both in the Flows and elsewhere in Scotland.”
