Articles, Notes, etc.
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Item
1 Written by Jimmy Maxwell (from the April 2001 Newsletter of Hamilton
Area RSPB Members Group)
On the
occasion of the RSPB Centenary celebrations several years ago, a Treasure Hunt
was organised which would involve going round Baron’s Haugh answering a series
of questions and finding various hidden clues.
The idea
was to get visitors looking round and checking out all the usual birds that
frequent the area. One problem was that birds don’t always appear on cue –
specialities like kingfisher, although fairly common, always delight by being
quite unpredictable. So it was decided that Joe Lynch, known for his crafting
abilities, would carve life-size replicas of the kingfisher to be viewed from
the Causeway Hide. Great fun was had placing these lifelike shapes in typical
positions around the reedy edge of the Haugh. From the Hide, the competitor had
to scan round for as many lurking azure-blue shapes as possible and note them
down.
Robert
Burns knew all about " best laid plans " and he was right again ! On
several occasions, as binoculars swung into action from the Causeway Hide,
there was an unexpected flash of blue as the real kingfisher swooped along past
these pretend models and attempted to mob them into submission or flight. Or
were we misjudging his agitation – perhaps the flighting was some kind of
passionate display to all these unexpected females ?
Anyway,
what an RSPB Centenary memento for our visitors, and something for the Haugh
residents to think about for a while.