Events Archive
Wildlife Events Archive
Tuesday 22 October 2019
11 residents met at Kinshaldy Car Park and then drove up to the Icehouse, where we started a guided walk through the forest to Tentsmuir Point. The guides were Tom Cunningham the Nature Reserve Manager for Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve part of Scottish National Heritage and Marijke Leith.
Starting in the New Education and Visitor Pavilion, Tom gave a history of the site, how they maintain the reserve and the ongoing work the SNH is undertaking. In particular we learnt that a lot of work had been done to clear trees and encourage the regeneration of heathland, where mosses and lichens are in abundance and low-growing bushes of creeping willow are taking hold, here we saw a Stonechat and a flock of Goldfinches. Highland Cows graze the Reserve in the summer helping to conserve the area for wildlife and plants.
From there we walked towards the beach and it was interesting to see how the sand is building up back towards the forest and new marram grass is taking hold, maybe creating new dunes in the future. We saw several grey seals and oystercatchers and after reaching the point started a walk back to the forest.
Walking along the path back some of us spotted a caterpillar which was identified by Marijke as a Ruby Tiger Moth caterpillar. The walk ended back at the Kinshaldy car park, where the group had hot drinks and snacks.
A Drumoig Wildlife Forum have sent a cheque for £25 to the Scottish National Heritage in appreciation for the time taken by Tom and Marijke to guide us around this area.
The Scottish National Heritage have an excellent website, where you can find details of places to visit and walk and events that they hold. This can be found at: https://www.nature.scot/enjoying-outdoors/scotlands-national-nature-reserves/tentsmuir-national-nature-reserve
They also have a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ScotlandsNNRs/
Tuesday 24 September 2019
25 residents and guests attended the seventh Drumoig Wildlife Forum Talk. Our speakers were Dominic Rye and Rachael Hunter, Assistant Countryside Rangers with the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust. They both gave interesting and informative talks on their roles at the trust and specifically the Eden Estuary Local Nature Reserve and West Sands, St Andrews on how Climate Change effects the coastal systems they look after and answered questions from the audience. The Fife Coast and Countryside Trust have an excellent website, where you can find details of places to visit and walk and events that they hold. This can be found at Fife Coast and Countryside Trust. A cheque for £30 has been be sent to the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust in appreciation of Dominic and Rachael’ talks and for giving up their time to attend our meeting.
An update on the Drumoig Wildlife Forum was then given, highlighting the new wildlife photo and video gallery which can be found at Wildlife Gallery
A quiz was held and was won by Audrey Pirie, a guidebook on the Fife Coastal Path was presented to her by Dominic Rye. A book on the new Fife Pilgrim Way was raffled and raised £57, the winner was Anne Gibson, and this was presented by Rachael Hunter. In addition, the sale of fat balls and books raised £5.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
19.09.24-Wildlife Quiz 7 - questions.pdf
19.09.24-Wildlife Quiz 7 - answers.pdf
2019 - Saturday 20 July - 10am at the Drumoig Hotel Car Park
he third moth trap and reveal which was to have been undertaken by Colin Edwards from the Forestry Commission had to be cancelled due to the weather. Hopefully this can be arranged for another time.
2019 - Sunday 9 June - Drumoig Summer Fayre
A plant and book stall was held at the above and £132.80 was raised for Drumoig Wildlife Forum projects. Thanks to all the residents that donated books and plants and especially to Michael Duncan for helping on the stall.
2019 - Saturday 15 June – River Tay Trip
Five intrepid residents joined a Pirate Boat Ltd fast rib boat trip on the River Tay. Leaving from the slipway next to Broughty Ferry Castle the boat travelled along from the Broughty Ferry Lifeboat station past the docks at Dundee and onto the V&A for a unique view of the new building. There was then a fast ride back under the Tay bridge stopping at the Larick Beacon and then continuing towards the mouth of the river in search of dolphins but they were not seen on this occasion. Finally a ride along the coastline back to the slipway. An exhilarating ride and certainly a good way to start off the morning.
2019 -Tuesday 12 February at 7pm at the Drumoig Hotel (11)
On Tuesday 12 February 2019 and our largest audience – 29 attended the Drumoig Wildlife Talk, and it was good to see two younger members of our community were also present. Our speaker was Monica Arso Civil a Research Fellow at the School of Biology, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews. Monica's research interests focus on marine mammal populations and in particular around St Andrews Bay and the Firth of Tay.
Monica gave two excellent talks, the first on bottlenose dolphins and the second on Grey and Harbour Seals, her talks were very informative, and we all learnt a lot about the life cycle, habits and locations of these species and in particular the decline in harbour seals. Monica made the talks very enjoyable and she delivered them with great enthusiasm and was asked many questions by the audience. If you would like more information about the research Monica is doing with the harbour seals, the link to her fieldwork blog is: st-andrews.ac.uk this has excellent photos and videos of harbour seals.
Monica also spoke about the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, this is where people can report dead or stranded marine mammals (seals, dolphins). These reports are particularly useful to Monica and her colleagues research. Contact details are shown below:
Website: www.strandings.org
Telephone Numbers: 07979 245893 or 01463 243030
E-mail: [email protected]
Facebook facebook Strandings
An update on the Drumoig Wildlife Forum, was given and plans for talks and events in 2019 were also outlined.
A quiz was held and was won by Jeanie Duncan and a book on Sea Mammals was presented to her by Monica. A booked called 2020 vision was raffled and raised £2, the winner was Anne Gibson and this was also presented by Monica. A contribution towards the refreshments raised £24.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
19.02.12 -Wildlife Quiz 6 - questions.pdf
19.02.12 -Wildlife Quiz 6 - answers.pdf
2018 - Thursday 20 September at 7pm at the Drumoig Hotel (10)
On Thursday 20 September twenty-one residents attended the Drumoig Wildlife talk. Our speaker was Colin Edwards from the Forestry Commission, he used to manage Tentsmuir forest and other woodlands within Fife and is a trained forester and woodland ecologist, and now works as an Environment Policy Advisor at the Forestry Commission, Scotland, he was also representing the Butterfly Conservation.
Colin gave an excellent talk, the breadth of the subjects he was able to speak about made the talk both enjoyable and informative and he was asked many questions by the audience. He also gave tips on how to make our gardens more wildlife friendly, this included having a ‘messy area’ where wildlife plants could grow and a log pile to encourage insects.
A cheque for £30 has been sent to the Butterfly Conservation in appreciation of Colin’s talk and giving up his time to attend our meeting.
An update on the Drumoig Wildlife Forum, was given and some photos of recent sightings of butterflies, moths, caterpillars and insects seen on Drumoig during the summer were shown. Plans for talks and events in 2019 were also outlined.
A quiz was held and was won by Jeanie Duncan and a bird feeder was presented to her by Colin Edwards. A book called Caledonia – Scotland’s Heart of Pine was raffled and raised £28, the winner was Debs Thompson and this was presented by Paul Edwards. A contribution towards the refreshments raised £28.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
18.09.20-Wildlife Quiz 5 - questions.docx
18.09.20-Wildlife Quiz 5 - answers.docx
2018 - Tuesday 31 July at 9:30am at Morton Lochs (9)
Eleven residents attended a guided walk of this lovely nature reserve given by Tom Cunningham, the Reserve Manager.
Tom gave us some history of the site, how they maintain the reserve and the ongoing work the SNH is undertaking.
As well as Red Squirrels, 16 species of birds were seen as well as a range of insects, butterflies and amphibians.
2018 - Saturday 16 June - Drumoig Summer Fayre
A plant and book stall was held at the above and £87.45 was raised for Drumoig Wildlife Forum projects. Thanks to all the residents that donated books and plants and especially to my friend Debs who manned the plant stall.
2018 - Thursday 10 May at 7pm at the Drumoig Hotel (8)
Twenty two residents attended the Wildlife Forum event where we had an excellent two-part talk from Professor Will Cresswell from the University of St Andrews entitled “Your local birds: the stay at homes, the migrants and the wanderers and adventurers”. This talked was based around Will’s two research topics: Behavioural ecology’ and ‘Conservation ecology of birds’ and in particular his work in West Africa in association with the AP Leventis Ornithological Institute in Jos, Nigeria on migrating birds. The talk covered the ringing, tagging and monitoring of birds from as close as Crail harbour to destinations across the world and was both informative and delivered with great enthusiasm. It also gave a fascinating insight into the distance, height and speed that birds fly when migrating and how important it is that we look after the habitat and food sources that they need whilst they are visiting us here. A geolocator used in this monitoring costs £125, a cheque for £50 has been sent to Will towards his work and in appreciation for his talk and giving up his time to attend our meeting.
An update on the progress of the DWF was given by Christine Edwards together with plans for future meetings. The Drumoig Community Trust (DCT) kindly supported the purchase of a nature webcam, and the first of the short videos that had been taken were shown. These had captured the diversity of the wildlife we have on Drumoig and included Badger, Deer, Fox, Jay and Red Squirrel.
Attendees also took part in a wildlife quiz; Ian McDougall had the highest score and was presented with a CD of bird songs and a bird tea-towel by Will. A book called Extreme birds was raffled and raised £24, the winner was Ian Wilson and this was presented to him by Paul Edwards. A contribution towards the refreshments raised £30.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
Quiz 4 - questions.docx
Quiz 4 - answers.docx
2017 - Tuesday 26 September at 2pm at the Drumoig Hotel (7)
Thirteen residents attended a talk at the Drumoig Hotel by Ken Neil. Until he retired worked Ken worked for the ‘Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels’ project and he gave an excellent talk on his subject. It was both informative and delivered with great enthusiasm and left us all with a greater appreciation of Red Squirrels and their lives and how much they need our support. The good news is that a number of residents at Drumoig have reported Red Squirrels either in their garden or on the golf course. For more information on how you can help Red Squirrels or to report a sighting (which will help the projects research) please go to the following website: scottish squirrels.org.uk
An update on the progress of the DWF was given by Christine Edwards together with plans for future meetings.
Attendees also took part in a wildlife quiz; Anne Gibson had the highest score and was presented with a prize of a mug featuring a Red Squirrel by Ken.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
Quiz 3 questions
Quiz 3 answers
2017 – Saturday 19 August at 10am at the large car park at the Drumoig Hotel (6)
Sixteen residents attended the second Moth Trapping reveal. Duncan Davidson, from the Butterfly Conservation had set traps on Friday and then brought them to a display table to show us. Duncan once again shared his excellent knowledge of moths with us. In June he recorded a total of 111 moth from 30 species, on this visit he counted 132 moths from 22 new species. This brings the total number of moths identified so far in Drumoig at 52.
2017 - Tuesday 27 June - 2pm a guided walk of St Andrews Botanical Garden (5)
Eight residents braved the rain to join a guided walk at the St Andrews Botanic Garden. This beautiful and inspirational landscaped 18-acre garden in the heart of historic St Andrews dates back to 1889. It provides a haven for the rare and unusual amidst mature trees and shrubs, a rock and scree garden, ponds and waterfall, woodland gardens and herbaceous borders. It also has a vegetable plot, herb garden and orchard. There are also several glasshouses showing a range of habitats: desert, alpine, temperate and exotic. Our guide Peter took us around the various areas of the garden and introduced us to species of plants that were good for wildlife. Following tea in the garden café, four residents then visited the Tropical Butterfly House where they saw many species of exotic butterflies.
2017 - Saturday 10 June at 10am at the large car park at the Drumoig Hotel (4)
On a damp morning, 7 residents braved the weather to attend the Moth Trapping reveal. Duncan Davidson, from the Butterfly Conservation had set 4 moth traps on Friday, and then brought them to a display table to show us. There was a wide range of colour and sizes and being nocturnal and a little chilly, we watched in amazement as they vibrated their wings to warm up and fly. Duncan who is Fife Recorder for the Butterfly Conservation was again excellent in his knowledge of moths, their habitats and life cycles. Although each species was special in its own way nothing prepared us for the Poplar Hawk-moth (see newsletter for photos). We were all surprised to know that we shared our location with such a fantastic specimen.
2017 - Tuesday 16 May (3)
Six residents took part in the first DWF Bird walk. This took place at Birnie & Gaddon Lochs, Near Collessie. Although the birdlife was quieter than normal we did see 17 species as follows: Blackbird, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch (M), Common Gull, Coot, Greylag Geese with goslings, Jackdaw, Mallard (M/F), Mute Swan, Oystercatcher with chick, Robin, Rooks, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon. In addition we were surprised to see a large Terrapin. See link for more information: fife coast and countryside trust.co.uk
2017 – Tuesday 11 April at 2pm at the Drumoig Hotel (2)
Talks by Clare McElroy from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Duncan Davidson from the Butterfly Conservation.
They both gave excellent talks on their subjects (Clare on the plight of the bumblebee, its ecology and species identification and Duncan a talk entitled “An Introduction to Moths”). These were very informative and delivered with great enthusiasm and the audience left with a greater appreciation of these two species, and the need for us to support them through their life cycle with the correct garden planting and habitat protection.
An update on the progress of the DWF was given by Christine Edwards together with plans for future meetings. 24 residents attended the talks and took part in a wildlife quiz, Jeanie Duncan had the highest score and was presented with a prize of a selection of wildflower plants.
Wildflower plants were on sale and these together with kind donations from residents raised £50, a £25 cheque was sent to each of the organisations in appreciation for the talks given by their volunteers.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
Quiz 2 - questions
Quiz 2 - answers
2017 – Tuesday 28 February at 2pm at the Drumoig Hotel (1)
Talk by Johanna Willi, Biodiversity Co-ordinator, Fife Council
Johanna gave two very interesting talks one on Biodiversity, what it means and why it’s important for wildlife and one specifically about gardening for wildlife. An update on the progress of the DWF was given by Christine Edwards together with plans for future meetings. 28 residents attended the talk and took part in a wildlife quiz, Moira Cuthbertson had the highest score and was presented with a prize of a bird feed starter pack by Johanna.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
Quiz 1 - questions
Quiz 1 - answers
2017 – Drumoig Wildlife Forum On-line survey – closing date Tuesday 28 February
An on-line survey was created and the link circulated to all residents. 33 resident’s households (15 from Comerton, 14 from Craigie and 4 from Forgan) completed the survey. Thanks to all those who took part. The results will be very valuable for the future of the project and a summary can be found on Page 3 of Newsletter 1.
2017 – Tuesday 14 – Tuesday 21 February
National Nest Box Week – this was an opportunity to install a nest box. For more details see the BTO's website for more details www.bto.org
Tuesday 22 October 2019
11 residents met at Kinshaldy Car Park and then drove up to the Icehouse, where we started a guided walk through the forest to Tentsmuir Point. The guides were Tom Cunningham the Nature Reserve Manager for Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve part of Scottish National Heritage and Marijke Leith.
Starting in the New Education and Visitor Pavilion, Tom gave a history of the site, how they maintain the reserve and the ongoing work the SNH is undertaking. In particular we learnt that a lot of work had been done to clear trees and encourage the regeneration of heathland, where mosses and lichens are in abundance and low-growing bushes of creeping willow are taking hold, here we saw a Stonechat and a flock of Goldfinches. Highland Cows graze the Reserve in the summer helping to conserve the area for wildlife and plants.
From there we walked towards the beach and it was interesting to see how the sand is building up back towards the forest and new marram grass is taking hold, maybe creating new dunes in the future. We saw several grey seals and oystercatchers and after reaching the point started a walk back to the forest.
Walking along the path back some of us spotted a caterpillar which was identified by Marijke as a Ruby Tiger Moth caterpillar. The walk ended back at the Kinshaldy car park, where the group had hot drinks and snacks.
A Drumoig Wildlife Forum have sent a cheque for £25 to the Scottish National Heritage in appreciation for the time taken by Tom and Marijke to guide us around this area.
The Scottish National Heritage have an excellent website, where you can find details of places to visit and walk and events that they hold. This can be found at: https://www.nature.scot/enjoying-outdoors/scotlands-national-nature-reserves/tentsmuir-national-nature-reserve
They also have a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ScotlandsNNRs/
Tuesday 24 September 2019
25 residents and guests attended the seventh Drumoig Wildlife Forum Talk. Our speakers were Dominic Rye and Rachael Hunter, Assistant Countryside Rangers with the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust. They both gave interesting and informative talks on their roles at the trust and specifically the Eden Estuary Local Nature Reserve and West Sands, St Andrews on how Climate Change effects the coastal systems they look after and answered questions from the audience. The Fife Coast and Countryside Trust have an excellent website, where you can find details of places to visit and walk and events that they hold. This can be found at Fife Coast and Countryside Trust. A cheque for £30 has been be sent to the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust in appreciation of Dominic and Rachael’ talks and for giving up their time to attend our meeting.
An update on the Drumoig Wildlife Forum was then given, highlighting the new wildlife photo and video gallery which can be found at Wildlife Gallery
A quiz was held and was won by Audrey Pirie, a guidebook on the Fife Coastal Path was presented to her by Dominic Rye. A book on the new Fife Pilgrim Way was raffled and raised £57, the winner was Anne Gibson, and this was presented by Rachael Hunter. In addition, the sale of fat balls and books raised £5.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
19.09.24-Wildlife Quiz 7 - questions.pdf
19.09.24-Wildlife Quiz 7 - answers.pdf
2019 - Saturday 20 July - 10am at the Drumoig Hotel Car Park
he third moth trap and reveal which was to have been undertaken by Colin Edwards from the Forestry Commission had to be cancelled due to the weather. Hopefully this can be arranged for another time.
2019 - Sunday 9 June - Drumoig Summer Fayre
A plant and book stall was held at the above and £132.80 was raised for Drumoig Wildlife Forum projects. Thanks to all the residents that donated books and plants and especially to Michael Duncan for helping on the stall.
2019 - Saturday 15 June – River Tay Trip
Five intrepid residents joined a Pirate Boat Ltd fast rib boat trip on the River Tay. Leaving from the slipway next to Broughty Ferry Castle the boat travelled along from the Broughty Ferry Lifeboat station past the docks at Dundee and onto the V&A for a unique view of the new building. There was then a fast ride back under the Tay bridge stopping at the Larick Beacon and then continuing towards the mouth of the river in search of dolphins but they were not seen on this occasion. Finally a ride along the coastline back to the slipway. An exhilarating ride and certainly a good way to start off the morning.
2019 -Tuesday 12 February at 7pm at the Drumoig Hotel (11)
On Tuesday 12 February 2019 and our largest audience – 29 attended the Drumoig Wildlife Talk, and it was good to see two younger members of our community were also present. Our speaker was Monica Arso Civil a Research Fellow at the School of Biology, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews. Monica's research interests focus on marine mammal populations and in particular around St Andrews Bay and the Firth of Tay.
Monica gave two excellent talks, the first on bottlenose dolphins and the second on Grey and Harbour Seals, her talks were very informative, and we all learnt a lot about the life cycle, habits and locations of these species and in particular the decline in harbour seals. Monica made the talks very enjoyable and she delivered them with great enthusiasm and was asked many questions by the audience. If you would like more information about the research Monica is doing with the harbour seals, the link to her fieldwork blog is: st-andrews.ac.uk this has excellent photos and videos of harbour seals.
Monica also spoke about the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, this is where people can report dead or stranded marine mammals (seals, dolphins). These reports are particularly useful to Monica and her colleagues research. Contact details are shown below:
Website: www.strandings.org
Telephone Numbers: 07979 245893 or 01463 243030
E-mail: [email protected]
Facebook facebook Strandings
An update on the Drumoig Wildlife Forum, was given and plans for talks and events in 2019 were also outlined.
A quiz was held and was won by Jeanie Duncan and a book on Sea Mammals was presented to her by Monica. A booked called 2020 vision was raffled and raised £2, the winner was Anne Gibson and this was also presented by Monica. A contribution towards the refreshments raised £24.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
19.02.12 -Wildlife Quiz 6 - questions.pdf
19.02.12 -Wildlife Quiz 6 - answers.pdf
2018 - Thursday 20 September at 7pm at the Drumoig Hotel (10)
On Thursday 20 September twenty-one residents attended the Drumoig Wildlife talk. Our speaker was Colin Edwards from the Forestry Commission, he used to manage Tentsmuir forest and other woodlands within Fife and is a trained forester and woodland ecologist, and now works as an Environment Policy Advisor at the Forestry Commission, Scotland, he was also representing the Butterfly Conservation.
Colin gave an excellent talk, the breadth of the subjects he was able to speak about made the talk both enjoyable and informative and he was asked many questions by the audience. He also gave tips on how to make our gardens more wildlife friendly, this included having a ‘messy area’ where wildlife plants could grow and a log pile to encourage insects.
A cheque for £30 has been sent to the Butterfly Conservation in appreciation of Colin’s talk and giving up his time to attend our meeting.
An update on the Drumoig Wildlife Forum, was given and some photos of recent sightings of butterflies, moths, caterpillars and insects seen on Drumoig during the summer were shown. Plans for talks and events in 2019 were also outlined.
A quiz was held and was won by Jeanie Duncan and a bird feeder was presented to her by Colin Edwards. A book called Caledonia – Scotland’s Heart of Pine was raffled and raised £28, the winner was Debs Thompson and this was presented by Paul Edwards. A contribution towards the refreshments raised £28.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
18.09.20-Wildlife Quiz 5 - questions.docx
18.09.20-Wildlife Quiz 5 - answers.docx
2018 - Tuesday 31 July at 9:30am at Morton Lochs (9)
Eleven residents attended a guided walk of this lovely nature reserve given by Tom Cunningham, the Reserve Manager.
Tom gave us some history of the site, how they maintain the reserve and the ongoing work the SNH is undertaking.
As well as Red Squirrels, 16 species of birds were seen as well as a range of insects, butterflies and amphibians.
2018 - Saturday 16 June - Drumoig Summer Fayre
A plant and book stall was held at the above and £87.45 was raised for Drumoig Wildlife Forum projects. Thanks to all the residents that donated books and plants and especially to my friend Debs who manned the plant stall.
2018 - Thursday 10 May at 7pm at the Drumoig Hotel (8)
Twenty two residents attended the Wildlife Forum event where we had an excellent two-part talk from Professor Will Cresswell from the University of St Andrews entitled “Your local birds: the stay at homes, the migrants and the wanderers and adventurers”. This talked was based around Will’s two research topics: Behavioural ecology’ and ‘Conservation ecology of birds’ and in particular his work in West Africa in association with the AP Leventis Ornithological Institute in Jos, Nigeria on migrating birds. The talk covered the ringing, tagging and monitoring of birds from as close as Crail harbour to destinations across the world and was both informative and delivered with great enthusiasm. It also gave a fascinating insight into the distance, height and speed that birds fly when migrating and how important it is that we look after the habitat and food sources that they need whilst they are visiting us here. A geolocator used in this monitoring costs £125, a cheque for £50 has been sent to Will towards his work and in appreciation for his talk and giving up his time to attend our meeting.
An update on the progress of the DWF was given by Christine Edwards together with plans for future meetings. The Drumoig Community Trust (DCT) kindly supported the purchase of a nature webcam, and the first of the short videos that had been taken were shown. These had captured the diversity of the wildlife we have on Drumoig and included Badger, Deer, Fox, Jay and Red Squirrel.
Attendees also took part in a wildlife quiz; Ian McDougall had the highest score and was presented with a CD of bird songs and a bird tea-towel by Will. A book called Extreme birds was raffled and raised £24, the winner was Ian Wilson and this was presented to him by Paul Edwards. A contribution towards the refreshments raised £30.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
Quiz 4 - questions.docx
Quiz 4 - answers.docx
2017 - Tuesday 26 September at 2pm at the Drumoig Hotel (7)
Thirteen residents attended a talk at the Drumoig Hotel by Ken Neil. Until he retired worked Ken worked for the ‘Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels’ project and he gave an excellent talk on his subject. It was both informative and delivered with great enthusiasm and left us all with a greater appreciation of Red Squirrels and their lives and how much they need our support. The good news is that a number of residents at Drumoig have reported Red Squirrels either in their garden or on the golf course. For more information on how you can help Red Squirrels or to report a sighting (which will help the projects research) please go to the following website: scottish squirrels.org.uk
An update on the progress of the DWF was given by Christine Edwards together with plans for future meetings.
Attendees also took part in a wildlife quiz; Anne Gibson had the highest score and was presented with a prize of a mug featuring a Red Squirrel by Ken.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
Quiz 3 questions
Quiz 3 answers
2017 – Saturday 19 August at 10am at the large car park at the Drumoig Hotel (6)
Sixteen residents attended the second Moth Trapping reveal. Duncan Davidson, from the Butterfly Conservation had set traps on Friday and then brought them to a display table to show us. Duncan once again shared his excellent knowledge of moths with us. In June he recorded a total of 111 moth from 30 species, on this visit he counted 132 moths from 22 new species. This brings the total number of moths identified so far in Drumoig at 52.
2017 - Tuesday 27 June - 2pm a guided walk of St Andrews Botanical Garden (5)
Eight residents braved the rain to join a guided walk at the St Andrews Botanic Garden. This beautiful and inspirational landscaped 18-acre garden in the heart of historic St Andrews dates back to 1889. It provides a haven for the rare and unusual amidst mature trees and shrubs, a rock and scree garden, ponds and waterfall, woodland gardens and herbaceous borders. It also has a vegetable plot, herb garden and orchard. There are also several glasshouses showing a range of habitats: desert, alpine, temperate and exotic. Our guide Peter took us around the various areas of the garden and introduced us to species of plants that were good for wildlife. Following tea in the garden café, four residents then visited the Tropical Butterfly House where they saw many species of exotic butterflies.
2017 - Saturday 10 June at 10am at the large car park at the Drumoig Hotel (4)
On a damp morning, 7 residents braved the weather to attend the Moth Trapping reveal. Duncan Davidson, from the Butterfly Conservation had set 4 moth traps on Friday, and then brought them to a display table to show us. There was a wide range of colour and sizes and being nocturnal and a little chilly, we watched in amazement as they vibrated their wings to warm up and fly. Duncan who is Fife Recorder for the Butterfly Conservation was again excellent in his knowledge of moths, their habitats and life cycles. Although each species was special in its own way nothing prepared us for the Poplar Hawk-moth (see newsletter for photos). We were all surprised to know that we shared our location with such a fantastic specimen.
2017 - Tuesday 16 May (3)
Six residents took part in the first DWF Bird walk. This took place at Birnie & Gaddon Lochs, Near Collessie. Although the birdlife was quieter than normal we did see 17 species as follows: Blackbird, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch (M), Common Gull, Coot, Greylag Geese with goslings, Jackdaw, Mallard (M/F), Mute Swan, Oystercatcher with chick, Robin, Rooks, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon. In addition we were surprised to see a large Terrapin. See link for more information: fife coast and countryside trust.co.uk
2017 – Tuesday 11 April at 2pm at the Drumoig Hotel (2)
Talks by Clare McElroy from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Duncan Davidson from the Butterfly Conservation.
They both gave excellent talks on their subjects (Clare on the plight of the bumblebee, its ecology and species identification and Duncan a talk entitled “An Introduction to Moths”). These were very informative and delivered with great enthusiasm and the audience left with a greater appreciation of these two species, and the need for us to support them through their life cycle with the correct garden planting and habitat protection.
An update on the progress of the DWF was given by Christine Edwards together with plans for future meetings. 24 residents attended the talks and took part in a wildlife quiz, Jeanie Duncan had the highest score and was presented with a prize of a selection of wildflower plants.
Wildflower plants were on sale and these together with kind donations from residents raised £50, a £25 cheque was sent to each of the organisations in appreciation for the talks given by their volunteers.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
Quiz 2 - questions
Quiz 2 - answers
2017 – Tuesday 28 February at 2pm at the Drumoig Hotel (1)
Talk by Johanna Willi, Biodiversity Co-ordinator, Fife Council
Johanna gave two very interesting talks one on Biodiversity, what it means and why it’s important for wildlife and one specifically about gardening for wildlife. An update on the progress of the DWF was given by Christine Edwards together with plans for future meetings. 28 residents attended the talk and took part in a wildlife quiz, Moira Cuthbertson had the highest score and was presented with a prize of a bird feed starter pack by Johanna.
For those that missed the quiz a copy of the questions and answers can be found here:
Quiz 1 - questions
Quiz 1 - answers
2017 – Drumoig Wildlife Forum On-line survey – closing date Tuesday 28 February
An on-line survey was created and the link circulated to all residents. 33 resident’s households (15 from Comerton, 14 from Craigie and 4 from Forgan) completed the survey. Thanks to all those who took part. The results will be very valuable for the future of the project and a summary can be found on Page 3 of Newsletter 1.
2017 – Tuesday 14 – Tuesday 21 February
National Nest Box Week – this was an opportunity to install a nest box. For more details see the BTO's website for more details www.bto.org