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Choughs in Glasgow
Ian Mitchell
Port Ellen, Isle of Islay
Letter published in Glasgow Herald, 03 Feb 04
Reproduced with kind permission
Dear Sir,
Leslie Duncan has performed a service to all orniphiles
by publishing Edwin Morgan's "Glasgow Sonnet X" as today's
Poem of the Day.
Morgan's poem notes that from the thirtieth floor
of the Red Road flats it was possible in the 1970s to see choughs,
a species which the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds claimed
three years ago was on a "slide towards extinction". Since
then the RSPB had acquired five thousand acres of Islay in order
to try breeding more of these birds on the cliffs of the Oa peninsula
near Port Ellen.
Though choughs exist in huge, but uncounted, numbers
from the Azores to Mongolia, the RSPB's information is that in Scotland
they are confined to Islay and Colonsay. No sightings have ever
been recorded in Glasgow, the theory being that it does not have
sufficient cliff habitat for the birds. Morgan's poem is therefore
a scientific bombshell.
Perhaps the RSPB ought now to explore the possibility
of buying the Barnhill area of Glasgow where these flats are situated?
Your sometime correspondent, Bernard Zonfrillo, who lives just over
the hill in Brodie Road, could warden the new reserve in order to
keep ramblers under control and prevent visitors camping in the
area. He could also negotiate an agreement with the Mountaineering
Council of Scotland for a code of conduct similar to that now applicable
on the cliffs of the Oa which would prevent climbers from scaling
the sides of the blocks of flats during the spring breeding season.
During the rest of the year, Mr Zonfrillo could
survey all the other high structures in Glasgow in case they too
host choughs. SNH would doubtless fund the research with generous
grants. Who knows how many other parts of the city might benefit
from the RSPB's control? With the world teetering on the brink of
ecological apocalypse, we cannot afford to be complacent.
Yours faithfully
Ian Mitchell
Xana Dubh
86 Lennox Street
Port Ellen
Isle of Islay PA42 7BW
Tel/fax: 01496 302252
Further Reading Recommended by Land-Care
 Mitchell,
Iain (2004). Not cuffed: a little snippet
See ENVIRONMENT Homepage, filed 03 Feb04, www.land-care.org.uk
Click
Here to View
Mitchell,
Iain (2002). Isles of the West: a Hebridean Voyage.
Birlinn, Edinburgh 2002 (2nd Edition, expanded and updated to 2001)
ISBN: 1 84158 150 X
£9.99 235 pp; 14 colour plates
Available from all good bookshops and from amazon.co.uk
Mitchell,
Iain (2004). Isles of the North. A Voyage to the Isles of the Norse
Birlinn, Edinburgh - due for publication June 2004
Macleod,
Kirsty (2004). Corncrakes, capercaillie and choughs
See ENVIRONMENT Homepage, filed 07 Jan 04, www.land-care.org.uk
Click Here to View
Mitchell,
Ian (2004). Capercaillie and choughs
See ENVIRONMENT Homepage, filed 08 Jan 04, www.land-care.org.uk
Click Here to View
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