75 Various lochs in Ayrshire, Strathclyde

History

Abandoned, past status obscure, possibly of regional importance (R&O 64).  Ruttledge and Ogilvie (1979) referred to sporadic sightings of small flocks at various lochs in Ayrshire in the early 1970s and considered these to be regular migration stopping-off sites, occasionally used for longer periods.  Up to 87 were recorded centred on Drumore Loch, near Maybole, but with other records from Bogton Loch and Loch Spallander. There were reasonable numbers only in 1971/2 and 1972/3, although very few in years following.  R&O (1979) concluded that most of the sightings from scattered lochs over 25 km or more of osuthern Ayrshire, with the exception of the these two years, were probably birds on passage.  They also conceded that the White-fronted Geese could be mixed and therefore lost amongst the many Greylag Geese of thes areas.  Thorough survey throughout the area by the late Graham Stewart in the early 1980s and by others since have failed to locate any Greenland Whitefronts on a large number of lochs counted for wildfowl, so whatever the former status, this area now seems to be deserted even during migration periods.

Maximum winter counts:

South West Scotland