Birding the Town Part 1: Urban Birding in Stranraer

When we think of bird-watching, we think of lakes, estuaries, woods, mudflats, uplands or other remote areas that generally see little foot traffic. Rarely when we think of bird-watching is a town the first place that springs to mind. However, "urban birding" (as championed by the famous Urban Birder David Lindo) can be rewarding in its own right and in this article I shall highlight the best birding that can be had in my local town: Stranraer.

As towns go, Stranraer is actually fairly good for birding. A small coastal town, Stranraer has several good sites where you can look out over Loch Ryan, thus significantly increasing the number of species that you might expect to see. I'll go into more detail about some of these sites later on (see Part 2) but for now let's talk about more general urban birding.

First of all, there are a number of species that you might expect to see in towns and cities wherever you go. Such 'common' species are often over-looked and undervalued, such as corvids, pigeons and gulls. However, that's not to say that these species don't deserve a second look.

An inquisitive rook. They lose the feathers at the base of their bills through frequent probing in the ground for food.

Of the four commonest corvid species in towns (carrion crows, jackdaws, magpies and rooks), the magpie is the only species not to be regularly sighted in Stranraer (perhaps surprisingly, it's actually fairly uncommon to see a magpie in our neck of the woods). Jackdaws and rooks will gather into large flocks, while carrion crows tend to travel singly or in smaller groups. It always worth looking twice at carrion crows, for some can be recognised individually by their tendency to grow white feathers (startling obvious against their black plumage and can look stunning when present in the wings). On occasion, hooded crows have also been seen near Stranraer, however, this species is fairly irregular and you are more likely to see a carrion x hooded crow hybrid (highly variable in appearance but with less extensive grey markings).

Pigeons are of course present wherever you go. Most will be feral pigeons but woodpigeons and their close cousin the collared dove also flourish within Stranraer. Birds on the beach are worth a second look, for there many be a 'true' rock dove (the ancestor of today's racing pigeons) amongst its feral pigeon relatives. The object of many disparaging remarks, if you care to look at them, the varied plumages of the feral pigeon can be rather pretty. I sense that I haven't convinced you, so I'll instead mention the other great worth of feral pigeons: their appeal as a meal for a peregrine falcon!

Gulls have become an expected site in urban areas and as a coastal town, this is especially true for Stranraer. Whether floating by overhead or tapping around on grassy areas to try and entice worms to the surface, gulls may be seen anywhere in Stranraer. In the winter they may form large roosts on the outskirts and in the summer the gulls stick around to breed. Herring gull, lesser and great black-backed gulls and black-headed gulls have all been recorded breeding in Stranraer (the latter only once that I know of and it was an unsuccessful attempt, they prefer to nest in colonies). Similarly, I only know of one lesser black-backed pair and a couple of great black-backed gull pairs in Stranraer. The most common nesting gull is the herring gull, yet despite what some people think, only a small number of herring gulls nest on buildings within the town. The majority of pairs nest at the abandoned outskirts of the town, where they will be undisturbed by us humans.

A longer bill and a small cere - is this a feral pigeon or a true rock dove?

Another abundant (yet less thought of) species to be found in towns and cities is the pied wagtail. A specialist insect catcher, pied wagtails may be seen flitting across rooftops or boldly strutting down the street. These attractive little birds increase in number during the winter, for they come together to roost in the urban heat.

As we might expect, gardens and other green spaces are key to attracting birds into urban areas. Fortunately, as a rural town, Stranraer has plenty of these. The familiar house sparrows, great, blue and coal tits, chaffinches, dunnocks and goldfinches frequent these areas. They may be slightly less common but it is by no means unreasonable to look for siskins and lesser redpolls as well. Starlings may be seen zipping by in small flocks during the summer or wheeling in larger murmurations during the winter. Blackbirds, wrens and robins may all be heard singing in the early hours of the morning (it has been suggested that artificial light makes them prone to singing earlier than they normally would). Of course, this abundance of prey makes seeing a sparrowhawk all the more likely.

Other species are more seasonal in their appearance. Rock pipits spread into town during the winter - be sure to check for water pipits or the 'Scandinavian' rock pipit (Anthus petrosus littoralis). Also winter birds, black redstarts prefer urban areas to other habitats and have been recorded in Stranraer on a few occasions now. Perhaps it is the summer species that we are more familiar with though. House martins nest on our, er... houses... and swifts fly screaming overhead, especially near the cheese factory where they breed in small numbers.

A few years back now: a herring gull nesting in the long stay car park!

If all of the above species are what you expected then I'm here to tell you to look out for that which you don't expect to see in urban areas. What's that those swallows are alarming at and mobbing, a hobby? Surely that small winter gull is a little gull and that large corvid can't be anything but a raven? A longer-tailed wagtail is likely to be a grey wagtail and check out all those buzzards because hen harrier has been recorded in Stranraer before! Waxwings and bramblings may make an appearance in the winter, whilst blackcaps, willow warblers, chiffchaffs and goldcrests may flit about in the summer. Whilst many species do avoid flying into urban areas, this does not prevent them from flying over them. You may see many migratory species passing above the town, so always double check those birds that fly high overhead. You can also hear these species, which is often easier on quiet nights. Well known examples of species that may be heard calling as they migrate at night (recording them is known as noc mig) include geese, thrushes and waders.

So whilst many urban species are 'common' and well-known to us, others are perhaps less expected but still regular in Stranraer. Often, the expectancy of seeing commoner species can often make finding a scarce species in town even more exciting than it would be seeing the species in an expected habitat. It's all a matter of keeping on looking, even in unexpected places - remember that an ivory gull was found in a Stranraer garden last year!

Hopefully, in this article I've managed to convince you to always take your binoculars with you when you go out into town and in the second part of this article (shortly to follow in another blog post!), I'll highlight some specific places in Stranraer that can be especially good for birding.

[All photographs are taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]