I RECENTLY saw representations made to the local MSP John Lamont the member of the Scottish Parliament for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire by local birders about the parking arrangements for visitors to the Site of Special Scientific Interest at Hule Moss on Greenlaw Moor.

A description of the bird interest of the moss and adjacent moorland is contained in the publication “Bird Watching in the Scottish Borders”, which was produced by members of the Scottish Ornithologists Club. Several bodies provided funding to enable the book to be printed and distributed free of charge. Hule Moss is described as having parking.

The sponsoring bodies for the publication included the Forestry Commission, Borders Forest Trust, RSPB, Treefest Scotland, Awards for all, Scottish Natural Heritage and Scottish Borders Council. The site is nationally recognised as a major goose roost particularly in the autumn. When the Pink-footed Geese arrive from their breeding grounds about the third week in September and then on the numbers using the site begin to increase rapidly. This is seen in the returns made by the local WeBS counter. However, the data that has been collected on the roost goes back for many years.

The Wetland Bird Surveys (WeBS), previously the National Wildfowl Counts, have been in operation since 1947. However, I do not have a date to hand of when they commenced in the Scottish Borders. I have been organising the counts in our area since mid 1970s. Counts from Hule Moss were being done before that by a volunteer from Greenlaw. In 1977 the memories of Henry-Douglas-Hume were published in book form with the simple title “The Birdman”. In a chapter headed Geese and Swans there is mention of the geese and Hule Moss.

He estimates that the average number of geese present in the autumn is around 5000 but this can vary from year to year. The birds arrive there to feed up before continuing their migration to East Anglia and south-west to Lancashire. Their stay in the Borders is dependent on the availability of food and in some years may not be as long as others. Henry-Douglas Hume attributes this variation to “the rapid ploughing-in of stubbles”. So for a number of weeks there may not be any until they begin to travel north in the spring.

But there are other birds to be seen at the site. Teal numbers have been as high as 700 complemented by lower numbers of Mallard and Wigeon and at one time reasonable numbers of Shoveler. Whooper Swans have been using the site in the last 2-3 years on a more regular basis and may be those birds that feed out in the fields south of Duns. Other geese can be found like Greylags, Barnacles and Canada Geese. There are also good numbers of smaller birds throughout the year and also Red Grouse and Pheasant with small numbers of waders and raptors.

It is a place worth visiting at the right time of year but you need a map to get your bearings as the site sits in the middle of the moor. Car parking was easy at the time I first visited the site but at one point large boulders were placed on the roadside to prevent parking, This may well have been the local landowner taking exception to certain visitors abusing the off road parking or as a safety measure as the parking was near to a sharp bend.

John Lamont did take up the observations made about parking and approached the Scottish Borders Council but he received a response which he describes as “disappointing”. Hopefully the matter could be reconsidered as the site would not have been included as one of the good places in our region to see a goose roost.

Visitors can make use of a small hide but should take the necessary precautions to be able to walk back safely to the roadway and their carefully chosen safe car parking spot.

Just over a week ago I drove over the Innerleithen to Heriot road hoping to see some Red Grouse and Blackcock but drew a blank. There were a few Carrion Crow around but as I drove down towards Heriot a Buzzard crossed in front of me but it was the only bird of prey to make an appearance.

A few years ago a wintering Great Grey Shrike appeared in this area but none on my recent visit. However, one was reported about 10 days ago near Newcastleton. It is also a bird on my Tweedbank list.