Bird watching in the Borders
These sites, all within easy reach of White Craggs, are listed in Where to Watch Birds in Scotland by Mike Madders and Julia Welstead.
Click on the location name for a map.
- Alemoor Loch, near Hawick (NT395155)
Goldeneye, wigeon, pintails and a few mallard, also kestrels and buzzards.
- Bemersyde Moss, St. Boswells (NT615345)
Breeding colony of some 14,000 pairs of black headed gulls, and a wintering population of wigeon and greylag geese. There is a hide on the south side with a small lay-by next to it.
- Duns Castle Nature Reserve (NT778550)
Pied flycatcher, redstart and wildfowl
- Gunknowe Loch, Galashiels (NT515345)
Feral ducks which have mated with local mallard
- The Hirsel, Coldstream (NT825405)
Water and woodland birds, including nuthatch and woodpeckers. Keep a lookout for osprey after the fish.
- Hoselaw Loch, near Kelso (NT808317)
An internationally important wildfowl site; Hoselaw is the only known male goosander gathering site in Britain and attracts up to 3000 greylag geese in winter.
- Lindean Reservoir, near Selkirk (NT505293)
Wheelchair access path to birdwatching-hide. Whooper Swans in winter.
- Teviothead haughlands, near Galashiels (NT433391)
Yellow wagtails
- West Water Reservoir, West Linton (NT115525)
Large population of pink-footed geese, which feed in the area in autumn on their migrating journey south.
- Yetholm Loch (NT802280)
A shallow post-glacial freshwater loch and fen. The reserve is important for wintering wildfowl and geese.
