Ornithological Piscatology

Mention birdwatchers and most people will visualise strange bearded men (and women) wearing anoraks, or squads of twitchers armed with telescopes racing around the country hoping to add the latest passage migrant to their list.  However, whether we realise it or not, us anglers often place ourselves in situations which greatly increase our chances of avian encounters.

My own passion for fishing and my interest in ornithology often overlap.  The walk across moorland to a hill loch wouldn’t be the same without skylarks trilling in the air above, and the sound of the first cuckoo each spring is one of the major landmarks in my year.  Hills and moorland also provide good hunting ground for birds of prey.  You may be lucky enough to see a hen harrier or golden eagle, or even the unmistakable fork-tailed silhouette of a red kite.  Kites were reintroduced to Scotland in the late 1980s and I have spotted several soaring above me whilst fishing hill lochs in Galloway.  One memorable evening on North Uist I was circled closely by a curious short eared owl which studied me carefully with its huge yellow eyes.  On another occasion I crested a rocky outcrop to find myself face to face with a female peregrine falcon tearing her prey apart.  We stared at each other in shock for a split second before she screeched away.  Hill lochs themselves support birdlife too.  Some remote lochs are home, during spring and summer, to breeding pairs of black, and red-throated divers.  Man has encouraged these striking birds in areas such as the Leacann hill lochs by building artificial platforms for them to nest on.

Fishing on rivers allows us to encounter a different range of bird species.  One of my favourite sights when fishing my way upstream is that of a heron slowly flapping into the air.  As well as admiring these almost prehistoric looking birds, it lets me know that no one is fishing above me!  Another of my favourite events in nature’s calendar is when the broods of mallards and other wildfowl hatch.  It’s comical to watch these tiny balls of fluff running around the bank pecking at everything in sight or bobbing around in the river.  On one of my favourite stretches of the Lanarkshire Avon, a barn owl appears every night at dusk without fail and floats off hunting over the fields.  A good friend of mine recently had a memorable experience on the upper Clyde.  He was  resting on the bank when an osprey appeared and snatched a decent trout from the river right in front of him.  Had he not been fishing I doubt he would have been in the right place at the right time to witness this wonderful spectacle.

You don’t need to be out in the countryside to experience interesting encounters with birds.  I often fish the Kelvin in the heart of Glasgow’s West End, and have shared the river with feathered fishermen such as kingfishers and goosanders.  Whilst sitting amongst the undergrowth on the riverbank long-tailed tits, dippers and goldcrests have all come within touching distance, and I was once lucky enough to listen to a great spotted woodpecker drumming in the trees above me as I fished.

So the next time you visit a favourite hill loch or explore an overgrown stretch of river, if the fishing is slow, sit down, look around and have a twitch.  Whether you observe some common birds or are lucky enough to spot something a bit rarer, you can enjoy another of the many aspects which make wild fishing such a rich and rewarding experience.

Paul Rowan enjoys fly fishing for any species of fish as long as they are wild, the remoter their location the better.He lives in Glasgow with his very understanding girlfriend and Dennis the dog.

Kingfisher Photograph by Colin Montgomery.