Feathered friends at home in Oxton

The fabulous feathered friends have taken residence in the Bird Gardens Scotland facility in Oxton, and the doors are now open to welcome visitors the grounds.

The not-for-profit organisation and works with some of the rarest birds as part of a global effort to help these threatened species.

The grounds are developing rapidly and with each bit of progress, more bird species arrive to be part of ever-expanding breeding programmes.

It has been a great year for breeding successes thus far and the last few chicks of the season can be seen through the Baby Barn windows. Visitors are currently enjoying a clutch of tiny ducklings taking their first wobbly steps and learning to swim in their little pond.

These are ringed teal ducklings, a species becoming rarer due to rainforest loss in South America, at Bird Gardens Scotland however, they are thriving.

Visitors are able to get nose-to-beak with some of the wonderful characters … a very curious and nosy kookaburra family enjoy people-watching as visitors walk-by.

The highlight for many visitors is the flamboyance of flamingos on the main pond. Only being four years old, staff at Bird Gardens Scotland were a bit surprised when the flamingos started nest-building. These pink delights spend hours picking up small stones and bits of mud as they create their nests just beside the main boardwalk, giving visitors a thrilling close-encounter of the pinkest kind.

Mark Haillay, co-founder and director, said: “Given that they are so young, we were delighted and a bit surprised that the flamingos started nest-building. They can live up to 70 years old and don’t usually breed until they are a bit older than four.

"That said, we’re not going to stop them breeding, and actually we hope they’ll go all the way and make little flamingling fluff-balls.”

There’s one new arrival int he grounds … a visitor centre with a coffee shop, where freshly baked cakes and quiches can be enjoyed.

Owen Joiner, also one of the founders, and Mark’s husband, said: “We literally built the visitor centre during lockdown.

"We had materials on site and we learned a great deal as we built the building and installed the play areas. We are incredibly proud of ourselves for getting this far and we are very excited about the years to come.

"There are many plans to add gardens and breeding facilities.

"Sadly, there are many species in need of a helping hand as climate change, habitat loss, wildfires, deforestation and many other influential factors cause loss of wildlife.”

The natural history themed classroom in the visitor centre is getting ready to welcome school groups where children can meet tortoises, snakes and tiny frogs and learn about the conservation of the natural world."

Mark and Owen have set a reasonable entry charge at £10 (£6.50 conc, under-fours free), and that allows entry for a whole year.

Owen said: “As a not-for-profit organisation, we wanted to get people in the doors to learn about the birds we work with and to celebrate conservation efforts with us.

"When people are exposed to the actual birds, a strong sense of care is naturally generated … a powerful driving force for collective change, which is the only way we are going to push forward addressing environmental issues and make changes that will benefit wildlife, habitats, the planet and of course our future too.”