Bird Watching
Cosses Country House is a wonderful Guest House which has enjoyed a long association with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) making it an ideal holiday base for Bird Lovers, with over 120 birds listed around the shores of nearby Ballantrae.
Ballantrae Bird Sanctuary
Opportunities for Bird Watching are everywhere - there is a 55 acre reserve at the mouth of the River Stinchar established in 1969 to protect the Little Tern; grasslands, mudflats and shingle provide resident and migratory birds with a variety of feeding and nesting sites. Offshore, diving Gannets can be seen, Peregrine Falcons on the cliffs between Ballantrae and Girvan, and the imposing form of Ailsa Craig provides nesting sites for Puffins, Razorbills, Guillemots and Fulmer.
Birds of Britain
Robin's father was an ornithologist and joint editor, along with John
Fraser and C Eric Palmer of 'Birds of Britain', which was probably the
foundation of 'The British Trust for Ornithology'.
These pictures were
photographed in kodachrome by J.H. Stainton Crosthwaite.
Garden birds
Cosses garden and grounds are full of birds - Dippers nest under Cosses
Bridge, Warblers, Mistle and Song Thrushes fill the air with song, robins,
wrens, wagtails, tits and finches, swallows and house martins abound. Its
hard to miss the pheasants along the roadside - ever bent on committing
suicide! Tawny and Barn owls call to each other at night and Buzzards nest
in the woods.