The Eastgate - w/c 29 December

11th DECEMBER - 7th JANUARY
Bill Cowe – Autumn Leaves Exhibition – FREE
Eastgate Studio
A retrospective looking back over 50 years of painting, some new, some old, some blue ... some... well, see if you can recognise them... Bill’s formative years were spent on a Clydesdale-powered, paraffin-lit border farm, between the Lauder Moor and Galawater...

THU 3rd JAN 2008
Drama
A Christmas Carol
7.30pm
Do you believe in GHOSTS?
Meanwhile Theatre Company cordially invites you into the home of Mr. Charles John Huffam Dickens. Watch as he weaves a wondrous tale of magic and mystery, conjuring characters from thin air and summoning the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future before your very eyes. Do you believe in ghosts?... Perhaps you should start...

WED 9TH JAN
Film
TWEEDDALE FILM CLUB SEASON
7.30pm

THU 10TH JAN
Music
Music in Peebles present CLASSIC TRIO
7.30pm
Geoffrey Haydock (clarinet), Alexander Volpov (violin) and Penelope Smith (piano). Classic Trio was formed in 1993 by three of Scotland's most outstanding musicians. They are based in Glasgow, but have given recitals throughout Britain and have been acclaimed for their fine musicianship and entertaining and informative style of presentation. They will perform six 'Viennese Musical Masterpieces' by Strauss, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Mozart and Fruhling.

The Eastgate - w/c 20 December

11th DECEMBER - 7th JANUARY
Bill Cowe – Autumn Leaves
Exhibition – FREE
Eastgate Studio
A retrospective looking back over 50 years of painting, some new, some old, some blue ... some... well, see if you can recognise them... Bill’s formative years were spent on a Clydesdale-powered, paraffin-lit border farm, between the Lauder Moor and Galawater...

THURSDAY 20th DECEMBER
Drama
7.30pm
Nonsense Productions Present
It’s A Wonderful Life
Nonsense Room Productions
'Never mind life, this is a wonderful play' (Edinburgh Evening News)
The story tells of George Bailey, a man trapped in his home-town life in Bedford Falls and his continuous battles with the vile Mr Potter. George despairs that he cannot escape to a new life and is about to ‘Throw away God’s greatest gift’ when he is sent Clarence Odbody, the bumbling Angel (Second Class!) who by helping George tries to earn his Angel wings… Clarence helps George realise that life in Bedford Falls, perhaps isn’t so bad after all…

FRIDAY 21st DECEMBER
Music
Vince Woodstock
Charity Rock Concert
7.30pm
All profits to cancer charities.
THIS SHOW HAS SOLD OUT
Enjoy a night of blazing guitars as local guitar legend Vince Woods brings together an awesome line-up of Borders talent featuring friends, former pupils and those old favourites, The Fatboy Band.

SATURDAY 22nd DECEMBER
Children’s Show
Sticky Kids Show
12.30&3.00pm
The Sticky Kids Show is the latest musical show for 2-6 year olds. The action songs are all taken from the hugely popular Sticky Kids range of CDs used in nursery and primary schools throughout the UK...

SUNDAY 23rd December
FILM SUNDAY
Stardust
12.30pm
Matthew Vaughn / UK & USA 2007 / 2h8m / PG - Contains moderate fantasy violence and scary moments
Cast: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ricky Gervais.
Adapted by novelist Jane Goldman from the hugely popular graphic novel by Neil Gaiman, this is a glitter-dusted fantasy epic...

AND WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER
4.30 & 7.30pm
Anand Tucker / UK & Ireland 2007 / 1h32m / 12A - Contains strong language, moderate sex and bereavement theme
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Colin Firth, Juliet Stevenson, Gina McKee, Sarah Lancashire, Matthew Beard.
A top-notch cast brings Blake Morrison's painfully honest memoir to life. Colin Firth stars as successful writer Blake, who treats his ageing parents as something of a burden...

More details: Eastgate Website
Visittweeddale website

The Eastgate - w/c 13 December

11th DECEMBER - 7th JANUARY
Bill Cowe – Autumn Leaves
Exhibition – FREE
Eastgate Studio
A retrospective looking back over 50 years of painting, some new, some old, some blue ... some... well, see if you can recognise them... Bill’s formative years were spent on a Clydesdale-powered, paraffin-lit border farm, between the Lauder Moor and Galawater...

THURSDAY 13th DECEMBER
Drama
Richard Jordan Presents
St. Nicholas
7.30pm
A funny, chilling and supernatural tale of Vampires and theatre critics.
Conor McPherson’s tale of sex, vampires and theatre critics, St. Nicholas, plays at The Eastgate Theatre, Peebles, for one performance...

FRIDAY 14th DECEMBER
Eastgate Secret Cabaret
7.30pm
Mystery acts; music and songs, dancing, comedy...
A Fundraiser for the Eastgate contact Paz Newis for details

SATURDAY 15th DECEMBER
Music
7.30 pm
Lucy Pappas Open Mic Night
Talented young bands and some not so young, with a variety of original material and cover versions. Getting in to the Christmas spirit – whether it's rock, folk, Americana or blues...

SUNDAY 16th DECEMBER
FILM SUNDAY
Nancy Drew
12.30pm
Andrew Fleming / USA 2007 / 1h39m / PG - Contains infrequent mild language, violence and threat
In legendary teenage sleuth Nancy Drew’s latest mystery, she and her father go to Los Angeles, and stay in a home with a notorious past: the mysterious death of its owner, starlet Dehlia Draycott, in the early 1980s...

Michael Clayton
4.30 & 7.30pm
Tony Gilroy / USA 2007 / 2h / 15 - Contains very strong language and sex references
Michael Clayton is an in-house ‘fixer’ at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, he takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work...

MONDAY 17th DECEMBER
ArtHouse Film
7.30pm
The Night of Truth
Certification: 18
Running Time: 100 mins
Director: Fanta Regina Nacro
Set in an un-named African country in the immediate aftermath of a lengthy, bloody civil war, this taut tale takes place on a 'day of reconciliation' where the president, the leader of the opposition and their spouses meet to celebrate the end of hostilities. But after atrocities on both sides and lingering ethnic tensions, can there really be peace...

THURSDAY 20th DECEMBER
Drama
7.30pm
Nonsense Productions Present
It’s A Wonderful Life
'Never mind life, this is a wonderful play' (Edinburgh Evening News)
The story tells of George Bailey, a man trapped in his home-town life in Bedford Falls and his continuous battles with the vile Mr Potter. George despairs that he cannot escape to a new life and is about to ‘Throw away God’s greatest gift’ when he is sent Clarence Odbody, the bumbling Angel (Second Class!) who by helping George tries to earn his Angel wings...

FRIDAY 21st DECEMBER
Music Vince Woodstock
Charity Rock Concert
7.30pm
All profits to cancer charities.
THIS SHOW HAS SOLD OUT
Enjoy a night of blazing guitars as local guitar legend Vince Woods brings together an awesome line-up of Borders talent featuring friends, former pupils and those old favourites, The Fatboy Band.

More details: Eastgate Website
Visittweeddale website

The Eastgate - w/c 6 December

3rd – 13th Dec - FREE
FACES AND PLACES
Dougie Johnston
Studio Exhibition
Local photographer Dougie Johnston presents a selection of his stunning photographs...

WEDNESDAY 5th TO SUNDAY 9th
TWEED THEATRE PANTO
The Wizard of Oz
The surreal world of Oz gets even more surreal when heroine Dorothy and Toto are joined by Dorothy's Aunt Em...

TUESDAY 11th DECEMBER
Tweeddale Society Lecture 7.30pm
"The National Park Systems of Uganda and Scotland”
Prof. Roger Wheater, OBE. FRSE.
Professor Wheater is a well known ecologist and zoologist who held the post of Chief Warden of the Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda then Director of Uganda National Parks...

THURSDAY 13th DECEMBER
Drama
Richard Jordan Presents
St.Nicholas
A funny, chilling and supernatural tale of Vampires and theatre critics. Conor McPherson’s tale of sex, vampires and theatre critics, St. Nicholas, plays at The Eastgate Theatre, Peebles, for one performance...

FRIDAY 14th DECEMBER
Eastgate Secret Cabaret
Mystery acts; music and songs, dancing, comedy...
A Fundraiser for the Eastgate contact Martin Hamilton on martinnewvalues@yahoo.co.uk for details or if you would like to bring an unusual talent or act to his stage! Go on... shock us all!

More details: Eastgate Website
Visittweeddale website

The Eastgate - w/c 29 November

THU & FRI 29TH & 30TH NOVEMBER Shakers Jon Godber's bitter-sweet comedy centering around four attractive girl friends who have taken up waiting on tables in a London cocktail bar. The plot twists and turns as they all have fun, flirting, crying, living the high life and watching their customers...

SATURDAY 1st DECEMBER BOOK EARLY to avoid disappointment..THIS SHOW WILL SELL OUT

CRAIG HILL MAKIN' A BIG SONG AND DANCE

"A duracell bunny on amphetamines... he has the force of personality to win an audience over effortlessly" Stage 2007 This year to celebrate the critical acclaim and success of his eighth consecutive original full-length show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2007 Craig Hill is getting ready to get down. So hold on to your glitter balls because Craig is strapping on his disco pumps, getting into the groove and Makin' A Big Song And Dance all about his love affair with Music...

TUESDAY 4th DECEMBER Music in Peebles Lawson McGillivary and McGuiness Soprano, Cello and Harpsichord. An evening of 18th Century music from italy and Scotland from three of the country's finest exponents...

WEDNESDAY 5th TO SUNDAY 9th
TWEED THEATRE PANTO
The Wizard of Oz

The surreal world of Oz gets even more surreal when heroine Dorothy and Toto are joined by Dorothy's Aunt Em...

More details: Eastgate Website
Visittweeddale website

The Eastgate - w/c 22 November

Sunday 25th November - Film Sunday
Tales From Earthsea A prince sets out on a magical journey and discovers wizards, witches, dragons and self-knowledge in this first feature from Goro Miyazaki, son of the celebrated Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away)...

A Mighty Heart
On January 23, 2002, US journalist Daniel Stern, chasing a story in Karachi, Pakistan, got into a cab and never returned...

Monday 26th November - Art House Film Night
Silent Waters
Set in 1979 Pakistan, General Zia-ul-Haq has imposed martial law and, within a few months, the country is decreed a Muslim state...

Tuesday 27th November - Amnesty Human Rights Benefit
To celebrate the International Day of Human Rights Tweeddale Amnesty Group is staging a very special benefit performance and reception.

Thu & Fri 29th & 30th November - Shakers (Re-stirred)
Emotional Tramps Theatre Company
Jon Godber’s bitter-sweet comedy centering around four attractive girl friends who have taken up waiting on tables in a London cocktail bar...

More details: Eastgate Website
Visittweeddale website

A Top 12 Local Tourism Site

The Visit Tweeddale webite has been rated as one of the best 12 local tourism websites in Scotland by Pride and Passion, an organisation devoted to asking and assisting everyone in Scottish tourism industry to add a bit extra to the visitor by always doing the right thing rather than the easy thing.

Celebration of eating out in the Scottish Borders

Twenty six accolades were presented to Borders food and drink businesses at the prestigious Scottish Borders Eating Out Awards held on 5 November at Tweed Horizons.

The Horseshoe Inn at Eddleston scooped the overall winner’s prize as well as winning the Best Customer Service Award category. The judges commented: “Our experience was exemplary. Skilful cooking and imaginative menu enhanced by smart, professional service – a real Borders treasure.”

Other member's to be commended were Glentress Hotel, Peebles and Lazels@Peebles Hydro Hotel.

AA Restaurant of the Year for Scotland 2007-2008

Earlier in the year, the sleepy village of Eddleston (near Peebles) was in the news when the community celebrated the Quincentenary of The Eddleston Bell.

Now, the focus is on The Horseshoe Inn for at the AA Hospitality Awards held in the Balmoral, Edinburgh on Monday 1st October 2007, our Partners, Patrick Bardoulet and Vivienne Steele received the AA Restaurant of the Year for Scotland 2007-2008 and 3 AA Rosettes; as Owners, we are absolutely delighted that the efforts of the Team have been recognised in this way.

Each year, the AA independently inspects hundreds of restaurants across the British Isles; whilst the standard of cuisine is at the very heart of the selection criteria, innovation, ambience, service and hospitality are all part of the equation that determines the eventual winner of the much coveted "Restaurant of the Year" Award. To quote the AA on their synopsis of The Horseshoe:-

"First impressions of this Restaurant with Rooms are one of a pristinely refurbished property that has been decorated with flair and panache to create a haven of luxury, taste and style.

The restaurant is very much the focus, but deep sofas in the lounge allow guests to warm their toes by an open fire with drinks before dinner, and an eye-catching, smart bistro provides an appealing alternative to the more formal Bardoulets Restaurant. A quick scan of the menu immediately highlights two important factors. A strong seasonal approach and well sourced ingredients indicate that dishes are driven by nature's larder.

The second point is that pricing is extremely fair and reasonable. The cooking style reflects a French chef who has been classically trained, but has evolved over time to create a unique and welcome fusion of established artistry and modern science. The wine list offers depth and breadth with an eclectic and global selection aimed to satisfy most pockets and, more importantly, complements the menu."

The award of 3 AA Rosettes is testament to the abilities of Chef Director, Patrick Bardoulet and his team in the kitchen for this award is predominantly all about the "food-on-the-plate"; to quote the AA:-"This award takes The Horseshoe "into the big league" where expectations of the kitchen are high; exact technique, flair and imagination must come through in every dish, and balance and depth of flavour are all-important".

Restaurants awarded three, four or five AA Rosettes represent "The Top Ten Per Cent" of the restaurants in their Guide; with only 3 Restaurants in Scotland having 4 Rosettes and 22 having 3 Rosettes, we are now in esteemed company and the only establishment in the Scottish Borders to have attained this special status.

Ghosts Come Out At Traquair

The ghosts of Traquair will be out this year when the Traquair Halloween experience will take place from the 26th - 28th October and will include historical ghost tours of the house on Friday and Saturday night and a family fun day on Sunday.

Ghost Tours Bring Spirits of Traquair’s Past to Life Friday 26th and Saturday 27th 6.30pm and 8.30pm

Dare you enter the ancient castle of Traquair at night where doors creak unexpectedly and the wind whistles through the ancient walls?

Find out who really lived here as the ghosts of Traquair’s past come alive and take you on a candlelit tour of the house bringing history to life as never before.

You may even catch a fleeting glimpse of the Grey Lady ….

Tours last approximately 1 hour and include a glass of mulled wine. Numbers are limited so book early to avoid disappointment. Adults £8.00.

Halloween Suppers served at the 1745 Cottage Restaurant. Combined tour and supper tickets £22.00.

Spooky Fun At Traquair

Dust off your witch and skeleton costumes and enjoy a day of spooky fun Traquair. There will be all sorts of activities including a Wizard & Witches workshop in the High Gallery. Ghost Stories in the Library, A Very Scary Spooky Passage Experience, Tarot Reading, an Owl & Falconry display as well as Halloween Games, Spooky Face Painting and a Scavenger Hunt in the grounds. Have a ghostly face painted for the day and see the wonderful owl and falconry display in front of the house.

Delicious home made lunches and teas will be served in the 1745 Restaurant with a Halloween theme and there will be fabulous prizes for the best dressed ghouls so bring the family dressed to kill!

Entrance to the house and grounds Adults £5.00 and Children £2.50.

For ghost tour tickets and all other enquiries Tel; 01896 830323

An Audience With Bill Wyman

At the Eastgate, 18th October 2007, 7.30pm

Drinks in the studio, a chance for people to see Bill Wyman's photographic exhibition.

8 p.m. Colin Somerville of BBC Radio Scotland to interview Bill Wyman about his career with the Rolling Stones, his love for the music that inspired his Blues Odyssey, his new found 'career' as a photographer and his passion for history and metal detecting.

A Q & A session as integral part of this evening. Like the "Audience with" series on BBC TV where Colin will ask pertinent questions so that the BBC can record it, with room for audience questions. This show will be recorded for broadcast later in the year.

After the show there will be a buffet in the studio, Bill will be on hand to "Meet and greet." There will be works available to buy and Bill will be happy to sign copies.

Mountain Biking Events (and Christmas!)

Here's some dates for your diary:

13th - 14th October
Scottish Downhill Mountain Bike event at Innerleithen.

6th - 7th & 20th - 21st October, 3rd - 4th & 17th - 18th November, 1st - 2nd & 15th - 16th December
www.upliftscotland.com
Uplift service to mountain bikers at Innerleithen.

24th - 28th October
Tweed Valley Forest Festival.

24th - 25th November
Hill Rally at Newcastleton.

2nd December
Duathlon at Glentress.

7th - 22nd December
Glentress Christmas Tree sales centre will be open daily.

The First Peebles Food Festival (Oct 19-21, 2007)

The first Peebles Food Festival (Oct 19-21) aims to reinforce the town’s excellent reputation for first class cooking and locally grown produce.

The town’s leading hotels and restaurants which will feature specially themed menus and is being supported by some of Scotland’s top chefs.

Cookery demonstrations will feature Kenny Coltman, executive head chef at the Caledonian Hilton in Edinburgh; Scottish Olympic Culinary team member Kevin McGillivray, who is executive head chef at the 3 Rosette Castleton House Hotel in Perthshire; and Braehead Foods executive and former chef, Tim Dover.

Other events include a seven course gala dinner with each course prepared by a local chef using Scotland’s best produce and an indoor food market showcasing the Borders’ finest food and drink suppliers and offering visitors the chance to sample and purchase products.

Running alongside the main events, Kenny Vannan of Villeneuve Wines will present a series of wine courses including “Round the Wine World in 80 Minutes”.

And pupils from the town’s three primary schools will take part in a cook-off competition with a healthy eating theme under the watchful eyes of Peebles Hydro head chef Len Cumming.

The food festival is part of the town’s ambitious Hidden Treasure marketing initiative which is aimed at bringing more visitors to the town.

For a full list of events, times, ticket prices and other attractions visit www.peeblesfoodfestival.com.

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 6 August 2007

Main Nest

It was an exciting day at the nest today, with plenty of comings and goings from the family. When the cameras came on this morning the female adult and the female chick were both present on the nest with a fish each and where heartily tucking into their breakfast. The young male soon joined them and his mother then fed him. Even though he is now capable of independent flight he still reverts to the behaviour of a younger chick for a feed. Eventually the two females flew off and the young male continued to finish off the remainder of his mother’s fish. Once he was full he then took off.

Sometime later the adult female returned with a fish and began to show signs of agitation, she left her fish and flew off. Perhaps she was giving chase to an intruder bird. After a while another female landed at the nest, it was an adult and her markings in the chest were very strikingly different to our female bird she looked about furtively and stole the fish!

The adult male arrived at the nest and stayed for a while but he didn’t bring any fish and the rest of his family were not around.

The whole season of highlights for this family of ospreys is now being shown on DVD in the centres. It begins when the females first arrived back in the spring through to this years chicks taking to the wing. This recorded footage has superb sound quality and the birds every call and movement can be heard, all set to the backdrop of forest noises and at times howling winds.

Windows On Wildlife

The small mammals trapping events at Glentress Forest were a great success and proved to be very popular with the public who attended. There is now a highlights DVD showing at the centres with footage of the mammals trapped and released at these events. We caught bank voles, short tailed field voles and wood mice. After a brief stop over in the traps they were then released unharmed back to their territories, most were quite reluctant to go before they had eaten as much of the lovely food we had left for them.

Because of the success of these events we have decided to run a few more to be held at Kailzie Gardens after the Glentress Osprey Watch closes for the season.

Details below.

Small Mammals Mystery Tours. 17th August, 25th August and 28th August. Meet at Kailzie Gardens Osprey Watch Centre at 10.00am. No Booking required.

Come along and see which small mammals we have caught in the live traps. A chance to see, mice and voles close up and then release them back to the wild. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Admission fee. £3 per adult, £1 per child over 5 years, under 5’s free.

This specially reduced fee for the events will allow entrance into the osprey watch centre and the gardens.

Traquair Hots Up For Latin Fair

This year’s Traquair Fair will take place on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th August at Traquair House. Promising to be more colourful than ever, the Latin American theme will include dance, music and acrobatics from Cuba to Brazil.

Hot rhythms, wonderful costumes, masks, puppets and fantastic stilt walkers will transform the tranquil grounds of this ancient Scottish castle now celebrating its 900th anniversary.

Highlights of the weekend will include Salsa Celtica, one of the UK’s leading Latin American big dance bands with a Scottish Accent. Then there is the fiery Macumba an Edinburgh based band fusing traditional sounds of Scottish bagpipes with infectious rhythms of Brazilian percussion. Superb funky Latin Jazz with the Dias Quartet and marvellous Chilean vocals from Voces del Sur.

On the wineglass lawn the amazing Brazilian acrobats, De Ramos will be performing a variety of extraordinary acrobatic feats, knife throwing and capoeira. Also, one of the best street theatre acts in the country, and more recently with several TV appearances, Bruce Airhead will be performing the metarmorphis of a man into a six foot balloon!

Around the Fair the Latin theme continues with Legendary Lynn a spectacular stilt act based on Carmen Miranda and Two Left Feet - a ballroom dancing couple sequinned to the hilt and ready to rumba!

For children there is a great programme of things to see and workshops to take part in. The Mora Brothers from Cuba will be running papier mache workshops making masks and animals. There are puppet shows from Ailie Paley and Over the Top as well as the inimitable Mr Boom and slapstick from Maynard Flipflap. There will be storytelling in the Green Shee yurt and show boats, inflatables and face painting.

For those who like to participate there will be a chance to take part in salsa and merengue, capoeira and acrobatics. But for those who prefer to relax there will be the usual array of complementry therapies, crafts and delicious foods. Drinks including South American cocktails and Fair Ale brewed exclusively for the weekend in the Traquair Brewery. For full details of all the acts appearing at this year’s Fair, see the Traquair website www.traquair.co.uk/fair

For photos and further information contact: Catherine Maxwell Stuart, Traquair House, Innerleithen, Peeblesshire EH44 6PW Tel; 01896 830323 enquiries@traquair.co.uk

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 29th July

"Ladies First"

There’s been so much activity on our Osprey nests over the last few days it’s been hard to keep a track of the birds comings and goings. All the chicks are now adult size and only distinguishable from their parents by their plumage which has pale feather edges, which gives them a speckled appearance.

On both nests the female chicks have now outgrown their brothers and seem to be bolder and more advanced. On the 24th of July the female chick on the main nest first took off, and whilst her brother gave it a go the next day, she seems to be leaving him behind. She is now doing very regular circles around the nest and the valley and practising her landings, which are quickly becoming quite accomplished. She has also progressed to taking whole fish from her parents and devouring them greedily herself without sharing! Her bother by contrast has been much quieter and still spends most of his time on the nest, only reluctantly taking off a couple of times a day, and his landings leave something to be desired! Mum is also still feeding him like a baby! Hopefully he will mature in the next week or so and become more independent because it’s not too long before he’ll be on his own in the big wide world and he’ll need to be able to fend for himself.

The Backup Nest

Our two monitored nests this year are almost synchronised and all the chicks took their first flight around about the same time. On the backup nest, again it was one of the female chicks who was bravest, leaving her siblings in the nest to admire her skills. With three youngsters on the nest it’s rather crowded with all their wing stretching, flapping and rather wobbly landings.

Windows on Wildlife

We now have some fantastic bat footage on display in both centres, filmed locally by Diane Bennett our Community Wildlife Officer. It features a Pipistrelle bat colony and thanks to Diane’s quick thinking rescue efforts a wee bat who fell from the colony in rare close up, before it was returned to the roost. We also have a large section of highlights from other species filmed over the season so far. Coming soon: small mammals filmed locally during our close encounter events.

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 24th July

Main Nest

The first flight for one of the chicks took place today. When the centres opened this morning only one chick sat in the nest, all alone. We think it was the male chick and he seems reluctant to take to the skies. After about twenty minutes the female chick returned followed by the return of the female adult.

The female adult and the female chick did not stay around too long and left the nest for most of the day leaving a forlorn looking little brother at the nest. Occasionally he would do a bit of wing stretching and even lifted off by a few centimetres but never made it to an adventurous first flight away from the nest.

Maybe tomorrow he will make a serious attempt.

The Back up Nest

All three chicks were still there this morning and they are looking like they are ready to go. They were preening their plumage and wing stretching and we hope that the recorded footage taken today may reveal the first flight of these youngsters.

Windows on Wildlife

The swallows at Glentress have moved onto another nest and have begun to line it with feathers in readiness for laying again for a second brood. We have moved the camera across so that this can now be watched live.

The live feeding station cameras are revealing beautiful close ups of a juvenile great spotted woodpecker which is feeding on the peanuts. The birdseed feeders were resplendent with finches today, species such as goldfinches, greenfinches, chaffinches, blue tits and great tits could all be seen in great close up detail.

All of these species can be seen outside the osprey centre in Kailzie as well at the feeding station, which can be viewed from the centre. Nuthatches are a welcome addition to the birds feeding at Kailzie as well.

The latest highlights DVD from a house sparrow nest can be seen at both of the centres.

Coming soon there will be a DVD of the small mammals that live around Glentress Osprey Watch, as we have held some live mammal trapping events and filmed the mammals that we caught. So far we have filmed bank voles, wood mice, and a short tailed field vole.�

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 17th July

Main Nest 17th July

The two chicks in the nest have now been confirmed as male and female from the results of the DNA testing, which, was carried out by vet Anna Meredith at the time of ringing.

It is incredible the speed at which these two chicks have developed and even in the short time since ringing there has been a remarkable change in overall size and feathering. The female chick is larger than her brother but both birds are now at the stage where time is spent wing stretching and flapping, it will be only a matter of maybe a week or more before the birds take to the air for the first time. Much of their time is taken up with preening as well, which is another sure sign that they are not far from flight.

During one of the flapping sessions one of the chicks lifted a couple of centimetres up from the nest and quickly ceased exercising, so not quite ready yet!

The Back up Nest

The chicks in this nest have now been confirmed as two females and a male.

The family is at the same stage as the main nest so it will be a race between nests to see which chicks are the first to become airborne.

The latest highlights DVD has now been produced for this nest and is available to be seen at the osprey centres. This shows the family from their arrival in the spring right up to the ringing of the chicks on 5th July. There is even a nice sequence of bedtime with the ospreys! We often get asked what the ospreys do at night so now you can see for yourselves on a horrible windy, wet night the female sheltered her brood and slept.

There is some incredible footage taken in gale force winds were the female has to brace herself against the wind and use her wings as stabilisers to prevent her from being swept off the nest.

Come along to see the birds at the osprey watch centres before they fledge and watch some of the highlights from both families, which have been filmed during this season so far.

Windows on Wildlife

All of our other species have fledged now but we did film every stage of their lives while they were with us and these are available to see on DVD at the centres. Glentress is currently showing the barn owl family, the tawny owls and Forests of Butterflies. There is still live action on the bird feeder cameras and we are waiting for the swallows to decide which nest they will use for the second brood. Once they have chosen a site the camera will be moved on to their new nest.

At Kailzie Gardens we are currently showing great tits, spotted flycatchers, buzzard ringing, barn owls and tawny owls, all on DVD highlights. Live images from the stock pond are also on show.

Coming soon – Newcastleton barn owls - the whole story, once we have the full footage from this nest a highlights DVD will be screened to show the chicks as they grew up in the box.

House sparrows have been filmed and this will also be on show soon. We are also hoping to get some great footage from a maternity roost of pippistrelle bats. Small mammals will be filmed at our small mammal event

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 12th July

The Main Nest

Our two delightful ‘teenage’ Ospreys now bear little resemblance to the fluffy balls born just six weeks ago. With their full juvenile plumage of speckled brown, they look very handsome indeed and are approaching adult size. There has been lots of wing flapping and exercising by the youngsters, giving us a chance to appreciate their considerable wing span and developing flight feathers. It won’t be long before they are putting those to good use in their early flight attempts.

Our male Osprey has been continuing to provide well for his family, and as the weather has been improving he has had time to relax on the outer nest perch between fishing runs, giving us some nice views of the whole family together. The female has been taking to using the perch more and more as well, now she doesn’t have to constantly shelter the chicks from the weather, though she is still close enough to protect them from danger if need be.

We have had numerous disturbances at the nest lately by an intruder - believed to be another Osprey. Almost daily another bird has been circling over and even occasionally dive bombing the nest. Our resident female has been displaying fascinating defensive behaviour, 'mantling' and covering her young with her wings, and calling loudly. We wonder if the intruder is a juvenile bird frustrated by its own lack of nesting success, or perhaps even the male pretender we saw earlier in the season at the nest.

The three Backup Nest chicks continue their phenomenal growth curve, and like the main nest are now huge and very adult looking. We are going to be watching the nest very carefully in the next week or so for signs of readiness for their first flights.

Windows on Wildlife

Our Glentress swallows have finally fledged, having grown so big two of them were literally squeezed out of the nest. Our live feeding station camera continues to show us great views of common species and the odd surprise! At Kailzie gardens our viewing window reliably gives us good views of many birds such as greater spotted woodpeckers, and nuthatches as well as our favourite 'garden' species. Come and try your luck (binoculars provided) but be warned it can be rather addictive.

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary

Main nest and Back Up Nest

The chicks are now a month old and have grown to about half the size of their parents. They have begun to look like proper ospreys now. Their dappled plumage with pale edging to the dark brown feathers and ginger patch to the back of the neck are emphasized in the rare periods when we get a bit of sunshine between heavy downpours of rain.

The latest highlights DVD for the main nest showing the chicks development from hatching right up to 30th June with footage of squabbles between the youngsters and feeding time with the family is now on show at both osprey centres.

Ringing

The licensed osprey ringers will be ringing the chicks on Wednesday 4th July and this will be screened live into the centres from 10.30am until approximately midday. So far this year all five of our chicks from the main nest and the back up nest are looking very healthy and this will be checked for certain during the ringing. We have a vet attending to take some blood samples and the analysis of these samples will be used for research purposes.

The large Darvic rings, which are put onto the bird’s legs, enable them to be identified at quite a distance once they leave the nest. This way we can keep a track of birds and gauge how well they are doing in the future. It is long-term research and it can often be years later before any records are returned regarding the whereabouts of a ringed bird. For example, our visiting male back in the spring from Fochabers Forest District, this was the first sighting of him with his black leg ring 07, since he hatched in 1999.

Windows on Wildlife

Swallows at Glentress are growing very rapidly, there are four chicks in the nest and they are very close to fledging. The new swallow nest at Kailzie has so far not had any occupants. The birds built a nest and have not returned to it. We shall keep the cameras on there just in case. No sign of the wren at the nest either, it is beginning to look like Mrs. Wren chose another nest!

A fantastic sighting of an osprey at Kailzie Gardens on Thursday delighted visitors as the bird was patrolling along the Tweed and decided to come over and check out the Kailzie Fishery affording fine views for the folk in the centre.

Children’s Event

Birdy Environmental Games in Glentress Forest. 10.00am - 12.00pm

Come and discover the wonderful world of birds, take part in role play games and find out what it is like to be a bird undergoing the trials of nesting, foraging for food and avoiding predators. Have loads of fun in the woods at Glentress Forest and visit the osprey centre afterwards to see how our ospreys and others are doing live on camera.
Suitable for children 7 - 12 yrs.
All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Meet at the Red Squirrel Car Park, Glentress Forest, Peebles.
Booking is essential by phone: 07850 411122.
Or email to Diane@tweedforum.com

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 21 June

Main Nest 21st June

The chicks are growing well and the male is bringing super-sized fish in, to feed the family. The soft grey down is beginning to lessen on the chicks’ bodies as proper feathers begin to break through. While wing stretching yesterday one of the chicks revealed the growing stubby feathers, which will become their flight feathers in such a short time. The chicks are now three weeks old and are developing at a terrific pace. Thankfully the sibling squabbles, which were witnessed when they were very tiny, seem to have been settled and now the two chicks seem to have a more harmonious relationship.

Yesterday repeated visits from another osprey startled and upset the family and the male bird eventually gave chase to drive the intruder away.

The weather picked up and a lovely summer day with bright sunshine meant that the chicks were seen clearly instead of sheltering beneath their mum. Later though, a thunderstorm bringing more rain served as a reminder to us that the pair still have a long way to go before their young are independent and capable of coping with whatever weather is dealt to them.

Back up nest

The back up nest chicks continue to thrive and all three are healthy and strong.

Windows on Wildlife

The Tweed Valley Barn Owls have now been ringed and we are delighted to report that even our tiniest chick has made it through this bad weather. There are three female chicks and the little one is a male. After the chicks were ringed the cameras were set for filming from 10pm to midnight at their nest to see how the family were doing. This latest footage revealed over a two-hour period a staggering seven voles were brought in to feed the young brood!

The technical problems, which we reported earlier, have been sorted out now. No wonder we couldn’t connect the camera, the wires had been completely destroyed due to being chewed by cows!

The latest DVD of the barn owl ringing and the voles being fed to the youngsters is now on show at the osprey centres.

At Glentress Osprey Watch we are very pleased to present a superb film called Forests of Butterflies, which was filmed by Osprey Watch Volunteer Harvey Robertson and is narrated by Walter Elliott. The film has tremendous footage of close-ups of butterflies set in the beautiful Tweed Valley Forest with lovely views of the landscape forming the backdrop.

At Kailzie the cameras have been moved from the sad swallow site and put onto another swallow nest, which is still in the process of being built. We hope to see the nest occupied shortly.

Next door to the new swallow nest we discovered a wren nest, which is newly built as well. We will keep a watchful eye on this and pop a camera on it, if the birds take up residence. The male wren often builds a few nests and then the female chooses the one she likes best. Let’s hope she likes this one. It’s in a fine location with commanding views over the Kailzie Fishery!

The spotted flycatchers are growing well and there are four chicks in the nest not three as we thought. These will fledge in about a week’s time and we will be arranging to ring the chicks before they go and this will be filmed. As soon as we have a date for the ringing it will go in this diary and visitors to the centre on the day will be able to watch the chicks being ringed live.

View the Tweed Valley Osprey cam here.

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 17 June

The weather over the past couple of days has been torrential and very cold. Prolonged weather like this is a serious threat at this vulnerable stage of the chicks lives. They have not developed their full feathers yet and rely very much on their mum to keep them warm. She is such a good parent and has shielded the youngsters and has successfully got them through this trying time. The male has managed to bring fish to the family despite the weather and although the frequency of his offerings dropped due to poor fishing conditions it has been enough to sustain the brood. Let’s hope that the weather improves and a few warm days with plenty of good fishing and full stomachs should make for a happy family.

Back Up Nest

Recent footage revealed the three charming chicks in this nest at family feeding times.

The male became a little too nest proud and began a stick tidy in the nest much to his wife’s disapproval. At one point he had one end of a stick and was trying to push it one way and she had the other end pushing it back. Domestic bliss being interrupted with a bit of a feng shui disagreement but the female got her own way in the end and he went off to do the male thing and catch a fish.

This footage is now on show at the centres in the new Back Up Nest Highlights DVD. We have ongoing highlights from all of our nests from the windows on wildlife and the ospreys. Please ask the volunteer on duty if you wish to see any specific highlights when you visit.

Windows on Wildlife

Sad news.

Our swallow family, which were doing so well at Kailzie Gardens have been attacked and killed. Yesterday when the cameras were switched on the nest was empty and it was far too early for the birds to have fledged. Sadly, Emma, the RSPB Information Assistant discovered the grim reason. Little decapitated swallow chick heads were lying around the courtyard. It must have been one of the crow species that perpetrated the crime as the birds had nested on top of the security light and nothing other than another bird would be able to reach them. We will try and move the camera on to another family as soon as possible and in the mean time, keep an eye on the original parents as they will probably try again with better luck next time, hopefully.

The barn owl chicks from the Tweed Valley Nest are almost ready to be ringed and we will film this and show it in the centres. We are concerned that the fourth chick, which is underdeveloped, may have succumbed during this bad weather. We have experienced more technical difficulties with the camera and will have to wait to find out how this family is doing.

A second barn owl family, which had a dead chick in the box, has now got two new chicks. This footage will be shown once the first family have fledged. So far we have new recordings coming in to the centre every few days and this will be put together as highlights to reveal how this family is getting on.

The spotted flycatchers are growing and they have three fine chicks. This can be seen live in Kailzie Gardens.

The underwater cameras in the stock ponds at the fishery in Kailzie are giving fantastic views of the rainbow trout.

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 12th June

Main Nest

The male has again been feeding the chicks this morning. Today has been very cold and misty and for most of the morning the female has been keeping the young chicks warm. Once the mist lifted superb views into the nest could be seen as the family were feeding.

As they were feeding we could clearly see the third egg in the middle of the two chicks. This is probably an infertile egg and unlikely to hatch out. It is probably the first egg, which was laid, as this was due to hatch around the 26th May. The chicks hatched out on the 1st and 2nd June, which suggest that, they were chicks from the last two eggs laid.

Windows on Wildlife

The spotted flycatcher chicks began to hatch yesterday. Today two tiny young can be seen in the nest and there are still some eggs in there. The parents have begun to work hard to bring juicy flies to feed the young chicks.

We have another camera in a barn owl nest with four young and this will shown in the centres very soon.

House sparrows have moved into one of the boxes at Glentress and we are hoping to record footage from this family once the eggs hatch.

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 9 June

Main Nest

Today began with the female sitting at the nest feeding the two small chicks. The high protein diet of raw fish has meant that the chicks have almost trebled in size in only a week.

The two youngsters seem to have a bit of an uneasy relationship and the larger chick has been seen frequently pecking at the neck of the smaller chick. The response to this has generally been a defensive one in a bid to stay out of the way of more raining blows. The male brought in a good-sized fish and the female fed her brood again.

Afterwards the chicks settled down for a nap while the female preened and then relaxed for a short while. After about an hour of relaxed behaviour the female began calling and then flew off. The chicks were left alone for five minutes and during this time the larger chick seized the opportunity to start another scrap with the little sibling. Luckily there seems to be no serious consequences and they were behaving themselves by the time their mum returned.

Later in the afternoon the family were joined by the male on the nest. He began finishing off the remains of a fish brought in earlier. The chicks soon became alert as food was available again and began begging from their Dad. He firstly began offering the morsels up to his mate and eventually leaned into the nest reaching down to give titbits to the chicks. We have never seen him feed the young at this early stage before. Usually the female feeds them and he only takes over when the chicks are virtually adults.

Back up nest

The three chicks in the back up nest appear strong and healthy. The recorded footage will be edited and shown in the centres shortly.

Windows on Wildlife

The great tits have flown the nest. The spotted flycatchers are now sitting on eggs.

The swallows at Kailzie now have six chicks in the nest. The parent birds do a fantastically fast swap over at the nest at feeding time.

The tawny owls have now all left the nest but highlights of their season can be seen on DVD in the centres.

The barn owls still have no youngsters but we will be bringing in footage from this nest, as there is hope that she may lay again.

We had a fantastic day watching the buzzard chicks from two nests in the Tweed Valley being ringed by Forestry Commission Ranger Tony Lightley. His brother Graham, climbed the trees where the birds are nesting and lowered the chicks to the forest floor. Tony ringed the chicks and demonstrated to the public who attended the event how the ringing was done and explained all about how to identify the young males from females. He showed us the birds, which had eaten that morning with a full crop and the difference in the little ones with an empty crop. The whole event was filmed and is now on DVD at the osprey watch centres. Later we are hoping to record some footage from the buzzard family at the nest before they fledge.

David Starkey To Help Traquair Celebrate 900 Years Of Royal Charter

Leading historians, writers and journalists will help Scotland’s oldest inhabited house celebrate its 900th anniversary as part of an exciting literary weekend set for the end of June.

Alexander I sealed a charter at Traquair House in the Scottish Borders in 1107 and to celebrate this anniversary in style, in addition to the annual events programme, the present Laird plans to host a special Birthday Weekend from the 29th June – 1st July. Dr David Starkey, Helena Kennedy, Jon Snow, William McIllvanney, and leading Jacobite historians Daniel Szechi and Dr Christopher Duffy will give a series of lectures and talks over the weekend loosely connected to the history of Traquair. There will also be a Children’s Book Day on Sunday 1st July with top children’s writers Frances Hendry, Vivien French, Debi Gliori and Mhairi Hedderwick will ensure that children are not left out of Traquair’s birthday celebrations.

Since the signing of the Royal Charter, Traquair has played host to 27 Scottish monarchs and it is also the longest continually inhabited house in Scotland. The present descendant and Laird, Catherine Maxwell Stuart commented;

“It is quite awe inspiring for a building to have reached such an age and still remain a family home. It has narrowly escaped being burnt down because of the family’s Catholic and Jacobite sympathies yet somehow always survived. A combination of superb craftsmanship, the care that each generation has put into its upkeep and a good dose of luck has ensured its survival. We feel that it’s something worth celebrating in this, our anniversary year.”

For additional information on the 900th Anniversary Events Programme log on to http://www.traquair.co.uk/events.html

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Catherine Maxwell-Stuart at Traquair House: catherine@traquair.co.uk tel: 01896 830323 or Sandra Grieve at Peagreen PR: sgrieve@peagreenpr.co.uk tel:07718 296707

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 20 May

Hamish McHaggis and the Tweed Valley Ospreys 20th May

Author, Linda Strachan and Illustrator, Sally J. Collins creators of the children’s books Hamish McHaggis and his various adventures, came to visit Kailzie Gardens Osprey Watch Centre on Sunday 20th May. Linda and Sally led children’s workshops throughout the day and read their latest Hamish McHaggis stories and introduced all of the characters to the children. They brought wonderful cuddly props of the characters, Jeannie the osprey, Rupert the very knowledgeable hedgehog and Angus the pine marten, not least Hamish himself with his very lovely tartan hat. These delightful creatures travel around the country in their whirrybang vehicle having excellent adventures. Sally led workshops for the children to learn how to draw their favourite Jeannie the osprey character and the drawings produced by the children were excellent. The room was so quiet with all the youngsters listening and concentrating as they drew their own versions of Jeannie and learnt the skills to bring their pictures alive from Sally.

A giant fuzzy felt board has also been created for children to play on and create Hamish pictures of their own. The Hamish books and fuzzy felt will be available at Kailzie all summer.

People were able to watch the live osprey at our main nest live on camera as she sat tight throughout the day incubating her eggs. With less than a week to go before the chicks hatch there is a sense of anticipation at the centres in Kailzie Gardens and Glentress Forest. Will all three eggs hatch?

Windows on Wildlife

Spotted Flycatchers have arrived! The open fronted nest box was put up close to the Osprey Watch Centre at Kailzie Gardens early in spring this year and a camera fixed in position hoping that we would be lucky enough to attract these delightful birds, which were known to nest at the gardens. As we are well into the spring now, we had begun to think that we had been unsuccessful. However, yesterday two spotted flycatchers arrived and were going in and out of the new box for the whole afternoon, investigating what will hopefully become their new home to raise their family. This was so exciting and we will be able to watch their summer spent in the nest box live on camera. Come and visit Osprey Watch and see these wonderful migrants newly arrived from Africa.

Great tits in their box have six chicks, and at only a week old they are beginning to grow feathers. The parents are working furiously hard to deliver big juicy caterpillars to feed the ever, hungry brood.

At Glentress Forest our owl chicks continue to thrive in the box created for them by the Green Team with Forestry Commission Rangers.

Sadly the peregrines have abandoned their eggs due to a rock fall near to their nest, which smashed two eggs leaving two remaining. Hopefully the parents will move to a more suitable nest location and try again.

Osprey chicks are due to hatch this weekend, (26th May). Any time from Saturday onwards we are expecting the chicks to hatch at the main nest. This will be live on camera. Come and see this happen at either Kailzie Gardens or Glentress Osprey Watch Centres.

CAMRA's South East Scotland and Edinburgh branch winner for 2007

Congratulations again to the Gordon Arms in West Linton who have been voted South East Scotland and Edinburgh branch winner for 2007 by CAMRA. Director Nigel Reynolds said: "The Borders title we won earlier pitted us against the Edinburgh and the Lothians winners respectively so we are justly proud to receive this award."

TransScotland Cycles Stage ends at Glentress

The Hub will be having a BBQ at the Buzzards Nest from 7pm on the 1st June 2007, with the night time trial starting from the Bus at around 9.30pm.

There will be music, BBQ, demo bikes and rides. More information at the TransScotland website or the Hub website.

Tweed Valley Osprey Diary 6 May

A very exciting spring at our osprey nesting sites began with the return of females from their wintering grounds in Africa to spend the summer in the Borders. The females took up residence at their nests and waited for their partners from the previous year to return. Bad weather over the Mediterranean held up the males by about ten days and when they finally began to make their journey, new males had reached the area before them and were turning up at the sites, causing quite a stir with our females.

An exciting visitor to the main nest was a black ringed male bird with 07 lettering on it. We have managed to trace this bird as being from Forestry Commission lands in Fochabers Forest District who was ringed as a chick on 6th July 1999 who hatched out in 1999.

He turned out to be no prince charming and attempted to steal the females fish which she was quite upset about. Luckily her partner of four years returned the next day on 17th April. We know this is the same bird because he has a white leg ring with SS lettering and is originally from Aberfoyle. After mating frequently over a period of several days, eggs were laid in the nest. The first one was seen on 21st April, the second 25th April and then on 6th May after the female stood up to turn the eggs a third egg has been revealed.

The earliest date we are likely to see the chicks begin to hatch is 26th May.

Windows on Wildlife update

The Tawny owls have three fluffy chicks and this family will be recorded on to DVD and the latest highlights will be shown in both Glentress and Kailzie Gardens Osprey Watch Centres.

Cameras have just been installed onto a peregrine nest and this will be recorded and the latest footage will be shown in the centres within the next couple of weeks.

The great tit has begun to incubate her clutch of seven eggs. This is a live camera nest box and can be viewed daily at Kailzie Gardens Osprey Watch.