Falkirk

Tawny Owl Strix aluco ©David Mason Website
Birding Falkirk

Falkirk is one of 32 unitary authority council areas of Scotland. It was formed (1996) prior to 1975 the majority of the council area was part of the county of Stirlingshire, and a small part, namely Bo’ness and Blackness, was part of the former county of West Lothian.The council area borders with North Lanarkshire, Stirling and West Lothian, and, across the Firth of Forth to the northeast, Clackmannanshire and Fife. The small county has a number of reserves.

Top Sites
  • Blackness

    Satellite View
    Blackness: estuary viewpoint; good for waders, gulls, duck and occasional seabirds.
  • Kinneil Lagoon

    InformationSatellite View
    Kinneil Lagoon: a tidal lagoon between the Forth estuary and the Carron river; good for waders, duck, gulls. Kinneil Lagoons is located between Grangemouth and Bo’ness and is the most important waterbird high tide roost within the Inner Forth, attracting thousands of wintering birds such as knot, dunlin and black-tailed godwit each year.
  • Skinflats Lagoons

    InformationSatellite View
    2 lagoons and saltmarsh habitat east of the Skinflats village; good for waders, duck, gulls, geese, and migrant passerines. The saline lagoons and saltmarsh at RSPB Skinflats Reserve are important and increasingly rare habitats in the Forth estuary.
County Recorder
Useful Reading

  • Where to Watch Birds in Scotland

    | By Mike Madders & Julia Welstead | Christopher Helm | 2002 | Paperback | 297 pages, b/w illustrations, maps | ISBN: 9780713656930 Buy this book from NHBS.com
Organisations
  • RSPB Forth Valley Local Group

    Webpage
    The Forth Valley Local Group of the RSPB covers a wide area including Dunblane, Falkirk, Linlithgow and Stirling in Central Scotland…
  • SOC Central Scotland Branch

    Webpage
    Meetings talk place in Bridge of Allan, on the doorstep of the University of Stirling and students are always very welcome to attend! The Allan Centre, Fountain Road, Bridge of Allan, FK9 4AT
Reserves

Abbreviations Key

  • CP Muiravonside

    WebpageSatellite View
    Muiravonside is Falkirk's only Country Park, providing 170 acres of stunning woodland and parkland, a mini demonstration farm, a sculpture trail, children's play area and a café at the Visitor Hub courtyard. The park is free to access all year round and offers spectacular scenery accessible through a network of paths.
  • Central Scotland Forest

    WebsiteSatellite View
    The Central Scotland Forest Trust (CSFT) leads the partnership which is creating the Forest. It is supported by formal partners (the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise and the LECs, the Forestry Commission, the area's five Local Authorities and Scottish Natural Heritage) and informal partners including local communities, voluntary organisations, the private sector and the area's farmers and landowners…
  • LNR Bonnyfield

    WebpageSatellite View
    Bonnyfield Nature Reserve is situated on the former Bonnyfield sand and gravel quarry just to the north of the Bonny Water and to the west of Duncan Stewart Park. It is a large area offering natural habitat to a wide range of plants and animals. One of the most important and unusual habitants is the Burnet Moth.
  • LNR Kinneil

    WebpageSatellite View
    A former colliery site in Bo'ness became Falkirk Council’s second Local Nature Reserve in March 2013. Official local nature reserve status was conferred on part of the Bo’ness and Kinneil Foreshore, once home to Kinneil Colliery. The new reserve stretches from Bo’ness harbour in the east to the site of the former Kinneil Colliery and Snab Lane in the west. The mudflats and "island" off the foreshore are internationally important for seabirds and are already designated as a Special Protection Area for their conservation value.
  • RSPB Skinflats Reserve

    InformationSatellite View
    This reserve is primarily intertidal mud and a small area of saltmarsh. A small field is planned for managed retreat in the next five years. Key birds include migrant and wintering wildfowl, pink footed geese and waders.
  • SWT Bo’mains Meadow

    WebpageSatellite View
    This reserve has two meadows: the northern meadow, which was a former reservoir that has been filled in, and the southern meadow, which has been undisturbed for many years and is now a wonderful unimproved species-rich meadow.
  • SWT Carron Dams

    WebpageSatellite View
    Carron Dams is a partially drained reservoir with wetland, rich fen and deciduous woodland. Specialised plants such as gypsywort, remote sedge and water-plantain thrive in the wetlands, which is one of the largest in the area. Water voles and water rails may also be glimpsed along the banks.
  • SWT Carron Glen

    WebpageSatellite View
    Carron Glen is a beautiful native oak and ash woodland along a steep-sided gorge carved by the River Carron. The canopy is animated with woodland birds and the river provides prime fishing for dippers and kingfishers.
  • SWT Jupiter Urban Wildlife Centre

    WebpageSatellite View
    In the middle of industrial Grangemouth, Jupiter is a fantastic example of how wasteland can be transformed into an urban green space that provides a rich habitat and haven for wildlife. The centre is open all year and there are lots of ideas for improving gardens for wildlife.
  • SWT Wallacebank Wood

    WebpageSatellite View
    Wallacebank Wood is an ancient semi-natural wood with oak, Scots pine, beech and larch, and an understorey of alder, holly, hazel and rowan. The ground is carpeted with grasses and woodland plants, including wood anemone, dog’s mercury and beautiful bluebell displays.
Forums & Mailing Lists
  • Upper Forth Birds

    Sightings & News
    Sightings, news and views
  • UpperForth Bird News

    Sightings & News
    Local bird recorder for the Upper Forth region. Used for local bird news. See @UForthBirder for personal birding tweets.

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