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Osprey Success Drives New Idea

COUNCILLORS hope to cash in on the success of the Osprey camera facility at Wigtown and keep wildlife fanatics flocking back to the Machars.

More than 32,000 visits have been made to the camera room in the 20 weeks since it was set up earlier this year.

And with a huge number of those visitors coming from outwith the region to check out the unique osprey nest viewing facility, councillors have now suggested setting up similar initiatives in the merse.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Planning and Environment Committee members agreed to set aside £10,000 from the Countryside and Environment budget to develop the idea.

Councillor Robert Higgins welcomed the proposal saying:

“There appears to be excellent footage of the Osprey’s nest which is as good as anywhere else. So we are encouraging them to look at bringing out a DVD which could be sold through the wildlife media.

“We hope to move the camera to the merse and Wigtown Bay Nature Reserve to show the public the winter wildlife such as the otters and seals there thus developing this into an ongoing facility.

“If we can link this with Wigtown and try to bring more people to the area then I would welcome that.”