The beautiful Great Crested Grebe played a key part in the beginning of nature conservation in Britain. This water bird was almost hunted to extinction by the Victorian fashion industry’s demand for feathers. In 1889, the Plumage League was set up to protect the grebe. The Plumage League’s direct descendant is the RSPB – the largest conservation group in Europe.

So what about the grebe?

And what about Hogganfield?

There are Great Crested Grebes at Hogganfield but they are struggling. These birds generally nest on a ‘raft’ of floating vegetation but are susceptible to the nests being flooded in wet and windy weather. This has meant that, despite the birds attempting to breed only 1 or 2 young hatch and survive each year.

The Friends of Glasgow Local Nature Reserves want to secure funding to install 5 biohaven islands on the loch.These floating islands are designed to rise and fall with the water level and should therefore provide better nesting opportunities for water birds such as grebes.

Hogganfield Loch also suffers from problems with nutrient build up which has resulted in a blue-green algae boom. This is unsightly for visitors to the park but more importantly affects the quality of water for fish and other aquatic organisms – again affecting the success of the water birds. The biohaven islands are designed to improve water quality and should therefore help reduce the blue green algae problem.

The islands will be situated to the north east of the large island on Hogganfield Loch. This provides the most sheltered spot from the prevailing winds to give the best chance for the breeding birds.

The monies raised towards this project will cover the purchase and installation of the biohaven islands along with appropriate plants for all 5 islands to give cover for nesting birds. Monies will also cover ongoing testing of water quality for the next 4 years to assess the impact of the islands, as well as ongoing maintenance for the islands.

So please donate and help us improve the habitat of Hogganfield Loch for visiting birds, as well as visitors to the park.

You can now donate to the Newhaven Community Garden project by TEXT. Just text the project code (HOGG53) plus an amount to 70070 – for example: 'HOGG53 £5' to donate £5. If you wish to Gift Aid your donation please REPLY to the Gift Aid text.