How Scotland's coal mines have become a studio for birdsong

Birdsong in a coal mine is often associated with canaries, which were taken down the mine shaft to warn workers of toxic gases. 

Scottish-born physiologist John Haldane came up with the idea that these delicate, feathered creatures would show symptoms of poisoning before humans, therefore they could be used to sound the alarm.

Fortunately for the canary, their fatal role was replaced by modern machine detectors about 40 years ago, removing their cry from the coal mines altogether.

But today, Scotland’s coal mining culture tells a more positive story when it comes to birdsong. 

A ringed plover, spotted at Spireslack | David Jarrett

Across East Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, the graves of former active open-cast coal mines pockmark the landscape. Their canyons and fissures, once filled with the sounds of the clanking of metals and the revving of machines, are now adorned with wild flowers and hardy shrubs. 

This wave of natural regeneration has created a studio for an orchestra of different types of birdsong. Spireslack, situated to the north of the former settlement of Glenbuck, is one example among many of its neighbouring former coal mining sites that tells this new story. On this particular site, the protagonist is the common sandpiper, a wader bird that breeds in Scotland.

The man-made crates have made way for natural, shallow pools to form, which provide an ideal habitat for this species. Because of the site’s industrial past, the soil quality is impoverished, so the floor of Spireslack at the pool edges remains rocky, muddy and unvegetated. This has created perfect conditions for these waders to skip along while foraging for insects.

A sandpiper on upturned tyres that presumably once delineated a safe route for the trucks carrying coal away | David Jarrett

And the sandpipers make it clear they are thriving in their newfound home. Flings of them dance about from one shallow pool to another, using each water source for song-posts.

David Jarrett, an independent researcher, who used to work for the British Trust of Ornithology, said across the canyon, there are likely five or six sandpiper territories.

David Jarrett, an independent researcher who has done work observing birds at former opencast coalmining sites | David Jarrett

“Their calls echo against the walls, making it seem like there's twice as many again,” he said. 

The former opencast coalmine has craters that have since been filled with rainwater, forming natural, shallow pools that are perfect for waders to forage alongside | Katharine Hay

On a visit to the site, Mr Jarrett also found pairs of ringed plover, another type of wader bird, and other songbirds, including willow warblers, redpolls and wheatears. 

He said a similar story has unravelled at Powharnal, a next-door open-cast coal mine. 

“Powharnal became really good for birds when the mining stopped,” he said. 

“The same thing has happened with Spireslack as in there are a lot of open areas, pools and shrubby bits. It has not just been reverted to dense woodland. The fact vegetation can’t really grow here creates a completely different habitat that is otherwise quite scarce, and certainly these habitats at Spireslack and Powharnal are valuable and interesting.”

Not all former open-cast sites are good for birds, however. Some have resulted in large canyons filled with water to make deep pools in between steep banks which isn’t ideal for them.

Asked if there should be measures in place to protect these new havens for waders, which are in decline, Mr Jarrett said there was not a one-size-fits-all solution.

“It depends on the microtopography of the site as each site will be very different,” he said. “But there are ones that are certainly creating unique habitats.

“It’s fascinating the way this has happened at Spireslack and what we’ve seen at Powharnal and how it has worked out for birds because a lot of what we do as humans hasn’t worked out for birds.”

The Geological Society has described Spireslack as a "geologist's playground" as it exposes layers of carboniferous shale, ironstone and coal, some 325 million years in age, to a depth of 80m over a length of a half-mile. The scale of the exposure is said to be unparalleled in Scotland.

The society said such former surface mines can provide a rich learning experience in coal geology, showing aspects of a former way of life in previous generations, while also supporting high quality research into carboniferous geology.

The land where Spireslack sits is owned by Forestry Land Scotland (FLS), the Scottish Government agency responsible for managing Scotland’s national forests and land.

FLS is filling a former open-cast coal mine on the next door hill with sewage and compost to create fertile soils for tree planting under a project called the Glenbuck Land Management Plan.

A spokesperson for FLS said Spireslack was covered by this plan, which involves establishing a new woodland with conifers and some native trees totalling 686ha in size.

It means the haven the waders are enjoying with the lack of tree cover and shallow pools could be fleeting.

Just next to Spireslack used to be home to a town before open-cast mining came to Ayrshire. Glenbuck was a mining town, but it was demolished to make way for Spireslack when there was a shift from underground to opencast mining. The move meant residents were shunted down the road to a council estate in Muirkirk.

Memories of life in the former town, however, are preserved by former residents, with the most famous resident being Bill Shankly, one of Liverpool football club's best known managers. There is a memorial covered in Liverpool scarves where his house once stood.

Down the road from Spireslack, initiatives are on the go in the former coal mining towns to restore nature not just for nature itself, but also the residents.

Matt Cross works for East Ayrshire Coalfield Environment Initiative, a charity set up to preserve coal mining heritage while also enhancing environment restoration and tackling deprivation.

He said: “There are very high levels of abandonment of land and buildings in these deeply deprived areas, and the aim of the charity is to work with communities to help restore these places so they are better places to live.”

Mr Cross spoke about an ongoing project in New Cumnock, where former housing land lying vacant is undergoing nature restoration work, seeing the return of wildflowers and woodland.

“Restoring nature on abandoned areas takes away that feeling of dereliction, which a lot of these towns face, and gives these people something nice to live near, while also giving something back to nature,” he said.

“Our aim is to restore nature that makes these places a better place to live for people and nature.”