Autumn 2024 Update

 Autumn is a good time of year to find and see unusual species.

Over the past week or so I've travelled on various trains and buses to Barns Ness and Dunbar in East Lothian; Strathclyde Country Park in South Lanarkshire; Balgray Reservoir in East Renfrewshire; and Hogganfield Park LNR and the Millichen area, both in Glasgow.

Some photos and record shots of a few of the 'special' birds seen.

Steppe Grey Shrike - Dunbar 11/09/24

Great White Egret -  Balgray Reservoir 07/09/24

Pied Flycatcher - Barns Ness 03/09/24

Kingfisher - Hogganfield Park LNR 10/09/24

(Distant) Black Tern - Strathclyde C.P. 05/09/24

Tree Sparrows - Millichen 13/09/24

A First for Hogganfield Park LNR and the City, plus a first for Bingham's Pond LNR

 The web site is still in 'cold storage' BUT thought these two sightings were worthy of some defrosting!

Yesterday I found a Reed Warbler at Hogganfield Park LNR. This was the first record of this species at the LNR and the City! Apologies for the quality of the photo but I was at full zoom.

Reed Warbler - Hogganfield Park LNR - 25 May 2024

Also of note was a drake Garganey at Bingham's Pond LNR on 14 May 2024. This was a first for the Pond.

Garganey - Bingham's Pond LNR - 14 May 2024

Hogganfield Park Local Nature Reserve

 Note that the Hogganfield Park LNR page has been updated and additional photos posted.

Glasgow's Wilds Better: Hogganfield Park LNR (glasgowswildsbetter.blogspot.com)

As a taster - 

Waxwings at Bingham's Pond, Glasgow

Whilst the web page is still in 'cold storage', I thought this was worthy of another post - 12 Waxwings at Bingham's Pond, Glasgow, 6 December 2023.

Waxwing, Bingham's Pond - 6/12/23

Waxwing, Bingham's Pond - 6/12/23

Lesser Whitethroat in our Garden!

 Although the page is in 'cold storage', I thought this was worth reporting. We have had a Lesser Whitethroat in our garden 16-17 October 2023!

Lesser Whitethroat - 16 October 2023

Also a reminder about my YouTube channel which features birds and other wildlife from Glasgow, Scotland and the Rest of the World (2) Jim Coyle - YouTube

July Update

 Hi

As you may have guessed, I have decided to put this site into 'cold storage', at least for now.

Over the last few months, my birding has been limited to a few sites in Glasgow and details and sightings from these are covered on other pages.

So please feel free to follow and/or support the following:

(3) Facebook

Friends of Glasgow's Local Nature Reserves | A voluntary Group passionate about Glasgow's wildlife (wordpress.com)

I'll finish with a photo of a species I once thought I'd never see in Glasgow, never mind at Dawsholm Park LNR.

Jay - Dawsholm Park LNR

Birding Review March 2023

We started the month with a short visit to Mull. The weather was mainly dull and overcast. However, we did record 53 species including White-tailed Eagle, Golden Eagle, Hen Harrier and Great Northern Diver.

Pair of White-tailed Eagles

Pair of Golden Eagles

Female Hen Harrier

Great Northern Diver

I also made a few other trips to places further afield, such as Scone Palace where a Hawfinch was photographed.

Hawfinch

However, in the main, my birding trips were limited to regular visits to my local patch - Bingham's Pond - where I saw 30 bird species.

These included sightings of Goosanders, the drake Ring-necked Duck and, at the end of the month, an adult Iceland Gull!

Drake Goosander

Drake Ring-necked Duck

Iceland Gull

Despite the limited number of birdwatching trips, other than short walks to Bingham's Pond, I saw 99 species during March 2023, including the first proper summer migrant in the form of a Chiffchaff.

 Hopefully, April will prove to be a better month.