Dawsholm Delivers

I visited Dawsholm Park LNR early this morning to check on the breeding Buzzards and I am pleased to say that there is one large youngster in the nest - record shots follow.........

It was also good to see the wildflower meadow (former playing field) looking good.....

..............with orchids in amongst the buttercups and other flowers...................

Similarly, with the removal of the rhododendron ponticum from the woodland, there is a nice understorey developing, including good stands of Foxglove.............................



Lochwinnoch RSPB Reserve

I visited Lochwinnoch RSPB Reserve yesterday, only 25 minutes from Glasgow City Centre by train.

The Reserve has a Visitor Centre with toilets, a viewing tower, close views of birds on feeders and a shop where you can buy a host of items including bird feeders, bird food, bird books, clothing and optics. The staff are really friendly and helpful and there are lots of events held throughout the year.

Having had a chat with the staff, I climbed the tower where you can get a great view of the Aird Meadow.........................................................

View from Lochwinnoch Visitor Centre Tower

Thereafter, I wandered along the two trails that allow you to get closer to the wildlife. It was clear that Lochwinnoch is a good place to raise a family as there were lots of young birds to be seen and heard!

Young Blue Tit

Young Great Tit

Young Blackcap

And it wasn't just the birds that were breeding!

male and female Azure Damselflies

Blooming Bingham's

Today was Wetland Birds Survey day (Webs for short). Once a month thousands of volunteers throughout the UK go out and survey wetlands, e.g. ponds, lakes, marshes and estuaries, noting the numbers of wetland bird species to be found. In this way conservation agencies can monitor bird populations and identify key sites.

Bingham's Pond is small and insignificant in the UK context, but at the Glasgow level it is recognised as being locally important. Today there were 9 species of wetland bird and evidence that three species had bred.

Despite the overcast conditions, I managed a few shots that help to sum up Bingham's Pond.........

Grey Heron on one of the two islands

Young Coot

Female Mallard  & one of two duckling

One of at least 7 young Moorhen

A proud Moorhen parent!

In addition to the birds, it was good to see the pond looking colourful with a host of wildflowers.............................................................

Hogganfield and Cardowan LNRs

On Tuesday 12 June 2012, I undertook a recce for my RSPB Glasgow Local Group guided walk around Hogganfield Park and Cardowan Moss Local Nature Reserves, the following day.

In total, I encountered 43 bird species and 1 Roe Deer - not too bad but I was disappointed that there were no signs of any Sedge Warbler, dragonflies, damselflies or butterflies, one of the reasons for holding a June walk!

The next morning, 20 people turned up at the bird feeding/viewing platform at Hogganfield Park - a big thank you to all of you!

Although the bird total was slightly less, 41 species, I am pleased to say that everyone got excellent views of the key species - Common Buzzard, Reed Bunting, Common Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and, yes, Sedge Warbler!

We also got good views of Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Grey Herons (still on a nest!) and an out-of-season male Pochard

In addition, we saw 1 Roe Deer, Four-spotted Chaser dragonflies, Large Red Damselflies, Azure Damselflies (mating!), Small Heath, Orange Tip and Small White butterflies.

A few images follow..........................................................................

Pochard

The Group making use of the crossing between Hogganfield Park and Cardowan Moss LNRs. The crossing was installed as a result of the efforts of the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs

Azure Damselflies mating

Large Red Damselfly

Magnificent 'May'

It has been a busy few days, since my last update, starting with a trip to the Isle of May, off Anstruther in Fife, on Sunday 10 June 2012.

We sailed from Anstruther and just as we left the harbour we encountered 3 dolphins, what a great start! Soon we were seeing seabirds overhead and in the water - the first Puffin is always special. Later, we encountered literally tens of thousands of these comical birds!

After stepping onto the jetty we soon made our way up the path to explore the island whilst being bombarded by tetchy Arctic Terns. They were worse on the way back - I thought a Great Spotted Woodpecker had landed on my head! 

We had 3 hours ashore and lots of photographs to take - a few follow.....................

Grey Seals

Arctic Tern

Female Common Eider plus 2 ducklings

Just a few Atlantic Puffins

'Classic' Atlantic Puffin

Typical cliff face full of Guillemots

Dawsholm Breeding Success

As at Millichen, Starlings appear to have done well this year with plenty of juveniles chattering and enjoying a bath and drink in the cattle trough.....................

The 'highland cattle fields' were ablaze with colour, the council having previously removed the cattle to allow the wildflowers to flourish...........................................

I am pleased to say that the monitoring of the nest boxes continues to bring positive results with an up-dated total of 8 of the 11 boxes proving to have been of interest to Blue Tits........................

 

 

Other birds that have bred or are obviously breeding include Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow and Jackdaw.

Other wildlife included a Roe Deer, a few Grey Squirrels, a Red Fox (being chased by a dog), Small Tortoiseshell and 'white' butterflies.

Millichen Magic

Millichen can appear to be devoid of birds in summer compared to the 1000s of birds that can appear in late autumn and winter. But now is the time to discover what summer migrants have arrived and whether any of the 'typical farmland' birds have settled down to breed.

Well for a start Swifts, Swallows and House Martins were putting on a wonderful aerial display but sadly there was no sign of any warblers. However, Starlings have clearly done well. I saw c180 birds in total, most of which were juveniles - c70 birds are in photo below...

 

There were also a few House Sparrows (only 10), 5 Yellowhammers and 5 Tree Sparrows - see photo below. One bird was actively feeding young in one of the many nest boxes that were erected c10 years ago.............

Other bird species included 1 Lapwing, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzard, Dunnock.....

and Goldfinch.........................................................................................

There were also 3 Roe Deer, a few Small Tortoiseshell and numerous 'white' butterflies plus a Silver-ground Carpet moth!

BUT the highlight was undoubtedly a Barn Owl, a year tick!