Nuthatches in Greater Glasgow

In the early 1990s you would have had to visit the Hirsel in the Borders to have a good chance of seeing Nuthatch in Scotland. Since then they have slowly but surely expanded their range and have been consistently recorded in the Clyde area since 2005. They started breeding at Dalzell Estate, next to Baron's Haugh RSPB Reserve, in Motherwell and have also moved into Pollok Country Park in Glasgow. They are thought to have bred or at least attempted to breed in  the Park in 2008-09; although most sightings are from the feeders behind the Countryside Rangers' office.

Reports have been received from other parts of the Greater Glasgow area with the most recent being found in a Bearsden garden on 20th and 21st October 2012. The bird was recognised by Susan Irwine and photographed by Andrew Parmley and they have kindly given me permission to reproduce one of their photos below.......................................

 

So keep an eye out, they could be coming to a garden near you!

 

For more information about the status of Nuthatches in Scotland see 'Nuthatches in Scotland - an update; J Maxwell, Scottish Birds Volume 30 (3), September 2010; page 238' : published by the Scottish Ornithologists' Club.

Millichen

I was reliably informed at the weekend that Millichen Flood had actually flooded a few weeks ago and attracted good numbers of Wigeon and Teal. I therefore visited today in the feint hope that some water would still be present. Yet again, there was a puddle!

Millichen Flood - 29 October 2012

 

So, I concentrated on finding finches and tits rather than ducks and geese, although 12 Pink-footed Geese did fly over head.

 

There were good numbers of Reed Bunting (25+) as well as Yellowhammer, Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Greenfinch to be seen, most being found in an un-harvested field between West Millichen and Millichen Steadings.

 

Reed Bunting at Millichen - 29 October 2012

 

On the tit front there were the usual Great and Blue Tits plus a flock of 9 Long-tailed Tits (a Millichen year tick!). Other 'Millichen Year' ticks were Raven and Mistle Thrush.

 

In total, I saw 31 bird species, making it 58 for the year at Millichen. The most spectacular record for the day, however, was a count of 135 Collared Doves and there may have been more!

 

See link for a map of the Millichen area https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=55.917829,-4.283338&spn=0.014333,0.052314&t=h&z=15&vpsrc=6

 

 

Hogganfield Feeding & Dilger Delivers!

Yesterday (27 October 2012), I spent a pleasant few hours helping the RSPB Glasgow Local Group feed the wildfowl at Hogganfield Park LNR. This was part of a once monthly programme devised by the Local Group to help people identify and feed the numerous ducks, swans and geese that frequent the loch.

I am pleased to say that there were at least 14 Whooper Swans present - 11 adults and 3 youngsters. These birds have flown all the way from Iceland to spend the winter in Glasgow!

Other birds giving amazingly close views included Gadwall and Goosander.

Whooper Swan at Hogganfield Loch

 

In the evening, the Local Group's 40th Anniversary lecture featuring TV's Mike Dilger proved to be, as expected, very entertaining. It was also nice of Mike to buy a few of us a drink in the nearbye Griffin pub - much appreciated!

 

Mike Dilger and Jack Snipe on a previous visit to Glasgow!

Photo courtesy of Mike Dilger's management



Cairnhill Woods

Yesterday (22 October 2012) I visited Cairnhill Woods following an invitation from Emma of the Cairnhill Woods Group.

The woodlands are part of a 'green corridor' that stretches from Dawsholm Park LNR to Garscadden Wood LNR and Emma and her group are keen to see their woods also declared as a Local Nature Reserve.

The woods already have some good information boards.................................

 

and a network of informal paths........................................................................

 

 

Residents have undertaken clean ups and the woodlands are clearly an excellent local resource. The Group has already made contact with fungi and moth experts and I have agreed to help provide some bird information for the area.

It is great to see a local community get involved in protecting and enhancing their local greenspace and I wish them all the best for the future. Check out their web site at https://sites.google.com/site/westertonvillage/cairnhill-woods-group

Seven Lochs Area - sightings

The Seven Lochs Project area extends from Hogganfield Loch in Glasgow to Lochend, Woodend and Garnqueeen Lochs in North Lanarkshire - see previous posts for more information on the Project.

Courtesy of the SOC Clyde Area Grapevine, I can report the following recent sightings from the project area:

17 October 2012
Five female/immature Scaup and twelve Gadwall at Bishop Loch.

Bishop Loch (a Site of Special Scientific Interest) is underwatched, partly due to there being limited formal access. It can be viewed from the paths of Bishop Loch LNR (see http://friendsofglasgowlnrs.wordpress.com and click on Local Nature Reserves/Bishop Loch for a location plan) but views can be limited without a telescope.

Bishop Loch looking north east from LNR path

 

Bingham's Pond Webs Count

I undertook the monthly Webs count at Bingham's Pond yesterday (15th). There were no surprises, other than the glorious weather!

Looking south west

 

Looking north east

 

Wetland birds count: 2 Mute Swan, 11 Mallard, 8 Tufted Duck, 6 Coot, 17 Moorhen (including at least 6 juveniles), 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 13 Black-headed Gulls and the 2 'farmyard' ducks. There was no sign of the 2 cayuga type mallard but they could have been hidden by the vegetation.

 

Another photo of a juvenile Moorhen!

 

 

More East Coast Magic

On Saturday (13th) and Sunday (14th) I led two separate birdwatching outings, on behalf of the RSPB Glasgow Local Group, to the east coast of Scotland.

On both days there were 14 other birders with seven brave souls going on both outings!

On the Saturday, we visited the scrub, trees and farmland around the Torness Power Station and Thorntonloch caravan park; moved briefly onto Skateraw; and eventually spent a good few hours in the Barns Ness area, including Whitesands Quarry.

It was rather overcast most of the day with some light drizzle so no opportunities for any decent photographs - a photo of Barns Ness taken in May this year will have to suffice!

Barns Ness - May 2012

Despite the conditions, the Group saw at least 72 different species, albeit no one saw them all!  We saw 16 species of wildfowl including Barnacle Goose, Long-tailed Duck, Common Scoter and Whooper Swan; and 8 species of wader including Golden Plover. Other highlights included Peregrine, Brambling, Tree Sparrow, Stonechat and Blackcap.

Moving on to the Sunday we spent most of our day in the east neuk of Fife, east of Crail. There had clearly been a 'fall' of birds with the main problem knowing whether we should all stick together or spread out!

We saw lots and lots of Goldcrests, some feeding just a few feet away; although they were constantly moving so it was difficult to get any sharp photos. The following photo was taken through the netting of a 'heligoland' trap - I was inside the trap!

The highlights, however, were 2 Red-breasted Flycatcher, at least 1 Ring Ousel, 3/4 Black Redstart, 1 Common Redstart, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, Brambling, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and 2 late Swallows.

Off shore, from Fife Ness, we saw many Gannets, 1 Great Skua, 1 Manx Shearwater, 1 late Sandwich Tern, 3 Velvet Scoter, 3 Long-tailed Duck and a good few Red-throated Divers.

Views from Fife Ness - 14 October 2012

In total, the Group saw at least 58 species, but again not everyone saw every bird.

For the two days at least 88 species were recorded, of which I saw 81.

All in all, a tiring but rewarding two days of birding!

Garden Birds and a trip to Musselburgh

With the recent cold spell, our garden has attracted Siskin, Lesser Redpoll and Chiffchaff over the last few days, as well as the 'usual' species.

Poor record shots, taken through a glass window in bad light (!) follow:

Lesser Redpoll - 10 October 2012

 

Chiffchaff - 9 October 2012

 

Yesterday, 10 October 2012, I led a guided walk to Musselburgh Lagoons for the RSPB Glasgow Local Group. We had glorious weather and a big thank you to the 21 people who attended. Hopefully, you all had an enjoyable day with over 40 birds seen; the highlight for me being an adult winter plumaged Mediterranean Gull at the River Esk.

 

The Group enjoy lunch overlooking the Firth of Forth

 

 

Millichen 5 October 2012

I visited the Millichen area yesterday and whilst the ground is clearly saturated there is still 'no flood'! Unfortunately, 'juncus' is also spreading which could have a detrimental impact on birds. I have already asked a few questions and hopefully will have some answers over the next few weeks.

So needless to say no waders or wildfowl although there were 8 Grey Herons present.

The most pleasing sight was a family of 6 Swallows (2 adults and 4 juveniles) still flying around East Millichen Farm. Here, there were also 45+ Collared Doves, a female Pheasant and a small flock of Goldfinches. Small numbers of Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were frequenting the stubble fields along with hundreds of corvids and Wood Pigeons.

Juvenile Swallow - East Millichen 2008

Overhead there were 3 Buzzards and 1 Kestrel; a male Stonechat in the 'flood' area was another highlight.

In just over 2 hours, I saw 29 species of bird and 2 Roe Deer - not bad considering there were no waders or wildfowl.

Needless to say I shall keep on trying!

The Birds (and other animals) of Glasgow

I shall be presenting an illustrated talk entitled ‘The Birds (and other animals) of Glasgow’ to a local group of the Scottish Wildlife Trust on Thursday 11 October 2012. The venue is the Lesser Town Hall, Milngavie (directly opposite Milngavie railway station). The talk will commence at 7.30pm.

The talk will examine two key areas of the City – Bishop’s Estate (in north east Glasgow) and the Kelvin-Canal Triangle. It will touch on the importance of habitat management and illustrate examples of habitat creation.

Habitat creation at Hogganfield Park LNR (part of Bishop's Estate)

 

Dawsholm Park (part of the Kelvin-Canal triangle)

 

Whilst concentrating on birds, the talk will also cover butterflies, damselflies and a few mammals.

 

Small Tortoiseshell

 

 Just another reminder that the talk will start at 7.30pm and all are welcome to attend.