Leading and Speaking!

Leading
Yesterday I led a RSPB Glasgow Local Group outing to North Ayrshire. Despite the weather, we saw at least 50 species with the highlight being 6 Scaup.

It certainly wasn't a day for taking photographs so the next best thing is to illustrate just a few of the birds seen by using images taken on previous outings!

Red-breasted Merganser (male)

 

Eider (male)

 



Speaking

I have been invited by the RSPB Renfrewshire Group to speak at their evening meeting on 1 February 2013 at the McMaster Centre, Robertson Park, entry from Donaldson Drive, Renfrew, PA4 8LX. The topic is 'The Birds and other animals of Dorset' with doors open at 7pm, the talk commencing at 7.30pm.

 

A few images, taken from the talk follow:

 

Marbled White

 

Little Egret

 

If you can manage along please come up and say hello!

Frozen Bingham's & Waxwings

This morning I popped down to Bingham's Pond to see how the cold weather was affecting the local wildfowl. As expected, part of the pond was frozen......................................

A partially frozen pond with 3 Goosander in the foreground

 

Despite the icy conditions, there were a good range of species to be seen:

1 Mute Swan (we await news of it's mate at the rescue centre), 32 Mallard, 25 Tufted Duck, 8 Goosander, 4 Coot, 23 Moorhen, 130 Black-headed Gulls, 3 Common Gull and 12 Herring Gull. The hybrid duck and 3 domestic/cayuga duck were also still present.

Other birds included 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Blackbird, 1 Robin and 2 Blue Tit.

 

Mute Swan

Six of the 25 Tufted Duck

Common Gull with 2 Black-headed Gulls in the foreground

 

Having left the Pond, I decided to check out Shelley Road, an area that has been good for Waxwings in the past, although none had, as yet, turned up this year. I am pleased to say I found at least 40! As you can tell from the Bingham's photos the light was not great this morning but I managed a few record shots, one of which follows..................................

 

 

 

 

 

Glasgow's Local Nature Reserves

Just a reminder that there are 8 Local Nature Reserves in the City. Over the past 6 months various improvement works have taken place, some already reported on this Blog. For more information, on the projects and the LNRs themselves, check out the 'Friends of Glasgow's Local Nature Reserves' web site at http://friendsofglasgowlnrs.wordpress.com

Images of four of the Reserves follow:

Cardowan Moss LNR

 

Hogganfield Park LNR

 

Robroyston Park LNR

 

Dawsholm Park LNR

 

 

Millichen Magic

Yesterday (16th), I was lucky enough to accompany Fiona, Jenny and David ( 3 committee members of the local group of the Scottish Wildlife Trust) on a visit to Millichen.

A bleak looking Millichen - 16 January 2013

Initially, there was not much sign of life with most birds seen 'in the distance'. There were 2 Grey Heron, 1 Lapwing, 50+ Common Gull, 1 Herring Gull and 15+ Black-headed Gull on Millichen Flood (or more accurately, Millichen Puddle) and 42 Pink-footed Geese feeding at the top of a stubble field.

We looked for Water Rail in the burn (one had been seen back in December by members of the RSPB Glasgow Local Group) but to no avail, although we did get a nice Grey Wagtail. We eventually headed for the unharvested field near West Millichen Farm as it was clear there were lots of birds flying around and perching on the hedges and trees.

When we arrived we were stunned by the number and variety of finches and buntings. I counted at least 66 Brambling, 10 Chaffinch, 2 Tree Sparrow, 10 Yellowhammer, 15 Reed Bunting and c150 Linnet. These figures relate to the number of species seen at any one time; but as they were constantly flying up and down into the field they are a conservative estimate. The following photos illustrate the spectacle.....................................

c115 birds, mainly Linnets and a few Brambling

 

155 birds - mixed flock

 

c70 birds, mixed flock of Linnet, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch and Brambling

 

In addition to the wetland birds and finch-bunting flock, we saw 2 Buzzard, 2 Pheasant, 200+ Wood Pigeon, 2 Collared Dove, 1 Robin, 1 Dunnock, 1 Wren, 2 Mistle Thrush, 1 Song Thrush, 3 Blackbird, 7 Fieldfare, 7 Starling, Magpies and Carrion Crows, plus 22 Roe Deer.

 

If only every farm in the UK set aside one field, like the one at West Millichen, and then perhaps our farmland birds would no longer be in decline. 

 

 

Bingham's Pond - Swan Update

I mentioned a few posts ago that I had informed the Council that the female swan at Bingham's Pond was 'injured'.

I can advise that a City Council Countryside Ranger has rescued the swan and taken her to the Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Centre.

It is hoped that she will be returned fit and well in the near future.

Well done the Council and Hessilhead!

Professional Dog Walking Companies

Following on from my post re-dogs and Dawsholm Park, I found, thanks to the Dams to Darnley Country Park facebook site, an organisation and web site that promotes "Responsible Dog Walking".

The organisation poses the question "Looking for a "Professional Dog Walking Service" then please read the following before you decide who to intrust your dog with. Don't be afraid to ask for a copy of their insurance, references and about their experience in dog handling/training skills. Your dog is your family member, you wouldn't let your child go to just anyone..... don't do it to your dog."

The web site can be found at http://www.k9chat.co.uk/responsible-dog-walking-services

I found it interesting and thought it was worthy of a wider audience.

In addition, I would recommend the Dams to Darnley Country Park site and this can be found at http://www.facebook.com/#!/DamsToDarnleyCountryPark 

Bingham's Pond

I visited Bingham's Pond today to undertake the monthly wetland birds survey and was not disappointed. The Pond was looking good and I had a chat with a few people all of whom thought that the pond was a great place to visit and were pleased that the Council had undertaken the naturalisation works a few years ago.

Bingham's Pond - 14 January 2013

One lady spent ages watching a Grey Heron that was literally only a few feet away......

Grey Heron - Bingham's Pond - 14 January 2013

 

The count was a good one with the following species seen:

1 Grey Heron, 2 Mute Swan (the female clearly has a problem, particularly with its left wing, so I reported this to the Council), 22 Mallard, 24 Tufted Duck, 4 Coot, 19 Moorhen, 1 hybrid duck, 3 cayuga/domesticated duck, 2 Common Gulls, 8 Herring Gulls, 113 Black-headed Gulls and 10 Goosander (6 male, 1 immature male, 3 female - photos follow).

 

Male Goosander - Bingham's Pond - 14 January 2013

 

Immature male Goosander - Bingham's Pond - 14 January 2013

 

Female Goosander - Bingham's Pond - 14 January 2013

 

The Pond is truly an oasis in the west end of Glasgow and worthy of a visit.

 

Hogganfield Park LNR - update

Yesterday (13th), I helped the RSPB Glasgow Local Group with their monthly winter wildfowl feeding session. Despite the weather a good few folk came along and we had, as ever, excellent sightings of Whooper Swan (32 in total!) as well as Goosander, Goldeneye and more common species such as Tufted Duck and Greylag Goose.

Whooper Swans and other wildfowl at Hogganfield Loch - 13 January 2013

In addition, I am pleased to say that Glasgow City Council has undertaken more habitat improvements along the edge of the loch - see following photos.

Before - showing uneven paving slabs and crumbling revetment (2011)

 

 

After - still not totally finished, but should look good in summer and help with water quality

 

So a big thank you to those in the Council that managed to obtain the funding, from a variety of sources, to allow these improvement works to go ahead.

 

Also note that the next wildfowl feeding session is on Sunday 10 February 2013 from 12 noon to 2pm.

Photo Published in Herald!

Having had a few photographs published (in a magazine and book), I am pleased that I've now managed to get a photo in a Newspaper - today's 'Diary' in the Herald. However, it wasn't a picture of a bird but a 'humorous' photo taken in Sydney - see below............................................

Needless to say, we were pleased that we did not need to use them!

On the birding front we joined the RSPB Glasgow Local Group on Wednesday (9th) on an outing to Doonfoot in Ayrshire led by Sandy Robertson. I recorded around 50 species for the whole day with the highlight being an adult Mediterranean Gull . This is still an uncommon gull in Scotland so it was good to see one on our first real birding outing of the year. A photo of this species, albeit taken in Dorset, follows.......................................

Singapore

Happy New Year!

Bird images from our recent 3 day stop-over in Singapore can be found at

https://picasaweb.google.com/104713764515112558251/BirdsInSingapore?authuser=0&feat=directlink

A taster follows:

Lesser Whistling Duck