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Following on from my previous posts, I can advise that the Mediterranean Gull was seen again at Bingham's Pond on Saturday (27th) and Sunday (28th) - both reports courtesy of the SOC Clyde Grapevine.

I have also been re-editing the Goldeneye footage taken at Hogganfield Loch and the revised version (along with other Glasgow videos) can be found at

https://plus.google.com/photos/104713764515112558251/albums/5897080648992392417?banner=pwa

Just click on the 'thumbnail' marked Hogganfield Loch Goldeneye.

Med Gull still present!

The Mediterranean Gull was present once again this afternoon (26 July 2013) at Bingham's Pond. A few photos follow.....................

 

 

As I've said before, Mediterranean Gull is still a 'rarity' in the Clyde area, so to get one at my local pond is really something!

Bingham's Pond - Rarity Returns!

Having visited the Pond on Friday with the sole aim of taking photographs, I returned today armed with my binoculars to undertake the monthly WEBs count.

The first bird I saw, at 2.25pm, was a 2nd year Mediterranean Gull and of course I had left my camera at home! Twenty minutes later and I was back at the Pond and of course there was no sign of the bird. However, a few minutes later it flew into view and settled on the water giving great views........................

2nd summer Mediterranean Gull - Bingham's Pond - 22 July 2013

 

I also managed to take some video footage and this can be found at

 

https://plus.google.com/photos/104713764515112558251/albums/5897080648992392417

 

Click on the thumbnail 'Bingham's Pond Rare Gull' to view.

 

It can also be seen on YouTube at  http://youtu.be/udJNZk2l9H0

 

Mediterranean Gull is still a rarity in the Clyde area, yet amazingly I have now found two here - not bad for a small pond in the middle of an urban area!

Bingham's Pond Video

Following on from yesterday's post; I've now edited some video footage taken at Bingham's Pond featuring Tufted Duck families. It can be found, along with other videos, at

https://plus.google.com/photos/104713764515112558251/albums/5897080648992392417

Click on the thumbnail  'Bingham's Pond It's a Family Affair' and the video should play.

It can also be found on YouTube at http://youtu.be/KPgZf8AlDSk

Incidentally, the noise in the background is the traffic along Great Western Road - the pond really is a green oasis in the west end!

Beautiful Bingham's Pond

Yesterday (19 July 2013) I paid another one of my regular visits to Bingham's Pond. People were basking in the sunshine, feeding the 'ducks', sitting in the shade and admiring the colourful range of plants to be seen...........................

Bingham's Pond - 19 July 2013

 

In parts of the Pond, as illustrated above, the prominent plant is Yellow Flag Iris. However, whilst it is no longer in flower, lots of other plants were, including Purple Loosestrife.........

 

 

..............Water Forgetmenot.............................................

 

...and Great Willowherb....................................

 

There were also good numbers of 'white' butterflies and 'blue' damselflies present. I didn't have my binoculars with me and they never stayed still long enough for me to photograph and identify them!

 

The birds were more accommodating with much evidence of breeding..............

 

Female Mallard and duckling

 

....................with Tufted Duck apparently having had a reasonable year with at least 20 duckling and brood sizes ranging from one.......................

 

 

...............to six............................................

 

 

 

The last word goes to this little poser........................

 

 

 

Musselburgh Lagoons

Yesterday (15 July 2013) we visited Musselburgh Lagoons - the east coast having a more favourable weather forecast!

The wader scrapes, in the main, had really low water levels....................................

 

However, one of the scrapes looked to be its normal self and it proved to host most of the waders - Lapwing, Dunlin, Redshank, Snipe and a solitary summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit.......

 

 

We left the scrapes/hides and ventured off towards the sea wall encountering a family of Swallows being fed on the path!

 

 

When we reached the sea wall we saw numerous moulting Eiders, one Common Scoter and one Red-throated Diver plus small groups of Guillemots. Gannets and Common Terns were actively feeding whilst a few Sandwich Terns flew by. As we reached the River Esk mouth it was clear that the tide was out!

 

 

Thanks to our 'scopes, we added Bar-tailed Godwits, Golden Plover, Turnstone, Oystercatcher and Curlew to our wader list whilst we were also surprised to find a male Scaup in among the Mute Swans. On the river itself ..............

 

 

we found another wader - Common Sandpiper.

 

On my return to the scrapes, I was lucky enough to see 14 Black-tailed Godwits fly in to join the lone bird that was still actively feeding - a record photo follows.....

 

 

It was nice to get out and enjoy some bird watching with friends after the last few days of stifling heat. It was also good to see so many wading birds - a reminder that from a wader's point of view it is already autumn!

 

 

 

Millichen in Summer

As many of you will be aware, summer is not the best time to visit Millichen but after a few months I was getting withdrawal symptoms!

Millichen  (from the north west) - 8 July 2013

 

As expected there was very little standing water, although I did find 2 female Mallard in a puddle! So I concentrated on trying to locate typical 'farmland' birds and found a good mix spread throughout the area - East Millichen Farm, West Millichen Farm, the Steadings and the 'flood'.

 

East Millichen Farm, looking north east across the 'flood' - 8 July 2013

West Millichen Farm, looking north across the 'flood' - 8 July 2013

 

I eventually saw 26 species of bird with summer migrants represented by 1 Sand Martin,

20 Swallow (including young), 2 Sedge Warbler (feeding young) and 3 Willow Warbler.

 

Farmland/red data species included c110 Starling, with lots of young........................

 

Record shot of one of many juvenile Starling - 8 July 2013

 

......................... c45 House Sparrow, at least 3 Tree Sparrow, 3 Yellowhammer and 2 Reed Bunting (feeding young).

 

There were also good numbers of Ringlet butterflies and a few Meadow Browns.

 

As an aside, for those that visit Millichen by car, the small area of hardstanding/car parking at West Millichen is now being used to store gravel and other materials, presumably for filling in the pot holes in the road!

 

 

Having left the Millichen area, I walked along the River Kelvin footpath towards Summerston.........

 

East Millichen Farm looking north from the Kelvin footpath - 8 July 2013

 

This proved to be an excellent idea as I saw my first Scottish Kingfisher of the year!

 

A perfect end to a beautiful day.



 

 

 

Videos - upgraded quality?

Having looked at the videos that I downloaded onto YouTube, it is clear that the quality is not very good. I have therefore loaded the following videos, all filmed in Glasgow, onto picasa.

1. Goldeneye - the prequel
2. Goldeneye
3. The Colour Purple (and black and white)
4. (Not) The Deerhunter
5. Murder Most Fowl?
They can be accessed via the following link. Hopefully, the resolution/picture quality is a bit better.

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

Double click on each 'icon' and the video should play OK!

Some More Videos!

With the poor weather today, I've spent some time editing and publishing 3 new videos. All videos were taken with a simple Canon Powershot (as are all my photos) and in order to get them on YouTube the quality/resolution has been reduced;

(Not) The Deerhunter - filmed at Millichen Flood - http://youtu.be/ZYkfAF1_n74

On the trail of the lonesome Pine Siskin - filmed in Alaska - http://youtu.be/6ZeCLiU5Ibg

The Cranes - filmed in Alaska - http://youtu.be/yZx_ovP4iAo


 Hopefully, you will enjoy them!