Sightings Update and Illustrated Talk

It is good to see that people appear to be regularly birding the 'Seven Lochs Project Area' in Glasgow. Recent sightings courtesy of SOC Clyde Grapevine:

29 September 2013
The Blue-winged Teal still on Frankfield Loch, Glasgow.
A female Pintail and six Gadwall on Gartloch Pools, Glasgow.
Four Gadwall on Bishop Loch, Glasgow.

Gartloch Pool (south)

 

Also news of an illustrated talk being held by the RSPB Glasgow Local Group on Thursday 3 October 2013:

 

Southern Amazonia and The Pantanal - Graeme Wallace

Venue: Adelaide’s, 209 Bath Street, Glasgow.

Doors open 7pm with the talk commencing at 7.30pm.

All welcome.

More info on www.rspb.org.uk/groups/glasgow/events

 

Graeme has worked as a volunteer guide in an eco lodge so is well placed to provide a fascinating talk about this amazing area and its wildlife.

 

Jabiru

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow-browed Warblers and Recent Sightings Update

Over the past 5 days or so there have been good numbers of Yellow-browed Warblers arriving on the east coast from Siberia. Indeed we were lucky enough to see one at Fife Ness on Friday (27th) - thanks for the lift Fiona!

These birds have to move somewhere so keep an eye out in your local nature reserve, park or even your garden! One is known to have already reached the Clyde Area - reported from Baron's Haugh RSPB Reserve yesterday; and of course we had one in our Anniesland garden a few years ago (photo follows).........................

 

Good luck!

 

Moving on to recent sightings courtesy of the SOC Clyde Grapevine:

Saturday 28 September 2013

The drake Blue-winged Teal still on Frankfield Loch, Glasgow.

A Raven over Nithsdale Road, Pollokshields, Glasgow late afternoon.

 

Friday 27 September 2013

Six Redwings over Linn Park LNR in the morning, also a Nuthatch in the trees behind the mansion house.

A Common Tern flying with Black-headed Gulls at the River Clyde near Glasgow Science Centre.

 

 

Hogganfield Park LNR

This afternoon I visited Hogganfield Park LNR and bumped into a nice group of walkers and  countryside ranger from West Dunbartonshire. They certainly seemed to have enjoyed their visit and will hopefully return in the near future.

I also had discussions with a Glasgow City Council officer regarding two potential projects that are being considered for the LNR - more information to follow!

On the birding front I saw 32 different species with the highlights being 2 Ruddy Duck and impressive counts of 32 Gadwall, 17 Little Grebe and 82 Coot plus 12 Teal, 3 Pochard, 2 Wigeon and 4 Great Crested Grebe. I also managed to see a female Blackcap and a Goldcrest with a small tit flock.

Gadwall

 

If you haven't visited this LNR, what is stopping you?

Latest Sightings and Bingham's Pond

Latest sightings in the Glasgow area, courtesy of the SOC Clyde Grapevine:

25 September 2013

The drake Blue-winged Teal and a Ruff still on Frankfield Loch.

Nearby, an adult and a juvenile Sandwich Tern west over Hogganfield Loch at 0930 hrs.
An Otter fishing upstream of the White Bridge, Linn Park at 1745 hrs.

Meanwhile I visited Bingham's Pond today and was pleased to see that the numbers of Moorhen remain relatively high at 20 birds, including a good number of juveniles. To think a few years ago, before it's naturalisation, there were few, if any, records of Moorhen at the pond!

I was also pleased to see a Council officer doing a good job of de-littering and generally tidying up this small 'park'.

Hogganfield and Frankfield Lochs

As posted below, I helped out at the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs event at Hogganfield Park LNR yesterday.

It was good to see families coming along and helping feed the wildfowl with FREE barley...

 

The Mute Swans certainly appreciated it, clearly preferring barley to stale bread!

 

 

It is just a pity that some of those feeding the swans with bread then discard their plastic bags and wrappers into the loch! The Friends filled one bag with rubbish removed from the loch edge next to the car park!

 

 

On the guided walk we spotted a good range of wildfowl including at least 5 Gadwall, a good number of Little Grebe, Teal, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck and Pochard.........

 

Record shot of preening Tufted Duck and 'sleeping' Pochard

.......plus 2 Ruddy Duck.

 

Record shot of 'sleeping' Ruddy Duck

 

Other birds included Buzzard and it was also good to see that the efforts of the Council to manage a large wildflower meadow had resulted in a swathe of colour in the park......

 

 

Meanwhile, on the walk, another bag was filled with rubbish removed from alongside the path and beach area.....

A great effort from all those that helped with the feeding and litter picking. Hopefully, even more will attend the next event on Sunday 27 October 2013.

Once the event finished, four of us moved on to Frankfield Loch where a Ruff and 19 Shoveler proved to be the main highlights until the male Blue-winged Teal eventually gave great views. A great end to a good day!

Recent Sightings Update

Recent sightings courtesy of SOC Clyde Grapevine:

Saturday 21 September 2013

A drake Blue-winged Teal and a Ruff still at Frankfield Loch, also four White Wagtails, nine Shoveler and 22 Snipe.

 

Tuesday 17 September 2013

An Arctic Tern coming in from the NE and circling four times over Queen's Park Pond, then climbing high.

And just another reminder of the event at Hogganfield Park LNR tomorrow from 11.30am.

Hope to see you there.

 

 

Hogganfield Park LNR Event - Date for Diary

Just an advert for a forthcoming event being held by the Friends of Glasgow's Local Nature Reserves at Hogganfield Park LNR, Glasgow. I shall be leading a guided walk at 1.30pm on behalf of the Friends:

The first of our monthly wildfowl feeding sessions is less than 2 weeks away, on Sunday 22 September 2013 from 11.30am-2.30pm. Meet at the viewing/feeding platform overlooking the loch next to the car park.

Viewing/Feeding Platform - Hogganfield Loch

We shall be handing out free barley to those that want to help feed the 100s of ducks, geese and swans at the loch and answering questions on bird identification, etc. Later, at 1.30pm, there will be a guided wildlife walk around the loch and we shall also take along a couple of litter pickers with us to uplift any stray can or crisp packet we might encounter on the way.

If you would like to help, or attend the walk, please come along on the day – we would stress that these events are FREE and open to all. You don’t have to be a member of the Friends Group to participate.

Information on the Friends Group can be found at http://friendsofglasgowlnrs.wordpress.com

American Duo Still Present

I visited Frankfield Loch again yesterday (9 September 2013) with two friends who had never been before. Whilst we quickly saw a Ruff, 3 Dunlin and 2 Ringed Plover there was, initially, no sign of the Pectoral Sandpiper or Blue-winged Teal. I therefore decided to count the Lapwing flock ending up with an estimate of c.315 birds - an impressive count these days. I also counted 10 Shoveler and 7 Snipe.  

Whilst undertaking these systematic counts and after c 45 minutes, I eventually found the Blue-winged Teal hidden amongst the dead trees on the western-most edge of the loch. A further 45 minutes later, around noon, the Pectoral Sandpiper appeared from nowhere! Both these sightings made a gentleman from Alloa very, very happy! Other birders arrived from Edinburgh and Glasgow southside and they also enjoyed views of both birds. It was also good to talk to various builders/delivery drivers who all appeared genuinely interested in the fact that two 'rare' birds had turned up at the loch.

In addition to the birds mentioned we also saw a Water Rail and a few Swallows passed overhead on their long migration south.

Yet another photo of the loch taken today follows.....

 

If you look really closely you can convince yourself that there is a Ruff, Dunlin and Lapwing in the picture!

 

The area of mud seems to be increasing, so don't be surprised if even more waders turn up.

Another Rare Bird at Frankfield Loch

Just like Glasgow buses when one rare bird turns up another quickly follows!

Amazingly, following on from the Pectoral Sandpiper, a Blue-winged Teal was seen at Frankfield Loch yesterday.

Courtesy of SOC Clyde Grapevine 7 September 2013

A drake Blue-winged Teal with up to eight Shoveler at Frankfield Loch, also a Ruff and a Greenshank were present.

The juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper was still on Frankfield Loch until 1330 hrs, but  later was reported as not present, but was relocated on the beach at Hogganfield Loch at 1500 hrs where there are now two drake Ruddy Ducks.

 

Although not the bird in question, a photo of a drake Blue-winged Teal follows, taken in Canada......

So  two birds from North America at a Glasgow loch; who would have believed it! I wonder what will be the next rarity and where will it turn up?

Rare Wader in Glasgow!

I visited Frankfield Loch in Glasgow yesterday (4 September 2013) following a tip-off  from the SOC Clyde Grapevine that a Pectoral Sandpiper had turned up the previous day.....

Frankfield Loch - 4 September 2013

 

There were clearly lots of waders present on the mud as well as good numbers of wildfowl..

 

Mud, waders and wildfowl - 4 September 2013

 

Initially, the Pectoral Sandpiper proved difficult to locate with only Ringed Plover and Dunlin obviously present. However, something spooked all of the birds and when they returned the Pectoral Sandpiper could be seen! In fact, it managed to 'disappear' on quite a few occasions only to return much to the delight of a small group of birders that arrived after me. A big thank you to these birders for offering me the opportunity to view this cracking bird through their 'scopes.

 

In the end I counted c180 Lapwing, 5 Ringed Plover, 3 Dunlin, 4 Snipe and one Greenshank plus a good few Shoveler. Unfortunately the 'Pec' was too far away for a photograph so I'll include a photo taken just last week whilst in Brazil!

 

Pectoral Sandpiper - Brazil - August 2013

 

Other species of note around the loch included lots of Common Darter dragonflies..........

 

Common Darter - 4 September 2013

 

From Frankfield I headed for Cardowan Moss and Hogganfield Park LNRs accompanied by one of the 'Pec' birders. At Cardowan we encountered a Red Fox, at least 2 species of dragonfly and a few butterflies, the highlight being a Small Copper...........

 

Small Copper (Dorset)

 

We then headed for Hogganfield Park and its excellent range of habitats and species which included a drake Ruddy Duck, good numbers of Gadwall and Pochard plus at least one young Great Crested Grebe still trying to beg for food from its parents.

 

An absolute super day - Glasgow really is Wilds Better!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trip of a Lifetime & Latest Updates

Apologies for the lack of updates but I have been away on a wildlife holiday that included visits to the Pantanal in Brazil and the Iguazu Falls in the Argentine!

Once I have sorted out my photos I shall post a link for those that may be interested. In the meantime, as a taster................................................................................

The Pantanal at dusk

Hyacinth Macaws

Jaguar

 

It really was a trip of a lifetime with lots and lots of highlights some of which are shown above.

 

During my absence it appears that wader passage, as predicted, continued at Baron's Haugh RSPB Reserve. The most recent report being a Ruff, 2 Green Sandpipers, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, a Dunlin and 2 Redshank on 2 September 2013.  

 

Also of interest were a drake Ruddy Duck and 13 Gadwall at Hogganfield Loch, Glasgow on 31 August 2013 and 2 Nuthatches at Linn Park, Glasgow on 28 August 2013. All records courtesy of SOC Clyde Grapevine.

 

Finally, an advert for the RSPB Glasgow Local Group's first indoor meeting of the season on Thursday 5 September 2013 when Debby Thorne will be presenting an illustrated talk on Mull's Amazing Wildlife. The venue is Adelaides, 209 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4HZ. Doors open at 7pm. More info at www.rspb.org.uk/groups/glasgow

 

Mull is a truly amazing island - see my posts of 13 May 2013 and 26 May 2012 - and this is sure to be an excellent talk from an RSPB officer that lives on the island.