Sightings Update and Forthcoming Events

On Tuesday (28th), I paid my 'weekly' visit to Bingham's Pond and was surprised to witness a pair of Goosander copulating - I even managed to video the act!!!! The following record photo was taken shortly before ........................

Bingham's Pond - 28 January 2014

 

Today (30th), I undertook the final recce for Sunday's (2nd February) event at Hogganfield Park and confirmed the locations for the nest boxes as well as noting that a litter pick would be beneficial.

 

Remember, you don’t need to be a member of the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs to help, everyone will be made most welcome - the event will run from c10.30am to 2.30pm.

 

The meeting point is the red brick shelter in the south east corner of the park – opposite the picnic area and beach. The shelter is in the centre of the following map link: https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&t=h&vpsrc=6&ll=55.876403,-4.170776&spn=0.00096,0.00327&z=19

See http://friendsofglasgowlnrs.wordpress.com for more information.

Whilst at Hogganfield I also did some birding and in just over 2 hours, saw 35 bird species, three of which were new to my Hogganfield 'year list' which now stands at 43.

The wildfowl highlights were, as ever, the Whooper Swans (24) whilst other species included Gadwall, Teal, Pochard and Goldeneye. Amongst the passerines, it was good to see 3 Bullfinches and 2 Treecreepers.

Other recent sightings in the Greater Glasgow area, courtesy of SOC Clyde Grapevine, include:

28 January 2014
A Nuthatch at the White Bridge, Linn Park, also a Woodcock.
A Ring-necked Parakeet in trees at Beith Street, Partick, Glasgow at 0900 hrs.

27 January 2014
Three Bramblings in a Muirlees Crescent, Milngavie garden.


Finally, details of another Friends of Glasgow's LNRs event which takes place on Wednesday 5 February 2014 - an illustrated talk by the City Council’s Cath Scott on the City’s 10 Local Nature Reserves.  As part of her presentation, she will also report on some of the ideas that are being considered to help maintain and improve these LNRs for people and wildlife.

The talk will take place in the RSPB offices, 10 Park Quadrant, Glasgow, G3 6BS from 7.15pm; doors open at 7pm. Press buzzer to gain access. The meeting should finish c8.30pm.

I hope to see some of you there.

 

  

 

Dawsholm Park - the Good, the Sad and the Muddy!

I visited Dawsholm Park LNR in Glasgow on Thursday (23rd) and although hampered by a really heavy shower, I managed to see 17 species of bird. The highlights were a male Sparrowhawk, 5 Redwing and a flock of c100 Starling.

It was also good to see a potentially record count of Highland cattle in the fields as this short video shows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrsaAzjuZOM

Unfortunately, I had to film into the sun (yes there was some sunshine for a short spell) but the quality it isn't too bad - also please remember to increase the settings to 1080HD on the Youtube channel.

I had heard that the Council, through TCV, had erected a small fence around the 'Froglife' pond to protect it from dogs and decided to have a look for myself. The following images, yes it is a bag full of dog dirt, illustrate the situation .......

 

It was also extremely muddy underfoot and wellies are a must unless you are just walking along the main path from Ilay Road to the disused playingfields.

 

Despite the weather there were quite a number of people using the park and you can see why with views like this - a shot of the setting sun taken from the woodland - a good way to end the day ....

 

 

 

 

Hogganfield Loch Whoopers & other winter wildfowl - a taster

I promised some video footage from Hogganfield Park LNR and here is a little taster. When playing, please click the small 'wheel' icon and adjust the settings to view at the highest resolution possible. (HD1080).

I hope to produce 4 composite videos from Hogganfield covering winter, spring, summer and autumn; so watch this space!

Hogganfield Park LNR and recent sightings update

Yesterday (20 January 2014) I paid another visit to my favourite birdwatching site in Greater Glasgow - Hogganfield Park LNR.

My main reason was to erect a few posters for the forthcoming 'Friends of Glasgow's LNRs' event on 2 February 2014 ....................................................

 A big thank you to CSV Action Earth for their grant which has been used to purchase 'woodcrete' nest boxes. The Friends will also be handing out free barley on the day as part of their series of wildfowl feeding sessions. More information will follow closer to the time, but if you can help on the day you will be made most welcome.

I also managed to do some birding and ended up with 35 species including 29 Whooper Swans, 9 Gadwall, 15 Pochard, 16 Goldeneye, 6 Goosander, c90 Coot, 7 Cormorant, 5 Grey Heron (looks as if they will be nesting soon), 1 Grey Wagtail, 3 Bullfinch and 3 Reed Bunting. I was also pleasantly surprised to see 5 Roe Deer.

I managed some video footage of the wildfowl and deer and will try and post on my YouTube channel with a link from this Blog.

My YouTube channel can be found via the following link: 

 http://www.youtube.com/user/JaySee60?feature=watch

Finally, a few recent sightings from SOC Clyde Grapevine:

Monday 20 January 2014
An inland Ringed Plover at Gartcosh Business Interchange.

Sunday 19 January 2014

Four Pintail (one drake) on Bridgend Farm Pool, also 455 Lapwing.

Six Waxwings at the BP Service Station on Old Edinburgh Road, Viewpark.
53 Whooper Swans on Loch Libo, near Barrhead.
A pair of Stonechats still at Cathkin Marsh.



 

Bingham's Pond 2013 - A Breeding Success

Last year I experimented with my camera and shot a few shaky wildlife videos, posted them on YouTube and linked them to this site. These were extremely short, usually lasting less than one minute.

I have now created a 12 minute video on the breeding birds of Bingham's Pond and hopefully you will like it - see link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eqJ8Vj8jMc

The uploaded quality doesn't appear to be as good as the DVD that I have produced, however, you can improve things by making sure that you 'play back' on the maximum quality available by adjusting the 'settings' icon (the little wheel) on the bottom right of the YouTube video screen.

The next one could be on the Pantanal in Brazil!

Hogganfield Park LNR and Sightings Update

Yesterday (12 January 2014), I helped out at the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs wildfowl feeding session at Hogganfield Loch. As ever, there were good numbers of Whooper Swans (28) and lots of other wildfowl to enjoy.

Hogganfield Loch - 12 January 2014

 

However, I didn't have the time to undertake a bird survey, so went back today, in the sunshine!

 

I arrived c11.15am and two and a half hours later I had recorded, in total, 31 bird species with seventeen of them being 'wetland birds'. However, it is the sheer number of these birds that impresses. For example, I noted:

c95 Mute Swan, 29 Whooper Swan, 14 Greylag Geese, 50+ Mallard, 8 Gadwall, 12 Teal, 45+ Tufted Duck, 2 Pochard, 15 Goldeneye, 8 Goosander, c100 Coot, 5 Moorhen, 1 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron and 3 species of gull.

 

It is also clear that local folk love to feed these birds - witness this feeding frenzy!

 

7 species enjoy a feeding frenzy - 13 January 2014

 

As I mentioned there were 3 species of gull present, photographs of which rarely feature in Blogs; so to make amends here we have a Herring Gull (1st winter) ....

 

 

Finally, a round-up of recent sightings courtesy of SOC Clyde Grapevine:

 

Monday 13 January 2014

Four Jack Snipe at Littleton Reservoir.

A Ring-necked Parakeet flying west over Garrioch Road/Shakespeare Street, Glasgow at 1315 hrs.

Saturday 11 January 2014

Still an excellent winter inland count of 14 Great Crested Grebes on Balgray Reservoir, and two Kingfishers in the channel at Ryat Linn Reservoir.

Still at least one Otter on the White Cart Water at Linn Park, Glasgow, also a Kingfisher.

Friday 10 January 2014

Two Nuthatches in trees near the Mansion House, Linn Park, Glasgow, also up to three Otters again on the White Cart Water.

 

Thursday 9 January 2014

15 Tree Sparrows, 50 Reed Buntings, 15 Yellowhammers and 1000 Wood Pigeons in stubble field and hedgerow just west of West Millichen Farm.

A Woodcock flushed in a Greentree Drive, Baillieston garden.

A female Brambling in a Muirlees Crescent, Milngavie garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Latest Sightings - Update

Just a short update of recent sightings in the Greater Glasgow area, courtesy of SOC Clyde Grapevine:

Wednesday 8 January 2014

A Ring-necked Parakeet over Kirklee Quadrant, near Botanic Gardens, Glasgow.

 

Tuesday 7 January 2014
Two Stonechats at Cathkin Marsh SWT Reserve.

Saturday 4 January 2014

A 2nd-winter Iceland Gull on waste ground adjacent to the Mount Vernon landfill site, Glasgow.

Also another reminder of the RSPB Glasgow Local Group indoor meeting tomorrow night and the Friends of Glasgow's Local Nature Reserves wildfowl feeding session on Sunday - see previous post for all the details.

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year and Forthcoming Events

Firstly, a Happy New Year to everyone, particularly those that have read my blog over the past year or so.

I started the Blog in April 2012 as a replacement to my old web site 'Birds of Greater Glasgow' which suffered when my old computer 'died'! Initially, only a few people showed any interest in my ramblings but over the last few months I have been getting over 1,000 views per month! The current total stands at 13,225 'views'; so thanks once again.

In view of this interest, I intend to expand the Blog and add extra pages - see top of the page for a link to a page that will be devoted solely to Hogganfield Park LNR.

Now some advance notice of a couple of events that are taking place over the next few weeks.........

On Friday 10 January 2014, Iain Livingstone, secretary of the Clyde Ringing Group (CRG), will be presenting an illustrated talk to the RSPB Glasgow Local Group on 'ringing'. Iain is an extremely well respected local birder and has published a number of papers perhaps the most notable being the work he did on white wagtails. Having said a few words about the CRG, he will use a series of photographs of birds in the hand to describe anatomical and plumage details. He will also report on the species he encountered in a ringing trip to Lithuania.

Venue: Adelaides, 209 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4HZ.  Time: 7.30pm; doors open at 7pm

 

More info at www.rspb.org.uk/groups/Glasgow

 

Nuthatch (copyright Jim Coyle)

 

The second event takes place at Hogganfield Park LNR on Sunday 12 January 2014 from 12 noon to 1pm when the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs will be hosting another 'wildfowl feeding' session. Come along and help feed the swans, ducks and geese with free barley - you will also get some wonderful photo opportunities, as illustrated below ........................

 

 Whooper Swan (copyright Jim Coyle)

 

 

Finally, I still have an extremely limited supply of wall & desk calendars featuring wildlife from Brazil; anyone interested can contact me at j.coyle13@ntlworld.com and I could arrange to bring them along to the above events .......