Reedbeds, Wetlands, Farmland and Woods

I visited a whole range of habitats this week and continued to see new birds for the year.

On Tuesday I went birding with Stephen and we visited the Tay Reedbeds, Errol, Guardbridge, Letham Pools and the Fife Coast. At least 50 bird species were seen with the star bird being Corn Bunting ....

Letham Pools

 

Poor record shot -  Corn Bunting

 

On Thursday we made a quick visit to Dawsholm Park LNR to check out the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs 'hazel hedge'. It seems to be doing fine and we also got super views of Great Spotted Woodpecker and a family of Song Thrushes.

 

Finally, yesterday, we travelled out to the RSPB Baron's Haugh Reserve with Mike and Judith and were pleased to see, eventually, 4 Green Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpiper and 1 Dunlin, which suggests wader passage is starting. We also managed to see a Kingfisher on the River Clyde, a Water Rail skulking in the flag iris and two 'ringed' Black-headed Gulls.

 

Green Sandpiper

Skulking Water Rail

'Ringed' Black-headed Gull

 

We also bumped into Jimmy Maxwell at the Haugh and had an enjoyable chat.

 

I feel so lucky that I can enjoy this wonderful hobby with like-minded folk and in such a wonderful country.

 

PS remember you can click on the photos to get a slide show and enhanced view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Musselburgh to Mallaig

Firstly, thanks to everyone that has viewed my Blog - we have crashed through the 57,000 barrier!

Following on from my Hogganfield visit we have been through to Musselburgh (again), courtesy of Judith and Mike, and up to Mallaig, courtesy of our travel cards!

At the scrapes we enjoyed views of common waders and with careful scrutiny we also picked up a Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Whimbrel ...........

Wader spectacle

 

Off the sea wall there was no sign of the Velvet Scoter flock nor the Surf Scoter that normally associates with them, although we did see a small group of Common Scoter. There were large numbers of Eider, many of which were 'moulting' ...............

 

Moulting Eider

 

And in with a large flock was this Red-necked Grebe ..........

 

Red-necked Grebe

 

We left Musselburgh and had a quick look around Port Seton and I was pleased to find a Mediterranean Gull (a year tick).

 

In total, we saw around 60 species for the day.

 

On Friday we travelled up to Mallaig and on the Saturday went on a Cal-Mac cruise around the Small Isles. From the boat we saws 100s of Manx Shearwaters, Puffins, Guillemots, Black Guillemots, Razorbills (only 2), Gannets, Kittiwakes, Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls, 3 Red-throated Divers and Great Skuas ..............

 

A few video grabs .................

 

Great Skua

Gannets

 

Manx Shearwaters

 

This was the first time we had visited Mallaig together and is something we'll definitely do again - it was just a pity that the weather clouded over and there was a bit of a swell making photography difficult! But it has to be said the scenery was awesome - aren't we lucky to live in such a wonderful country................

 

Eigg and Rum at sunset

 

 

 

Hogganfield Grebes

Further to my last post, here is a link to a video I've made featuring three families of Great Crested Grebes filmed on Hogganfield Loch on Monday 18 July 2016, including the one featured in the photo below  .........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAxMIapWvkg

Please view at HD 1080p - you can adjust by clicking on the small 'wheel' on the bottom right of the YouTube screen.

Great Crested Grebe on two eggs!

Back to Glasgow AND Hogganfield Park LNR

On Monday (18th) I checked out the BioHavens at Hogganfield Loch which had been installed by the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs - see this link for more info about the Group https://www.facebook.com/friendsofglasgowlocalnaturereserves

...... and, much to my delight, was pleased to see that a pair of Great Crested Grebes had laid two eggs on one of the islands .............

 

I know that it is the first time they have used 'BioHavens' in Scotland and also understand that it is the first time that grebes have used any kind of 'artificial' floating island north of the border.

 

In addition to this pair at least two other pairs have bred ...........

 

 

 

I also came across a large brood of 11 Tufted ducklings .....

 

 

In total, 31 species in under 3 hours including 16 Gadwall and 10 Pochard.

 

So yet another excellent day just a few miles from Glasgow City Centre!

 

Finally, a few recent sightings from Greater Glasgow, courtesy of the SOC Clyde Grapevine:

 

Sunday 17 July 2016
Two Greenshank at Newshot Island with a count of eight Common Sandpipers between there and Cart/Clyde confluence.

Friday 15 July 2016
Two Nuthatches calling in the area of the Old Stable Courtyard, Pollok Country Park.

 

 

More Musselburgh Magic

Whilst it never fails to amaze me the range of different species to be found in Glasgow, I have to admit that from now until November I shall be paying frequent visits to the east coast of Scotland. Yesterday it was back through to Musselburgh and my first Little Gull and Garganey of the year.

Little Gull

Garganey (Teal in foreground)

The juvenile Cuckoo was still present and other sightings included Common Tern and Greenshank ..........

Cuckoo

Common Tern

Greenshank

After yesterday's sightings my year list for Musselburgh stands at 85 species. No doubt I'll be back again later this week!

Meanwhile some recent sightings from Greater Glasgow, courtesy of SOC Clyde Grapevine:

Sunday 10 July 2016
A Common Tern at Balgray Reservoir.

Saturday 9 July 2016
A Crossbill over Pollok Country Park at lunchtime.

Wednesday 6 July 2016
A Reed Warbler still in song at Newshot Island, also a Greenshank and nine Common Sandpipers there, with two Tree Sparrows in the nearby hedgerow.

More Public Transport Birding

Since my last post I have been to Musselburgh (by train and bus) and Tayside Reedbeds by bus!

Despite a forecast of rain in the afternoon, I travelled through to Musselburgh on Monday 4 July 2016 by train (to Waverley) and then bus. I started at the River Esk mouth and caught sight of a Common Sandpiper. The tide was slowly coming in and this helped offer good views of summer plumaged Bar-tailed Godwits and other waders such as Curlew and Redshank. Offshore there were large numbers of Eider and a wee bit further out some Velvet Scoters and a drake Surf Scoter - thank goodness for the 'scope!

Moving past a confiding (or sick?) Carrion Crow ...........

Carrion Crow

 

I headed for the wader scrapes and added Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Knot to my wader list plus Common Tern and various gulls ...............

 

View from hide

 

After lunch, it started to drizzle so I started to head back but not before seeing and photographing this juvenile Cuckoo at the Boating Pond ....

Cuckoo (juvenile)

............ what a surprise! 

Yesterday (7th), we travelled to the Tay Reedbeds - express bus to Dundee and then bus to Errol. We managed a quick glimpse of a Marsh Harrier from the bus as it approached Errol and we hoped that this would be a good omen for the day ahead. Sadly, this was the only harrier that we saw and we failed in our quest for Bearded Tit. It was difficult to get clear open views of the reedbeds but we did find a couple of places where we got reasonable views - a Leighton Moss type tower would be ideal!

 

 

We did see a good number of Reed Buntings and Sedge Warblers ............

 

Sedge Warbler

 

.....and on the walk back to Errol we also got excellent views of Yellowhammer ........

 

Yellowhammer

 

Although the birding was a bit disappointing, the weather was superb and it is always good to visit a new birding location, particularly when it is courtesy of our senior travel card!