Snow Forecast and some Great Birding

A bus trip through to Musselburgh on the 2nd brought 100s of waders........

 

... lots of wildfowl including this Teal ...........

 

 

.. and a superb Snow Bunting .....

 

 

In total, I saw 43 different bird species on what was a cold but sunny day.

 

On Friday (4th), we travelled down to Caerlaverock with Stephen and had another superb day's birding. As ever we got close-up views of a whole range of wildfowl, including Scaup, from the Peter Scott Observatory ..........

 

 

... excellent views of Barnacle Geese ....

 

 

...distant views of Little Egrets .....

 

 

...and what we were told was a hybrid Snow/Barnacle Goose with a distant flock of Barnacles (centre of picture) ..

 

 

Sadly, the initial good weather was followed by heavy rain showers restricting photographic opportunities but we did see some excellent birds, c50 species, with Great White Egret and Green-winged Teal being the stars.

 

On the 6th, it was back to Glasgow where I helped at the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs wildfowl feeding event at Hogganfield Park LNR. There were 10 Whooper Swans present (9 adults and one juvenile) and lots of other birds close in to the feeding/viewing platform including this Goldeneye ....

 

 

If you have never been to Hogganfield Park LNR, I strongly recommend it!

 

Finally, some recent sightings courtesy of SOC Clyde Grapevine:

 

Sunday 6 November 2016
A female/immature Long-tailed Duck (for its second day) on Kilmardinny Loch, Bearsden.
A 1st-winter female Scaup on Heritage Loch, East Kilbride; nearby, three Brambling and ten Tree Sparrows with a large flock of finches at Wellsquarry Road, Kittochside, East Kilbride.
A Jack Snipe and a pair of Stonechats at Harelaw Reservoir, Barrhead.
A female Mandarin Duck on White Cart Water just upstream of White Bridge, Linn Park, Glasgow..
A Woodcock near the Bothlin Burn at NS698673; nearby, a Jay in the Bishop Loch (Hospital) Woods.

Thursday 3 November 2016
A Peregrine (with prey, probably pigeon) flying low over Kingston Bridge, Glasgow.
At least 300 Pied Wagtails roosting in trees, near Tesco's at the Silverburn Centre, Pollok, Glasgow.

Wednesday 2 November 2016
Two Nuthatches frequently at feeders in the Demonstration Garden, Pollok Country Park.

 

 

 

Birding in the Bishop Loch area of Glasgow

Last week, I paid a visit to the Bishop Loch/Gartloch Pools area in north east Glasgow - FirstBus no.41 to Lochend Road.

This was like going back in time as this was the location that 'started' my 'environmental career' with Glasgow City Council - up until then my tasks had been mainly in the industrial and employment sector. But enough of this reminiscing!

What follows is a photographic record of this walk with a wee bit of history thrown in ..........

Having left the bus in Lochend Road, I entered Bishop Loch LNR via one of the clearly marked footpaths. Despite its name, the Loch does not form part of the actual LNR which consists, in the main, of woodland, with some grassland and a small part of the extensive reedbed and marsh. There is a good path network through the LNR which links to informal paths to Gartloch Village and the wider countryside. You can also get great views of Bishop Loch itself, which is also a SSSI.

The woodland appeared to be devoid of birds apart from a 'tit' flock, a Buzzard and a few 'corvids'. I would imagine it would be full of warblers in spring ........

Woodland path

 

Path alongside reedbed

 

View across reedbed, west of Bishop Loch

 

View from LNR across Bishop Loch

 

Informal path west of Bishop Loch and Gartloch Village

View of Gartloch Village and woodlands from informal path

Having explored some of these informal paths - Stonechat and Buzzard were the key species, I returned to the path which leads to Gartloch Village and woodland via a sturdy metal bridge over the Burn that flows from Gartloch Pools to Bishop Loch. The path brings you to an old fence line which remarkably delineates the boundary of the SSSI! To the south (right hand side) is SSSI and to the north it is a woodland and housing estate.

Fence delineating SSSI boundary

 

The Village was created when developers obtained planning permission to convert the old Hospital buildings to housing. The costs were such that it was claimed that permission would also be required for some new housing to be built to offset the potential losses from the conversions. This resulted in the Council agreeing that a number of trees could be chopped down ..............

As you can see from below, the main Hospital Building is still lying empty.....

I left the Village ...

....  and bravely ventured out onto Gartloch Road. This is a typical narrow country road that was not designed for the amount of car traffic that now uses it, but thankfully most drivers slowed down as I made my way towards the Gartloch Pools.

On the south side of the road, somebody had attempted to build a 'fishing platform' ...

Gartloch Pools (south)

There were only a few birds present including Teal, Grey Heron and Snipe. However, on the north side there was a good range of wildfowl with Shoveler, Gadwall and Wigeon being the most notable and also 2 Stonechats.

Thankfully, I was offered a lift by another birder that I knew (Alan) and so didn't have to risk walking along the road again!

As usual, I finish with some recent sightings from Greater Glasgow courtesy of SOC Clyde Grapevine:

Monday 31 October 2016
Two Ring-necked Parakeets in Hillview Drive, Clarkston.

Sunday 30 October 2016
Six Whooper Swans, 9 Gadwall and 20 Goosanders on Hogganfield Loch.
9 Bullfinches at Harelaw Reservoir, Barrhead.

Saturday 29 October 2016
A Jay at Cathkin Braes, Glasgow, and a male Stonechat at Windlaw Marsh.

Friday 28 October 2016
Nine Shoveler at Gartloch Pool, but no sign of the Bittern (which was last reported flying towards Bishop Loch on Tuesday).
A Jay at the March Field, Lynn Drive, Milngavie. 
A Raven calling from a chimney top at Gartnavel Hospital, Glasgow.
A Ring-necked Parakeet in Hillview Drive, Clarkston.

Wednesday 26 October 2016
A male and a female Peregrine hunting over George Square, Glasgow at 1230 hrs.
16 Gadwall and 6 Shoveler on Gartloch Pool.

Tuesday 25 October 2016
A Bittern again showing at Gartloch Pools on the south side of the B806, Glasgow.