Glasgow Patch Ticks plus more!

Despite yet more rain and dreich skies I've managed to bird watch near and far, since my last post.

Firstly, two days at Hogganfield Park LNR:

26 October 2019 - Whooper Swan family, Cormorant and Mistle Thrush

27 October 2019 - I helped at the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs Wildfowl Feeding event and managed to see and photograph 2 'rare' ducks - an eclipse male Ruddy Duck (my 72nd species for Hogganfield this year) and a very distant female Common Scoter (my 73rd for the year and a life Hogganfield tick for me, meaning I have now seen 108 bird species at this wonderful site). Thanks to Agnes, Karen and Lynda. As an aside, the scoter was the 143rd bird ever recorded at Hogganfield Park LNR!

28 October 2019 - a quick bus trip to Knightswood Park Pond to search through the many gulls for ringed birds. Luckily I managed to find two ringed Black-headed Gulls. 

31 October 2019 - our weekly birding trip with Judith and Mike and we headed to Troon.
On the south beach we found the Snow Bunting that had been reported and around the harbour we had good views of Purple Sandpiper (no photos) and Ringed Plover and Dunlin. We also saw the ringed Herring Gull which spends most of its time here - ringed on July 2013 on Lady Isle

1 November 2019 - a new month and a trip to Fife in heavy rain with Stephen. It actually stayed dry for around 1 hour in the Balcomie/Kilminning area but, thereafter, it poured down so we headed for the visitor centre/hide at Guardbridge. Despite the weather we managed c40 species including Little Egret, Black-tailed Godwit and Golden Plovers - but no photographs!

5 November 2019 - Yesterday and another good trip with Judith & Mike, this time to Ladies Pond, Dougalston, Milngavie - a new site for all of us. And then on to an old favourite of mine, the farmland at Millichen, Glasgow.

The walk to Ladies Pond proved to be very pleasant with Nuthatch seen along with other more common woodland birds. The pond itself played host to a small range of wildfowl including a drake Blue-winged Teal, probably the bird that spent much of the summer at Frankfield Loch in Glasgow.

From Ladies Pond we headed, after a civilised coffee stop, to the Millichen area where we saw Tree Sparrows, Yellowhammers and large numbers of Pink-footed Geese flying around and then landing out of view!

However, the obvious highlight was a 'Millichen' tick for me in the form of Ringed-neck Parakeet - two of them - which is the 105th species I've seen at Millichen.

So nearing the end of the year and still getting 'ticks' and some enjoyable days birding - thanks to our friends and other birders we met on our travels. Hopefully, there will be more to come over the next few weeks.