Bird Listing - 100 barrier broken!

Well it has been a mild week, with temperatures up to 10C, but still mainly dull and dreary. However, the birding has been anything but dreary!

It started with a visit to my local pond - Bingham's Pond - on Saturday to undertake the monthly 'wetland birds survey (Webs)'. Nothing unusual to report although the sun shone long enough to get this photo of a Tufted Duck ......

 

and this of a Black-headed Gull .........

 

 

On Sunday we headed west, with Stephen, to Lothian and had a terrific day with Black-necked Grebe and Long-tailed Duck at Whitesands Quarry; Stonechat at Barns Ness; Great Northern Diver, Kingfisher and Mandarin Duck at Seafield Pond; and Shorelark and Twite at John Muir Country Park!

Great Northern Diver (aka Common Loon) - Seafield Pond

For those that haven't been through to Lothian for a while, note that you have to pay for the car parks, although you can use your day ticket at all coastal sites ....

On the 16th, I paid another short visit to Bingham's Pond and added to my 'Pond Year List'.

Tuesday was meant to be a quick visit to Hogganfield Park LNR. However, I spent c3.5 hours there and recorded 50 different bird species and two mammals; quite remarkable for a Glasgow 'park'. Sadly, it was a really dull day with drizzle but I did manage a few record shots ...

Buzzard

Roe Deer

Whooper Swan family

The birding week finished on Wednesday with us joining the RSPB Glasgow Group, thanks to Judith and Mike, on their outing to Fairlie and Portencross. Again it was a dullish day, so no photographs, with the highlights for me being Peregrine and at least 12 different Greenshank.

So, since my last post I have managed to bird most days and have added to my 'year list' which now stands at 102 - this time last year it was 51!

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

Thursday 19 January 2017
The immature drake Scaup still on Heritage Loch, East Kilbride.
At least five Jack Snipe and 100 Snipe in the marsh at Littleton Reservoir, Dams to Darnley Country Park.

Wednesday 18 January 2017
The 1st-winter Glaucous Gull still at the Balgray Reservoir gull roost.

Tuesday 17 January 2017
103 Goldfinches at Elder Park, Glasgow.
An immature drake Long-tailed Duck on Bardowie Loch.
17 Whooper Swans and 18 Gadwall on Hogganfield Loch.
Two Ravens at Commonhead Moss LNR, Glasgow.

Monday 16 January 2017
A 1st-winter Glaucous Gull and an adult Mediterranean Gull at the Balgray Reservoir gull roost.

Sunday 15 January 2017
Three Jack Snipe (two caught) at Windlaw Marsh, Carmunnock, also three Water Rails and three Ravens.
The immature drake Scaup still on Heritage Loch, East Kilbride.
Eight Waxwings at the Partick junction of the Clydeside Expressway. 

Saturday 14 January 2017
A flock of 55 Siskins on alders in the area of Darnley Mill Pond, Dams to Darnley Country Park.

East Coast Magic

With high pressure over Scandinavia and a forecast of easterlies I travelled through to the east coast on Monday and Wednesday. In retrospect, Tuesday and Thursday could have proved to have been better!

On Monday, I travelled by bus from Edinburgh to Thorntonloch/Torness where I spent a few hours hoping for some 'rarities'. Similarly, on Wednesday a bus to Thortonloch/Torness before walking the John Muir Link to Skateraw, Barns Ness, Whitesands Bay and Fluke Dub before reaching Dunbar and a bus back to Edinburgh.

A few record shots and some reasonable images:

Record shot - Yellow-browed Warbler - Torness - 3/10/16

Brambling - Thorntonloch - 3/10/16

 Torness - 3/10/16

 

Barnacle Geese - Torness - 5/10/16

 

Redstart - Torness - 5/10/16

 

Barns Ness - 5/10/16

 

Juvenile Barnacle Goose + barnacle - east Dunbar - 5/10/16

 

 

 

Petition and More East Coast Birding

I start with details of a petition aimed at getting MPs to make protecting our parks a legal requirement. Put simply, our parks are at risk. There's no legal responsibility to look after them and squeezed budgets means our local green spaces - from local nature reserves to playgrounds and parks - don't have the money they need.

You can find the petition here -  http://bit.ly/2coGutk

Moving on to birding, on Saturday (17th) we travelled through to a number of birding sites in East Lothian with Stephen.

We managed 60+ species and bumped into a few birders. A few images:

Whinchat

Stonechat

Mixed wader flock

 

Musselburgh

 

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

Sunday 18 September 2016
16 Black-tailed Godwits at Bridgend Farm Pool, also a Whinchat.

Saturday 17 September 2016
A juvenile Scaup on Ryat Linn Reservoir.