More Sunny December Birding!

Remarkably we have had a few more sunny days since my last post!

This has resulted in a few visits to Hogganfield Park LNR, Bingham's Pond and Balloch, not so sunny, but at least dry!

At Balloch, on the River Leven, I managed to connect with three Mandarin Duck (2m, 1f), although it was a bit dull for photography …

14/12/18

I managed two visits to Hogganfield (in the sunshine) and it was nice to bump into and have a quick chat with some fellow birders and bird photographers …

On the 10th I found a dishevelled Magpie apparently using a litter bin as its shelter ..

… a Grey Heron sitting atop a tree next to a path …

… and another ringed (2CK2) Black-headed Gull ..

Later in the week (16th) I helped out once again with the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs monthly wildfowl feeding and Bird ID event ……

At Bingham's Pond, I recorded the usual suspects ….

Goosander (female) - 9/12/18

Mallard (drake) - 9/12/18

Coot - 9/12/18

However, in addition to the wildlife, I was pleased to see that the Council had started to resurface the footpath around the pond ……

Resurfacing footpath - 9/12/18

Yesterday the footpath was complete and looking good …..

17/12/18

17/12/18

A big thank you to everyone involved for getting this done.

Finally this will probably be my last blog before Christmas, so 

Happy Christmas to you all 

Mandarin, Iceland and Talk!

Just to clarify, this is not a post about buying a small orange at a well known supermarket!

OK I went twitching (16th). Well sort of; the birds weren't where they were meant to be but I did find them! Isn't that amazing, birds deciding to use their wings and 'disappear'.

The birds in question and the location? Well, whilst we were away and even more recently, Mandarin Ducks and Iceland Gulls had been reported from the River Leven at Balloch. However, this morning, in the drizzle, no sign. There were a few Goosanders around with this female guilty of, let's call it, stalking!

 

With no sign of the target birds, I had a walk around the nearby woodland of Balloch Country Park before deciding to follow the riverside footpath south. Just beyond the Scottish Water bridge/boom I came across this pair of Mandarin Duck ..

 

 

They posed for a few minutes giving stunning views before flying upstream. At this stage I was decidedly damp and chilled so went for a nice coffee and hot roll at the Tullie Inn.

 

Suitably refreshed I tried again walking along the banks of the River Leven to no avail. The woodlands of Balloch Country Park were full of the calls of common birds and I also came across a pair of Buzzard and Sparrowhawk. Whilst walking along the shore line I spotted a few gulls over towards Loch Lomond Shores so decided to see if I might be lucky and find the Iceland Gull 'in the wrong place'. To cut a long story short, I located a 1st winter bird next to the Maid of the Loch . 

 

 

...... and ultimately managed a few record shots. This photo, stretching the zoom to the maximum, shows the Iceland Gull with a Black-headed Gull and Common Gull ..

 

 

So a positive finish to a damp day's birding followed by a comfortable 35 minute train journey home.

Finally, a wee plug for a talk I am giving tomorrow night on the 'Birds and Habitats of Glasgow'. It is being held in the pavilion visitor centre at Rouken Glen Park, Rouken Glen Road, G46 7JL, commencing at 7pm. No booking required.

140 and still counting!

Having heard, via the SOC Clyde Grapevine, that there was a female Mandarin Duck on the White Cart Water at Battlefield, I couldn't resist paying it a visit. Thankfully, it was still there and I managed a few photos and some video .......

 

Video grab

 

This was my 140th bird species for Glasgow. I saw a Mandarin years ago on Rouken Glen Park Pond but the park is outside the Glasgow City boundary so doesn't count on the Glasgow list!

 

It was also good to see the White Cart flood defences in place - I was part of a team that helped develop the design concept some years ago and I am pleased to say that there has been no flooding since its construction.