More Wind & Rain and a Climate Change Conference!

This weather is starting to get really annoying! Not much birding since the last post but I have helped the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs with their nest box work and managed a few sightings of note.

We started at Hogganfield Park LNR and enjoyed a mixture of sleety showers, wind and some sunshine! All of the nest boxes were cleaned out and two more boxes erected

Spot Box no. 8

It was nice to see a clump or two of primroses....

….whilst a pair of Canada Geese and an Oystercatcher took advantage of the 'biohavens'...

From Hogganfield Park LNR we moved to Bingham's Pond where two boxes were cleaned and a new one erected....

On Tuesday, I attended  a conference at the SEC on Sustainability & Climate Change and it proved that some people do care

I eventually managed some 'proper' birding at Bingham's Pond yesterday, for just one hour, and recorded a respectable 22 species.

Others have managed out, despite the weather, with some recent sightings in Greater Glasgow, courtesy of the SOC Clyde Grapevine, including: 

Two Yellow-legged Gulls (an adult and sub-adult) and a  3^rd-winter Iceland Gull at the Balgray Reservoir gull roost. 

There have also been some reports of Blackcaps - a female in a Bearsden garden and also at the feeders in Holyrood Crescent Pleasure Gardens, Kelvinbridge; with a male in an Ormonde Drive, Netherlee garden.

More November Birding

Another fortnightly update of all things birding in Greater Glasgow and beyond. And it was busy, busy, busy.

I started locally, at Bingham's Pond on 8 November 2019

This ringed Black-headed Gull stood out amongst the Feral Pigeons

Whilst this Dunnock posed in the sunshine, yes sunshine!

And this was just one of an impressive number (21) of Goosanders present, not bad for a small pond.

On the 9th, I travelled through to Lothian in overcast conditions with Stephen. We did, however, manage to see a Merlin at Barns Ness and having moved on to Whitesands Quarry 

we managed to see a Little Auk, as this distant record shot 'proves' - honest!

On the 10th, I helped out once again with the Friends of Glasgow's wildfowl feeding event at Hogganfield Park LNR

and spotted another ringed Black-headed Gull. It turned up at Hogganfield this time last year having been ringed as a pullus in Norway in June 2018! Good to know it also thinks 'Glasgow's Wilds Better'.

On Tuesday (12th) night I gave a talk to a rambling group in East Kilbride and then a 'second half' talk to the RSPB Glasgow Group on the following Wednesday night. Thanks to the 2 people that came forward and agreed to sponsor a woodcrete nest box for the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs. 

The next day I headed to Lochwinnoch with Judith, Mike and Lynda and the highlight was a male Hen Harrier that spent much of the afternoon hunting over the RSPB's Aird Meadow. 

Sadly, my photos of the Hen Harrier were poor although the bird itself was brilliant.

Friday was spent helping the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs erect 13 woodcrete nest boxes at Bishop Loch, Cardowan Moss and Hogganfield Park LNRs 

I had the Saturday off before venturing back to Bingham's Pond on Sunday the 17th for the WEBs count.  With 40% of the pond covered in ice, it was relatively easy to count the birds. It was also good to see that the ringed Black-headed Gull was still present, this time posing nicely on the ice

As the weather hasn't been too bad, just freezing cold, I'll finish with a sunset from Bingham's Pond

Hogganfield Park LNR - a March update

With the weather clearing up a bit on Monday afternoon (17 March 2014) I decided to spend a few hours at Hogganfield Park LNR.

As ever the birds were excellent, 33 species in just under 2 hours. There were still some Whooper Swans present (13) with also good numbers of Goosander (27). Other species included 17 Pochard, c15 Goldeneye and an excellent Hogganfield count of 18 Cormorant. It was also nice to see the return of Little Grebe and Great Crested Grebe, two species that normally breed at the loch.

Great Crested Grebe

 

Talking of breeding a few Grey Herons were on nests whilst Blue Tits were showing an interest in 3 nest boxes and a Great Tit was observed entering one!

 

They weren't the only species interested in 'breeding' ..........................

 

Common Frogs - Hogganfield Park - 17 March 2014

 

Finally, I saw and heard my second Chiffchaff of the year. This was my 48th bird species for Hogganfield Park in 2014 - not bad considering we are still only in March!

 

Clean-up Success and Recent Sightings

I joined 16 other volunteers on Sunday (2 February 2014) at the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs event in the woods at Hogganfield Park.

Despite some early morning rain we managed to erect a variety of nest boxes, courtesy of a CSV Action Earth grant .......

.......... and fill 25+ bags with rubbish as well as finding an office chair, carry cot and other 'interesting' items! Thanks to Community Safety Glasgow for supplying all the equipment....

 

We also saw a good variety of birds with a mixed tit flock (at the car park); large flock of winter thrushes (flying towards the golf course); a few Grey Herons, apparently sitting on their nests, and a pair of 'mewing' Buzzards being my highlights.

 

I scanned the gulls in the hope of spotting a 'white-winged' gull but had to settle for a Great Black-backed (a dodgy record shot follows) ..........

 

 

We finished the day back at the car park with, as ever, awesome views of Whooper Swans, Goosanders and Goldeneyes.

 

A few other recent sightings from the Greater Glasgow area, courtesy of the SOC Clyde Grapevine:

 

3 February 2014

Two Bramblings in a Muirlees Crescent, Milngavie garden.

2 February 2014

14 Jack Snipe at Cathkin Marsh Reserve.

 

1 February 2014

A Brambling in a Mugdock village garden.

 

Finally, another reminder of the illustrated talk being hosted by the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs tomorrow evening in the RSPB offices 10 Park Quadrant Glasgow. It features the Council's Cath Scott speaking about Glasgow's 10 Local Nature Reserves with the doors open at 7pm for a 7.15pm start - more info at http://friendsofglasgowlnrs.wordpress.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hogganfield Park LNR and recent sightings update

Yesterday (20 January 2014) I paid another visit to my favourite birdwatching site in Greater Glasgow - Hogganfield Park LNR.

My main reason was to erect a few posters for the forthcoming 'Friends of Glasgow's LNRs' event on 2 February 2014 ....................................................

 A big thank you to CSV Action Earth for their grant which has been used to purchase 'woodcrete' nest boxes. The Friends will also be handing out free barley on the day as part of their series of wildfowl feeding sessions. More information will follow closer to the time, but if you can help on the day you will be made most welcome.

I also managed to do some birding and ended up with 35 species including 29 Whooper Swans, 9 Gadwall, 15 Pochard, 16 Goldeneye, 6 Goosander, c90 Coot, 7 Cormorant, 5 Grey Heron (looks as if they will be nesting soon), 1 Grey Wagtail, 3 Bullfinch and 3 Reed Bunting. I was also pleasantly surprised to see 5 Roe Deer.

I managed some video footage of the wildfowl and deer and will try and post on my YouTube channel with a link from this Blog.

My YouTube channel can be found via the following link: 

 http://www.youtube.com/user/JaySee60?feature=watch

Finally, a few recent sightings from SOC Clyde Grapevine:

Monday 20 January 2014
An inland Ringed Plover at Gartcosh Business Interchange.

Sunday 19 January 2014

Four Pintail (one drake) on Bridgend Farm Pool, also 455 Lapwing.

Six Waxwings at the BP Service Station on Old Edinburgh Road, Viewpark.
53 Whooper Swans on Loch Libo, near Barrhead.
A pair of Stonechats still at Cathkin Marsh.



 

Pre-Christmas Catch-up

Despite the weather I have managed a few hours birding over the last few days. Firstly, on Friday (20th) I spotted a Cormorant on Bingham's Pond - a Pond year tick. The downside, I was on a bus at the time! So, I decided to visit on Saturday morning but sadly it had gone. However, I did have a good count of Moorhen (26) and added another Pond year tick - Fieldfare.

Today (Sunday) I visited Dawsholm Park LNR for the first time in many months. It was good to see that the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs bird and bat boxes have survived the storms of the last few weeks ....................

Bat Boxes - Dawsholm Park LNR - 22 December 2013

 

It was also good to see that the 'Friends'' have also managed to get three new Litter & Dog Waste bins installed ..................

 

 

On the wildlife front there was a large flock of Starlings (c220) close to the waste transfer plant.....

 

However, the most impressive sight was the herd of Highland cattle, showing that you don't need to travel to Pollok Country Park to see these magnificent animals ..............

 

Highland Cattle - Dawsholm Park LNR - 22 December 2013

 

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

 

Saturday 21 December 2013

Two Woodcock at Cuningar Loop, Rutherglen

 

Thursday 19 December 2013

Three Waxwings in trees at Hillhead Primary School, Westbank Quadrant, Hillhead, Glasgow

 

Ringing news

A colour-ringed Herring Gull at Hogganfield Loch on 17 December had been ringed as a chick on Lady Isle 26/06/2013.

 

 

 

 

Bingham's Pond and Dawsholm Park Update

I visited Bingham's Pond yesterday (25 June 2013) and was pleased to see how lush the vegetation was, with yellow flag being particularly prominent...................

 

I also used the opportunity to try and undertake a wildfowl count but this proved difficult with the vegetation being so thick! However, I can report that there were 2 Mute Swans; at least 27 adult Mallard and 23 duckling; 24 Tufted Duck all but 4 being males which suggests that the females are sitting on eggs; at least 10 Moorhen plus 1 juvenile and 8 Coot plus 5 juveniles - a photo of one follows....................

 

 

The weirdest sight of the day was an adult Moorhen using one of the 'fox/gull/crow' proof litter bins to help itself to what appeared to be left-over banana!

 

 

Today I paid my first visit since mid-May to Dawsholm Park. The Highland cows have been temporarily removed from the Park to allow the grasslands to regenerate and they certainly were extremely colourful.....................................................................

 

 

They also attracted loads of insects and these in turn attracted 3 Swallows swooping low over the flower heads.

Elsewhere in the Park I was pleased to find some common spotted orchids..............

 

The woodland was alive with the sound of birds, young and old and included Woodpigeon, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff ....

 

Record shot of Chiffchaff - Dawsholm Park - 26 June 2013

 

......Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Jackdaw and Carrion Crow. On the river there were a family of Mallard plus a Dipper whilst Lesser Black-backed Gulls cruised overhead.

 

On my last visit, none of the nest boxes were being used. I am pleased to say that one box was being used by Blue Tits and another looked as if it had been recently used by Great Tits - a pair were inspecting a box as if to say 'where are the kids?' whilst in the background you could hear young birds calling for food.

 

In total, I saw 19 species of bird, with my year total for the park now standing at 31.

 

Dawsholm Breeding Success

As at Millichen, Starlings appear to have done well this year with plenty of juveniles chattering and enjoying a bath and drink in the cattle trough.....................

The 'highland cattle fields' were ablaze with colour, the council having previously removed the cattle to allow the wildflowers to flourish...........................................

I am pleased to say that the monitoring of the nest boxes continues to bring positive results with an up-dated total of 8 of the 11 boxes proving to have been of interest to Blue Tits........................

 

 

Other birds that have bred or are obviously breeding include Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Wren, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow and Jackdaw.

Other wildlife included a Roe Deer, a few Grey Squirrels, a Red Fox (being chased by a dog), Small Tortoiseshell and 'white' butterflies.

Dawsholm Delights

I visited Dawsholm Park Local Nature Reserve yesterday afternoon primarily to check on the 11 nest boxes erected by the Friends of Glasgow's Local Nature Reserves.

I am pleased to report that at least 5 of the boxes are being used by Blue Tits. There was also  evidence of successful breeding with lots of young noisy Starlings present as well as young Carrion Crows, Robins and two broods of Mallard on the pond (B/1 and B/7).

It was also good to get my first Kingfisher sighting of the year as one flew swiftly up river.

The real highlight, however, was finding a Common Buzzard's nest confirming, what I had thought for some time, that they are breeding in this part of the City.

Common Buzzard, Dawsholm Park 2010