Autumn Wildlife Update

A few images from around Glasgow from between 17 September and 18 October 2022, plus a rarer bird species from Lothian!

Blackcap - Hogganfield Park LNR - 17/09/22

Hedgehog - our garden - 29/09/22

Buzzard - Millichen - 13/10/22

3 Barnacle Geese with Pink-footed Geese - Millichen Flood - 13/10/22

Teal - Bingham's Pond - 16/10/22

 Hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii) - Hogganfield Park LNR - 16/10/22

Jay - Hogganfield Park LNR - 18/10/22

Family of 7 Whooper Swans (plus 4 adults) - Hogganfield Park LNR -18/10/22

Ruby Tiger moth caterpillar - Hogganfield Park LNR - 18/10/22

And the Rarity

Wryneck - Torness Power Station - 21/09/22

With more easterly winds predicted, start looking for rarities at Fife Ness, Barns Ness, Torness Power Station and St Abbs Head over the next few days - some have already arrived! 

Hopefully, some will make it through to the west!

Late October Update

Well sadly the easterlies stopped, whilst the rain didn't; so not many photographs. I/we still managed out and about thanks to Stephen, Judith and Mike, RSPB Glasgow Group and public transport.

A photographic record follows:

Fife Ness - 4/10/19

Chiffchaff - Kilminning, Fife - 12/10/19

Blackbird - Kilminning, Fife - 12/10/19 

Robin - Balcomie, Fife - 12/10/19

Pink-footed & Barnacle Geese - near Airth, Forth 12/10/19

Path works - Dawsholm Park LNR, Glasgow - 16/10/19

Record shot - Linnet flock - Torness, Lothian - 20/10/19

Hogganfield Park LNR, Glasgow - 21/10/19

Pochard - Hogganfield Park LNR, Glasgow - 21/10/19

Record shot - Scaup - Hogganfield Park LNR, Glasgow - 21/10/19

Ringed Black-headed Gull - Hogganfield Park LNR, Glasgow - 21/10/19

RSPB Loch Leven - 24/10/19

Red Squirrel - RSPB Loch Leven - 24/10/19

Over the period, from 3 October 2019, I saw c80 species with the highlights being a Barred Warbler at Kilminning, Fife on the 4th; my first ever Jay at Dawsholm Park LNR on the 16th; Little Egrets, pale-bellied Brent Geese and a glimpse of a Barn Owl (in its box) on Holy Isle on the 19th; 40 species including Scaup, 10 Whooper Swans and a Blackcap at Hogganfield Park LNR on the 21st; and a good range of wildfowl, including Pintail, at Loch Leven today.

Birding Glasgow and the east Coast

In between yet more internet/TV problems, I've managed a bit of birding as well.

We started last Sunday at Hogganfield Park LNR helping out at the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs wildfowl feeding and Bird ID event. Spot the 2 Whooper Swans and 2 Tufted Ducks in with the Mute Swans ….

Sadly, a Goosander had got caught up in some fishing line …..

We have reported it and hopefully it can be rescued and rehabilitated.

Moving on to the 29th and I travelled over to the pond at Knightswood Park hoping to see if I could pick out and report 'ringed' gulls. It is always fascinating to find out where birds have come from - I once found a ringed Black-headed Gull at Bingham's Pond that had been ringed in Poland! Sadly no ringed gulls so I had to settle for these 2 Mute Swans ..

Dark green ring white letters NZN on left leg, metal ring on right leg W35019

Metal ring on right leg W39653

I have sent off the information to the relevant ringer and will report the outcome.

On Tuesday we travelled through to Dunbar with Judith and Mike on a 2 day trip. On Tuesday, we visited the Torness and Skateraw area with the star bird being a Black Redstart.

From Torness with St Abbs in the distance - 30/10/18

From Torness looking towards Barns Ness with the Bass Rock in the background -30/10/18

On the Wednesday we visited Barns Ness, Belhaven Bay and Seafield Pond. At the Pond we encountered good numbers of wildfowl with a Scaup being the highlight ….

Caravan park and Seafield Pond - 31/10/18

3 Wigeon and 2 Moorhen

Teal

Scaup

Despite changeable weather forecasts we were fairly lucky with the weather whilst we were away but there wasn't the hoped-for 'fall' of birds. Better luck next time!

East Coast Magic Part 3

I've just finished an intensive week of birding travelling through to the east with Stephen, Peter and Lynda. Originally we had hoped to spend a few nights away but that fell through so we got to fall in love (!) with the M8 and its traffic.

The weather wasn't conducive to taking photos plus I was concentrating on bird watching/finding - you really can't do both well, at least that's what I've found.

We added to our year list, and in Stephen's case 'life list', saw some rare birds and missed a few and on one occasion -  Great Grey Shrike at Skateraw - this was literally by seconds!

On Monday, we looked at the weather forecast and concluded we needed somewhere with hides! We headed for Vane Farm/Loch Leven RSPB Reserve where our best find was a Scaup on Loch Leven. Note one of the hides was closed due to storm damage. In the afternoon we travelled down to Pettycur Harbour where according to the forecast it would be dry and thankfully, it was. We spotted a couple of Great Skuas as well as lots of common sea birds such as Guillemots and Gannets. This juvenile Gannet came incredibly close to the harbour wall ……

On Tuesday, we visited Musselburgh Lagoons and were successful in finding the Little Stint and White-winged Scoter, but not the Jack Snipe that others had seen earlier!The White-winged Scoter is from North America and very similar to 'our' Velvet Scoter so we were pleased we got good enough sightings to distinguish it from its more common cousins. Record shots follow ….

Little Stint (2nd from right) with Dunlin and Lapwing

White-winged Scoter (3rd from left) with Velvet Scoter

The next day it was on to Torness and Barns Ness. The winds were forecast to eventually turn to a south easterly direction and we hoped that might bring in a few unusual birds. We didn't find anything unusual at Torness although a Wheatear proved some birds were on the move. However, there were 100s of Linnets and Goldfinches using a field planted with sunflowers …

We also saw one of the local Peregrines ..

Having explored all the bushes and shrubs, as well as the sea wall and shore, we headed to Barns Ness where the tide was coming in and allowing us close views of common waders with this solitary Golden Plover standing out ..

Our final day was Thursday (we had Friday off to recover). We started at Musselburgh Lagoons in the hope of seeing Jack Snipe but once again we were 'unlucky' but we did see our first Barnacle Geese of the autumn.

With the winds remaining in an easterly direction we soon headed off as we were convinced we would find something unusual at Torness and/or Skateraw, and we did -  a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers - one at Torness and one at Skateraw. They were difficult to see, although we could hear them calling, as they moved through the sycamores but we eventually got good enough views to confirm their identity.

We also got our first Redwing of the year at Skateraw. Record shot only ….

Sadly, whilst looking for migrants at the waterfall we missed a Great Grey Shrike which flew in, landed on a fence post for a minute or two and then flew off towards a dung heap on the crest of the hill, just as we emerged from the wood. We saw the photos so know it wasn't a wind-up! Despite intensive searching it wasn't relocated.

So, despite missing a few species it was a great week's birding in all sorts of weather. I reached 200 species in Scotland for the year including a UK tick with the White-winged Scoter and had some fun on the way.

And finally, thanks to both Stephen and Peter for doing the driving and to Lynda for being the sensible one!

PS remember to click on each photo to get a slide show and enhanced viewing of the pictures.

More East Coast Magic

I've managed to upload my photos from Saturday, see previous post, and can now complete the story of a birding week that finished on a high.

On Saturday it was back to the Lothian coast where we bumped into Fiona and others from the Glasgow area. 

We started at Whitesands Quarry and a life tick for Stephen - Buff-breasted Sandpiper - as well as our first Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans of the autumn.

Our initial attempt at getting to Barns Ness was hampered by a 'charity abseil' at the lighthouse, so we did the obvious thing and went for coffee and cake!

We then travelled to Torness and Thorntonloch with the highlights being a Grey Partridge (a year tick for all of us), a Wheatear and numerous sea birds off-shore. This was followed by a short visit to the waterfall at Skateraw where we encountered, what we assumed to be, migrant Robins and Blackbirds, but nothing unusual.

By now we hoped that Barns Ness would be clear and whilst there were still a few people abseiling, we were able to explore the area without encountering 'stewards' with clip-boards!

We started at the 'wire dump' where the juvenile Woodchat Shrike, first seen last week, was still showing well but now in better light …

From the dump we walked along the shore to the lighthouse and beyond and we were amazed when these two Dunlin flew towards us and land to feed only a few feet away …

Further along I spotted this Wheatear sitting on a wrecked boat ….

… a reminder that birds were starting to migrate south.

Moving on to our final stop, Musselburgh Lagoons, which never fails to deliver and we added yet more birds to our day and year lists. The sun was starting to drop but I still managed a few photographs of some of the birds present such as this Pink-footed Goose, in amongst the Greylag …..

Pink-footed Goose - 22/09/18

and this Curlew Sandpiper, associating with a few Dunlin ……... 

Curlew Sandpiper - 22/09/18

We finished at the sea wall and this sunset …..

Remember to click on a photo to create a slide show and enhanced image.

East Coast Magic 2017 - part 1

With a favourable weather forecast,  dry and south easterly winds, I travelled through to Torness Power Station yesterday - Borders Buses no.253 from Edinburgh Bus station to Thorntonloch Junction.

Even from the bus I could see small flocks of thrushes flying overhead, so things looked promising.

Having reached the stop at the Thorntonloch Junction and having crossed the A1, I was soon approaching the perimeter boundary of the Torness Power Station. Again I could see birds flying high overhead - thrushes and skylarks - when I noted this Wheatear sitting in a field quite close to the access road  ...........

 

When I reached the bushes and trees in the vicinity of the Visitor Centre car park, I bumped into two other birders. Remarkably, they had read this blog - thanks chaps! They were both helpful and we had an interesting chat about 'dogs and nature reserves'!

 

On the bird front there were lots of thrushes as well as a few common birds such as Wren.............

 

Blackbird

Song Thrush

Robin

 

A Chiffchaff was spotted briefly and also a Brambling ..........

 

Brambling

 

I also eventually managed a brief glimpse of a Yellow-browed Warbler before deciding to explore further ...

 

From the sea wall looking towards Thorntonloch

 

In the fields that lie between the Power Station and Thorntonloch, there were a variety of waders including 22 Golden Plover ...

 

Golden Plover

 

The bird list now stood at 30+ with the addition of species such a Tree Sparrow but no more migrants or rarities. As I still had an hour or so before catching the 3pm bus back to Edinburgh I returned to the bushes and shrubs where I had glimpsed the Yellow-browed Warbler

 

AND I got some excellent views and even a few photos ....

 

Yellow-browed Warbler

 

... a great end to the day.

 

Note: Just a reminder you can click on the photos to create a slide show. As it was overcast for most of the day, the photos aren't great but hopefully they give an impression of what you can see, if you are patient, when birding the east coast.

 

Finally, some recent sightings from closer to home, courtesy of the SOC Clyde Grapevine:

 

Thursday 19 October 2017
A Brambling and a Fieldfare in a Mugdock garden this morning.
Two Kingfishers and a Water Rail at the Firhill Basin, Glasgow.