Rarities - local and distant

Over the weekend, we had an excellent two days birding with Stephen.

We started in the mid-afternoon at Frankfield Loch in Glasgow where we managed to see the reported Blue-winged Teal. For those that don't know what it looks like, here is a photo I took in North America.



If you haven't been to Frankfield Loch it is worth a visit as it normally has a good range of birds and, of course, anything can turn up; Pectoral Sandpiper and Osprey have been recorded in recent years!

From Glasgow, we headed north to the Ythan Estuary where we spent the evening birding at 3 different locations - near the estuary mouth, Inch Point and north of the road bridge.



We were rewarded with Little Terns, 3 Spoonbills and a drake King Eider.



The following morning we set off for the Buller's of Buchan and 'seabird city' ..



Here we added Puffin to our year list and had superb views of Kittiwakes, Fulmars, Guillemots and Razorbills on the cliffs and in the water.



The cliffs offered a wonderful spectacle but we couldn't help thinking there were fewer birds than on previous visits.

On the return to the car, we added Tree Sparrow which we found on bird feeders in a local garden!

Leaving the seabirds, we headed further north to the RSPB Loch of Strathbeg Reserve where we were treated with superb views of a Common Tern colony. Other birds seen from here included Buzzard, Dunlin, Lapwing, Gadwall and Shoveler ….



… and close-ups of yet more Tree Sparrows, Goldfinches and a Lesser Redpoll on the bird feeders



Having spent some time at the Visitor centre we drove to the car park for the Fen Hide, although note you can walk.



Walking to the Hide from the car park, we came across a number of butterflies including this Painted Lady ..



On reaching the hide, we had good views over the loch and reedbeds ..



.. and I managed this poor record shot of a distant Marsh Harrier .



.. a nice way to finish our trip.

Thanks to Stephen for all the driving and organising the accommodation.

PS apparently the Blue-winged Teal is still at Frankfield Loch!

It's Autumn - from a birdwatching point of view!

Since my last post, things are slowly beginning to happen with birds on the move.

The highlight for me was a Sooty Tern at the Ythan Estuary in Aberdeenshire - thank you bus pass. I also discovered you could get a bus to the Collieston junction and then walk to the Waulkmill Hide upstream of the estuary (allow c30 minutes). Here I saw 2 Osprey, a Little Tern and 6 Greenshank, a sign that waders are on the move.

Sooty Tern with Sandwich Terns - Ythan Estuary - 26/7/18

View from Waulkmill Hide, Ythan - 26/7/18

Closer to home, I spent a few hours at Hogganfield Park LNR on the 25th and noted that wildfowl numbers were starting to slowly increase with 19 Pochard present as well as 16 Gadwall not to mention this Little Grebe .. 

Little Grebe - Hogganfield Loch - 25/7/18

On Tuesday (31st) we travelled through to Baron's Haugh RSPB Reserve and with the water levels low there was plenty of mud exposed with a juvenile Little Ringed Plover and 9 Green Sandpipers being the highlights, with a total of 35 species recorded.

Green Sandpiper - Baron's Haugh - 31/7/18

Finally, through to Musselburgh Lagoons yesterday and 42 species recorded with Wood Sandpiper taking pride of place whilst managing to avoid the frequent swoops of a Peregrine! I also saw 22 Black-tailed Godwits one of which was ringed. I sent off the details late last night and a response was received first thing this morning! The bird is an adult that was ringed last autumn and is likely now returning from breeding in Iceland. 

It was ringed on 23/9/17 at Terrington, the Wash estuary, Norfolk; re-sighted on 26/9/17 at Snettisham, the Wash estuary, Norfolk with no further records until mine.

Finally, some records from the Greater Glasgow area courtesy of a trawl around the internet!

3 August 2018

Six Black-tailed Godwits, 11 Redshank, and a Common Sandpiper at Balgray Reservoir.

Six Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Redshank and 4 Black-tailed Godwit at Gartloch main pool, this morning. 

1 Common Sandpiper, 24 Black-tailed Godwit and 300+ Lapwing at Frankfield loch, this morning.

28 July 2018

1 Mediterranean Gull, briefly, in Victoria Park in the morning.

Even More Birding In Summer - part 1

Well, since my last post Glasgow (and Scotland) is still experiencing 'summer' which must be some record!

We have used this opportunity to travel further afield to places such as the Ythan Estuary, Colonsay and Mid Argyll as well as some of my usual Glasgow haunts. A photographic record - part 1 - follows:

Ythan Estuary:

Colonsay:

Part 2 to follow

Ythan Estuary and More

On Thursday (15 June) we attended the Evening Times Streets Ahead Awards Ceremony  in the Winter Gardens, The People’s Palace, Glasgow. And I was thrilled that the Friends of Glasgow's LNRs, of which I am chair, won the ‘Glasgow City Council Environmental Initiative Award’. The following photo, courtesy of Cath Scott, shows some of the 'Friends' and Councilor Susan Aitken ............

After the celebrations on Thursday night it was an early start on Friday morning travelling up to the Ythan Estuary in Aberdeenshire. We hoped to see King Eider and we were successful ......

King Eider with Eider

We were really pleased to see 4 species of tern, including Little, and stood mesmerised watching them feeding just a few yards away.

The 'headless' tern!

We also had superb views of Yellowhammer and Stonechat, birds that will feature in my 'West End Wildlife' talk on Tuesday evening - West End Festival, Hillhead Library, Byres Road from 18.30-19.45hrs. Free entry! Hope to see you there.

Videos Page Updated and Visit to the Ythan

Remember you can check out my short wildlife videos by clicking on the videos button (above) - page updated. Also you can create a slide show and get an enhanced image by clicking on the first image of each post.

Since my last post we have visited the Ythan Estuary, just east of Newburgh in Aberdeenshire. It was a wee bit chilly and overcast but we did get some excellent views of Arctic, Common and Sandwich Terns.

 

 

We were also lucky enough to see two Little Terns. Poor record shot follows:

 

 

The adjoining golf course and areas of gorse also proved to be good for birds ......

 

 

 .......and we had great views of birds such as Yellowhammer, Whitethroat, Linnet, Willow Warbler and Song Thrush

 

 

In total 37 bird species, a great day out and all courtesy of our bus travel card!

 

The Ythan and the Clyde - Two Recces

We started the week on Tuesday with Judith and Mike and a recce of potential birding sites for the RSPB mid-week outings. We visited various sites, particularly along the Clyde e.g. Boden Boo, and enjoyed views of common birds. These sites also had good car parking and footpaths so we concluded that at the right time of year they should provide an enjoyable day's birding.

During the day we also found a pair of Little Ringed Plover, but that location will have to remain secret. This photo, taken outwith Scotland, will have to suffice ....

 

Moving on to Friday (19th), having already visited Islay and Mull/Iona in recent weeks using public transport, Lynda and I tried another far-off destination - the Ythan Estuary in Aberdeenshire.

 

 

The estuary held 100s of seals and 4 species of terns, including Little ..

 

 

There were also huge numbers of Eider ducks but more importantly, after much searching, a drake King Eider ...

 

 

The estuary and surrounding gorse proved home to a nice selection of birds including Yellowhammer and Linnet but the star was obviously the King Eider.

 

We travelled back into Aberdeen for a snack and returned later that evening and wondered would this be of interest to those that attend the mid-week Group - as potential additional outings - or could we start a public transport birding group?!