30 Jan 10 Strathclyde Loch

The weather was cold and crisp with light winds. The temperature was 3.5 degrees at 2pm.

Most of the duck were concentrated in the bay where the Calder burn runs in. There were 190 Tufted Duck, 89 Goldeneye, 48 Cormorant and 30 Pochard. Other species included at least 3 Little Grebe and C 20 Goosander.

Gulls were present in good numbers and included several Great Black Backed. However, despite constant searching I could not find any white winged gulls.

Pochard had returned in good numbers after the freeze:

30 Jan 10 Cathkin

The morning dawned cold and bright and there was a light dusting of frozen snow in places. The temperature at 9am was -1.5.

The area around the dump held 2 Tree Sparrows and c10 Yellowhammers and c10 Chaffinches. A Reed Bunting  was also calling. A Great Tit was showing an interest in one of the nestboxes.

I failed to refind the Brambling of last Sunday but the feeding area still held C30 Yellowhammers with smaller numbers of House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting. There was up to 10 Tree Sparrow present and a single Greenfinch.

A Skylark called overhead and a Snipe was flushed from the edge of Windlaw Marsh. Another Snipe was heard in flight.

A female Kestrel regularly hunts over the braes:

Up to 3 Common Buzzard were seen this morning:

No sign of any Stock Dove this morning but the usual Woodpigeons were present:

Brambling joins the Yellowhammers at Cathkin

The morning of Sunday the 24 th of January was dull with drizzle at times but at least yesterday's fog had gone and visability was much improved. Winds were light but it was still cold.

The feeding area at the Windlaw end still held Yellowhammer with at least 50 still present. Chattering House Sparrows could clearly be heard and there were still at least 5 Tree Sparrows present. The usual small numbers of Reed Bunting and Chaffinch added to the mix. New in however, was a Brambling that I picked out briefly briefly before the flock moved to another feeding site.

17 Stock Dove flew over in a single flock and I had already seen 2 or 3 before so the site is probably hosting over 20 birds at present.

Both Buzzard and Kestrel showed well. There was a Heron in Windlaw Marsh.

23 Jan 10 Lancashire

Marton Mere - Blackpool

A 4am start & following a coffee refuel at Lancaster Services I was on site at Marton Mere for 8am. The weather was damp and foggy with little or now wind.

Pink Footed Geese could be heard overhead and lots of Fieldfare chacked from nearby fields. A possible Water Rail flew into cover and a Sparrowhawk shot over the reed bed. Soon the fog lifted, albeit briefly and 2 Long Eared Owls showed reasonably well in the roost area.

Partially obscured LEO:

A Cetti's Warbler was heard at least once in the area around the viewing platform but despite searching the reed edges for over an hour from this location I could not find Bittern.

Lots of widfowl on the mere, particularly Teal and including Gadwall, Shoveler and Wigeon. Water Rail was heard several times.

15 Goldfinces showed well in the grounds of the Holiday Park.

Martin Mere Wildfowl & Wetlands Centre- Burscough

Visibility was hampered by the weather conditions but nonetheless Martin Mere was very busy, so much so that the main car park was full and I had to park in the overflow.

The sheer numbers of ducks, geese and swans on the various scrapes do indeed provide quite a spectacle. There was an estiated 1,200 Whooper Swans on the reserve together with  c8,000 Pink Feet. Most of the latter stay off the reserve during the day but a few could be seen in one of the far away fields. Other wildfowl of interest included a hybrid Ruddy Shelduck/Mallard.

Lots of Pintail. Some come very close to the hide:

Whooper Swans were present in large numbers:

No sign however of the 4 reported Bewick Swans.

Over 1,000 Shelduck were present:

The fog restricted the opportunity for birds of prey and consequently only 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Buzzard were seen. I could not locate any Barn Owls despite frequent scanning of the rough field edges on the perimeter of the mere. Waders included 17 Ruff and at least 50 Black Tailed Godwit.

Other birds of note included 2 Tree Sparrow.

17 Jan 10 Strathclyde Loch

A family walk round the loch, the weather was bright and dry and the temperature was c6 degrees wth no wind. The walk up the Crest Rd produced nothing of interest until the north east end where c20 Siskin were present in the alders.

A skein of c150 Pink Feet flew high over the east side towards Bellshill. The family paused at the swings for a time and this allowed me a look at the river mouth. Keith Hoey was on the adult Iceland Gull - my first for the year and it showed well on the ice even with binoculars.

The Calder burn mouth area was largely ice free and returning ducks had congregated in good numbers. There were lots of Tufted Ducks with smaller numbers of Goldeneye and at least 1 drake Pochard. Little grebe was also present.

Drake Goosander on the ice in front of the south west car park:

16 Jan 10 Cathkin

Most of the snow has now melted and last night's near gale had abated to a light breeze by early afternoon.

A Skylark was over the Braes as well as a hunting male Kestel. Few birds evident until I reached the bird feeding site at the Windlaw end where someone has put up 3 nestboxes, presumably for the Tree Sparrows.

The feed is continuing to attract large numbers of birds. At one stage the whole flock of Yellowhammers took to the sky and I estimated 70 birds. They were accompanied by perhaps 10 Tree Sparrow and 20 House Sparrow with a few Reed Bunting and 2 or 3 Chaffinches.

Yellowhammer - at the seed that is being put out:

House Sparrow - a scarce bird in suburban South Lanarkshire these days: 

Stock Doves continue to be evident amongst  the Wood Pigeons and 4 were seen today.

Windlaw Marsh is now completely open but no sign of any Snipe or indeed anything else. Presumably eveything left during the freeze and has yet to come back.

Both Linnet and Skylark were heard at the Castlemilk end.

Effects of the Freeze

The big freeze continues unabated and this is turning up birds in people's gardens that would not normally be there.

My garden has had surprisingly few birds with only Redwing & Fieldfare and Grey Wagtail being of particular note. However, the neighbour across the road had a Woodcock in the garden during mid January:

Picture courtesy of Annette Logue.

04 Jan 2010 Cathkin & Strathclyde Loch

Cathkin in the morning was still snowbound and very cold, it was registering -5c at 10am.

A Kestrel hovered over the braes and several Fieldfares flew between their various feeding sites. 2 Heron attempted to feed in the Windlaw marsh area.

Good numbers of Yellowhammer at the Windlaw Farm end possibly up to 50 present and they were accompanied by at least 10 Reed Buntings and at least 6 Tree Sparrow. 2 House Sparrows and up to 5 Chaffinches were also present. 3 or 4 Stock Dove were seen with the many Wood Pigeons.

Up to 50 Yelowhammers present:

Tree Sparrow is a new species for me for this site :

Reed Bunting c10 present :

After fighting with Morrisons I went for a look at Strathclyde Loch in the mid to late afternoon. Gull numbers were considerably down. This I assume is caused by the almost complete ice on the loch making them more exposed to foxes. Anyway a Juvenile Glaucous Gull flew in at 3:20 pm and bathed and preened before roosting on the ice.

03 January 2010 Strathclyde Loch

Another night of freezing temperatures, it was still -4c at 11am, the loch was further frozen and the area of water at the Calder burn mouth further reduced.

Dave Abrahams got me on the 2w Ring Billed Gull but attempts at photopgraphy were in vain. I find the view at distance through the camera difficult & whilst I thought I was taking the bird, the images when I got home only showed Herring Gull !

This is what I should have photographed:

2 w Ring Billed Gull
(Pic courtesy of Keith Hoey)









True to form the Ring Billed quickly departed.

I was finding the piercing cold uncomfortable, but an obliging Redpoll provided some comfort:

I moved round to the Water Sports Centre but there was little in the way of wildfowl, the river being almost frozen. A few tits. long tailed & coal fed in the bases of the trees overhanging the river. The intense cold prompted an early finish.

02 January 2010 Heritage Loch & Strathclyde Loch

Everything still frozen. Not many gulls on Heritage Loch.

Mallard on small bit of open water at the Heritage Loch:

Moorhen on ice :

Lots of Gulls (and frequent blizzards) at Strathclyde Loch. Gulls included Great Black Backed & Lesser Black Backed but no sign of Ring Billed or Iceland.

31 December 2009 Heritage Loch & Strathclyde Park

Very little at the Heritage Loch in the morning but at Strathclyde Park in the afternoon the 2nd Winter Ring Billed Gull showed for about 15 mins on the ice at the Calder mouth. An adult Iceland Gull was on the loch.

Ring Billed Gull 2W- my 4th in Britain:

Photos courtesy of Keith Hoey

30 December 09 Heritage Loch

No sign of reported adult Iceland Gull.

Winter sun at the Heritage Loch:

Picture courtesy of Annette Logue.

29 December 2009 Strathclyde Park

It has been below zero now for about a fortnight and snow has covered the ground for much of that time. Strathclyde Loch was largely frozen and large numbers of gulls were congregated on the ice. A Kingfisher was seen well from the bridge over the Clyde

12-13 December 2009 Haweswater

Patricia & me stayed a night at the Haweswater Hotel. Tawny Owl could be heard overnight and in the morning from the breakfast table a Nuthatch regularly visited the feeders in the garden. A red squirrel was also on the feeder.

Haweswater Hotel :

















View from the bedroom window: