28 Feb 10 Lochwinnoch

I don't always appreciate Lochwinnoch because often there aren't many birds around, but today was different. I went because the weather was poor and I thought that perhaps I could do some photography from the hides. The Glasgow area was hit again by snow during the week and there was still a fair covering today. It was bitter cold and generally dull with occasional wintry showers.

I saw the drake Smew that has been present for several days from the Wilson hide. However, it was distant and I only managed some record shots:

Other wildfowl of note included small numbers of Teal & Wigeon and a few Goldeneye. There were also severeral Goosander:

A Heron was showing well in front of the Aird Meadow Hide:

Back at the Visitor's Centre a male Great Spotted Woodpecker showed well in the trees to the right and later it was on a feeding log in front of the Centre. Several Long Tailed Tits were on the various feeders and other specicies of note were Reed Bunting and 2 Fieldfares. A Buzzard was perched on post in front of the Centre:

A male Hen Harrier had been reported earlier over the Aird Meadow but despite scanning around it failed to reappear.

I spent some time in the photography hide in the early part of the afternoon and took some of the birds coming to the feeders:

2008 Drake Lesser Scaup back at Hogganfield ?

I went to Hogganfield at lunch time on the 23 rd of Feb hoping to photograph the Lesser Scaup that had been first reported on the 22nd. However, work was being carried out on the island and all the ducks were scattered to the far end of the loch.

I found the bird quite quickly but it was distant and it dived and I lost it. Given I was on a lunch break and had limited time, photography will need to wait for another day. The 2008 bird lingered for months and finallly departed on 31 Dec 08.

 Is this the same bird, has it got in with the Tufted Ducks and returned with them ?

21 Feb 10 Caerlaverock

Another cold and crisp day in mid February with little or no wind.

My first stop was the Whooper Pond and this coincided with the 11 am feed. The drake American Wigeon was showing down to a few feet of the windows:

Drake American Wigeon:

This could be the same bird that was present at Lochmaben in November 09.

The Whooper Pond was a hive of feeding activity particularly the many Whooper Swans and lots of Wigeon. 2 or 3 Gadwall remained at the back of the pond and a single drake Pochard was present.

The feeder to the right of the feeder held 1 Tree Sparrow and the hedgerows around the centre had both Yellowhammer and Reed Bunting and lots of House Sparrows.

The new Salcot hide is very impressive and a big contrast to its very dilapidated predecessor. A Peregrine was perched very distant on a post and a single Pink Footed Goose and several Grey Plover were highlights. There was also the odd group of Barnacle Geese:

Typical view from the Salcot Hide :

Teal showed well in the pool to the left of the Salcot Hide:

The hides from the track back toward the centre from Salcot gave great views of Barnacle Geese:

The next stop was the Avenue Tower where a splendid female Hen Harrier gave great views as it quartered the merse in the afternoon sunshine. Several Roe Deer were present and a fox was seen distantly.

15 Feb 10 Cathkin

A mid afternoon visit, the wind was light westerly but it was cold with a temperature of only 6 degrees.

A female Kestrel was on top of a bush adjacient to the dump and another, a male, was also present near the Carmunock end. There were now fewer birds at the feeding site but Yellowhammer numbers were still perhaps c35. There was also c25 House Sparrows and at least 3 Tree Sparrows. Reed Buntings numbered 15-20 and c10 Chaffinches remained.

A Buzzard was seen high above the aear towards Cathkin Marsh and a further 2 were being mobbed by corvids in the Big Wood. Both Redpoll and Siskin were present. The latter was seen in flight and the former heard. A Heron was in the Windlaw Marsh.

Yellowhammers still remain in good numbers:

Blackcap in Garden

There was a male Blackcap in the garden on the morning of 15 Feb 10. It showed briefly in the Flowering Cherry at 9am. Mid February & March account for most of the records of this species in the garden.

12 Feb 2010 Strathclyde Loch

The overnight frosts of recent nights and temperatures again as low as minus 5 meant that some of the loch between the island and the shore was partly frozen. I spent about 1 and 1/4 hours mid to late afternoon it was fairly bright and the winds were light.

The drake Scaup that had been reported as far back as last Sunday was quickly found. It was slightly larger than the accompanying Tufted and this to me ruled out a Lesser that had also been reported last Sunday.

Drake Scaup:

Good numbers of Goldeneye remained and I counted at least 103. Many of the males were in display mode.

Various Goldeneye:

A single female Pochard was with the Goldeneye and there was at least 15 Cormorants and a similar number of Goosander. Several Little Grebes were also present.

07 Feb 2010 Cathkin

A murky cold morning. The temperature at 10 am was 4 degrees. The winds were light. The walk through the beech wood towards the dump produced 2 Treecreepers and a Bullfinch. It's good to see small birds such as the former surviving after all the freezing weather that there has been.

A large flock of Yellowhammers flew into the hedges that border the dump and I counted 93. There were a further 20 between the dump and the feeding area and further birds at the feeding area brought the total to c140. This is a significant increase on my previous estimate of 70 in Dec/Jan.

I could only find 2-3 Tree Sparrow at the feeding site and there were perhaps 20 House Sparrow and c15 Reed Buntings. There was also c5 Chaffinches.

C110 Pink Footed Geese flew over in a north easterly direction, a new species for me for the site.

Pink Footed Geese:

Stock Dove continue to be evident with C5 birds today. I flushed a single Snipe from the Windlaw Marsh which also held a Heron. More Skylark were around today with presumably breeding birds returning to the Braes.