Mersehead

A dull grey Sunday Morning in Glasgow at the end of January. Andy Murray was in the final of the Australian Open and I contemplated watching this but instead plumped for some birding.

Caerlaverock was my original intension as I headed down the M74 but that got changed to Mersehead for some reason. It was quite foggy as I approached Dumfries but thankfully by the time I got through it had cleared.

I stopped at Carsethorn and scoped the merse from the car park. It was cold, it never got above about 2 degrees all day, with a light south west wind. The tide was on the ebb and good numbers of waders including Knot, Grey Plover & Bar Tailed Godwit were present. Just beyond the tideline, 10 Scaup, far fewer than I seem to remember from my younger days, were accompanied by c20 Pintail.

I carried on to Mersehead, and was immediately met by a small flock of Barnacle Geese in fields just West of the approach road. Small numbers of Tree Sparrow were present close to the visitors' centre.

Small flock of Barnies - part of some 3,600 on the reserve

1 of the 2 Leucistic birds present

The floods were largely frozen, but nevertheless held good numbers of duck including Pintail, Shoveler and Wigeon. There were at least 3 Hen Harriers reported to be around, but despite searching I could not locate any. The hedgerows and surrounding farmland held good numbers of finches including a flock of at least 100 Chaffinches. Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and Linnet were all seen.

Tree Sparrow - 1 of at least 5 at the Visitors' Centre

All fairly Predictable

Haven't been out for a couple of weeks. The weather at the weekend has been particularly bad, not by way of snow or particularly low temperatures, but dull and wet.

I had originally intended going to Hogganfield yesterday morning but woke to fog & frost and so decided to cement the front step that was a bit wobbly and had a big gap between the two lower steps. Cement and freezing temperatures don't really go, but nevertheless it seems to have gone off.

Spent a bit of time yesterday watching the feeders, and early afternoon had Bullfinch, Goldfinch & Siskin along with the usual Chaffinches & Greenfinches. A Fieldfare spent a good 10 minutes devouring one of the apples I had put out. Waxwings are still about, I heard at least 1 through the fog whilst I was out doing my cementing. There were a further 30 in Burnside at Tesco late afternoon.

Hogganfield was fairly predictable. The loch is still predominately frozen although the ice now doesn't look too thick. Ducks are beginning to return with at least 6 Goldeneye and 7 Teal today.



1 of 4 Pochard - 1st for a while





















Otherwise it was the usual suspects thronged around the car park area including this Moorhen:

Moorhen - perched on a road cone wedged in the ice

Feral Greylag Geese - still present

Needle in a Haystack

Spent some time down at Doonfoot with the family on Sunday afternoon. Very little snow once you get down into Ayrshire.

A Lapland Bunting had been seen on and off in the stubble field just South of the car park with Skylarks. Very large stubble field, several hundered Sklarks and Linnets and Reed Buntings. Rearrange into a well know phrase or saying....................."haystack a in needle". Needless to say I did not see the bird. Unless you are very lucky I would say the only way of finding this bird would be when/if it calls.

Nonetheless, we had a pleasant walk along the beach seeing nothing much. A Yellowhammer flew over and there was c25 Dunlin on the beach. Some images:



C25 Dunlin



Redshank

Drake Teal

Drale Teals

Brambling - Garden Tick

I was supposed to be catching up with the ironing on Sunday morning, but in practice I was frequently distracted by what was going on outside at the feeders.

Lots of Chaffinches and the like but lo and behold ...................... a Brambling, my 1st record for the garden, or indeed any garden I have had. A female, it didn't stay long, but nonetheless............. a result !

Long Tailed Tit also present this morning.

More Snow !

A further 2 inches of the white stuff hit Glasgow last night. As a result, and on consulting the forecast, my proposed trip to Caerlaverock with Iain tomorrow is off.

A lunchtime visit to Hogganfield was uneventful. The loch is still completely frozen except for the small area in front of the car park. The usual stuff around but Goldeneye, Teal & Shoveler all departed.

In the afternoon I went for a look through the Gulls at Strathclyde Loch and in particular in the hope of connecting with the Iceland Gull that has been present since just before Christmas.

Had no luck with the Iceland but several Great Black Backed and "Argentatus" Herring Gulls were present. The River Calder flows into this side of Strathclyde Loch and helps to keep some of the loch ice free. As a result there were good numbers of Ducks present including both Goldeneye & Pochard.

Larking Around in East Lothian

My 2nd last day of freedom before returning to work on Thursday saw me at Tyninghame for c10am. Weather was dull with a brisk South West wind making it cold.

The 5 Shorelarks were eventually found. Its amazing how well camouflaged they are. I basically blundered into them, only realising their presence by their call.

Shorelark - 1 of 5 present

Apart from the Shorelarks & c40 Twite Tyninghame was pretty birdless.

By lunchtime I moved round to Aberlady and spent a good time without success searching for the drake Green Winged Teal that has been present since around Christmas. The tide was high and the creek was well filled with water and many birds were present including large numbers of Shelduck, Wigeon and Teal together with 6 Pintail and a few Eider. Large numbers of waders included Oystercatcher, Bar Tailed Godwit and Grey Plover.

In fading light, Longniddry Bents provided my first Long Tailed Duck, Velvet Scotter and Red Breasted Merganser of 2011. The rocks below the car park held a large roosting flock of Knot, 1 Golden Plover and a few Turnstone.

Med Gull

Today was a bit brighter and my original plan of taking down the Christmas tree was shelved in favour of Hogganfield.

Highlight was catching up with the adult Med Gull that has been seen on and off at Hogganfield since perhaps November but up until today I had failed to connect with. I located it with Black Headed Gulls at the small burn mouth that runs into the loch near the playground. It soon however, flew on to the ice right in front of me. I wish all birds would be so accommodating.

Spot the Med

Soon flew on to the ice

The single Pink Footed Goose was again in with the Greylags and the 1 Teal from yesterday had increased to 2. A drake Shoveler hasd returned:

Drake Shoveler

Waxwings still around today with a flock of about 20 in trees on the East Kilbride Road just above the Cathkin roundabout. 

Another Grey Day

The slow thaw continues. A single Teal had returned to Hogganfield. A Common Buzzard flew north mobbed by 2 Crows. Waxwing again in the fir tree adjacient to the garden. Some images from Hogganfield. Low light, high ISO, usual excuses:

Fieldfare in leaf litter

Same bird

A bit closer

Teal had returned

New Year

Another dull day, but lots of birds visiting the garden and its immediate area. I see and hear Lesser Redpoll fairly frequently flying over the garden but today one was on the seed feeder, albeit fairly briefly. Waxwings continue to be around with c30 in trees adjacient to the garden. This one digiscoped badly from Louise's window:

Fuzzy Waxwing

Other notables in the garden today included a Fieldfare and both Siskin & Goldfinch:

Siskin - c5 present today

Goldfinch