Blackcap Again !............

.............. and as part of my Big Garden Birdwatch, a female feeding on cotoneaster berries.

Earlier I had been round a largely frozen Heritage Loch. 25 Lapwing & a Buzzard were the only notables.

Loch Ryan

Another bitter day and despite being hopeful of some decent light it stayed gloomy all day.

Started off at Dipple Shore in the hope of Great Northern and Black Throated Divers but only managed a single Red Throated.

Stopped at various points between Girvan and Ballantrae to scan for Divers but had no more than 5 Great Northern in total.

Loch Ryan was baltic, especially Wig Bay and it was good to shelter in the car and scan. I saw most expected things in small numbers including Slav Grebe, Common Scoter & Razorbill. Good numbers of Scaup on Loch Ryan, c100 Pale Bellied Brent Geese showed well at The Wig and a bit flock of Twite was here also. Common waders included this Bar Tailed Godwit:

Peregrine

So far we have missed the snow. Nonetheless, with the windchill it is bitter.

Had a quick look in at the Heritage Loch today. Best was a Peregrine, rushing through and playing havoc with the local Wood Pigeons & Jackdaws.

Otherwise uneventful, with only a slight increase in the numbers of Tufted Duck to c50. Lots of Gulls again today including some Argentatus but still no Iceland.

Heritage & Hogganfield Lochs

The threat of snow put me off going any distance today. I had hoped to go through to Musselburgh but on peeking out the curtains at 6:30 this morning some light snow was falling and that decided me to stay local. In truth the snow came to nothing other than rain & I could have gone.

After catching up with some chores, I went for a walk round Heritage at 1 o'clock. Apart from a good view of the Kingfisher, that has been frequenting the west end of late, there was little of interest. The Lapwing flock was in an adjacent field and I counted 32, a considerable increase on recent counts. Tufted Duck numbers continue to be low with no more than 25 birds.

After Heritage I went over to Hogganfield in the hope of perhaps connecting with yesterday's reported Iceland Gull. On the way there were about 10 Waxwing in some trees next to the M8. A single Great Crested Grebe was at least a year tick and I counted 22 Whooper Swans that had been absent when I last visited in late December.

Great Crested Grebe - 1st one now returned to Hogganfield

Otters

Took Louise along to the Linn Park in Glasgow to use the new digital camera she got at Christmas. We were quickly distracted by 2 Otters fishing in the Cart only yards in front of us. Best views I've ever had. Unfortunately, I didn't have the big lens.

Also had a Kingfisher calling.

Came home via the Heritage Loch. Lots of Gulls but nothing of interest. 1 Pochard, 2 Goosander, 1 Little Grebe & 17 Lapwing present.

River Cart at Linn Park

Kingfisher

A quick walk round the Heritage Loch today produced  a Kingfisher, only my second at the site.

Other notables included 14 fly through Waxwing, 3 Greater Black Backed Gulls, 40 Tufted Duck, 2 Goosander and 15 Lapwing.

Goosing in Dumfries & Galloway

Barnacle Geese - Loaningfoot

As above

Todd's Canada Goose - Loaningfoot

Greenshank & Spotted Redshank.

I headed down the Clyde estuary this morning on another overcast day. Newshot Island was quiet with only small numbers of duck predominately Teal with a few Wigeon and Goldeneye.

On returning to the car I noticed that 2 Spotted Redshank had been reported from Erskine Harbour less than half and hour earlier. A quick drive round and sure enough there they were with a small group of Redshank and a single Greenshank on the far bank.

Whilst there had been very little wind at Erskine, less than 10 miles down the road at Parklea it was pretty windy with frequent rain........ typical Greenock ! 5 Greenshank, some Eider and a single Black Guillemot were notable.

Okay time to brighten up this blog post with a couple of images (even if they weren't taken today!).

Greenshank

Spotted Redshank

An Early Start

I was at Baron's Haugh first thing this morning to make an early start to my 2013 year list. The visit included going right along to Carbarns and going back through Addersgill Wood.

Best birds included Raven, Jay and Whopper Swan. On the downside I failed to find Nuthatch.

Later in the day I saw a small flock of Waxwing from the M8 motorway around Kinning Park. Finished the day on 53 species.