This was my 3rd visit to Dumfries & Galloway since the turn of the year, surely proving how good the birding is in this region. For once it was a bright day and although the occasional shower threatened it never came to much. The only downside was a stiff Westerly wind that at times made telescope use difficult.
Iain came over for 7:30 am and we headed off down the M77. The first stop was Turnberry where we were hopeful of a few divers, auks etc. Almost the first bird we saw was a Red Throated Diver that was just coming into Summer plumage and showed just offshore. I had refreshed my list for 2011 just a few days ago and counted 99, this was bird 100 for the year. We stopped & scoped a small flock of Greenfinches and Linnets on the upper tideline for something scarcer but we were out of luck. A Stonechat was however quickly added to the list.
We frequently scoped the sea in the hope of Divers but other than perhaps 10 Red Throated in total we were to be disappointed. We did however see several Guillemots and Shags and a few Gannets passed offshore. We spent some time in the shelter of Turnberry point scanning the rocks that were quickly becoming exposed on a falling tide. We saw up to 10 Purple Sandpiper which is always nice along with Turnstones. Small numbers of Dunlin were also seen and a small flock of Golden Plover flew past offshore.
From Turnberry Point we saw several small rafts of Eider and a few Red Breasted Merganser and Goldeneye but nothing much else. At least 1 Rock Pipit was feeding on the rocks below the Point. We walked back along the beach and as we went checked for waders. A couple of Ringed Plovers were present but it was a little disappointing not to see Sanderling.
From Turnberry we headed further South and reached the layby just North of Cairnryan for just after midday. Straight away we found Black Guillemot, indeed there were several, mostly now into Summer plumage. I located a distant Diver that I suspected was a Great Northern, but as is their want, they frequently dive and I lost it. Fortunately, it appeared to be coming towards us and in so doing I was eventually able to confirm my original suspicion.
After lunch we headed further down the loch to the Bishop Burn where then tide was now quite low but nonetheless there was a great number of birds to be seen. Most impressive was close to 1,000 Scaup strung right along the tideline. The best of the rest included 19 Pintail, Shelduck, Wigeon, Bar Tailed Godwit and 2 Great Crested Grebe. I sought some shelter behind the small building and scanned through the large numbers of Gulls that were present in the hope of a Med or perhaps the Iceland Gull that is sometimes present. However, time was short and I had to give up.
Pale Bellied Brent Goose still remained one of our target species, so we moved round to the Wig in the hope of connecting there. Time was short as I had to be back in Glasgow for no later than 5:30pm to go to Patricia's mum's 80th birthday dinner in Milngavie and so we could not devote too much time to searching. We saw 2 Long Tailed Duck and another Great Crested Grebe, but the Geese would have to wait for another day !
Sunday, 27 February 2011
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Loch Ken
My idea for today was initially County Durham to pick up Arctic Redpoll at Rainton Meadows & Ring Necked Duck at Cowpen Bewley along with Long Eared Owl at Haverton and White Winged Gulls and maybe something rarer at Seaton Common. However, I was not able to find someone to share the fuel cost and at an eye watering £ 1.30 per litre, I thought twice.
Loch Ken is much closer and there was still the prospect of scarcities such as Greenland White Front, Willow Tit etc. I left just before 7:30 am on another dull & dreary day weatherwise.
I stopped briefly at Auchenreoch Loch just West of Dumfries, but other than c200 Goosander and a single Pink Footed Goose in flight there appeared to be very little about. On checking the map I noticed that Carlingwark Loch was close by at Castle Douglas and seemed to remember Smew being reported from there but I could not honestly remember if it was recently or not. Anyway, I was soon there and sure enough a female Smew was loafing some way out:
Other than the Smew, there were a few Goldeneyes and Tufted Ducks and a single Oystercatcher. One of the local Mute Swans accompanied me almost continuously in the hope of being fed. Given my meagre rations he was out of luck.
Next stop was Loch Ken and en route 2 Red Kites were perched in road side trees and a couple of flocks of Grey Lag Geese were present in road side fields. I scanned the fields adjacient to the car park and quickly picked up some Greenland Whitefronts (19 in total). There were a good number of House Sparrows and Chaffinches around the cottage close to the road and I remember from my last visit a couple of years ago seeing Brambling here, but the best I could come up with today was Reed Bunting.
I headed on down the track towards the Reserve noting both Fieldfare & Redwing in adjacient fields. About 1/4 of a mile along there is an elevated Goose lookout point that gives a good view of surrounding fields and from there I saw a further 15 White Fronts. Two canoeists soon appeared and all the Geese flew off.
When I arrived at he car park I was aware of a couple in a Vauxhall Astra. They were obviously bird watchers but there was something about them that suggested that they wanted little to do with me, I just got a feeling about them ! I first met them at the lookout and the man kind of acknowledged my presence but the women & the son just ignored me. They came into the hide later on and completely ignored me. Most birders I meet are very pleasant but there are some that really get my goat. They obviously did me no harm but they just annoyed me and I felt like letting their bloody tyres down. Fortunately I thought better of that !
The new hide is situated in part of the woodland and overlooks a small part of what I presume is still Loch Ken. There was absolutely nothing on the loch but the feeders entice various tits and finches. I heard Willow Tit twice but could not get on to it. Nuthatch was seen several times and otherwise were very vocal. Great Spotted Woodpecker was also frequently on the feeders. All the birds scattered when Red Squirrel appeared. Several of these mammals showed extremely well on and off. A Jay was typically not seen but nevertheless could be heard screeching.
I left the hide and spent a good 30 minutes or so looking for Willow Tit without success. I clearly heard it on at least one occasion but could not pick it up.
The walk back to the car produced a fine male Hen Harrier quartering the fields. A Red Kite was in the sky close to the A75 on the way home.
Loch Ken is much closer and there was still the prospect of scarcities such as Greenland White Front, Willow Tit etc. I left just before 7:30 am on another dull & dreary day weatherwise.
I stopped briefly at Auchenreoch Loch just West of Dumfries, but other than c200 Goosander and a single Pink Footed Goose in flight there appeared to be very little about. On checking the map I noticed that Carlingwark Loch was close by at Castle Douglas and seemed to remember Smew being reported from there but I could not honestly remember if it was recently or not. Anyway, I was soon there and sure enough a female Smew was loafing some way out:
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| Redhead Smew |
Other than the Smew, there were a few Goldeneyes and Tufted Ducks and a single Oystercatcher. One of the local Mute Swans accompanied me almost continuously in the hope of being fed. Given my meagre rations he was out of luck.
Next stop was Loch Ken and en route 2 Red Kites were perched in road side trees and a couple of flocks of Grey Lag Geese were present in road side fields. I scanned the fields adjacient to the car park and quickly picked up some Greenland Whitefronts (19 in total). There were a good number of House Sparrows and Chaffinches around the cottage close to the road and I remember from my last visit a couple of years ago seeing Brambling here, but the best I could come up with today was Reed Bunting.
I headed on down the track towards the Reserve noting both Fieldfare & Redwing in adjacient fields. About 1/4 of a mile along there is an elevated Goose lookout point that gives a good view of surrounding fields and from there I saw a further 15 White Fronts. Two canoeists soon appeared and all the Geese flew off.
When I arrived at he car park I was aware of a couple in a Vauxhall Astra. They were obviously bird watchers but there was something about them that suggested that they wanted little to do with me, I just got a feeling about them ! I first met them at the lookout and the man kind of acknowledged my presence but the women & the son just ignored me. They came into the hide later on and completely ignored me. Most birders I meet are very pleasant but there are some that really get my goat. They obviously did me no harm but they just annoyed me and I felt like letting their bloody tyres down. Fortunately I thought better of that !
The new hide is situated in part of the woodland and overlooks a small part of what I presume is still Loch Ken. There was absolutely nothing on the loch but the feeders entice various tits and finches. I heard Willow Tit twice but could not get on to it. Nuthatch was seen several times and otherwise were very vocal. Great Spotted Woodpecker was also frequently on the feeders. All the birds scattered when Red Squirrel appeared. Several of these mammals showed extremely well on and off. A Jay was typically not seen but nevertheless could be heard screeching.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker - Female on the feeder |
I left the hide and spent a good 30 minutes or so looking for Willow Tit without success. I clearly heard it on at least one occasion but could not pick it up.
The walk back to the car produced a fine male Hen Harrier quartering the fields. A Red Kite was in the sky close to the A75 on the way home.
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Long Tailed Tits & Iceland Gull
The title is a bit of a contrast I know The former has been a regular on my feeder in the garden over the past few days. I put out some lumps of cheese packed into a fat ball feeder some 10 days ago. Other than Magpies nothing has really shown much interest.
I get Long Tailed Tit reasonably often in small parties but they never stay very long and have never shown any interest in any of the feeders. I have been aware that they do use feeders in some parts of the country but up until this week not with me. However, a pair have been gorging themselves, well as close to gorging as a Long Tailed Tit gets, on my cheese. And very welcome they are too.
Still good numbers of Siskin around the Cambuslang area including at least 2 on the feeders this morning.
A 3rd Winter Iceland Gull was in the roost at Strathclyde Park this afternoon. I picked it up in flight when it came in about 4:45 pm and since it was round at the Water Sports Centre side I raced round to get a better view. In almost darkness I took a record shot:
Other than that there were several Great Black Backs and increasing numbers of Lesser Black Backs. There were c20 Goldeneyes present including several displaying males.
I get Long Tailed Tit reasonably often in small parties but they never stay very long and have never shown any interest in any of the feeders. I have been aware that they do use feeders in some parts of the country but up until this week not with me. However, a pair have been gorging themselves, well as close to gorging as a Long Tailed Tit gets, on my cheese. And very welcome they are too.
Still good numbers of Siskin around the Cambuslang area including at least 2 on the feeders this morning.
A 3rd Winter Iceland Gull was in the roost at Strathclyde Park this afternoon. I picked it up in flight when it came in about 4:45 pm and since it was round at the Water Sports Centre side I raced round to get a better view. In almost darkness I took a record shot:
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| 3rd Winter Iceland Gull - in near darkness |
Other than that there were several Great Black Backs and increasing numbers of Lesser Black Backs. There were c20 Goldeneyes present including several displaying males.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Hogganfield
The 17 Whopper Swans remained and indeed nothing much had really changed since last week. 35 Teal were the commonest duck but Goldeneye were probably not all that far behind in terms of numbers. The single summer plumaged Great Crested Grebe was also still present.
A nice Drake Goosander was in close to the car park:
Goldeneyes (particularly the Drakes) are now in pristine plumage and there was a good deal of displaying going on.
A single Gadwall was present at the North end of the loch:
A nice Drake Goosander was in close to the car park:
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| Drake Goosander |
Goldeneyes (particularly the Drakes) are now in pristine plumage and there was a good deal of displaying going on.
A single Gadwall was present at the North end of the loch:
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Great Crested Grebe Back at Hogganfield
Signs of us beginning to see the end of what has been a pretty awful winter. Up until the end of December it was very cold with lots of snow and from January onwards it has just been dull and depressing.
Sunday dawned like lots of days recently i.e "dull and depressing" but to add to the mix it was also raining. I didn't even bother with the telescope far less the camera for my first look round Hogganfield for a fortnight.
On the positive side the loch was entirely ice free, last weeks gales would have seen to that, and things were now more or less back to normal with duck numbers building again. There were 40 Teal present, 10+ Pochard, C15 Goldeneye. 17 Whooper Swan and 4 Gadwall. A sure sign of Spring was the 1st returning Great Crested Grebe.
Sunday dawned like lots of days recently i.e "dull and depressing" but to add to the mix it was also raining. I didn't even bother with the telescope far less the camera for my first look round Hogganfield for a fortnight.
On the positive side the loch was entirely ice free, last weeks gales would have seen to that, and things were now more or less back to normal with duck numbers building again. There were 40 Teal present, 10+ Pochard, C15 Goldeneye. 17 Whooper Swan and 4 Gadwall. A sure sign of Spring was the 1st returning Great Crested Grebe.
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| Great Crested Grebe - 1st of 2011 |
Sunday, 30 January 2011
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.
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.
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.
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| Small flock of Barnies - part of some 3,600 on the reserve |
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| 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.
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| Tree Sparrow - 1 of at least 5 at the Visitors' Centre |
Sunday, 23 January 2011
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.
Otherwise it was the usual suspects thronged around the car park area including this Moorhen:
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.
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| 1 of 4 Pochard - 1st for a while |
Otherwise it was the usual suspects thronged around the car park area including this Moorhen:
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| Moorhen - perched on a road cone wedged in the ice |
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| Feral Greylag Geese - still present |
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