First Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff

Singing in Cambuslang in the early evening.

Bit of a Bloater

The clocks went forward on Sunday which means that it is now light until about 8pm. Over the Winter I have got into the habit of a handfull of biscuits or such like after my dinner followed up by sat in front of the TV or PC. As a result I am a bit of a bloater getting.

Tonight was different. A walk around Cathkin and I feel much better for it. I wonder how long I can keep it up before I lapse back into my usual routine. No seriously, I have to do something, I have no intention of going to Greece in the Summer and looking like a beached whale. Excuse me sir can you come off the beach, the tide wants to come in.

One of the reasons for Cathkin was that I saw a report of 4 Wheatears there over the weekend. They appeared to have gone tonight although I am hopeful of seeing some there over the next few days or weeks if I keep at it, because I've had them there in previous Springs.

Nonetheless, despite dipping on Wheatears I did see 6 Tree Sparrows, 2 Yellowhammer, a Reed Bunting and a Stock Dove at the feeding site and I flushed 3 Snipe from the edge of Windlaw Marsh. A Buzzard and a male Kestrel were also notable.

Goshawk Lives Up To Its Reputation

I like to get out birding whenever I can. Often I am quite keen to go a distance, the idea of driving for 3 hours before it even gets light seems to be part of the attraction ! So when the weather is decent and the opportunity arises when Patricia is off I need to go. If I don't and waste my time pottering about the house or such like, I get annoyed and chastise myself. I think it's all stems from a condition called repetitive compulsive disorder. I think all serious birders suffer from this ?

I had been contemplating where to go for several days and with no 'big' birds anywhere to draw me in one particular direction, I was in a bit of a quandary. Speyside ?. In March ? Not a good idea, it'll still be Winter up there. Marshside ? Its about a 4 hour drive ! Probably not worth it just for 'just' a Lesser Scaup. What about Leighton Moss ? Good chance of something like a Garganey and there's bound to be some other early migrants. That's fine I'll set my alarm for 4am.

Indeed I did set my alarm, but there is a difference between setting my alarm and getting up. I fell back to sleep, and next thing I know it's half past SEVEN ! Too late to do Lancashire justice. So it's going to be a day pottering about the house is it ? No, time for Plan B.

A quick look at the weather forecast for the Hexham area and by 8:30 am (very late) I'm on my way to Keilder in Northumberland in the hope of Goshawk. Now Goshawk know I'm coming, I'm convinced of that. Despite a reasonable forecast, they're very good in my experience of making it rain or something similar so that they don't have to display and I don't see them. And when I got to Keilder................. you guessed it, it starts to rain.

However, things start quite well with a Green Woodpecker calling and what's that  I hear ? Oh yes, a Crossbill and another one, very good.

First stop is the hide at Bakethin Reservoir, good for Mandarin Duck 2 years ago. Nope, none today. Several Goldeneye, Teal and Goosander though. My first Spring migrant, in the form of a Sand Martin soon appears, indeed there were several parties during the day. By now the rain has stopped. Time to try for Goshawk further along the Reservoir.

I spend the next couple of hours scanning the skies and tree tops on the other side of the Reservoir. Several Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk were present but no sign of Goshawk. In truth the weather isn't great and it's quite cool and I was not altogether surprised there is a no show. During my vigil I am frequently entertained by lots of Siskin and the occasional Crossbill:

Male Crossbill

And Again

I spend the remainder of the afternoon searching in vain for Goshawk. Another Sparrowhawk shows well and I see plenty of Buzzards. A Great Spotted Woodpecker is also notable. By 5pm I have had enough and head for home. Disappointing not to see the target species, but hey it's better than staying in the house !

1st Frog Spawn

I have a garden pond. It is not a great pond, you can see the plastic casing round the top, nor is it very big. If it ever leaks I will replace it with something much bigger. Nonetheless, it has been in situ for some years now and the water is always clear, so I must be doing something right.

The birds regularly use it for bathing and drinking and it frequently has frogs who regularly deposit frog spawn in the Spring. I have been keeping my eye on it regularly over the past few days for just such an event and today :

Frogs and Spawn

Indeed there were 3 Frogs present at the time I took this. Later on Louise reckoned she had 4.

Still Awaiting Migrants

The 20th of March is still very early in this part of the world for Spring migrants and indeed there were none in evidence at Hogganfield this morning.

As regards the winter visitors, only 2 Whooper Swan now remain but there are still double figure numbers of Goldeneye. Other notable ducks included 19 Teal.

The Great Crested Grebes continue to display and there were at least 3 birds present this morning. At least 3 Herons are well on with their nests in the trees on the island. 3 Oystercatcher were on the mud at the North end of the loch.

At the North end in the marsh, Reed Buntings have now returned and will presumably be nesting soon. A Roe Deer was also present in the marsh this morning:



Roe Deer





































At the small pond close to the swing park, a single drake Gadwall was present and appeared to be paired with a female Mallard:



Confused Gadwall



Drake Green Winged Teal

After another bout of snow in the Glasgow area yesterday, there was very little evidence of its presence this morning. Unfortunately, nor was there any evidence of cans of Stella Artois on the M74 following the major spillage from a lorry 2 days ago.

It was a bright morning at Caerlaverock as I arrived around 9:30 am. The approach fields had a big flock of both Barnacles & Pink Feet. I wondered if the latter had spent the winter in Dumfries & Galloway or could they be displacements from further South and merely using Caerlaverock as a pit stop ?

I scruitinised the feeders at the car park and a Tree Sparrow was present. My first stop was the Folly Pond where a Drake Green Winged Teal or hybrid Teal had been present for some time. I could not see it and indeed there were few Teal at all. Several Shovelers were close to the hide performing their circular feeding routine with their heads frequently below the surface making them dam difficult to photograph. I persisted :



Drake Shoveler



















Drake Shoveler - just about to put its head in again !





























C5 Black Tailed Godwits were also notable.

I headed in the direction of the 11 am Swan Feed and helped by the fact that the reserve was the quietest I have ever seen it on a Sunday I was distracted by good numbers of House Sparrows, Reed Buntings & Yellowhammers present in the track side bushes.



Yellowhammer




























The Swan feed was only attended by me and one other and the warden pointed out a hybrid Tufted Duck/Scaup that was present.

I spent some time banging my head off the roof of one of the small green hides that line the Avenue down to the Tower in the hope of some decent Barnacle Geese shots. Despite my discomfort the results were not great:



Barnacle Geese























A large flock of Barnacles were in the flooded fields to the left of the Avenue Tower. I attempted to go through them for something of interest, but the flock, that numbered several thousand, appeared very jittery and frequently took to the sky, wheeled around and settled again. I could not see what was disturbing them, but it is an impressive sight and sound to behold nonetheless.

I scanned the distant salt marsh in the hope of Peregrine but all I saw were Buzzards.

On the way back towards the Whooper Pond, a Moorhen posed in the sunlight:



Moorhen






















And Again



























Back at the Folly Pond I found the Green Winged Teal. I presume the indication of some sort of scapular stripe perhaps indicates the possibility of a hybrid ?


Green Winged Teal ?




































Some other images from the Folly Pond:

Oystercatcher






















Shelduck - Drake






















Eurasian Teal





















Wigeon Drake























And Again



Falling Out of a Tree

I am on presently on holiday from work, catching up on some jobs around the house. This morning the task was to trim the Ash tree in the front garden. It needs to be trimmed annually, otherwise it gets really big and interferes with the phone lines.

As a merrily sawed and lopped in the tree tops, my attention was drawn to "Gyp, Gyp Gyp" ............. bloody hell a Crossbill. I watched it fly off in the direction of Burnside.

Next job was spreading a tonne of red chips in the driveway. The man delivered them and as the crane (on the lorry) not a bird, lowered them into position, 2 Buzzards drifted over the Avenue. There are plenty of Buzzards in the surrounding area but I don't see them too often over the house.

A well earned cup of tea mid afternoon coincided with Fieldfare calling from trees in a neighbouring garden.