Review of 2011

In total 227 species were seen in the UK in 2011 (2010 -226). Of this figure 9 were lifers and allowed me to break the 'magic 400' barrier in the UK.

January started very cold with hard frosts and most of my time was spent at local reservoirs including Hogganfield where an adult Med Gull was seen:

Trips further afield included Tyninghame where 5 Shorelarks were seen including this one:

January was also characterised by large numbers of Waxwing in and around Cambuslang. Another highlight was my first garden record of Brambling.

February's longer days encouraged trips further afield including Loch Ryan and Loch Ken. Best bird was closer to home in the form of a 3rd Winter Iceland Gull in the Strathclyde Park Gull roost. This photo was taken in near darkness:

March saw a trip through to Ruddens Point in Fife where the wintering Surf Scoter was seen distantly. Both Slavonian & Red Necked Grebe were also seen. On the same day Elie produced 14 Pale Bellied Brent Geese:

March also produced my 1st Spring migrants of the year in the forms of several Sand Martins at Keilder where several Crossbill also showed well. Closer to home my 1st Chiffchaff was in Cambuslang on the 31st.

April brought my 1st lifer of the year when I successfully twitched a drake Black Scoter off Stag Rocks in Northumberland:

Right Hand Bird

A very successful weekend was spent in the Scottish Highlands where I saw all 4 Grouse and had incredible views of Osprey at Lochindorb. Crested Tit & Scottish Crossbill were also seen.

A trip to Leighton Moss was also successful with splendid views of some of the reserve specialties including Marsh Harrier and Reed Warbler. It was also good to see several Marsh Tits. Lesser Whitethroat in the scrub close to the Allen Pool was also welcome. A confiding male Pheasant also allowed a good close up:

Caerlaverock is always a favourite of mine and a visit mid month gave great views of Barnacle Geese and ducks such as Shoveler:

May began with a trip to North East Scotland. First stop was the Ythan Estuary where amongst other things we saw the long staying King Eider and Bonapartes Gull. Moving North there were 5 Dotterels in a field at Collieston. Loch of Strathbeg was the next stop where the highlights included Corn Bunting.

At Strathbeg we debated whether to stay around on the off chance that the Common Cranes might reappear but in the end we pushed West across to Burghead Bay where we had splendid views of a White Billed Diver.

Mid month we organised a weekend in Norfolk. Following an overnight drive we were at Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire for first light and were greeted by a hunting Barn Owl.

Sunrise over Frampton Marsh

We were soon enjoying Little Ringed Plover and Avocets:

After breakfast we moved on to Weeting Heath and had distant views of Stone Curlew. Moving across the border into Suffolk to Lakenheath we had a Bittern in flight but the weather was ultimately against us and we failed to see the Golden Orioles and oly had a brief view of Hobby.

The second day was spent at Cley Marshes where we had views of Lesser Yellowlegs and Temminck's Stint. 

A visit to Musselburgh Lagoons late month provided 2 Little Stints:

 Early June provided my second tick of the year. A day off work and a drive to Hartlepool was required, as was a rather bizarre climb on to the fire escape of a house overlooking a 'doctor's' garden to see a White Throated Robin (only the 3rd record for Britain):

Mid month a visit to the Endrick Mouth produced great views of Ospreys & a male Redstart:

 Just when I thought that twitching was over until the Autumn a Juvenile American White Winged Scoter (a 1st for Britain) turned up off Murcar Golf Course in Aberdeenshire. The bird eventually showed mid afternoon in a very large Scoter flock that also included at least 3 Surf Scoter.

July was fauirly uneventful with the highlight being Green Sandpiper at Baron's Haugh:

2 weeks in August were spent with the family in Halkidiki in Greece. Although not a birding holiday, the hotel was in a rural area and it was possible to see a good range of birds including 4 different species of Shrikes and some superb European Bee Eaters.

September and indeed the whole Autumn was characterised by records of many transatlantic waders in the UK including a Long Billed Dowitcher at Baron's Haugh:

The appearance of a Sandhill Crane at St Combs in Aberdenshire in late September was my 400th bird in the UK:

 October saw my annual trip to the Scillies. The 2011 year was probably the best on the islands since 1999. Images of some of the best birds are shown below:

Another feature of 2011 was the outstanding number of records of Pallid Harrier in the UK, including 1 in Ayrshire at Garnock Floods in late October.

November continued the American Wader theme when a Greater Yellowlegs turned up at Hauxley in Northumberland mid month:

Accompanied by a Grey Phalarope !

The month of December was quiet apart from the appearance of good numbers of Tundra Bean & White Fronted Geese in the northern half of the UK. There was at least 29 of the former near Bishopton mid month.

Another Day of Crap Weather

Another day of God awful weather. Blustery showers in the morning, light awful, main beam headlights on on the way back from Heritage Loch at 10:45 am.

The aforementioned location produced 27 Lapwings today. SF all else, even the garden feeders are empty. Thinking about twitching "the Western" in Norfolk on 2nd/3rd Jan...................... will the wife let me ?

Stormy Weather

Another gale was forecast for today & that's exactly what we got. My run round the Heritage Loch was really hard work in the high wind. I however, noted C15 Lapwings sheltering from the elements on the South bank.

Goosing (Or Not) at Slamannan

After my run round the Heritage Loch in the morning I spent some time looking through c100 Gulls that had come over from Cathkin Tip. An adult Great Black Backed was the pick of the bunch.

After dropping Rachel in EK in the early afternoon I went over to Slamannan to see if I could get a year tick in the form of Taiga Bean Goose, 157 of them had been reported from close to Hillend Farm c1 mile North of the village. Not an area I know. Could not find the birds, could not even find Hillend Farm. I really should try looking up Streetmap before I go ! Probably if I had parked in the school and looked across the fields I might have had some success ? 11 Whooper Swans was the only thing of note in the entire afternoon.

Around and About

This time last year we were in the grip of a deep freeze. By complete contrast this years festive period has seen near record temperatures in some parts of the country. After a run round the Heritage Loch, my first run in over 3 weeks, well the weather has been poor. I headed over to Strathclyde Loch in the hope that the high winds over the last few days had maybe brought something in. There was an adult Pom Skua after the last blow in early December.

In truth it was all much as expected with 50 Greylag Geese, 40 Goosander and a single Great Black Backed Gull. Also lots of Cormaorant and 10-15 Goldeneye perhaps.

I drove round into the Hamilton Services & took a brief look at the Island Pond. 3 Whooper Swan were present along with small numbers of Wigeon & Gadwall. C15 Canada Geese were also present.

Onward to Hogganfield I sat in the car for about 20 minutes in the hope of seeing the 1st winter Med Gull that has been apparently 'coming to bread'. There were several people feeding the birds but no sign of 'the Med'. C15 Whoopers present with Gadwall, Goldeneye & Goosander all showing very close into the car park.

Hooded Crow in Burnside

There was a single Hooded Crow feeding on the grass close to the road in Stonelaw Woods Park this afternoon in Burnside on the South Side of Glasgow.


In all my years of living in this area I do not recollect seeing this species in this area before.

Slim Pickings on the Clyde Estuary

The lying snow and frozen ground meant that there were no Geese at all at Nether Southbar this morning. At Newshot Island things were no better. Some idiot with a camera walking onto the main area for roosting birds had seen to that !

At Ardmore Point the tide was distant and this produced c90 Lapwing in the North Bay together with good numbers of Shelduck. A flock of several hundred Wigeon & Teal loafed close to the waters edge and the Greenshank I had heard calling earlier was present with a few Redshank and a couple of Dunlin.

From the point there were perhaps 15 Great Crested Grebe but nothing really else.




Ardmore Point with Snow Covered Hills in the Distance

 

Lone Curlew

Christmas Robin