First birds of the day were at least three Mistle Thrushes singing in the darkness between Moulin and Crookston. Heading to Glasgow, a glorious red sunset was the perfect start to what proved to be a full day outdoors under relatively sunny skies.
Linlithgow Loch was partly frozen and full of birds. Numbers of Cormorant, Great crested Grebe and Goldeneye seemed particularly high. Most notable sighting however was a Kingfisher which took off from vegetation on the bank and sped away across the loch.
Heading past Bonnytounside, a Buzzard which took off from a shelter belt had a red tag on its left wing (and possibly a white tag on its right). Two other Buzzards followed as it flew off.
Dropping down into Bo'ness, two Tree Sparrows were among mixed passerines at the covered reservoir near Bo'mains.
A walk along the coast in the direction of Kinneil found the exposed mud full of birds. Most notable were hundreds of Teal and around a hundred each of Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit. Also intriguing was a set of parallel tracks across the mud which could have been made by a seal.
Back at Linlithgow, fifty Starlings were singing in tall trees and the regular Wood Duck was preening on a log (photo below by cjm).




The final bird of the day was a Raven croaking from Pollok Wood.