The area around Crookston Castle was alive with birds (as it often seems to be) today. Finches were particularly well represented with Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch and Goldfinch all present. Blackbirds were particularly numerous. A Kingfisher caught a fish and ate it near the confluence of the Brock Burn and the White Cart. Woodpigeon, Wren and Robin were all heard in song. A few Waxcaps were still to be found on the edge of the castle moat and of the two ancient apple trees up there, one was completely bare but the other still retaining most of its fruit. 

Pied Wagtail is one of my favourite birds at any time of the year but especially in colder weather like today's when one on the roof of the Cardonald shops and another on the "Armadillo" amphitheatre warmed up the day.

The balance in the numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls seems to have shifted in favour of the latter species. However Black-headed Gull remains the most common Gull species.

Birds on Stanely Dam today included three Great Crested Grebes (one catching a huge fish), Little Grebes and Goldeneye (among others). Best however were around the margins - flocks of 30+ Lesser Redpolls and 7+ Bullfinches.

Three Goldeneye (two females and a male) were on Mugdock Loch this morning, one of the males displaying briefly. Also notable were at least five Nuthatches.

A few Rooks have been wintering in my home square as they have done for several years. They seem to head back to a group of pines (where I have suspected breeding in the past) to rest and roost. I must make a concerted effort in the spring to see if I can detect any breeding behaviour.

After one on the roof of Aldi recently, a Pied Wagtail was calling softly from the roof of Morrison's Supermarket today. Later, another bird was near Rosshall School.

Herring Gulls are a little more numerous locally now, with seven present today. Three Stock Doves was a good total. A Song Thrush was a surprise. This is a shy species hereabouts, at least before birds start to sing in early spring. Fourteen Grey Squirrels was a good or bad total, depending on your point of view.

Today's walk along the Brock Burn in Pollok/Nitshill produced records of Kingfisher, Common Gull and Grey Heron.

Some interesting birds on the reservoirs in Murdieston Park today consisted of a Goosander, two Little Grebes (one on each reservoir) and three Moorhens together on Town Dam. Birds near home included two mistle Thrushes calling from the treetops and a Nuthatch in a tit flock.

A walk from Rosebank to Larkhall passed through various habitat types including beech wood, hedgerow, pasture, conifer belt, marsh and urban. As a result, the bird list for the walk was very good with the highlights being Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Stock Dove, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, five crow species including Jay and Raven, Tree Sparrow and six finch species including Siskin and Redpoll. The total bird list for the day was: Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Starling, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Blackbird, Robin, Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Pied  Wagtail, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Lesser Redpoll, Goldfinch, Siskin (39 species).

Friday, November 18, 2022

A Pied Wagtail was calling above the traffic from the parapet of the Aldi store on Paisley Road West.

A Pied Wagtail flew over the rooftops near the centre of Cardonald this afternoon. I am having to squeeze in birdwatching when I can these days. The prolonged, heavy rain and the shortening daylengths are not helping.

Some time spent wandering around the Huntershill Business Park in Bishopbriggs this lunchtime produced a good selection of common, garden birds plus flyover Great Black-backed Gull and Buzzard.

Two Collared Doves on a TV aerial were the highlight of today's rainy birdwatching walk. I find the species extremely local around this time of year. In spring they flit about over the rooftops and are very obvious. If a pair happen to settle nearby, I can hear then all summer. However coupled with what seems to have been a decline locally over the past few years (I have witnessed a few taken by Sparrowhawks) an autumn sighting close to home is currently very unusual. The graph below (from Birdtrack) shows my 2022 sightings of Collared Dove in my home 1km square by week. The drop off in sightings since July is very obvious.

First bird of today's walk from Cadder to Bishopbriggs and then down to the city centre was a calling Great Spotted Woodpecker. Most interesting were two Ravens playing in the thermals over a block of flats on Scaraway Street. Two species encountered at a surprising number of sites today were Pied Wagtail and Mistle Thrush. The species total for the day was 32 - not bad for a mainly urban area. 

Two Stock Doves and a Kingfisher were the highlights locally today.

Two Kingfishers were fighting beside the river this afternoon. At one point, one of the birds was thrown into the water by the force of the impact. The whole episode was accompanied by loud piping and I assume it was a territorial dispute. A little further on, two Nuthatches and six Goldcrests were moving through the trees with a big tit flock (although the two Nuthatches seemed more interested in posturing at eachother). 

The most obvious birds along the Union Canal between Polmont and Linlithgow were Blackbird and Redwing, many of both making the most of the hawthorn berries on the bushes lining the towpath. Also of note were Bulrush Beetles on Bulrushes near the Avon Viaduct.

A Dipper speeding along the Kelvin was the highlight of a short walk around Glasgow Botanical Gardens this afternoon. The usual Mallards and a Goosander were under the footbridge. 

Today's walk was a long one - from the centre of Cumbernauld to Kirkintilloch. Birds were quite good with some of the best being four Yellowhammers perched together on a straw bale and eight Stock Doves feeding with Feral Pigeons on the stubble below. Broadwood Loch had Wigeon, Dabchick, Great-Crested Grebe and five Cormorants. Twechar Marsh had Greylag and Canada Geese plus a single Great Black-backed Gull and an immature Common Gull. Good selections of fungi and berry-bearing shrubs were the botanical highlights. 

On another wet and windy circuit around Rosshall Park, best of the usual birds were Kingfisher and Great Spotted Woodpecker. However a single Ring-necked Parakeet flying over the trees near the pond was a surprise - my first for the site and indeed for south-west Glasgow as a whole.

The weather up on the Gleniffer Braes this lunchtime was a mixture of persistent rain and strong winds. However a few good birds were about including Great Spotted Woodpecker and a single Stock Dove. Among the fungi growing on the grass verges around the car park was Scarlet Waxcap. 

Siskins and Redwings remain the most notable species locally. Two Stock Doves showing well were also interesting. 

Some interesting birds along the river today were a Nuthatch, a Stock Dove and a big flock of at least twenty Goldfinches. Mammals consisted of two Grey Squirrels and a Red Fox (riddled with mange). Fungi included Jelly Ear on a dead Sweet Chestnut tree.

Today's walk was from Kincardine to Falkirk via Grangemouth. Some of the best birds along the way included Whooper Swan, Pochard, Kingfisher, Tree Sparrow, Skylark, Reed Bunting and Linnet. The only mammals were two Grey Seals under the Kincardine Bridge. plants were unremarkable except for a wayside Apple tree heavily laden with bright red fruit.

At least a handful of the Siskins present a week ago in Rosshall Park are still around. Meanwhile a Great Spotted Woodpecker was alarming on the park edge near the river. 

Today was a really wet day, with flooding in various parts of Glasgow. Birds around my home patvch were unremarkable but a few Redwings continue to "Tsee-eep" from the treetops, even in the rain. 

A Kingfisher called along the river this evening.