I thought I would mark the Clyde Big Birding Day by trying to record as many birds as possible without the use of motorised transport. With my bike currently off the road, that meant travelling on foot. Therefore, I set off from south Cardonald just before 6am with the intention of walking the shared-use track to the RSPB reserve at Lochwinnoch, and recording every bird I saw or heard along the way. The first bird I heard was Chiffchaff, and that sound (together with the songs of the other common leaf warblers) was to accompany me throughout the day. By the time I reached Lochwinnoch I had recorded a minimum of 84 Willow Warblers, 47 Chiffchaffs and 43 Blackcaps plus twenty Whitethroats and thirteen Sedge Warblers. 

With the first part of the walk through my home 1km square, my bird list quickly reached 29 species including some potentially hard to find birds such as Stock Dove, Treecreeper and Nuthatch. The next section through Leverndale Hospital grounds and along the White Cart Walkway to Paisley added Raven, Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Goosander, but I failed to locate the Grasshopper Warblers which this area is normally good for.

The going became more urban as my route passed through Paisley, Elderslie and Johnstone. Nevertheless, warblers continued to feature strongly with Wren, Robin, Blackbird and Chaffinch competing with them to dominate the soundscape. I find tit species are significantly quieter at this time of year (compared to earlier in the spring) and I suspect their numbers were fairly underrepresented on the lists I was compiling. Less common species encountered along this section included Siskin, Greenfinch and the second Raven of the day. The Black Cart Water in Johnstone was particularly productive with Grey Wagtail and Dipper present (and strong breeding evidence obtained and entered for both species).

With the most urban sections of the walk now completed, some more rural species began to feature including Yellowhammer, Buzzard, Linnet, Pheasant, Swallow and Rook. Damper areas provided records of Sedge Warbler, Canada Goose and Grey Heron. The range of plants flowering along the route also changed with fewer garden exotics and more of the slightly unusual species such as Common Bistort, Water Avens and Wild Strawberry. Orange-Tip and Small White butterflies seemed particularly common along this section.

The long straight section of the shared-use path as it approaches the outskirts of Lochwinnoch village mainly produced records of birds I had already recorded (although I continued to take note of everything seen and heard). I always think this section (especially the ancient trees around the Collegiate Church) would be perfect for Spotted Flycatcher but I have never found one here and today was no different. After walking for fourteen miles, it was a relief to see Castle Semple Loch appearing on my left. New birds for the day at this point included Mute Swan, Greylag Goose and Black-headed Gull, but a cup of coffee from the visitor centre was the most welcome addition. Once suitably refreshed, I had a look at the rookery there, although too little time and too much foliage meant I only managed a cursory estimate of the colony size.

I continued walking round the edge of the loch, intending to move on to Barr Loch and the Dubbs Trail before finishing on the Aird Meadow trail. It was here that I recorded the most notable species of the day – a single drake Pochard actively feeding just out from the viewing platform beside the water treatment works. I watched the bird for several minutes and was able to get some record shots using my binoculars and phone. I couldn’t help thinking how sad it was that a once-common species has become something so rare as to be notable. The wind was strengthening as the afternoon progressed and Barr Loch was unexpectedly cool and choppy. However I was glad to pick up Goldeneye and Tufted Duck there.

The well-watched Lochwinnoch RSPB reserve was probably the most predictable part of the day as so many of the species present had been discussed on the Clyde SOC Branch’s sightings grapevine and in social media. Nevertheless it was a pleasure to see such species as Shoveler, Common Sandpiper, Lapwing and Oystercatcher making use of the scrape in front of the visitor centre. I also enjoyed walking the Aird Meadow trail in dappled sunshine with lots of families and other people enjoying their day out.

The bird list for the day reached a fairly modest total of 65 species. I managed to miss out on some common species such as Mistle Thrush and some less common but nevertheless normally quite predictable ones such as Grasshopper Warbler. The absence of Sand Martin, House Martin and Swift from my list may be a consequence of the cool weather (or my declining eyesight – I’m getting new glasses tomorrow) but may also hint at the troubling declines which have removed particularly the latter two species from all their former sites in my part of southwest Glasgow. On the plus side, our warblers seem to be doing well. It was good to connect with six of the eight species identified by the Discussion Group for special focus (Tree Sparrow and Cuckoo being the two that "got away") and to enjoy the "ebb and flow" of different species as different types of habitat were passed through.

Finally, some of the best experiences of the day were not bird-related at all. These included watching six Roe Deer browsing in Leverndale Hospital Grounds in the first rays of sunlight, finding three groups of Rabbits feeding quietly on waste ground near the centre of Johnstone (Why is that area so good for them?), watching little black and orange flies pollinating Water Avens near “the boardwalk”, seeing the back end of a Bank Vole disappearing into a hole in a ditch wall and finding some interesting plants in flower including Sweet Woodruff, Birds Foot Trefoil, Wood Avens, Columbine, Comfrey (in three or four different flower shades) and the last of this spring's Coltsfoot.