I was in Greenock for a belated WeBS count today, so decided to check some sites in the west end of the town which used to hold good birds when I was a regular visitor a few years ago. I was pleased to find at least three Black Guillemots just off the start of the esplanade with one bird seen enteriing a pipe projecting from the retaining wall. However I failed to find the small colony of House Martins that always used to enhance any summer walk along the seafront. It was a similar story at "The Dardonelles" with no sign of the Swifts which used to nest there. In fact I only heard one Swift all afternoon. The mewing calls of Common Gulls remain a feature of this part of the town. I estimated that there were at least three pairs present with the pair on a tenement roof in Brougham Street having at least one young (see record shot below).  However the small rookery in Murdieston Park which used to hold two or three nesting pairs remains deserted.