Birds around Craigton Cemetery today included three Redwings and a single Pied Wagtail. 

The regular Black-headed Gull flock near my house numbered 46 birds today (as they waited for the schoolkids to come out for lunch). A single Redwing flew overhead.

A walk from Spier's Wharf to Partick via the Forth and Clyde Canal and the River Kelvin produced the following totals of riparian species: Mute Swan (4); Mallard (28); Goosander (13); Moorhen (32); Grey Heron (3); Cormorant (1); Kingfisher (1); Grey Wagtail (1) and Dipper (3). One of the Dippers was in full song.

Two Moorhens were interacting (possibly a pair) at Shawbridge this lunchtime. Also present was a Grey heron with a Goosander on the river nearer Auldhouse Park.

Two Kingfishers were on the pond today, one of which caught a fish and proceded to beat it on a branch before swallowing it. A Stock Dove was singing in the sunshine.

A quick walk around Rouken Glen Park Pond in diminishing light this afternoon found two drake Wigeon lurking around the edges of one of the islands.

A Cormorant was perched on a log in the river today. Yesterday's snow had melted away completely, the river swollen as a result. 

Overnight snow (the first significant fall of the "winter") made for dificult going during a morning walk around my home square. A flock of fourteen Goldfinches and two "see-eep"ing Redwings were notable.

Birds on the Water of Leith in Edinburgh today included Dipper and Grey Heron at two sites, Grey Wagtail at one, a flock of fourteen Goosander and a small group of Common Gulls.

Today's belated WeBS count of the Murdieston Dams turned up some surprising records consisting of seven Goosanders, five Teal (only my second or third record of the species for that site) and multiple counts of Moorhen and Little Grebe. Presumably all of these were caused by the very cold weather over the past few days which had frozen some of the edges of both dams.

A Buzzard was being chased by two Carrion Crows over the river at Shawbridge this morning. It took refuge in a tall Poplar with the crows standing sentinel nearby. A grey wagtail was on the river.

Over a hundred Jackdaws gathered (presumably to roost) in trees behind Inglestone Avenue, Woodfarm this afternoon. 

A Kingfisher on the pond was the highlight of a frosty walk around my home square this lunchtime.

The highlight of my usual Sunday walk was a first, not only for the 1km square involved (Crookston Castle and Brock Burn) but for the entire area I regularly survey (which also includes White Cart Corridor from Cardonald library to Howford Bridge, Bull Wood/Leverndale Hospital and Ralston/Crookston). The species in question was Pheasant: a female quietly feeding on the verge of Brockburn Road. I was alerted to it by a Carrion Crow dive-bombing something in the long grass - obviously the crow had never seen one here either. Also notable on today's walk were lots of Redwings, Blackbirds and Starlings (maybe an arrival overnight), Siskins at two sites (rare so far this year) and snatches of song from Woodpigeon, Coal Tit, Starling and Goldcrest.

A single female Goosander was fishing on the river when I walked across the Moulin footbridge this morning. 

Two Pied Wagtails were skipping around Lidl's car park, Linthouse this morning.

Today started with Ring-necked Parakeets hurtling, screeching, through the streets of Bloomsbury - and ended with a Tawny Owl calling from the woods next to the house. 

A solitary Starling and Pied Wagtail, a few Black-headed Gulls and a few Feral Pigeons were the only birds around London Bridge and Borough Market today. 

Hyde Park was filled with people, sunshine and birds when we walked through this morning. Highlights were a very tame Jay, a single Red-crested Pochard and (probably of more interest) at least twenty Pochards.

A Coal Tit was singing from the top of a small conifer in bright weather this morning.

Single Bullfinch and Rook were the most notable records of a birdtrack survey in my neighbouring 1km square of "Crookston and Brock Burn".

Plenty of gulls were active around my home square today, consisting of 33 Black-headed Gulls and four Lesser Black-backed Gulls. 

A dead Mute Swan was a disappointing find on the pond in Barshaw park this morning. Single Redwings and Pied Wagtails were also notable.

Thursday, November 07, 2024

The female Wood Duck continues to annoy the Mallards on the White cart in Auldhouse Park.

Birds were fairly limited during a walk through Craigton, Glasgow today. A Rook in a tenement garden was probably the most notable.

Four Black Guillemots were close inshore off Greenock waterfront when I passed there this morning. 

Two mammals (Grey Squirrel and Roe Deer) and 25 bird species (including Kingfisher, Buzzard and Moorhen) were in the Cardonald square in heavy rain this morning.

Two Redwings were the only obvious autumn migrants that I could find during a walk around my home square this lunchtime. However four Chaffinches may have been new arrivals while 22 Black-headed Gulls and twelve Goldfinches suggested local movements.

I managed to escape a shopping trip by walking along the coastal path behind Braehead this lunchtime. Close to 100 Mallards and at least eleven Teal were on the river or roosting on the pontoons. The little park at Ferry Village held at least ten Moorhen. A dead Brown Rat was the only mammal seen.

Some of the highlights of today's bus journey to West Kilbride, walk from West Kilbride to Ardrossan and bus journey back to Glasgow were: a pod of dolphins off the Cloch; a Fieldfare among masses of Blackbirds in Kirktonhall Glen, interesting fungi there and on mown grass behind Seamill, Black Spleenwort on the wall of a lane down to the shore, a Little Egret at The Waterside, a good range of ducks on the sea (Eider, Red-breasted Merganser, Goosander, Mallard, Wigeon and Teal); good numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls; Stonechats at two sites; a Razorbill in Ardrossan Harbour; thirteen seals on rocks off Skelmorlie and forty Eider off Wemyss Bay Ferry Terminal.