A Blackbird singing along the river this afternoon was my first singing bird of the year. Snowdrop flowers are now everywhere as are fresh leaves of Wild Garlic.

Another busy day doing non-birding things, but a short walk around ralston and Crookston produced all the usual town birds plus two singing Greenfinches.

A busy day painting in Woodfarm today, so the only natural connections were the sounds of the local birds outside the back door. 

Two male Stock Doves were singing quite close to eachother along the riverside path this lunchtime, in spite of strong winds and heavy rain.

Plenty of birds were singing in the woods at the foot of the Gleniffer Braes today including Nuthatch.

The patch of Daffodils at woodfarm which provided my first flower of the year did so again about a week ago. i stopped to have a closer look today and found four or five flowers open. Over in Paisley, Jackdaws were milling excitedly around the tenement chimneys along Wellmeadow.

Blue Tit, Wren, Robin and Dunnock were all singing outside the house in Woodfarm today, although they stopped temporarily when quite a severe (but short-lived) squall passed through.

Birdsong continues to increase locally with Dunnock, Song Thrush and Wren now regularly joining the usual species.

Fourteen Redwings were feeding with two Blacbirds under trees at Rosshall this evening. 

A female Teal (rare here) was the highlight of my delayed WeBS count at Murdieston Park today. 

A Jay was calling from woods near the confluence of the White Cart and Brock Burn/Levern Water while a Raven flew over, chased by a flock of gulls nearby.

Five Goosanders were on the river, as were 44 Mallards (41 together near Howford Bridge). A single Stock Dove and two pairs of Moorhens were the other highlights.

Five Goosanders were on the River Cart at Battlefield this morning. Later, sixteen Wigeon were on Rouken Glen Pond where a pair of Canada Geese had set up territory on the main island and were honking loudly to keep potential interlopers away.

A walk around RSPB Loch Lomond this morning produced eight Whooper Swans and the lovely sight of four Red Deer running along the loch shore with Conic Hill in the background. 

A few Canada Geese, Greylag Geese and even Mallards were showing signs of  territorial behaviour at James Hamilton Heritage Park today. My first Daffodil flower of the year was at Woodfarm (echoing last year). 

The Rook nests in Fountain Gardens, Paisley have mostly been destroyed by winter storms. Three birds were present in one of the nesting trees but were showing no signs of nest building.

I went for a walk through Waulkmill Glen today, seeking out the patch of Winter Aconite I found a few years ago. Sure enough, it was there again this year, in spite of a large amount of fallen branches scattered over the site. The area covered seems relatively unchanged from last year, with about half of the shoots already in flower. As usual, there were lots of Scarlet Elf Cups on the woodland floor nearby.  Interesting birds encountered included Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay and Raven.

Some interesting birds I came across locally today consisted of Stock Dove, Cormorant, Raven, Kingfisher, Buzzard and Redwing. Jackdaws were in close flying pairs. Mallard duck pairs on the river were also staying very close. At least six Woodpigeons were singing in one tree.

The Woodfarm area was again excellent for Rooks with several birds feeding on playing fields and grassy verges. I need to try and watch them back to their rookery. 

Five Moorhens between the Cardonald Place and Bonnyholm footbridges was a good total for the site.

Two Ravens flew over the house in Woodfarm where I was working today. 

A Raven flew over south Cardonald early this morning. It was high in the sky but as usual, gave itself away by its deep cronking call.

A Grey Wagtail, a fishing Cormorant and Hazel in flower were the highlights of a walk through Figgate Park today. 

Two Buzzards, ten Goldeneye and over a hundred Teal were the highlights of a walk around the White Cart on the edge of Renfrew. 

Two Wrens were in song locally today. 

Today was a red letter day at WWT Caerlaverock with great views of three raptors: Peregrine, Merlin and Hen Harrier. Adding in a Red Kite seen from the M74 made it a four raptor day. Other highlights were crippling views of a Water Rail, around 100 Pintail, close views of Golden Plover and Lapwing, and a distant Grey Plover. The final species count for the day was 55.