The number of Tuifted Ducks on Queen's Park Boating Pond today was a remarkable 25. Only three had been present until the pond froze two weeks ago when the number dropped to zero. This remarkable influx also brought with it the wandering drake Ring-necked Duck. Six Tufted Ducks was also a good count for Maxwell Park Pond. Stock Doves were singing there and in Pollok Park. 

A walk along the shore from Cardross to Ardoch this morning produced a count of 13 Pintail as well as large numbers of Oystercatcher and moderate numbers of Curlew and Wigeon. Three Rock Pipits were also notable. 

Thursday, January 22, 2026

Today was notable for my first flowering crocuses of the spring - a few plants of a yellow-flowered variety on the tiny grass patch at the east end of Coustonholm Road.

I heard eight bird species in song during a quick walk around Newlands Park this morning. Interesting birds included two Rooks and two Bullfinches.  

Mains Loch (I was today years old when I learned that that was the name of the loch in the James Hamilton Heritage Park, East Kilbride) was very quiet today with more walkers and dog walkers than birds. Normally reliable species such a Little Grebe, Coot and Tufted Duck were nowhere to be seen. Paserines were also very thin on the ground. My eventual species total for the site was a measly eighteen.

Two walks as far as Maxwell Park today failed to turn up anything notable, although the volume and frequency of bird song remain elevated compared to over recent weeks. News from the birding grapevine is that Tawny Owls have been very vocal in Pollokshields around 1am. 

My WeBS count this morning was notable for a Dipper feeding from a branch sticking out of the water on Town Dam (I normally see it on the burn and overflow pool nearer Old Inverkip Road). After the count I walked from Inverkip to Lunderston Bay. Interesting birds included a Skylark and a Rock Pipit feeding on the shore, a Grey Plover among Turnstones and Redshanks resting on a rock and a flock of five Meadow Pipits in the sheep field.

Spring seems to have arrived in Shawlands (just in time for the BBC's "Winterwatch" starting in three days' time) with Queen's Park this morning full of singing birds. Blue Tit, Great Tit and Robin were the most frequent singers with at least twelve but possibly more than twenty of each. Other species heard in song consisted of Woodpigweon, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Nuthatch and Mistle Thrush. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming near the greenhouses. Nearby, a Jay was a bird I rarely encounter here. Also notable were two Cormorants (one fishing for small fish - successfully) on the main pond. I haven't seen them here this year, although a quick check of birdtrack revealed that up to three had been present for the past three days. Botanical finds continue to be confined to Jelly Ear fungus, Hazel flowers and emerging Snowdrops. Insects were non-existent, although I saw lekking Winter Gnats in Larbet yesterday.