a female Tufted Duck on the boating pond in Queen's Park had eight small ducklings today. According to a post on Facebook, the ducklings first appeared two or three days ago.

The wildflower meadows in Strathclyde Park were at peak flowering when I visited today, Corncockle and a pink Cornflower variety being the highlights. 

A late afternoon walk over to Pollokshields produced apples ripening on a tree on Meldrum Gardens and Tree Wasp, Western Honey Bee and Common Flower Fly visiting a flower bank in Maxwell Park.

Two Broad-leaved Helleborine plants were flowering along the White Cart Walkway at Millbrae Crescent today. Mallards were flocking on the river there and two Swifts were over Skirving Street.

A walk around Auchinlea Park and Cardowan Moss as far as Frankfield Loch yielded a few good birds in the form of Jay and Whitethroat as well as Cinnabar Moth larvae and flowering China Rose and Broad-leaved Helleborine.

Today I spent a blustery afternoon walking the cliff path west of Dunbar. Insects were few due to the strong wind, Birds did slightly better with Sand Martin, House Martin and Kittiwake all attending occupied nests, Eiders and Herring Gulls accompanied by juveniles and Gannets passing offshore. Linnet and Rock Pipit were among the passerines on the cliffs and four Grey Seals were basking on exposed rocks. 

An afternoon spent exploring Coulter Craigs and the Girdle Burn produced a good range of butterflies including Common Blue, Northern Brown Argus, Green-veined White, Small White, Small Heath, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Small Skipper, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell. Birds included Linnet, Stonechat and Raven. A Common Lizard scurried away through the grass and on the way back to the car, a Stoat hared along the road in front of us. Back at Strathclyde Park, two Barnacle Geese were among the Greylags.