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Places near Glasgow? (1 Viewer)

WhiteTailed22

WhiteTailed22

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For my birthday, my pal and I are hoping to have a really nice day out birdwatching, especially with the nice weather next week.

We live in Glasgow which isn't great for birds in general.

Can anyone recommend a place that's say, no more than 2h 30 mins on the train or bus from Glasgow? Loch Lomond is obviously great but we've been several times before.

We are revising the options of the Arrochar alps at the moment so if anyone has any birding info on that, would be great to hear from you.

Cheers guys!
 
I don't think you would be disappointed with a day in Fife. Train to Leuchars or bus to St Andrews puts you in range of Tentsmuir Forest, Eden Estuary and Morton Lochs. A short bus trip from St Andrews to Crail would put you in range of Fife Ness, FN Muir and Kilminning.
 
You could try a bit further north, say train to Dundee then bus to the west of the city to Riverside Nature Park. Then bus/train to Arbroath and explore the cliffs - the cliff breeding birds are pouring in there now.

Or further north to Aberdeen and explore the Torry - you could read the loooong patch thread ;). Then get a bus up to the Ythan Estuary. We've been there on many Bashes at different times of the year and it's never disappointed.

Are the boats going to the Isle of May yet?

What about the Isle of Mull? Though transport there might be difficult, a wildlife tour might be an option to get over that, but you'd have to be there early. Calmac organise some, which I found excellent value last year.

Do please let us know what you end up doing. Paul has given you some great ideas for Fife too.
 
Hi. You could get the bus to Aberfoyle. Only about an hour or so from Glasgow.
About half a mile south of Aberfoyle is a beautiful ancient oakwood with a clootie tree at the top of the hill.
By early May you should get redstart, tree pipit, treecreeper, great spotted and green woodpecker, but probably a bit too early for pied or spotted flycatcher. By sheer luck I also saw stoat every time I went to that wood but that was just luck, don't count on it.
Just north of Aberfoyle is the David Marshall lodge which has live cams of local osprey and barn owl if my memory serves me right. Also peregrine and raven are frequent visitors to the crags above the lodge, with common woodland species on the short walk to the falls.
Another plan would be to get the train to Bridge of Allan and take the walk up the Allan Water. Its a beautiful track and delivers dipper, grey wagtail, grey heron and if youre in luck kingfisher too, with a good chance of red kite floating about over the woods. The woods behind Bridge of Allan and behind Stirling University hold many woodland species. This is the most reliable site I know for Green Woodpecker. Also t'he slopes of Dumyat hill are very good for ravens, raptors, and common moorland species.
Or, if you are into seabirds, take the train to Edinburgh, and then a forty minute train to North Berwick, where most species of seabird should have returned by early May. You are certain to see a multitude of gannets, puffins on Lamb, and probably also guilliemot, razorbill, shag, cormorant, eider, Kittwake and early tern arrivals.
I left Scotland five years ago so I hope this info is not out of date, but I had many happy days birding in all these places.
Hope this helps,
Mark
 
Ooooh!!! Memories!!!

I used to lead pony treks there ummmm well ... in the 70's! I remember the lovely woodland on Doon Hiill, but not the Clootie Tree. Is that where you mean Mark?

The David Marshall Lodge area was certainly worth visiting in those days, but I've not been to Aberfoyle for years now (don't know why!).

There's some lovely walks at Aberfoyle, but I wasn't really a birdwatcher in those days really, so can't advise on that side of things.
 
Thank you everybody for your suggestions. They really are of great help.

At the moment, we are still unsure, much of that uncertainty down to public transport!

As much as we are wanting a birdwatch, we are also wanting a great walk with scenery, views all coupled with (hopefully) some summer weather!

Deila, I really like your suggestion of the Isle of May. Is there a thread about the place on here? Would be interesting to see some recent sightings if possible.
 
Hi WhiteTailed

There's no regular thread on here for the Island. However, I've just updated the Opus page and added a link to the Observatories Latest Sightings page. Hope that helps.

The boats are running; here is the web page for May. Note they don't run every day (tide related I think - though may be due to other things too). If you don't pre-book, I suggest you get there early. I'll add this link to the Opus page shortly as well.
 
Thanks for the swift reply Deila, appreciated!

My only concern would be the lack of hours in the day to be honest. I have exams coming up so really, I need to make the most of the full as I possibly can. Nonetheless, it sounds like a great day out.

Not sure you can answer this but how likely is it to see birds like Merlin, Peregrine and Short Eared Owl there at this time of the year? I know they are regularly seen in Winter but how frequent are they at this time of the year? I saw a Peregrine today at Bilcary Bay (Solway Coast). Tremendous view, sitting on a rock. Would really like my pal to see one as well.
 
There's plenty to see there - Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Shags all breeding plus Herring, Great Black Backed and Lesser Black Backed Gulls, as well as Common (and a few Arctic) Terns. Lots of Gannets are seen from the boat out and back. If the winds are favourable it can also draw in migrants on the move - both departing winter birds (Fielfares/Redwings/Bramblings etc) and incoming summer migrants (almost anything). The odd Peregrine Falcon kicks about on the island too. The Fife Ness area is just along the road and is another place with a good selection of birds, though you do need to 'work' a bit harder for them than on the May, with Corn Buntings likely to be singing at this time of year.
 
On a memorable Bash round the Aberdeenshire coast, we had 3 Peregrines in the air at the Ythan Estuary!

A great day that.
 
Thanks for the reply Stonefaction, this information is useful.

The Isle of Man sounds like the place to be but I fear it may be just too far for us. Thanks for the suggestion though. Definitely one for another day.

I think our best bet at this point remains the Loch Lomond area which is pretty great anyway.
 
What about Lochwinnoch? Was there earlier in the year for the first time and there seemed to be plenty of birds and a variety of habitats, though we didn't really go exploring. Not very far outside Glasgow (and maybe even has a railway station almost on its doorstep.
 
WhiteTailed22 said:
The Isle of Man sounds like the place to be but I fear it may be just too far for us.
Click to expand...

LOL think you could be right on that one WT!;)
 
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