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Western Scotland birding (4 Viewers)

Enjoying a few days in Dumfries & Galloway at the moment. Paid a quick visit to Caerlaverock on the way over, my first ever visit there. Good numbers of Barnacle Geese on the marsh along with sizeable numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls and a Little Egret flyover, an increasingly common site in Scotland. A few dozen Whooper Swans were around with as good a close-up as anywhere. A yellowhammer showed well by the visitor centre. Four snipe were also noted, well camouflaged. Later on, a Red Kite was seen from the car at Ringford.

It was rather windy on Saturday, didn't see too much. A red-throated diver was very close to the shoreline at Auchenmalg and a rock pipit was noted at Port William along with the predictable species. A quick look at The Wig, Kirkcolm revealed about 80 Brent Geese, 68 Wigeon and 39 Mute Swans with Oystercatchers and Curlews in the adjacent fields.

Many Lochs are pretty barren for birds but Elrig Loch was decent with small numbers of Greylags, Mute Swans, Mallard and singles of Goldeneye and Goosander. Probably plenty more, should've took my scope. A raven was also heard. A jay was seen from the road at Glenhapple. Wood of Cree is best in spring/summer but still held Great-spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, goldcrest and redwing amongst others. A stonechat was also seen from the road Southwest of Newton Stewart in the middle of nowhere.
 
Started the day with a trip to the harbour at Isle of Whithorn. Was half-surprised to see some chaffinches feeding amongst the seaweed and mud, don't think I've seen them doing that before. A few redshank, oystercatcher and curlew were present along with four turnstones and a pair of mute swans. A little egret was statuesque over the harbour, not an uncommon site in Scotland these days. There were also a few seals around.

A decent selection of birds were seen in Garlieston, a few miles to the north. Another Little Egret put in an appearance along with a pair of Gadwall but the highlight was 31 Brent Geese canoodling with the mallards. At least 13 snipe were present too. A red-throated diver was out in the bay beyond the harbour.

A brief look at Kilsture Forest near Wigtown produced little, very quiet in there although a Jay and Goldcrest were heard. Two female Goosanders were at the mouth of the Bladnoch River at Wigtown along with yet another Little Egret and a Grey Heron amongst the usual species. There was another Egret distant - there was a sighting of Great White Egret on the sightings board in the hide but it was too far away to be sure, even with the scope.

Brian
 
First visit to Lochwinnoch today and had hoped to see either of the Scaup, Great Egret or Snow Goose, but it wasn't to be, although I will say I wasn't trying all that hard.

Highlights then include: Whooper Swan, Siskin, a 200-strong mixed flock of Redwing and Fieldfare, lots of Wigeon, Teal, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Goosander. Missed the Snow Goose but there were hundreds upon hundreds of Canada Goose and Greylag Goose, including many flocks coming and going. Quite possible there were other geese in these flocks, but I couldn't make anything out in the light.

The place was in danger of becoming like a continental site as I saw three different raptors: Common Buzzard, Kestrel and a Peregrine, the latter my first ever at Lochwinnoch, taking my total there to 102 species so far.

A Water Rail was showing really well in flashes next to the boardwalk.

I saw a young woman pointing her phone at something beside the boardwalk and I slowed so as not to scare off whatever it was. She whispered to me "Otter" and I thought great, I've never seen an Otter here before. I inched my way forward and then I saw it - an American Mink! It was standing in a hole in a log and was looking up at us, its nose twitching away - barely a metre from us. I know these are an invasive species, but this was actually a more exciting sighting for me as I'd never seen one before but I had seen Otters (but not at Lochwinnoch).

Later as I made my way to the station, I spotted two Roe Deer. And to top things off I saw my first Snowdrops of the year too, and there were Daffodil shoots, although the flowers won't emerge for at least another month.

So all in all, not a bad day out.
 
Probably worth letting the staff there know about the Mink, as they are never good news ( though still quite cool to see).
 
Stonefaction said:
Probably worth letting the staff there know about the Mink, as they are never good news ( though still quite cool to see).
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Yeah I did, thanks. Was chatting to one of the staff near to where I spotted it. She said they see them fairly frequently, although I think this particular one is quite bold and getting used to people being around.
 
JTweedie said:
Yeah I did, thanks. Was chatting to one of the staff near to where I spotted it. She said they see them fairly frequently, although I think this particular one is quite bold and getting used to people being around.
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Mink Control Project | Scottish Invasive Species Initiative
Knew about this (having reported one near Tay reedbeds a few years back), but it looks like Lochwinnoch is outside the area they usually cover (voluntarily). Would still expect someone to be interested in 'removing' Mink from the area (RSPB themselves?) - though the staff member could easily be unaware of that side of things, but 'regular sightings' does not sound good on a bird reserve.
 
I must admit it's not an animal I thought was present at the reserve as it's not something I hear being mentioned about the reserve. When I mentioned it to the staff member, it was almost like "yes, we know" but it wasn't clear if anything was being done about it or whether they tolerate them. It was interesting that the Water Rail I saw was only about 50 metres away from the mink.
 
JTweedie said:
I must admit it's not an animal I thought was present at the reserve as it's not something I hear being mentioned about the reserve. When I mentioned it to the staff member, it was almost like "yes, we know" but it wasn't clear if anything was being done about it or whether they tolerate them. It was interesting that the Water Rail I saw was only about 50 metres away from the mink.
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The one I found was also close to Water Rail habitat (as well as breeding Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tits and Reed Warblers).
 
Took a trip down to Lochwinnoch this morning.

It was dry for most of my visit (just a little shower as I left) with intervals of sunshine and cloud. Quite windy at Barr Loch though which made using my scope quite challenging at times. But at times it felt quite spring-like with many of the daffodils out and plenty of snowdrops still around. I could see lots of shoots of other vegetation all over the reserve.

Highlights of this trip were seeing the Lapwings back (they're here all year round but were absent during my last visit), a Scaup on Barr Loch (there's normally one or two a year), lots of Canada Goose, Wigeon, Teal, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Whooper Swan, as well as Shoveler, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Common Gull, Song Thrush. Lots of Robins too and they were being territorial. I saw a Bank Vole too. Just as I left on the train I spotted a Common Buzzard. There was a flock of around 30 geese flying over and I thought they might have been Pink-footed Geese, but the necks were really long so I think they might have been Greylags (these were everywhere on the reserve).

There were lots of dead birds around too, mainly geese, all victims of bird flu. I saw a Carrion Crow tucking in to the eyes of a Greylag Goose.

I didn't have any luck with the Brent Goose or the Great White Egret. The former I think is seen usually quite early in the morning and then flies off somewhere so I got there too late. I might go back another day to see if it's still around.
 
One of my disappointments last year was not seeing any Bullfinches, so I was delighted when I spotted one this morning perching on the telegraph cable right outside my living room window - only a couple of metres away. Turned out it was one of a pair. The female kept returning to this perch and sit there for three or four minutes, and then the male would show up and they'd fly into the nearby vegetation, then they would repeat this several times. I was thinking maybe the male had been perched on the roof above me and the female had been watching it.

I live in a flat in an urban area and don't have a garden, but with the Bullfinch added this morning, this makes 34 bird species spotted since I moved here eight years ago, in addition to nearly daily sightings of Red Foxes and once a Roe Deer running up the street.
 
The Bullfinches were back this morning and I think they're scouting out my neighbour's small conifers for nesting in. The trees are used as a privacy hedge by my neighbour, so that means if they do nest there, they'll have people walking by all day long, so I don't know how this species deals with disturbance like that, although if they nest deep within the conifer most people won't know they're there unless they see them coming and going.

Here's a quick photo this morning taken through my window (where it perched meant I couldn't take a photo through my open window unfortunately).

bullfinch.jpeg
 
JTweedie said:
The Bullfinches were back this morning and I think they're scouting out my neighbour's small conifers for nesting in. The trees are used as a privacy hedge by my neighbour, so that means if they do nest there, they'll have people walking by all day long, so I don't know how this species deals with disturbance like that, although if they nest deep within the conifer most people won't know they're there unless they see them coming and going.

Here's a quick photo this morning taken through my window (where it perched meant I couldn't take a photo through my open window unfortunately).

View attachment 1637408
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Sounds like you have residents coming, great news :D

We have a pair who visit most days for food and they've brought youngsters the last couple of years, so hoping that continues. May have been last year we had 8 at one time !

Male bullfinch sitting in sunlight is a sight to behold, same with a male greenfinch actually :love:
 
I saw my first Swallows today. Three of them at the new Partick-Govan bridge, with a fourth a little later on.

This is my earliest ever sighting of them, beating my previous record of 9 April in 2011.

I also spotted a Grey Seal under the bridge - and actually I'm pretty sure there might have been two of them, but I could only ever see one above the water at any moment.
 
On my way back from the shops tonight I saw a fledgling Wood Pigeon out in the open on the pavement. I hope it finds its way back into the trees but in the spot it was in it was beside a tall wall beside a busy road.

Quite an early bird I think - the eggs must have laid back in mid-late March I think.
 
Lochwinnoch today. After some showers in the morning it remained overcast but it wasn't cold.

Highlights included two Little Ringed Plover (hopefully nesting again as they have done over the last two years), 18 Black-tailed Godwit, my first Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler (this heard only) of the year, there was also a Blackcap, and my first Reed Bunting of the year. The Lapwings were really active and noisy, as were the Black-headed Gulls, and for some reason there were lots of Rooks around, a lot more than normal. A Snipe and a male and female Shoveler were also highlights.

It was very noticeable how fewer ducks there were compared with over winter.

No sign of any Sedge Warblers yet although I've often seen them this early (sometimes even earlier). Hopefully by next week they'll be around making a racket as they normally do. I was on the lookout for Common Sandpiper too, but no luck yet. That's another bird that's started showing up here over the last year or two.
 
JTweedie said:
Lochwinnoch today. After some showers in the morning it remained overcast but it wasn't cold.

Highlights included two Little Ringed Plover (hopefully nesting again as they have done over the last two years), 18 Black-tailed Godwit, my first Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Grasshopper Warbler (this heard only) of the year, there was also a Blackcap, and my first Reed Bunting of the year. The Lapwings were really active and noisy, as were the Black-headed Gulls, and for some reason there were lots of Rooks around, a lot more than normal. A Snipe and a male and female Shoveler were also highlights.

It was very noticeable how fewer ducks there were compared with over winter.

No sign of any Sedge Warblers yet although I've often seen them this early (sometimes even earlier). Hopefully by next week they'll be around making a racket as they normally do. I was on the lookout for Common Sandpiper too, but no luck yet. That's another bird that's started showing up here over the last year or two.
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Sedgies have been at Cathkin Marsh SWT for over a week, so thinking it shouldn't be long before they hit Lochwinnoch in numbers.
 
I was down at Lochwinnoch again today. Quite sunny and warm and lots of butterflies out.

New birds for the year included an Oystercatcher, Sedge Warblers and a couple of Redshank. There was a Pink-footed Goose, this seems to be the one that turns up in summer but disappears in winter. Other geese were Greylag and Canada (with goslings), but not much in the way of ducks - mainly Shoveler and Teal. Two Black-tailed Godwit and two Little Ringed Plover were on the scrape along with lots of Lapwing and Black-headed Gulls. A Lesser Black-backed Gull kept being chased away by the Lapwings and Black-headed Gulls. On Barr Loch was a single Common Gull.

In addition to the Sedge Warbler, there were lots of Willow Warblers and Blackcaps with a few Chiffchaffs too, and there were a few Swallows around now, but no sign of any Sand Martins. I'm still waiting for my first Swift of the year.

No luck yet with Spotted Flycatchers. I noticed that vegetation is growing in one of the shallower, small ponds on the scrape, this could change the habitats here which are currently open with mainly bare mud and very light grass with ponds and water channels - it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

The highlight of the day must have been the wee boy (must only have been four or five) who was with his grandparents. I pointed out a Swallow to him and he pointed at a duck and said it can just go wherever it pleases. They left a few minutes later, but then he came running back asking if he'd left his pencil behind. But then he noticed it was already in his hand. I heard him shouting to his grandparents - "It was in my hand!!!"
 
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