And so…. It had finally arrived. The New (birding) Year. The anticipation, the build- up, the planning that seemed to have started in the autumn when Birding 2023 had become awfully difficult. All came down to one day……
….which was spent at home, ticking species from the garden feeders. Ironically, the weather forecast suggested that Ne’er Day would, meteorogically- speaking, be the best day of the week. In amongst doing Dad duties (cooking a damned fine dinner, if I do say so myself) I plumped myself down on my doorstep and watched the frenzy at the feeders. Almost as if the birds themselves had been saving things up. All the usual garden species, and in good numbers. The highlight would ordinarily have been a female blackbird, its plumage light enough to make the faint spots on her breast stand out in the sunlight. Instead, an unexpected bonus was a starling, its feathers worn enough to offer a galaxy of pinprick points of light. The irony that a starling is at its glorious best when its feathers are worn. Are there any other birds that this applies to? I can’t think of any, and it offered welcome musings as I peeled a hundredweight of potatoes.
10 garden species on a day that I, technically, wasn’t birding. Can’t complain.
Tuesday the 2nd of January was my scheduled big day at Caerlaverock WWT. For something so enjoyable, there’s almost a tension surrounding it. Will something happen to sabotage it before it begins? Will something (ie. tree- felling closing half the reserve) happen to sabotage it once I get there? Will there be any birds? The danger of making plans so far in advance is that you get plenty of time to worry. Given that this is one of the few, mega- mile big days with the car meant that a lot was riding on a successful visit.
Half- formed plans were considered to go via Ken- Dee Marshes for red kite, willow tit, and possible birds like jay, nuthatch, and winter thrushes. These plans fell by the wayside as a result of sleeping in- I would refer you back to my ‘Dracula’s Castle’ blog post and the concept of lost or wasted time. Naturally, Ken- Dee was abandoned and I headed straight for Caerlaverock. Excitement growing, as if I was twitching the site and what I would like find there. The weather through Dumfries and Galloway was generally awful, and this was a day of glowering clouds threatening a downpour.
The usual warm greeting from the volunteer on duty was like being welcomed home. The car park was awash with the noise of jackdaws, and the reasonably distant noise of whooper swans on the pond. First stop was the Folly Pond, where I couldn’t miss teal, wigeon, and a handful of shovelers. A half dozen or so barnacle geese loitered in the grass, with lapwing and redshank at the far edge of the pond.
Wandered along the nature path to the viewing screen. Chaffinch being the only tick, but good views of great tit and blue tit. Don’t get me wrong, I do like this viewing area, but I’ve tended to find that the identification notices are more like wish- lists. I wasn’t worried, the year is young…. Popped into one of the small huts which gave views along the channel. Managed to tick little grebe and moorhen, plus goldcrest and wren close to the main path. Goldcrest especially good to see after last year’s ‘struggle.’
Onto the Sir Peter Scott hide to tick whooper swan, mute swan and Canada geese. No tufties, interestingly, and only moorhen to break the swan/ goose duopoly. The trees across the path were alive with wee brown (yellow) jobs. Yellowhammer, house sparrow, dunnock, and a single greenfinch. Very flighty, bird ‘life’ in action.
My faint hopes that the sun would suddenly burst through the clouds grew fainter by the minute, and I resigned myself to a day of twilight birding. The reserve is still magnificent, possibly moreso, under a glowering sky. Pretty, but the birding suffered somewhat. Dutiful visits to both towers produced rose deer, masses of barnacle geese, and very little else. A stop at the Campbell Hide got a pair of stonechat, definitely an unexpected bonus.
A trudge back to the car failed to find any tree sparrows (and while the year is still young, I’m wondering where the hell I’ll get them now) and as I lay back in the car for a well- deserved nap, a sparrowhawk flew and landed in a tree. 23 year ticks, a few I wasn’t expecting, and a few species notable by their absence. It wouldn’t be the same if birding was too easy…..
My first local trip was spent under equally glowering skies. I’m starting to think that 2024 may well be a year of semi- darkness. The rainfall left most areas either under water, or in deep mud. All those days out on man- made coastal paths in Musselburgh have made me realise how much I miss having mud splattered thigh- high. Absolute bliss beside the River Clyde. Managed to tick rook, goldfinch, and goosander. A very distant ring- necked parakeet screeched, but by my own rules wasn’t tickable. Too far away.
Mrs Green Sand was back at work, and it dawned on her that I wasn’t. A list of tasks for completion took up valuable awake time, and it wasn’t until Friday that I ventured out again. Took advantage of the decent light and non- rainy weather and headed to Baron’s Haugh for my first, proper, visit in ages. Had a few target/ hoped for species, but bitter experience of birding in general and the Haugh in particular limited my expectations. Started in Dalzell Woods, plenty of corvids, and nuthatch calling. Not able to get eyes on them, and the calls were too distant for Green Sand’s arbitrary tick rules. The year is young, etc.
Onto the Haugh proper, and the Marsh Hide. A departing birder/ photographer helpfully told me that snipe, kingfisher and green sandpiper were showing- the latter 2 showing well. The hide had a few birder/ toggers in it, and the kingfisher was ticked almost immediately. Ridiculously easy, possibly my earliest or second- earliest ever. I’ll need to find some other species to get all stressed about for the next 5 months or so. Couldn’t see the snipe, despite the toggers helpfully showing me photos that they were taking whilst standing beside me. Became almost comical. A bit of searching got me a pair of green sand, again, ridiculously easy/ early. Black- headed gulls were the only ones visible, and a grey heron flew in to offer distant views. The handful of teal present were noticeable by splashing frantically, for mystery reasons.
A walk round toward the Causeway Hide got me mistle thrush in a tree and fieldfare flying past. Stopping on the path got me better views of a pair feeding in a tree before they too flew off. The hide itself was fairly devoid of life, the construction/ destruction work being carried out at the site of the old Phoenix Hide seems to be having an impact. I’m trying to trust in the process that its for a greater good…..
Saturday saw me stay local again, the clear skies also translating to bitter cold. Redwing was ticked quickly beside Uddingston Grammar school, as was pied wagtail. Nuthatch called nearby, and I finally got eyes on one flying between trees. Definite garden tick for the locals. Mistle thrush offered a tease that it was a song thrush, but a better look at its spots/ blotches proved I’ll have to wait until my garden thrush starts its 3am singing. A walk to Fin Me Oot beckoned, via what my mate Bill calls the Dead Woods. To be fair, they’re nowhere near as alive as they should be, but there was plenty of action high up in the trees with great, blue and long- tailed tits very active. Patience and standing still in mud for a while got me a reward- a treecreeper, something I’d been actively trying for both at the Haugh and the Clyde Walkway. Couldn’t hear it, though, so maybe listening to Enter Sandman at full volume is finally having an effect.
Fine Me Oot got me distant roe deer, the usual tits, and a dipper at the green bridge. I heard it calling before reaching the bridge, and assumed that it would be long gone before I dragged my by- now tired and cold bones to the bridge. Fortunately, the dipper lingered long enough to let me have a good look at it. Another early tick, and the perfect way to end the week.
______________________
Thoughts.
My year list says I’ve got 48 so far. I haven’t checked how this compares, number- wise- to previous years, and to be honest it doesn’t matter. What is significant, though, is how this year I have stirred myself to get out more, to make the most of even a couple of hours spent wandering about locally. My mate Bill has always said that putting the hours in will event produce dividends (it helps that birds go Bill watching as well) and this week proved it.
Far from perfect birding, and I’m sure that if I put my mind to it I’d find something to moan about, but as a ‘first week’ goes, it was time spent damned well. Onto next week….
Take care, and lets keep looking out for each other.
John
….which was spent at home, ticking species from the garden feeders. Ironically, the weather forecast suggested that Ne’er Day would, meteorogically- speaking, be the best day of the week. In amongst doing Dad duties (cooking a damned fine dinner, if I do say so myself) I plumped myself down on my doorstep and watched the frenzy at the feeders. Almost as if the birds themselves had been saving things up. All the usual garden species, and in good numbers. The highlight would ordinarily have been a female blackbird, its plumage light enough to make the faint spots on her breast stand out in the sunlight. Instead, an unexpected bonus was a starling, its feathers worn enough to offer a galaxy of pinprick points of light. The irony that a starling is at its glorious best when its feathers are worn. Are there any other birds that this applies to? I can’t think of any, and it offered welcome musings as I peeled a hundredweight of potatoes.
10 garden species on a day that I, technically, wasn’t birding. Can’t complain.
Tuesday the 2nd of January was my scheduled big day at Caerlaverock WWT. For something so enjoyable, there’s almost a tension surrounding it. Will something happen to sabotage it before it begins? Will something (ie. tree- felling closing half the reserve) happen to sabotage it once I get there? Will there be any birds? The danger of making plans so far in advance is that you get plenty of time to worry. Given that this is one of the few, mega- mile big days with the car meant that a lot was riding on a successful visit.
Half- formed plans were considered to go via Ken- Dee Marshes for red kite, willow tit, and possible birds like jay, nuthatch, and winter thrushes. These plans fell by the wayside as a result of sleeping in- I would refer you back to my ‘Dracula’s Castle’ blog post and the concept of lost or wasted time. Naturally, Ken- Dee was abandoned and I headed straight for Caerlaverock. Excitement growing, as if I was twitching the site and what I would like find there. The weather through Dumfries and Galloway was generally awful, and this was a day of glowering clouds threatening a downpour.
The usual warm greeting from the volunteer on duty was like being welcomed home. The car park was awash with the noise of jackdaws, and the reasonably distant noise of whooper swans on the pond. First stop was the Folly Pond, where I couldn’t miss teal, wigeon, and a handful of shovelers. A half dozen or so barnacle geese loitered in the grass, with lapwing and redshank at the far edge of the pond.
Wandered along the nature path to the viewing screen. Chaffinch being the only tick, but good views of great tit and blue tit. Don’t get me wrong, I do like this viewing area, but I’ve tended to find that the identification notices are more like wish- lists. I wasn’t worried, the year is young…. Popped into one of the small huts which gave views along the channel. Managed to tick little grebe and moorhen, plus goldcrest and wren close to the main path. Goldcrest especially good to see after last year’s ‘struggle.’
Onto the Sir Peter Scott hide to tick whooper swan, mute swan and Canada geese. No tufties, interestingly, and only moorhen to break the swan/ goose duopoly. The trees across the path were alive with wee brown (yellow) jobs. Yellowhammer, house sparrow, dunnock, and a single greenfinch. Very flighty, bird ‘life’ in action.
My faint hopes that the sun would suddenly burst through the clouds grew fainter by the minute, and I resigned myself to a day of twilight birding. The reserve is still magnificent, possibly moreso, under a glowering sky. Pretty, but the birding suffered somewhat. Dutiful visits to both towers produced rose deer, masses of barnacle geese, and very little else. A stop at the Campbell Hide got a pair of stonechat, definitely an unexpected bonus.
A trudge back to the car failed to find any tree sparrows (and while the year is still young, I’m wondering where the hell I’ll get them now) and as I lay back in the car for a well- deserved nap, a sparrowhawk flew and landed in a tree. 23 year ticks, a few I wasn’t expecting, and a few species notable by their absence. It wouldn’t be the same if birding was too easy…..
My first local trip was spent under equally glowering skies. I’m starting to think that 2024 may well be a year of semi- darkness. The rainfall left most areas either under water, or in deep mud. All those days out on man- made coastal paths in Musselburgh have made me realise how much I miss having mud splattered thigh- high. Absolute bliss beside the River Clyde. Managed to tick rook, goldfinch, and goosander. A very distant ring- necked parakeet screeched, but by my own rules wasn’t tickable. Too far away.
Mrs Green Sand was back at work, and it dawned on her that I wasn’t. A list of tasks for completion took up valuable awake time, and it wasn’t until Friday that I ventured out again. Took advantage of the decent light and non- rainy weather and headed to Baron’s Haugh for my first, proper, visit in ages. Had a few target/ hoped for species, but bitter experience of birding in general and the Haugh in particular limited my expectations. Started in Dalzell Woods, plenty of corvids, and nuthatch calling. Not able to get eyes on them, and the calls were too distant for Green Sand’s arbitrary tick rules. The year is young, etc.
Onto the Haugh proper, and the Marsh Hide. A departing birder/ photographer helpfully told me that snipe, kingfisher and green sandpiper were showing- the latter 2 showing well. The hide had a few birder/ toggers in it, and the kingfisher was ticked almost immediately. Ridiculously easy, possibly my earliest or second- earliest ever. I’ll need to find some other species to get all stressed about for the next 5 months or so. Couldn’t see the snipe, despite the toggers helpfully showing me photos that they were taking whilst standing beside me. Became almost comical. A bit of searching got me a pair of green sand, again, ridiculously easy/ early. Black- headed gulls were the only ones visible, and a grey heron flew in to offer distant views. The handful of teal present were noticeable by splashing frantically, for mystery reasons.
A walk round toward the Causeway Hide got me mistle thrush in a tree and fieldfare flying past. Stopping on the path got me better views of a pair feeding in a tree before they too flew off. The hide itself was fairly devoid of life, the construction/ destruction work being carried out at the site of the old Phoenix Hide seems to be having an impact. I’m trying to trust in the process that its for a greater good…..
Saturday saw me stay local again, the clear skies also translating to bitter cold. Redwing was ticked quickly beside Uddingston Grammar school, as was pied wagtail. Nuthatch called nearby, and I finally got eyes on one flying between trees. Definite garden tick for the locals. Mistle thrush offered a tease that it was a song thrush, but a better look at its spots/ blotches proved I’ll have to wait until my garden thrush starts its 3am singing. A walk to Fin Me Oot beckoned, via what my mate Bill calls the Dead Woods. To be fair, they’re nowhere near as alive as they should be, but there was plenty of action high up in the trees with great, blue and long- tailed tits very active. Patience and standing still in mud for a while got me a reward- a treecreeper, something I’d been actively trying for both at the Haugh and the Clyde Walkway. Couldn’t hear it, though, so maybe listening to Enter Sandman at full volume is finally having an effect.
Fine Me Oot got me distant roe deer, the usual tits, and a dipper at the green bridge. I heard it calling before reaching the bridge, and assumed that it would be long gone before I dragged my by- now tired and cold bones to the bridge. Fortunately, the dipper lingered long enough to let me have a good look at it. Another early tick, and the perfect way to end the week.
______________________
Thoughts.
My year list says I’ve got 48 so far. I haven’t checked how this compares, number- wise- to previous years, and to be honest it doesn’t matter. What is significant, though, is how this year I have stirred myself to get out more, to make the most of even a couple of hours spent wandering about locally. My mate Bill has always said that putting the hours in will event produce dividends (it helps that birds go Bill watching as well) and this week proved it.
Far from perfect birding, and I’m sure that if I put my mind to it I’d find something to moan about, but as a ‘first week’ goes, it was time spent damned well. Onto next week….
Take care, and lets keep looking out for each other.
John
