Archive - November 2024


Archive - November 2024

Week ending: 24th November: Hogganfield Park LNR and Strathclyde Country Park

We’re tweeking the format slightly this week in order to tell you about some of the notable sightings seen at places visited during the week. I prefer to take photographs in relatively good lighting conditions so from now on it is not certain that I will make a Sunday trip if the weather is predicted to be dull. It is one of the benefits of retirement - that, most weeks, I have 5 more days to choose from.

20th November: Hogganfield Park LNR

On Wednesday I travelled to Hogganfield Park LNR which is just off the M8 on the road to Step The weather was sumptuous, as can be seen from the view below, taken from the car park, of the flock of Mute Swans gathered there.

Dodging around the swans were Tufted Ducks, Moorhens, a juvenile Goldeneye and some Goosanders - a female and a juvenile.

Tufted Duck...

Moorhen	Juvenile Goldeneye

Female Goosander	Juvenile Goosander

A bold Coot cruised in with a threatening attitude and annoyed some of the above.

A flock of Feral Pigeons was attending to a pile of seed on the edge of the loch before swans took over. A Robin landed on the fence behind the swans and posed for a pleasing shot. Meanwhile gulls - Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed, also started moving noisily in on the seed.

Mute Swan	Robin

Black-headed Gull	Lesser Black-backed Gull

I started my usual anticlockwise circuit of the park and at the south end of the loch. I snapped a Magpie that was hopping along the grass, and also a pair of Mute Swans that were feeding at the water’s edge. I left the main lochside road and took a rough path that passes a small pond, at the side of which there was a Grey Heron standing. In trees by the path at the other side of the pond I observed a Wren and a Robin that were squabbling over perching rights - allowing me time to photograph each of them. As I did so I was surprised when a Grey Squirrel descended the tree trunk, right in front of me, and hesitated long enough for me to get a picture.

Magpie	Mute Swan

Grey Heron	Wren

Robin	Grey Squirrel

Further along that path, just before rejoining the main lochside road, I managed a shot of a Jackdaw passing the Moon, that was visible in daylight, low over trees in the west. As I walked along the north side of the loch I noticed a couple of Canada Geese that were standing on a small artificial island. Unfortunately they were backlit, as was the Moorhen scurrying around them. A Song Thrush was rifling through leaf litter under trees at the north edge of the park. It saw me, but was determined to unearth a worm before flying off with it. As I neared the completion of my circuit, I spotted a pair of winter-plumage Great Crested Grebes that were diving for fish about 40m from the lochside.

Jackdaw	Canada Goose

Song Thrush	Great Crested Grebe - Winter Plumage

After photographing the grebes, I heard the twittering of a Goldfinch coming from the high branches of the tree I was leaning on. After a few minutes of searching I located it and got a nice record shot. As I arrived at the car park, a Pied Wagtail flew over me and landed on the road allowing me to snap it. And as luck would have it, another Wren started singing in the branches of bushes by the loch. That was followed by the appearance of another Robin that flew out of the same bushes onto ground near the Wagtail. My final shots of my visit to Hogganfield were of a flypast of a Carrion Crow and a foraging Jackdaw watching me as I opened my car door

Goldfinch	Pied Wagtail

Wren	Robin

Carrion Crow	Jackdaw

21st, 22nd, 24rd November: Strathclyde Country Park

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday I dodged the showers in Strathclyde Country Park to accumulate a pleasing set of pictures from all around the park. I started at the Watersports Centre, at the Finishing Tower, beautifully lit by the low autumn sunshine.

There were birds near the tower such as Black-headed Gulls on buoys, Cormorants fishing (one of the many that are currently in the park), Mallards paddling in the reflections of the tower and Goosanders preening on the jetty.

Black-headed Gull	Cormorant

Mallard	Goosander

A pretty Grey Wagtail flew in over the loch and started pecking its way along the pebble covered lochside.

Further along the water’s edge, four Meadow Pipits were searching for food amongst the pebbles - a rare species for that location. I also scanned the banks of the river that flows to the west of the loch - the River Clyde, and was rewarded by photographs of Grey Herons, as well as Cormorants.

Meadow Pipit	Grey Heron

Cormorant	Juvenile Cormorant

Earlier I mentioned that there were quite a lot of Cormorants in the park. The picture below was taken at the north-east end of the loch, near the mouth of the South Calder river, where it flows into Strathclyde Loch. It shows part of the Cormorant flock (50+ birds) on fallen trees on which they roost, preen and dry their wings after diving for fish. Spot the interloper.

Of course the interloper was a Grey Heron, probably tolerated as it doesn’t compete with the cormorants for the same food. In and around the woods, in the vacinity of the river mouth, I photographed a foraging Magpie, a Blackbird on a Hawthorn bush, as well as yet another Robin. I also encountered a couple of fungi: probably Artist’s Bracket and Sheathed Wood Tuft .

Cormorant / Grey Heron	Magpie

Blackbird	Robin

Artist's Bracket	Sheathed Wood Tuft

Hopefully you enjoyed reading about this week’s nature-watching exploits as much as I enjoyed bringing them to you. My favourites this week are the Robins, Wrens and Squirrels I saw as well as the Grey Wagtail and Meadow Pipits from Strathclyde Park. Unless it rains every day next week, I look forward to taking pictures in nice light during next week.

Week ending: 17th November: RSPB Lochwinnoch

This week I spent an afternoon at the RSPB Lochwinnoch reserve. John was still “confined to barracks” so I had to do my own spotting as well as the photography. The weather was predicted to be dry, mild and fairly sunny - and that’s how it turned out. On arrival, and once I had worked out how to avoid a parking fine, I watched the birds at the feeders in the picnic area outside the visitor centre. In a few minutes I had a reasonable set of pictures of some common garden birds: House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit Great Tit. I gave the Channel hide a miss since there was a big grey, low-moving cloud over the Sun so I decided to start on the main trail (1.5km), which runs alongside the Aird Meadow Loch. I passed a Herb Robert plant which was still in bloom.

House Sparrow	Female Chaffinch

Goldfinch	Blue Tit

Coal Tit	Herb Robert

The Trail has another set of feeders at its start, beside a children’s play area. Unfortunately there were workmen constructing fairly large play items and making a lot of noise as they worked. Despite the noise I quickly got shots of more Chaffinches and a Goldfinch. I was surprised and delighted to see a Bank Vole emerge from beneath the leaf litter no doubt searching for fallen birdseed. I was pleased also to see a pair of Nuthatches at each feeder and also a nippy Coal Tit.

Male Chaffinch	Female Chaffinch

Goldfinch	Bank Vole

Nuthatch	Coal Tit

The Aird Meadow hide was closed due to its need for essential repair. This set me wondering why the workmen I’d just seen hadn’t been assigned to do that work first. There were no birds near the hide anyway. The trail has several viewpoints with excellent views over the loch with Lochwinnoch village in the background.

Along the trail there were Blue Tits foraging high in the tree branches. And on the ground on each side of the path there were various fungi growing, such as the mature Turkeytail below. Unfortunately there were no birds at the near side of the loch. From one of the viewpoints I scanned the far side with my Coolpix 950P set on high magnification, which produced shots of Cormorants, Wigeon, Goldeneyes and Mute Swans.

Blue Tit	Turkey Tail

Cormorant	Wigeon / Goldeneye

The picture below shows there were also Tufted Ducks.

I counted over twenty very active Mute Swans, interacting, sometimes aggressively, at the far side of the loch.

The main trail has been extended recently by the addition of a boardwalk out into the loch and onto an island with a ruin - the Peel of Castle Semple. Just before the boardwalk I heard the calls of Bullfinches. I eventually located them moving in the shrubbery about 20m off the path. I also found another couple of fungi: Candlesnuff and Olive Oysterling.

Female Bullfinch	Male Bullfinch

Candlesnuff Fungus	Olive Oysterling

Next I ventured onto the boardwalk, hoping that I’d get closer views of the birds that were on and over the water.

A female Mallard was about 10m from the walkway, as were a pair of Mute Swans. On the bank just beyond the swans, a Coot was preening its feathers. A bit further along there was a large cygnet feeding just below the walkway barriers.

Female Mallard	Mute Swan

Coot	Juvenile Mute Swan

I was rather disappointed at the Peel of Castle Semple ruin since there were no birds to be seen - not one. I therefore headed back along the boardwalk and within twenty paces a wee Robin flew in and landed on the barrier and watched me approach. I of course photographed it and when it saw I wasn’t throwing it any bread, the Robin flew off. Also, I stopped at a leafless Hawthorn that had rather a lot of Beard Lichen (Usnea sp.) among the many red haw berries.


Robin	Usnea Lichen / Common Hawthorn Fruit

Off the boardwalk and walking back on the trail path, I passed the spot where I’d seen th Bullfinches. They were gone but I did get a sneaky shot through branches of a Blackbird that could hear my camera but couldn’t see where the sound was coming from. As I walked back to the visitor centre I concentrated on finding more fungi. I’m glad to report that I was quite successful. My first find wasn’t quite a fungus, but another lichen, Dog Lichen (Pelti membranacea). However I then found a trio of fungi, each of which were no more than a metre from the path: Porcelain Fungus Hairy Curtain Crust and Blushing Bracket .

Blackbird	Dog Lichen

Porcelain Fungus	Hairy Curtain Crust

Blushing Bracket...

As can be seen from many of the above shots, the Sun had long since emerged from behind the dark cloud that had covered it the last time I was at the Channel hide. My final shots of the trip were taken when I returned to that hide. There were a healthy number of Teal on the scrapes - dabbling, snoozing and preening. At far end of the scrapes, at the edge of the reeds, there were several Common Snipe. But, other than a single Carrion Crow, that’s all I saw on the scrapes. But on my way back to the car I encountered a Blackbird searching for berries and also a Robin standing, like the one I’d seen earlier, waiting for food. Like its predecessor, it was disappointed since I don’t normally feed wild birds.

Drake Teal	Female Teal

Common Snipe	Carrion Crow

Female Blackbird	Robin

I was very satisfied with my few hours at Lochwinnoch during which I’d photographed 30 species my favourites being the fungi, Nuthatch, Bank Vole and Common Snipe. The weather is to turn very cold, but sunny at times - I kinda like the sound of that

Week ending: 10th November: Stevenston, Saltcoats and Irvine Harbour

Sunday’s weather forecast was quite disconcerting: a weather front was sweeping in from the west, only to clear from mid to late afternoon. John was still at home recuperating but I chose to set off west to Stevenston, hoping optimistically that the Sun would break through earlier than was predicted. It was raining in Hamilton, Newton Mearns, Kilmarnock but not in Irvine. But ……

Clouds

Rain

Tides

Courtesy of Open Street Map and BBC Tides

Eventually I arrived at sunny (yes sunny!) Stevenston Point. The tide was approaching its low point but would rise continually during the afternoon. Below is the view of Stevenston Beach with sunny Saltcoats in the background.

There were no birds on the Point, only about half a dozen Shags diving in the fairly choppy waters just off the Point. The beach on the southerly side however had a few close Oystercatchers, Redshanks and a lone Curlew, but about 150m out was a large flock of what I suspected were Sanderlings foraging at the water’s edge.

Shag	Redshank / Oystercatcher

Curlew	Sanderling

A more magnified view of the flock confirmed that they were indeed Sanderlings.

A pair of dog walkers, mindless as to the well-being of the bird-life, put up the flock but after they passed. It turned out that there were also Ringed Plovers in the original flock, which had now separated.

I decided to move to the small lochs at Auchenharvie golf course. The first of these is off Moorpark Road West. There was a large Grey Heron on the prowl in reeds at the back of the loch, while Mallards, Black-headed Gulls and Mute Swans were enjoying a feed from a mother and her wee girl. Jackdaws were raiding the bread when they could. One of the ducks was a whitebreasted hybrid Mallard.

Grey Heron	Black-headed Gull

Mute Swan	Juvenile Mute Swan

Jackdaw	Hybrid Mallard

I quickly moved on to the other end of the golf course to the second slightly larger loch, named Auchenharvie Loch. It was dominated by a fair number of Canada Geese.

Amongst the geese were single numbers of other birds, namely a Mute Swan, a Goldeneye, and a Tufted Duck.


Goldeneye	Tufted Duck

A winter plumage Common Gull passed overhead as I photographed some Crimson Clover I discovered on the grassy banks of the loch. Also, when I processed my photos, I discovered a Whooper Swan that I had missed when I was photographing the geese. Unfortunately it started to rain and I retreated to the car - but paused for a shot of a lovely rainbow over the loch. Note Auchenharvie Academy also under the rainbow.

Common Gull ( Winter Plumage )	Crimson Clover

Whooper Swan

Thankfully the shower only lasted a few minutes and never returned. In fact, the low, grey cloud cleared and was replaced by fewer high, white, wispy clouds, as can be seen in the photo below of Saltcoats harbour mouth.

Sadly there were no birds at the harbour, however a walk around the harbour revealed more Oystercatchers and Redshanks, but also the odd Rock Pipit on the harbour wall.

Oystercatcher	Redshank...

	Rock Pipit

I followed the path as it moved away from the mouth of the harbour and towards a low viewing tower.

From the base of the tower I saw Herring Gulls and, on rocks over 100m away Cormorants and Ringed Plovers. On my way back to the car I snapped a pair of Mute Swans as they flew north over the shore. On the areas just below the sea wall, flocks of nervous Starlings were catching small invertebrates in the washed-up seaweed. My final photo at Saltcoats was of the Ardrossan ferry on its way across the Firth of Clyde to the Isle of Arran (which was still shrouded in mist).

Herring Gull	Cormorant

Ringed Plover	Mute Swan

Starling

I next relocated to the final location of the trip: Irvine Harbour and I was soon surveying the confluence of the River Irvine and River Garnock. Unusually, due to the low tide, I could see birds, mainly Wigeon, Lapwings and maybe a Red Breasted Merganser, around the wooden harbour area on the Ardeer peninsula.

A lot nearer to me, in fact about 10 metres away on the River Irvine, were Shags diving for fish. I managed a shot of a juvenile flying downstream. Across the river there was a Curlew picking its way along the rocky bank. I watched the diving Shags for a while, hoping to catch one surfacing with a fish, but without success. Then suddenly a Common Seal head broke through the water surface. If John had have been there, he’d have been delighted. I took a brief stroll upstream and snapped a nice shot of a well-lit Feral Pigeon on a chimney pot. Across the river, on a high grasstopped embankment, there were at least 20 Wigeon grazing in lovely sunshine.

Juvenile Shag	Curlew

Shag	Common Seal

Feral Pigeon	Wigeon

Finally I headed back downstream towards the Irvine Estuary. There were birds perching on the top of large metal posts (probably left over from old bridge or harbour structures) along the opposite bank of the river. I photographed the birds: a Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull and yet another Shag, which was drying its wings. At the viewpoint at the very end of the walkway I watched a family of Mute Swans feeding. A wee White Wagtail skipped along the footpath as I headed back towards the promenade.

Great Black-backed Gull	Herring Gull

Shag	Mute Swan

Juvenile Mute Swan	White Wagtail

My final shot of the trip was of a flock of about 25 Turnstones that darted in from across the estuary onto rocks on the near side.

I was delighted with the weather, given that the previous weeks’ conditions were not great for photography. There were 24 species photographed, my favourites being the Sanderlings, the hybrid Mallard, the Whooper Swan, Grey Seal and White Wagtail. Apparently the weather is due to turn colder but that could be cold, sunny weather - couldn’t it

Week ending: 3rd November: Musselburgh and Port Seton

This week a huge high pressure system dominated the weather of northwest Europe. Although the high held off rain fronts, it resulted in very cloudy conditions. On Sunday it was to be slightly less cloudy in the east, so I headed for Musselburgh, a favourite location for John and me (but he was still housebound this week and so missed the trip).

Clouds	Rain	Tides

Courtesy of Open Street Map and BBC Tides

I parked by the River Esk at Millhill and was immediately rewarded with finds of Green Alkanet and Common Mallow that were flowering on the grassy verge beside my car. A Moorhen was nipping across the shingle on the small island opposite the slipway at Millhill car park. That whole area of river was dominated by Canada Geese, …..

Green Alkanet	Common Mallow

Moorhen	Canada Goose

…. with more flying in periodically, until there were nearly 60 on the river.

I walked west to view the geese that had just descended noisily onto the river and came upon a wee Grey Squirrel that was bounding around a derelict block of flats. A Redshank was foraging midstream, its red legs completely submerged. Next a pair of wagtails caught my eye when they darted from under the lip of the near bank of the river and flew onto the opposite bank. I could then see from their yellow rumps that they were Grey Wagtails. Luckily one of them flew back over the river to search the leaf litter (of which there was a lot).

Grey Squirrel	Redshank

Grey Wagtail...

Further west on the riverside there were a few Oystercatchers with mucky beaks due to probing the damp grass with their stiletto-like bills.

While I photographed one of the Canada Geese that were paddling on the river, I heard more wagtail tweets and located their source perched on a small rock near the river’s edge. It was a male Pied Wagtail. His mate was a couple of metres away on another rock, looking up at two Canada Geese passing overhead. For good measure I also snapped a Black-headed Gull on yet another half-submerged rock. On my way back to the car I noticed a lone Greylag Goose that had emerged from trees on the opposite side of the island. And just as I had got into my car, a Magpie walked past on the pavement. I said “Hello” before I took its picture and drove off down Goose Green Crescent towards a parking spot on Goose Green Place.

Canada Goose	Male Pied Wagtail

Female Pied Wagtail	Black-headed Gull

Greylag Goose	Magpie

My intention was to walk a short circuit that would take in the mouth of the Esk and also the new scrapes. When I set off, the view across the Firth of Forth looking towards Fife showed a very inviting band of bright sky.

There was Sea Mayweed still flowering at the wire fence beside the river. When I peered over the sea wall there were Bar-tailed Godwits and Redshanks moving along the river edges. A single Mute Swan was feeding at the estuary mouth, but other than that there was a depressing lack of bird activity to be viewed. The tide was nearing it peak, so I crossed my fingers that birds would resting resting on the scrapes.

Sea Mayweed	Bar-tailed Godwit

Redshank	Mute Swan

Below is the view over the east-most hide at the new scrapes. Note the distant Pentland Hills at the top left and Arthur’s Seat on the top right .

When I took a seat in the hide, I was pleased to see a healthy number of birds on the scrapes. A large flock of Oystercatchers were perhaps the most populous. There were also lots of ducks , such as the outnumbered Wigeon below.

Oystercatcher

Wigeon

The central scrape was dominated by Mute Swans. (Note Portobello in the distance). A flock of about 30 Bar-tailed Godwits were snoozing at the side of a scrape. In the short walk to the next hide I found a late-flowering White Deadnettle growing by the fence.

Mute Swan..

Bar-tailed Godwit	White Deadnettle

There were even more Oystercatchers on view from the next hide. The gulls on the right of the shot are Herring Gulls.

The light was worsening but I got reasonable shots of Gadwall and Wigeon. There were also a few Teal but they eluded the camera. About a dozen Canada Geese were on and around the moat, including a Canada X Greylag hybrid goose.

Gadwall	Wigeon

Canada Goose	Canada X Greylag Hybrid Goose

I relocated to the Levenhall Links car park which is east of the old scrapes. My usual route to the scrapes first takes me through grassland to the sea wall. I spotted a wee female Stonechat perched on high vegetation. Again, views over the sea wall were unproductive. However, things picked up a bit when I reached the hides. Although the light was poor I got good records from the middle hide of Redshank, Curlew and Lapwings. The latter occasionally took flight en masse for no apparent reason, only to return to their original positions. I also saw a few Dunlin on the back scrape. But that was about it. On my way back to the car I passed a young Carrion Crow pecking at something under the grass, probably a worm. Just as I got into the car, a Magpie landed in a large puddle for a bath in one of the potholes in the poorly maintained car park.

Female Stonechat	Redshank

Curlew	Lapwing...

	Dunlin

Carrion Crow	Magpie

My final stop of the trip was at Port Seton, by the rocks known as the “Wrecked Craigs”. The tide hadn’t covered the rocks so there were birds to photograph. Of course there were Oystercatchers and Redshanks and the usual Herring Gulls. I spotted only one Curlew and one Turnstone, but there were a fair number of Bar-tailed Godwits, mainly roosting. Further out I noticed a small group of Eiders and on the most distant exposed rock, a trio of Shags were standing. My final shot was of some pretty Oxford Ragwort.

Oystercatcher	Herring Gull

Curlew	Turnstone

Bar-tailed Godwit	Common Eider

Shag	Oxford Ragwort

It was, what I’d class, a standard visit with only a few stand-out moments. For me, these were the Grey Wagtails, cheeky Squirrel, the hybrid goose and the wee Stonechat. Hopefully the weather will brighten up for next week because light makes for better pictures

Highlights - November 2024

We present this month’s gallery of my favourite pictures I’ve taken during November 2024. They are not listed in the order they have been taken, but according to a series of themes. I’ve kept commentary to a minimum, preferring to let each picture talk for itself.

WINGS