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Our
Expeditions:July 2025
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Week ending:
13th July: Strathclyde Country Park, RSPB Baron’s Haugh and
Hogganfield Park LNR.
With yet another warm, sunny week predicted I stuck to my favourite local haunts for my wanderings with my Coolpix P950 camera, starting in Strathclyde Country Park on Wednesday.
Wednesday 9th July: Strathclyde Country Park
The sunshine was so warm I stuck to paths where there were plenty of shady trees, such as those behind M&D’s fairground, where I came across a commotion involving several birds. When things settled a bit, I got pictures of two of them - a Mistle Thrush and a Jay . In the same area there were Broad-leaved Helleborines: tall orchids of woodlands, which have greenish, purple-tinged flowers. I also saw a fair few Common Spotted Orchids flowering throughout the grassy areas of the woods. I was joined by a couple of butterflies: a Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood when they rested between their long meandering flights through the open areas of the woods.
| Mistle Thrush |
Eurasian Jay |
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| Broad-leaved Helleborine |
Common Spotted Orchid |
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| Red Admiral Butterfly |
Speckled Wood Butterfly |
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At a resting point near the road bridge at the South Calder I sat admiring the extensive array of wildflowers that were growing there. These were a continuation of North Lanarkshire Council’s “Mega-flora” project. They were mainly Oxeye Daisies, but I particularly liked the Knapweed, Marjoram and Vipers Bugloss that were interspersed among the daisies. Just as I finished my walk, I snapped a White-tailed Bumblebee as it buzzed along the path by the South Calder and landed on a Large Bindweed flower.
Friday 11th July am: RSPB Baron’s Haugh
The good weather continued on Friday morning. At Barons Haugh I found Pencilled Cranesbills flowering around the edge of the car park. One flower was being visited by a Sunfly hoverfly, and at the ranger’s cabin there are a couple of planters filled with wild flowers such as Field Scabious, Musk Mallow and Common Agrimony. On my way down to the hides, very pretty Meadow Cranesbills were flowering in the uncut meadowland. Fox and Cubs wildfowers were blooming next to the path, and a Long Hoverfly paused on one of the orange flowers long enough for me to get a quick snap.
Further along the path I heard a Whitethroat, and easily located it as it called from the top of bushes in the adjacent field.
At the Causeway Hide, the sunlight was very bright and shining directly onto the hide, which unfortunately silhouetted any birds that were on the Haugh. However after accustoming my eyes to the conditions I began to pick out some of the Sandpipers that had been reported. A couple of
Common Sandpipers were wading about 60m from the hide, and a bit further away there was a single Wood Sandpiper dipping it's bill in the shallow water as it moved left to right. A half hour after that, at least 3 Green Sandpipers flew in from the south and started feeding as they waded in the shallow parts of the Haugh. Other waders I saw were a Curlew that was standing in reeds on the far edges of the Haugh, and Lapwings, which could be seen in double figures all around the waters. On the eponymous Causeway I photographed a wildflower we usually avoid - Common (or Stinging) Nettle. The yellow-green strands that emerge from the base of each leaf contain the nettle’s tiny flowers.
| Common Sandpiper |
Wood Sandpiper |
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| Green Sandpiper |
Curlew |
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| Lapwing |
Common Nettle |
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On my way back to the car I passed an area where the wonderfully-named Enchanter’s Nightshade was growing. Its thin spikes of delicate white flowers are very pretty. Next I found an exotically-named fungus growing around the base of a rotting tree stump: Dryads Saddle . A Grey Squirrel was reluctant to move from the car park waste bin when I approached, and only scampered when I turned to photograph it. When I had another look at the planters I examined when I first set off, I noticed that I’d missed a rather pretty wild flower that was rather hidden: Greater Knapweed. A Buff-tailed Bumblebee turned up just as I pointed the camera at the flower.
Friday 11th July pm: Hogganfield Park LNR
After lunch on Friday, it was such a nice afternoon I decided to visit Hogganfield Park for a walk and a few more pictures. Below is the view that greeted me when I started my walk around the Loch.
The predominant gull species at the Loch is the Lesser Black-backed Gull. Immature gulls have different plumages from mature birds. The first year plumage is a rather unappealing brown and white, but when they mature after 4 years, their plumage is much more refined, as can be seen in
the pictures below. Perched not far from the gulls was a feral pigeon, no doubt waiting on somebody throwing bread. The same could be said for the Greylag Goose that was looking longingly at me. However, it was disappointed when I walked away.
| 1st Cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull |
Lesser Black-backed Gull |
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| Feral Pigeon |
Greylag Goose |
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Not all birds were after bread. An adult and juvenile Cormorant were perched and preening well away from the edge of the water. These pescatarians work hard throughout the day, diving for fish in all areas of the Loch. I didn’t see any evidence that the chick actually caught any fish though.
The lochside was lined with wild flowers, such as Great Willowherbs. The sound of a calling Great Crested Grebe chick drew my attention away from the flowers. The chick was diving for fish under the supervision of one of its parents, that was probably relieved that the ever-demanding chick had started to feed itself. Tufted Ducks were also diving in that area but they didn’t seem to interfere with the Grebes…..
| Great Willowherb |
Juvenile Great Crested Grebe |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
Female Tufted Duck |
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…. but a line of Greylag Geese came cruising in, disrupting the diving activities.
I walked around the park road until I reached the small pond where I have stopped many times over the years hoping to see a Dragonfly, only to be disappointed. On this visit I thought I would at least photograph some plants there and started with a nice example of Meadow Vetchlings. While
doing so, I noticed a couple of Damselflies - a Blue-tailed Damselfly and then an Azure Damselfly. After that, my wishes were fulfilled when a 4-Spotted Chaser Dragonfly flew in and perched very conveniently on a small branch several metres in front of of me. My patience and persistence certainly paid off. By the time I’d completed my brief circuit of the Loch, I’d bagged a couple more flower shots - a Common Spotted Orchid and an unexpected subject, a large multi-flower patch of Sunflowers.
| Meadow Vetchling |
Blue-tailed Damselfly |
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| Azure Damselfly |
4-Spotted Chaser Dragonfly |
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| Common Spotted Orchid |
Sunflower |
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These probably grew from a birdseeds mix missed by their intended recipients.
It was a successful couple of days of observations - with 49 species photographed (not all listed or shown here). My favourites were the Jay, Dragonfly and Sandpipers. Rain is predicted for next wwk - let's hope it is warm rain.
Week ending: 6th July: RSPB Bempton Cliffs
While on a short holiday in the City of York, and since the weather was set fair, I decided to go on a day trip to RSPB Bempton Cliffs . It was an ideal time to see the birds that were nesting on the fabulous cliffs on the spectacular Yorkshire Coast.
After parking in the overflow car park (the reserve was busy) I headed for the various viewpoints on the Jubilee Corner Trail . The picture below shows the start of the trail, with Jubilee corner visible on the mid-left.
The wildflowers on the trail that leads to the clifftops were teeming with insects, such as Narrowbordered 5-spot Burnet Moths on Creeping Thistles and Green-veined White Butterflies on Yarrow. White Musk Mallow flowers were blooming at Mossy Downgate, the first viewpoint.
The picture below shows Bartlett Nab (a ‘nab’ is a rocky promontory).
| 5-Spot Burnet Moth |
Green-veined White Butterfly |
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| Musk Mallow |
Barlett Nab |
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Looking over the cliffs, down to the sea below, the birds there, Common Guillemots ,seemed tiny…..
….. it was a good job then that they frequenty flew up onto
their nests on very narrow ledges near the top of the cliff, otherwise
my pictures wouldn’t have been quite as interesting. It was a
similar story with the birds whose calls were heard constantly
proclaiming their name: “kit-teh-wake, kitteh-wake,
kit-teh-wake,”. The Kittiwake nests were occupied with fluffy grey chicks.
The record picture below shows a distant flock of about 20 Kittiwakes in the water catching fish for their chicks.
Probably the most noticeable birds in the air and on the cliffs were
the Northern Gannets. They too were nesting on the cliffs and many
could be seen flying between their high perches on the cliffs and their
feeding areas on the North Sea. Similar to the Guillemots, there were
also Razorbills nesting on the steep rocky crags. But the crowds’ favourite birds to spot were definitely the Puffins.
They were hard to find due to their small size, but once you get your
eye in, one could see that there were a fair number of them commuting
between their nests and the sea. I was lucky when one landed near a
flock of Rock Doves on the cliff top to the left of the platform.
As I made my way back to my car for lunch I passed a Meadow Pipit that
was active in the wild areas of long grasses. I also photographed a
Lesser Burdock that was hosting a 7-spot Ladybird as well as a Spittlebug .
A very tame Jackdaw was perched on a fence-post opposite a bench,
obviously realising that humans often leave behind edible rubbish.
Nearby there were patches of Sea Mayweed that was attracting hoverflies
such as Syrphus ribesii.
On Yarrow, I spotted Red Soldier Beetles on Creeping Thistles and a Red
Admiral butterfly fluttered onto some Stinging Nettles. As I neared the
car I heard a Dunnock calling from the top of a tall hedgerow at the
bottom of which was a clump of Red Campion with smaller than usual
flowers.
The edges of the overflow car park were little more than a mown field,
but its outer edges were left to grow wild - presumably to encourage
flowers and insects - with some success, since I snapped a Meadow Brown
butterfly on Buttercup foliage, a Large White butterfly on Creeping
Thistle and a pair of Marmalade hoverfies on Great Willowherb. As I was
drinking tea, a male Linnet started singing from the hedge, so I
reached for my camera and managed a quick record shot.
After lunch I set off for the Staple Neuk trail, which, I was informed, was dominated by Gannets.
I can confirm that and I amassed quite a few pictures to prove it
(although I’ve published just a few here, including some that
illustrate the different plumages of the various ages of young
Gannets.
As I was watching the Gannets, a bonny wee Goldfinch appeared just a
few metres in front of me and began nibbling leaves of Sea Plantain.
After that I noticed a bird I’d been watching for - a Fulmar .
One came gliding past, parallel to the cliff face before circling round
and back and onto its perch on the cliff, where it had young waiting
for food.
Below is the view of Staple Newk as seen from the viewpoint.
There were Rock Doves
not far from the Fulmar nest and on the rocks a few metres lower down I
noticed a Herring Gull with a couple of chicks. I was just about to
return to the Visitor Centre when I noticed a Puffin flying in and
landing quite far away on the cliff, joining another couple of Puffins.
I retraced my steps back up the hill to the Visitor Centre, getting
pictures of another Green-veined White butterfly and, at the Centre, a
shot of a male Blackbird surveying its territory.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable visit which had produced lots of photos -
of 27 species . My favourites are hard to choose - probably the
Gannets, Puffins and Fulmar. I may travel far from home again in the
near future and hopefully I will accumulate another fine haul of
sightings.
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