Week ending: 28th April: Broadwood Loch 


I took advantage of some beautiful weather to visit a relatively new site for us - Broadwood Loch in Cumbernauld. It sits immediately south and west of Broadwood Stadium . With John still recuperating, I was on my own, but was eagerly anticipating the first full outing at the very attractive site. The main car park entrance at Orchardton Road has a fine and welcoming blue painted metal arch.

After parking, I immediately set off on the 2 mile circular walk around the loch. The picture below shows the view that greeted me as I looked north. The yellow flowers are Marsh Marigolds  and also note the Mute Swans on the left, by the car park.

The Marsh Marigolds were glowing in the brilliant morning sunshine. I decided to take a counterclockwise route and within a minute or two I noticed a pair of Coal Tits nipping about a willow tree. The air was filled with the descending songs of Willow Warblers and it wasn’t long before I spotted one high in a lochside willow tree. A Mute Swan seemed interested in me, probably as a source of food.

Marsh Marigold	Coal Tit
Willow Warbler	Mute Swan

A little further on there was a group of snoozing Goosanders in the middle of the loch. A pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew in and landed near them. A little closer to me were a pair of Tufted Ducks paddling calmly down the loch.

Female Goosander	Lesser Black-backed Gull
Drake Tufted Duck	Female Tufted Duck

There was a pair of Mute Swans setting up a nest on the opposite bank and, by the near bank, an male Orange Tip butterfly fluttered onto a Dandelion and settled long enough for me to get a quick shot. Just before the path continued onto a boardwalk, I passed a thicket of willows where I photographed a pair of stealthy Blackcaps  quietly searching for invertebrates. 

Mute Swan	Orange Tip Butterfly
Blackcap	Female Blackcap

From the boardwalk I had excellent close views of a pair of Mallards paddling past and also a Coot that was clutching nesting material in its beak. Then a Cormorant appeared suddenly and made repeated dives for fish.

Drake Mallard	Female Mallard
Coot	Cormorant

Next I heard an excited call from a young lady ahead of me on the boardwalk, who instructed me to, “Photograph the chicks!”. She was referring to a group of Moorhen chicks that were being fed by their attentive parents.

The cute chicks were totally reliant on the parent as they were not yet able to seek out their own food. The path then passed some social houses, where in one garden a Blackbird was watching me as it stood on a tree branch. On the grass verge close to that garden I was surprised to find what I think was a Common Drone Fly, Eristalis tenax which is a common, medium-sized hoverfly. 

Moorhen...	...Hatchling
Blackbird	Common Drone Fly

In trees on the opposite side of path a wee Blue Tit was hopping between small branches as it searched for food, probably caterpillars. A Cuckoo Flower was blooming just below the Blue Tit, albeit in the shade. The path then turned toward the northeast extreme of the loch where a pair of Canada geese were sitting on the grassy banks. A Jackdaw was preening atop a large tree where the footpath leads briefly onto Atholl Drive before it resumed sharp left towards the head of the loch.

Blue Tit	Cuckoo Flower
Canada Goose	Jackdaw

At the north side of the loch I looked back to where I had just photographed the geese and was astonished to see that they were now on their feet and shepherding at least nine or ten goslings. Needless to say, I backtracked to photograph them, taking care not to disturb them. I fired off a few shots but I also got a small bonus when I noticed a few Red Deadnettles  and also some gorgeous Marsh Marigolds by the side of the loch.

Canada Goose...	...Gosling
Red Deadnettle	Marsh Marigold

Below is the view looking south from the walkway at the north edge of the loch.

I paused for a while sitting on a park bench in order to observe the passing birds. Some House Sparrows were twittering in a lochside hedgerow and fairly far out there were three pairs of Great Crested Grebes . When they weren’t quarrelling noisily, they were doing their renowned courting displays.

House Sparrow	Great Crested Grebe...

A pair of Cormorants were on the small island, one of which was gaping. As I photographed them, an Alder Fly  fluttered from the loch onto my jacket. I made no sudden movements as I manipulated my small LUMIX camera from my pocket and snapped a few shots as the best I could. Moments later a midge, probably a Buzzer Midge, Chironomus plumosus, landed on my boot. Of course I snapped that too before moving on to the last section of the path. I noticed a clump of Coltsfoot flowering near the water’s edge.

Cormorant	Alder Fly
Buzzer Midge	Coltsfoot

The path went “inland”, i.e. away from the loch and into a wooded section, before it would turn back to complete the circuit at the car park. The view below shows the last sight of the loch before the path leads into the woods.

Not far into the woods, the calling of a Chiffchaff drew my attention to a pathside tree. I soon located and photographed the singing bird. Further along the path a Robin watched me carefully just before darting onto the ground to carry away what looked like a small white grub. About 20m from the car park a Great Tit was calling from a bush. Conveniently for me it descended onto the fence and allowed a very pleasing shot to be taken. My final shot was of a Magpie that had been snooping around the cars for scraps of food left by those careless humans. I snapped it when it moved onto the grass behind the car park close to my car.

Chiffchaff	Robin
Great Tit	Magpie

I was delighted with my collection of sightings, my favourites being the Blackcaps, Moorhen with chicks and Canada Geese with goslings. We will certainly visit again, probably in a couple of months when the wildflowers and insects will be at their peak. We also have still to explore the wooded area to the west of the final section I’ve just described. Hopefully we’ll get just as good weather for the next visit.

Week ending: 21st April: Balgray Reservoir

This week I visited Balgray Reservoir on the south-side of Glasgow. We last visited there just under a year ago, so it was well worth a revisit. John was still recuperating at home so I needed to bring my best sighting skills since much of the interest at Balgray could be fairly distant from the main path. The main access road, Aurs Road, was temporarily closed but I managed to negotiate a tricky single track “country back-road” that lead to the Balgray car park. The weather was gorgeous and I got off to a super start with very pleasing shots of a Wren and Robin both of which were in full voice. In an adjacent field there were Jackdaws and Magpies with a flock of sheep watching from the top field.

Wren	Robin
Magpie...
Jackdaw

For the first time since the Autumn I heard the buzzing of hoverflies and even managed to photograph one, probably Eristalis arbustorum,  resting on grass. A Peacock butterfly landed close to the path - well within the range of my 600mm lens. A large fraction of the reservoir had turned to scrubland, since the water level had been dropped to allow renovation work that was currently underway, so it took quite a few minutes walking until the water came into view. By the nearest bank (still over 100 away from the path) I spotted a lone Greylag Goose. Also a few birds flew past including an Oystercatcher and a lesser Black-backed Gull. 

Hoverfly - Eristalis arbustorum	Peacock Butterfly
	Greylag Goose
Oystercatcher	Lesser Black-backed Gull

Further along the path my ears once again picked up buzzing - this time it was an Buff-tailed Bumblebee searching the long grass for nesting places. I sat for a while when I heard a reeling Grasshopper Warbler. I saw fleeting views of it as it darted amongst the bushes, but, sadly, it didn’t remain still for long enough in order to take its picture. I did though hear, see and photograph a single Lapwing showing off its fine flying skills. Along the full length of the path there were several Willow Warblers warbling in willow trees so it was only a matter of time before I nabbed a photo of one, for the record. As I was watching the Willow Warbler, a Roebuck dashed across the grassland between the path and shoreline, It looked as if it was running from a threat, as earlier, I’d passed walkers with a dog that wasn’t on a lead.

Queen - Buff-tailed Bumblebee	Lapwing
Black Headed Gull	Willow Warbler
Roe Deer...

As I approached the east end of the path there was a flock of gulls - mainly Lesser Black-backed Gulls with a few Herring Gulls, all preening and flapping about in the pleasantly warm sunshine.

Another Peacock butterfly descended onto the path in front of me to soak up that sunlight, occasionally slowly opening and closing its wing, presumably to avoid getting blown away by occasional gusts of wind. I also noticed a Bee, probably a Mining Bee, perhaps Andrena scotica , nestling in the nectaries of a Dandelion. Some Black-headed Gulls were merely walking the shoreline near the preening gulls.  However a pair of Canada Geese had caught the preening bug and were furiously nibbling their plumages and flapping their wings. 

Peacock Butterfly	Chocolate Mining Bee
Black Headed Gull	Canada Goose

Below is the view of the reservoir waters looking northwest from just past the footbridge over the Brock Burn.

 I sat for a while at the southeast corner of the reservoir. A few pairs of Tufted Ducks were diving for food. Looking up towards the tower I could see a juvenile Mute Swan dipping its head into the water. A Mallard swam to the water’s edge just below where I was positioned and began preening. I heard a Grey Heron call emanating from the field behind me and on checking I easily spotted it as it was right in the middle of the field …...but not for long because it took flight when it saw me photographing it.

Drake Tufted Duck	Female Tufted Duck
Juvenile Mute Swan	Mallard
Grey Heron...

Below is the view of the loch as seen from the southeast corner of the reservoir.

Not far from the heron there were several grazing Canada Geese which I photographed just before I started to retrace my steps back to my car. A Carrion Crow caught my attention as it perched on a tall tree. At this point I followed a couple of Orange Tip butterflies but, frustratingly, neither of them landed, so I was unable to snap them. My final few pictures were of flowers seen near the path. A lovely clump of Marsh Marigolds were blooming around the edge of a flooded ditch and in the middle of a grassy plane a small Gorse bush stood flowering proudly. Occasionally there were patches of Lesser Celandine still in flower … and of course, the much underrated Common Daisy was very much in evidence along the edges of the path.

Canada Goose	Carrion Crow
Marsh Marigold	Gorse
Lesser Celandine	Common Daisy

For such a brief visit (2.5h) I was very pleased with 26 species observed. My favourites were the Roe Deer, Peacock butterfly, reeling Grasshopper Warbler and the singing Robin and Wren. It felt like a Summer day - I hope it is summer again next week

Week ending: 14th April: RSPB Baron’s Haugh and Strathclyde Country Park.

It was neither east nor west this week as I opted to visit a couple of my local nature-watching sites, both positioned by the bonny banks of the River Clyde near Motherwell - RSPB Baron’s Haugh and Strathclyde Country Park. The two main reasons for this choice were: 1. the weather in Motherwell was predicted to be more, or just as favourable to watching nature as anywhere else in Central Scotland, and 2. our last visit there was about a year ago, so a re-visit was well overdue.

I began at Baron’s Haugh. Since that last visit the threat of flood-water of the River Clyde breaching the protective bunds and wreaking havoc to the Haugh’s environment has caused the RSPB to redesign that environment. The view below shows the major changes to the southern haugh where a large area of scrapes has been created in front of the Marsh Hide. 

On my way down to the Marsh Hide I spotted a large queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee which was searching the undergrowth, presumably, for a nesting site. There were the usual Carrion Crows and Magpies foraging the fields and at the access path to the Marsh Hide a tiny Wren announced its presence with its shrill and oversized song. Just outside the hide I found Few Flowered Leeks and Cuckoo Flowers in bloom.

Buff-tailed Bumblebee	Carrion Crow
Magpie	Wren

Few-flowered Leek	Cuckoo Flower

The pictures below show the view of the new scrapes as seen from inside the Marsh Hide.

View To The Right

The weather was dry and cloudy with brief sunny intervals. My first sightings were of a Mute Swan and beside it on the pool, a Coot. On the nearest muddy scrape a couple of Oystercatchers were probing around in the soft mud. A Grey Heron flew past them heading south, maybe for Carbarns pool. A pair of Teal swam past fairly close to the hide and a solitary Lapwing was standing at the back edge of the scrape.

Mute Swan	Coot
Oystercatcher	Grey Heron
Teal	Lapwing

A pair of noisy Greylag Geese flew out of the main haugh and over the scrapes, honking as they went. The Sun made a brief appearance, illuminating a summer plumage Black-tailed Godwit fairly near the hide. Near that, a Curlew stepped into view, that hitherto had been in a slight dip in the scrapes landscape. About 170 m from the hide I could just see a White Wagtail  (confirmed by a scoper who happened to be present in the hide) standing on a small island. It took off and as I tried to locate it, I came across a Common Sandpiper that was searching its way along the scrape, continually bobbing as it did so. I then noticed movement in the long grass to the left of the hide. It was a pair of Mallards which I unfortunately disturbed when I attempted to take their picture.

Greylag Goose	Black-tailed Godwit
Curlew	White Wagtail
Common Sandpiper	Mallard

The Mallards left the scene, as did I, for the Causeway Hide. Someone had scattered bird seed on the path outside the Marsh Hide. I paused for a while to photograph a Chaffinch, Blue Tit and Great Tit as they got stuck into the spillage.

Mallard	Chaffinch
Blue Tit	Great Tit

On reaching the access path to the Causeway Hide I found that it now had a big metal gate, presumably to keep out wandering cattle. Once through the gate and on the said Causeway, I managed a mini-feast of sightings. A couple of Goldcrests were hovering unpredictably around the shaded walls of the hide. I only managed a rather dark, but identifiable image. As I tried to track them once they entered the hedgerow, I found some Blushing Bracket fungi attached to a Hawthorn. Next some Long-tailed Tits showed up and one, rather conveniently rested on a branch long enough for a few pictures. A Willow Warbler then started singing half way along the causeway and after finding and snapping that, I repeated the process when a Chiffchaff appeared near the new gate, although I only managed a record shot.

	Goldcrest
Blushing Bracket	Long-tailed Tit
Willow Warbler	Chiffchaff

Eventually I got to the Causeway Hide. The general view to the front and away to the right of the hide were unchanged, although there’s now a big space where the Phoenix Hide once was. To the right of that space a Mute Swan was on its nest built amid tall reeds.

There were courting Goldeneyes about 50m from the hide.

A group of Gadwalls passed in front of the Goldeneyes. A flock of birds, consisting of a pair of Mallards and a group of Teal, flew over past the Goldeneyes. I spotted a pair of Canada Geese grazing at the waters edge opposite the hide. On my way back to the car I snapped some Jackdaws and a Robin busy feeding in the fields.

Gadwall	Mallard
Teal	Canada Goose
Jackdaw	Robin

After lunch I decided to have a quick visit to Strathclyde Country Park where I explored the wooded area near the Caravan Park at the northern end of the park. On entering the woods my attention was caught by a very extensive patch of beautifully-illuminated Opposite-leaved Saxifrage …..

 ….. then I came upon a pair of Roebucks, each resplendent in its small, but fine antlers. They were head-to-head, possibly early encounters in what will become a full rut  later in the year. 

Next a large Buzzard glided low overhead, but since I was surrounded by trees, I had to find a gap through which I could view it. As I left the woods I found a fly (as yet unidentified) on a flowering of Lesser Celandine. Delighted at the few pictures I taken at the woods, I walked from there, past the all-weather football pitches and discovered a lovely bed of Wood Anemones outside a derelict cottage. Back at my car, as I sipped some water, a butterfly fluttered by and settled on the surface of the road. It was a Peacock butterfly, whose ragged wings indicated that it had been through the wars.

Buzzard	Lesser Celandine
Wood Anemone	Peacock Butterfly

What an enjoyable day I experienced. I photographed 39 species ( and had seen or heard many more, including Blackcap, Jay, Treecreeper and Goldfinch). My favourite shots were of the Roebucks, Wren and Long-tailed Tit. The weather held out and hopefully it will next week too.



Week ending: 7th April: Musselburgh and Port Seton 

This Sunday there was an east/west split in the predicted weather: the west was to be mainly cloudy, windy with a high probability of persistent showers, while the east was to be mainly sunny but with a strong wind. To compensate for an expected dearth of sightings due to the high winds and high tide, my plan was to travel along the Lothian coast between Musselburgh and Aberlady, stopping at various points along the way to build up a set of sightings.

With John still recuperating at home, I didn’t go for the usual breakfast, but headed straight for the Levenhall Links Nature reserve (aka: The Scrapes), last visited a mere three weeks earlier. A stroll along the sea wall adjacent to the Scrapes quickly produced a picture of a rather lonely looking juvenile Mute Swan. The boulders lining the rough and ready road were coated in very attractive and brightly-coloured Common Orange Lichen, with the the odd patch of Common Scurvygrass around some of them. A flock of Turnstones sped low over the water quite close to the wall.

Juvenile Mute Swan	Common Orange Lichen
Common Scurvygrass	Turnstone

The Turnstone flock of about a dozen birds flew past and onto a position below the wall.

Just before I turned away from the wall, to head for the reserve entrance, I photographed a pair of Eider  that were diving for shellfish near the wall. Once in the reserve I was pleased to see that there were plenty of birds there, the “usual suspects”, but each worthy of a photograph. A hard-working Magpie stood boldly in front of the hide, its beak caked in mud. In the nearest scrape a Redshank walked into view.

Female Eider	Drake Eider
Magpie	Redshank

A drake Teal was dabbling on the near edge of the north-most scrape, as was a single Dunlin. Suddenly a Carrion Crow flew over the Teal and made a Tern-like dive onto the scrape, emerging with an unfortunate frog. The crow settled on the grass and proceeded to devour its prey. Meanwhile, not that far from the gory scene, a pair of Wigeon were nibbling grass.

Drake Teal	Dunlin
Carrion Crow...
Drake Wigeon	Female Wigeon

I moved to the middle hide where I was immediately drawn to a conflict that was happening on the furthest scrape. Drake Shelducks were in combat, undoubtedly over a female. 

The confrontation continued for several minutes of aggression and flapping of wings until the offending bird was vanquished to the neighbouring scrape. Once again the birds close to that scrape, a Curlew and some Woodpigeons, went about their business, seemingly unconcerned.

Curlew	Wood Pigeon

I moved to the south-most hide. It was birdless until a tail-less Pheasant appeared briefly at the far end. A flock of Starlings passed overhead, but that was about it. I did manage a picture of some Red Deadnettle on the approach path and also a shot of one of the many Chiffchaffs I’d heard reciting their names incessantly.

Pheasant	Starling
Red Deadnettle	Chiffchaff

I proceeded from the Scrapes to my next step towards Aberlady: Port Seton. On arrival at the Wrecked Craigs I was delighted to see that it wasn’t quite high tide and there were many birds still on the rocks that hadn’t yet been covered by the tide water. I started with some shots of the many Redshanks ….

 …. followed by a shot of a juvenile Herring Gull about to displace Oystercatchers, Redshanks and Turnstones from their rocky stances. I snapped a flight shot of a passing Curlew and immediately after my attention returned to the rocks, I noticed that a Purple Sandpiper  was standing among the Redshanks. On one of the more distant rocks, Eider and Oystercatchers were soaking up the sunshine, albeit in near gale force gusts of wind - as can be seen in the picture below of a lone Redshank standing in the wind-driven spray of sea water.

1st Cycle Herring Gull	Oystercatcher / Turnstone / Redshank
Curlew	Purple Sandpiper / Redshank
Eider / Oystercatcher	Redshank

There were also about a dozen Bar-tailed Godwits enduring the relentless wind.

I walked to the harbour to check if any birds were sheltering there and as I stood at the harbour mouth, a group of at least ten Redshanks flew through the harbour mouth and settled on the leeward side of the sea wall

There were several Eiders sheltering on the waters at the harbour mouth. A Red-breasted Merganser passed and then a large Cormorant that seemed to turn out of the wind. A young Herring Gull was enjoying the sunshine as it sheltered behind the harbour wall at the other side of the harbour mouth. On my way back to the car I found Danish Scurvygrass  growing by the quayside.

Eider...
Female Red-breasted Merganser	Cormorant
1st Cycle Herring Gull	Danish Scurvygrass

Below is the view from the harbour mouth looking west towards Edinburgh and Arthur’s Seat.

At this point I returned to the car and drove to Longniddry Bents and then to Aberlady LNR. At each of these locations I found that there was little of interest due mainly to the high winds and high tide. I therefore decided to drive back to Musselburgh to check out the “new scrapes” which I assumed would be sheltered from the wind and would be a place where birds might be roosting at high tide. When I arrived at the first hide of the new scrapes, I decided my assumptions were correct. Straight away I photographed a pair of Canada Geese that were swimming in the “moat”. I could see also Bar-tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers, a Curlew and Redshanks - unfortunately all on the most distant edge of the reserve. However a pair of Shelducks were within range of the camera. There were Skylarks in the ground surrounding the reserve and after a patient wait I was lucky enough to get a couple of pleasing shots of a Skylark as it returned from one of its high aerial singing performances.

Canada Goose	Shelduck
Skylark...

Below is the view of the entrance to one of the hides.Note the scrapes beyond the hide.

As I returned to the car via the sea wall, thinking how unlikely it would be to find birds on such a choppy sea, a Shag surfaced about 20m from the wall. Next, a juvenile Cormorant flew right over where I was standing. Finally a drake Long-tailed Duck  surfaced about 30m out. It saw me peering at it and took flight.

Shag	Juvenile Cormorant
Long-tailed Duck...

That trio of sightings finished off a very enjoyable trip. My favourite pictures were of the Chiffchaff, Skylark, Shag and Eiders. My original intentions were Ill-considered but things worked out by the end.



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