Diary of a Clyde Birder: October 2007

Tuesday 30th October 2007

Above: Rats scavenging on bird droppings!!!

Above left: drake Goosander close in off the car park.
Above right: Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Above: Pair of Whooper Swans showing off their triumph display, a wonderfull sight and sound.

Stopped off briefly at Hogganfield Loch on the way to work at 1200 hrs, I had a look at the Greylag I took the darvic ring from (White ring with black code: 41S) (BTO Ring number: 523166), the bottom of it's foot looks as if it has a fungal infection. Will have to keep an eye on it, it is certainly walking better albiet with a slight limp.
There were also 8 Whooper Swans present including 2 juvs, another 2 adults circled the loch calling at 1245 hrs but did not land. There were also 6 Shoveler and 8 Ruddy Ducks visible from the car park but didn't have time to walk around the loch to see all the birds present. There were two Rats on the old boating platform, again they were feeding on bird droppings.

Thursday 25th October 2007

A quick stop off at Hogganfield Loch at 1230 hrs resulted in me spending most of my time trying to catch a Greylag !!!

The darvic ring on it's leg had slipped down on to it's foot, the bird couldn't walk or swim properly so I decided to try and catch it. After a a couple of failed attempts I had the assistance of a kind soul and his daughter who threw bread to it while I crept up behind it. After a brief struggle I managed to hold it securely and release the ring, the birds foot didn't look too bad so hopefully I got to it before any real damage was done. After release it looked much more comfortable swimming so I left for work feeling pleased with myself that I had saved the bird from any further distress.

Left: An image showing the ring over the Greylags foot.

Left: A rather scruffy looking immature Goosander looking more reminiscent of it's more marine relative, the Red-breasted Merganser.

Left: A male Goldeneye feeding close in at the car park.

Left: The gentle looking Whooper Swans are always a favourite of mine, I always look forward to their arrival each year .

Wednesday 24th October 2007

Above: Record shot of the Ring-necked Parakeet before it flew off.

Above: Adult Whooper Swan, it's always a thrill to see these elegant birds return from Iceland, unfortunately without young this year.

Hogganfield Loch, 1650 hrs - 1730 hrs

Stopped off at Hogganfield Loch on way home from work and seen a good range of birds including Whooper Swan 2, Ruddy Duck 27, Shoveler 9, Gadwall 8 as well as Goosander & Goldeneye.

The surprise sighting of the stop was a Ring-necked Parakeet that flew in from the east and landed briefly before flying off towards Robroyston at 1700 hrs - John Molloy

Thursday 18th October 2007

At least 200 Taiga Bean Geese were feeding in the fields opposite Luckenburn Farm, at 1630 hrs a group of 245 Pink-footed Geese flew north, high over the farm.

Above; Taiga Bean Geese at Luckenburn Farm today.

Below; Juvenile Pink-footed Goose for comparison.

Monday 15th October 2007

A juvenile Ruff with at least 228 Lapwing at Gadloch, also a Snipe, 5 Cormorant, 35 Teal and 8 Wigeon at flooded area at the east end of the loch - John Molloy

left: record shot of the juvenile Ruff, taken from around 500 ft away.

Sunday 14th October 2007

2 Raven's over Craiglinn Roundabout, Cumbernauld at 1510 hrs - John Molloy

Saturday 13th October 2007

2 Raven's over Craiglinn Roundabout, Cumbernauld at 1530 hrs - John Molloy

Kilconquhar Loch, Fife on 2nd October

Some more images from Fife.

This Kingfisher almost slipped past, managed to get a shot despite the fact my autofocus had stopped working.

Above 3 images: This female Mallard decided to do an impersonation of a torpedo, instead of landing on the surface it plunged into the water head first !!!