Bridgetown, Barbados
..... and Bingham's Pond in Glasgow at 30F!
Bingham's Pond, Glasgow
Barbados was the culmination of a 2 week cruise around the Caribbean with exotic species such as Troupial .....
Troupial, Bonaire
.... whilst Bingham's Pond was the monthly Webs Count - easier than normal as 95% of the pond was frozen ....
Bingham's Pond, 11 December 2017
This Black-headed Gull took advantage of the small area of open water ...
The Webs count was similar to my last count with nothing unexpected. However, not too far away from the Pond comes the exciting news of the discovery of a Firecrest near Hillhead Secondary School. Sadly, I failed to see it yesterday but intend to give it another go!
And this brings me on nicely to recent sightings in the Greater Glasgow area, courtesy of the SOC Clyde Grapevine:
Wednesday 13 December 2017
A Firecrest again at the junction of Oakfield Avenue/Glasgow Street, Hillhead, Glasgow, favouring trees outside 25 Glasgow Street, in the morning.
Tuesday 12 December 2017
A Firecrest at the junction of Oakfield Avenue/Glasgow Street, Glasgow at 0945 hrs.
Monday 11 December 2017
A report of a Firecrest at Hillhead High School, Glasgow.
A Scaup on Balgray Reservoir.
Saturday 9 December 2017
A male and a female Scaup on Ryat Linn Reservoir.
The female Mandarin Duck back on White Cart Water at Scottish Power, Cathcart.
Monday 4 December 2017
The immature Long-tailed Duck still at Waulkmill Glen Reservoir.
Hi. I live at the corner of Glasgow Street and Oakfield Avenue. While it's wonderful that there is such a variety of interesting wildlife about, the steady stream of visitors pointing cameras and binoculars at my house is getting a little wearisome - we're up to about half a dozen groups a day. Would you consider removing the advice relating to the firecrest and giving me a little privacy back in the run-up to Christmas?
ReplyDeleteHi, I have total sympathy with your situation and will endeavour to contact all the bird watching forums/information services that have promoted the discovery of a rare bird in your street and advise them of your concerns. Please be assured that all those congregating in the Hillhead area are trying to see and/or photograph this tiny bird and are not trying to upset any residents. Many birdwatchers are loathe to even carry binoculars in such a built up area as they do not want to be thought of as 'being up to no good'. However, as it is the same size as the UK's smallest bird, the Goldcrest, binoculars are required to see and identify it. Also being such a rare/unusual bird for Glasgow and even Scotland, its presence was reported to a Bird Forum and this information has spread to other information services/forums. So the removal of my post would not help your situation. But as I have said I shall contact as many of these fora as I can and ask that any bird watchers be mindful of and respect the privacy of those living in the area. I will also ask that they do not 'hang around' once they have seen the bird. Hopefully, most people who want to see the bird will have visited by now and the numbers attending will decrease. For my part I shall not post any more updates about the bird on this blog.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your help Jim - I appreciate that the info likely appeared in other places over the last week or two. It's genuinely nice to see so many people doing something outdoorsy with their spare time and I hope there have been some successful sightings. It does get a little unsettling opening your curtains up to groups of excited strangers in wet weather gear carrying large lenses, long range surveillance equipment and notepads every morning. All the best with what must be an incredibly chilly hobby over the winter months.
ReplyDelete