Details of outings in (mainly central) Scotland, listing any wildlife seen.
Cardross Bay, Thursday 8 October 2009
Decided to hop on the train to Cardross, hadn't been for a while. Arrived at 9.20am and headed west along the shore to view the adjacent farmland fields, seen Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Starling, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Rook, Jackdaw and Magpie there.
I then headed back towards Cardross and seen Pied Wagatail, Redshank, Curlew Lapwing, Red-breasted Merganser, Mallard, Wigeon, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull and Cormorant.
I set up my camera at the burn running in to the east end of the bay and had superb views of Grey Wagtail and Dipper, while watching a group of Wigeon I noticed two birds in the background, 2 adult Pale-bellied Brent Geese (a rare bird in this area), shortly after that a male Peregrine swept low over the bay and was persued relentlessly by a Carrion Crow and they both dissapeared from sight.
I then had another walk along to the west end of the bay and had superb views of a male Buzzard which was being mobbed by a small flock of Lapwing, a Snipe flew past as I was watching, on way back to train station noticed an eclipse drake Pintail among the Wigeon, it's elegant shape made it fairly easy to pick out. Got the train home at 3.50pm after a great day out
SPECIES SEEN BIRDS:
Cormorant
Grey Heron
Greylag Goose
Pale-bellied Brent Goose
Mallard
Pintail
Wigeon
Red-breasted Merganser
Buzzard
Peregrine
Oystercatcher
Golden Plover
Lapwing
Redshank
Curlew
Snipe
Black-headed Gull
Common Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Dipper
Dunnock
Robin
Mistle Thrush
Song Thrush
Blackbird
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Magpie
Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Reed Bunting
BUTTERFLIES:
Small Copper
Painted Lady
I then headed back towards Cardross and seen Pied Wagatail, Redshank, Curlew Lapwing, Red-breasted Merganser, Mallard, Wigeon, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black-headed Gull and Cormorant.
I set up my camera at the burn running in to the east end of the bay and had superb views of Grey Wagtail and Dipper, while watching a group of Wigeon I noticed two birds in the background, 2 adult Pale-bellied Brent Geese (a rare bird in this area), shortly after that a male Peregrine swept low over the bay and was persued relentlessly by a Carrion Crow and they both dissapeared from sight.
I then had another walk along to the west end of the bay and had superb views of a male Buzzard which was being mobbed by a small flock of Lapwing, a Snipe flew past as I was watching, on way back to train station noticed an eclipse drake Pintail among the Wigeon, it's elegant shape made it fairly easy to pick out. Got the train home at 3.50pm after a great day out
SPECIES SEEN BIRDS:
Cormorant
Grey Heron
Greylag Goose
Pale-bellied Brent Goose
Mallard
Pintail
Wigeon
Red-breasted Merganser
Buzzard
Peregrine
Oystercatcher
Golden Plover
Lapwing
Redshank
Curlew
Snipe
Black-headed Gull
Common Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Dipper
Dunnock
Robin
Mistle Thrush
Song Thrush
Blackbird
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Magpie
Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Reed Bunting
BUTTERFLIES:
Small Copper
Painted Lady
Total Comments 3
Comments
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Sounds like a good day and the photos are great too. I'm glad to see that you have "seen" birds on your outing rather than "had" birds. It does annoy me when peolpe say they've HAD this or HAD that. I was at Leighton Moss once and I gave it one guy for asking me if I'd HAD Snipe, I just replied yeh its great instead of a Sunday roast. Another of the annoying things I've heard is to "CONNECT" with birds instead of simply "going to see them."Posted 09-10-09 at 08:41 AM by Merlin
Updated 09-10-09 at 01:43 PM by Merlin -
I though t was the only one that thought like that they are on my annoying list along with "I GOT A NEW TICK", they are insect parasites not birds 
each to their own I suppose.
Cardross is a good place to go, along with Ardmore Point can make a great day out in autumn/winter/spring, summer can be a bit quiet.Posted 09-10-09 at 08:48 AM by clydebirder
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An enjoyable read John,the pics of the Dipper and Grey Wagtail that you saw are lovely.......you've even caught the white eyelid of the Dipper!
The Pale-bellied Brent Geese were a good spot as well as the Pintail......a great duck to see!Posted 09-10-09 at 10:42 AM by Twitcheruth
