RSPB Baron Haugh & RSPB Lochwinnock, Scotland.

26 July 2009

As we had a week in Scotland, we thought we would check out some of the local RSPB centres in the area. The first stop was Baron Haugh near Motherwell. We arrived around 6am and walked to the reserve where there are 4 hides surrounding the lake. At the first hide we didnt see much until after about 15mins, Luke spotted a kingfisher in the distance. It began to fly from reed to reed, giving us beautiful views through the binos. We watched it as it plunged into the still water and fly out onto the reed. Fish in mouth it started to beat the fish on the reed before swallowing it. If only it was closer I would of taken the camera out, but still the next 20 mins gave us so much pleasure as we watched it hunt. All around us wrens were chirping away. So on to the next hide. Here we saw Lapwings and a lone Mute swan. In the distance were a couple of Oystercatchers feeding away. Onto the third hide and we were greeted with a treat as out of the reeds came a Waterrail. This was a first for both of us so we were over the moon to see this bird. All in all we saw 27 species here at Baron Haugh. Then on to Lochwinnock which is at the other end of Glasgow. The loch was very quiet this time of year. We were hoping to see some Great Crested Grebes, but only could see one about a mile away in the distance, even a scope would of had difficulty finding it! The RSPB centre had a photographic hide, kitted out with chairs and camo covering the windows. Again slightly disapointing as the weather wasn't good and the light was poor, but we still managed to get some shots of the usual garden birds. The highlight was when a male Sparrowhawk perched himself on a nearby fence and feasted his eyes on the tiny blue tits and Great tits. Another first sighting for us was in the form of a Lesser redpoll. He appeared for about 3 seconds before flying off never to return. I am happy that I just happened to have the camera ready and so got a half decent shot. We decided to have a walk round the trails surrounding the loch, and came across a Great-spotted woodpecker climbing up one of the trees. Back at the hide he came on a nearby post and I quickly was able to get a few shots off. These are beautiful birds with the red against a pattern of black and white. Here we saw 13 species and so at the end of the day we had totalled 40 species at the 2 reserves.

Birdlist: Lapwing, Magpie, Mute Swan, Common gull, Black headed gull, Wood pidgeon, Great tit Blue tit, Raven, Starlings, Wren, Kingfisher, Sedge Warbler, Mallard, Cormorant, Herring Gull, Oystercatcher, Coot, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Blackbird, Pied Wagtail, Waterail, Great Black-back Gull, Common Sandpiper, Wood Warbler, Long-tailed tit, House Martin, Greenfinch, House sparrow, Jackdaw, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chaffinch, Siskin.