FORK Bird Report – Spring 2010
The big story this winter was the exceptionally severe weather that began in late December and continued until the middle of January. Night-time temperatures in Glasgow fell to minus 10 degrees C and by 8 January large stretches of the Kelvin had frozen over. Mallards, Goosanders, Moorhen and Little Grebe gathered in the remaining patches of open water. Snow fell overnight, and the next day numerous fox tracks could be seen across the ice alongwside the distinctive prints left by Moorhen.
The freezing weather made it hard for birds to find enough food and there was a dramatic increase in the number of birds – and species – coming into the city. Redwing in particular were present in large numbers with a flock of 30 or more in the Botanic Gardens on 27 and 28 December. Fieldfare, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush and Bullfinches were regular visitors at garden
feeding stations. My most unusual sighting was of a Woodcock seen on the 8th of January flying low with rapid wingbeats along Kew Terrace towards Byres Road.
Woodcock - Hazel Mills
Other bird recorders reported seeing a Woodcock, apparently flushed by a fox, in the Arboretum on 3 January, and on 7 January there were sightings in Glasgow University campus and on the banks of the Kelvin in Kelvingrove Park. Woodcock are normally difficult birds to observe as they are secretive and mainly nocturnal in habit. These large waders have short legs, a long straight bill and large eyes. Their beautifully marked plumage, reddish-brown above with dark barring on buff under parts, provides the perfect camouflage for forest floors. They feed on invertebrates such as worms, beetles, spiders and small snails that they find by probing leaf litter and damp soil with their long bills.
It will be some time before we know how well our resident birds along the Kelvin have survived the harsh winter. Small birds such as Goldcrest and Wren that rely on insects for food are likely to have been hard hit, and Kingfishers and Heron may also have suffered when the river and canal froze over. Extreme weather highlights the important role that garden feeding plays in bird conservation, and keeping reliable records is the key to understanding how weather impacts bird populations.
If you are interested in contributing to a year-round recording programme you might consider joining the British Trust for Ornithology’s Garden BirdWatch. The BTO organisers are actively looking for more recorders in Scotland as there are fewer than 1000 at the moment.
As I write the breeding season is well underway with Blue Tits and Great Tits inspecting nest boxes and Magpies and Long-tailed Tits already building their nests. The Goosanders have returned to their summer breeding grounds and Sand Martins are on their way back, with sightings already confirmed at Baron’s Haugh south of
Glasgow on the Clyde. Last newsletter’s species list is already out of date, as we need to add Tawny Owl, heard calling along the banks of the Kelvin in January, Black-headed Gull, on the river at Wyndford, Fieldfare and Woodcock, bringing the new total to 52.
FORK Bird Report taken from the Spring 2010 edition of FORK News
Photo by JanuaryJoe on Flickr
See more photos in the River Kelvin group