Glasgow

Barons Haugh RSPB Reserve, Motherwell

Looking south

Pardeep Chand (ex Barons Haugh Warden) & TUB

The RSPB Glasgow crew: Jenny Tweedie, Ryan Walrath & Ruth Curruthers with TUB outside Kelvingrove Museum

Spent a lovely Sunday north of the border at the behest of RSPB Glasgow to deliver a talk within the stunning Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum - a building that really reminded me of a mini Natural History Museum. Jenny Tweedie (Communications & Media Officer) told me that it was one of the most popular tourist attractions un the UK outside London. I could see why.

The talk went well and was well attended. As ever, there is always one person in the audience that approaches me at the end to say that they had had personal experience of Wormwood Scrubs, my beloved local patch.

Earlier in the morning I spent time with Pardeep Chand who escorted me around his beloved stomping ground, Barons Haugh. Until last Friday he was the warden of this very interesting looking urban reserve. It was a mixture of wetlands and woodlands and had a good mix of birds to boot. We saw Whooper Swans, Goldeneye, Gadwall, Teal, Curlew, Lapwings and the commoner gulls whilst in the wooded areas we were entertained by Nuthatches, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Treecreepers & Goldcrests. Recent goodies here have included Spotted Crake, Long-billed Dowitcher, breeding Garganey and someone in a hide showed me footage of an Otter swimming around that he took using his mobile.

I had never heard of Barons Haugh before, but I would definitely recommend that you visit it. Cheers RSPB Glasgow for opening my eyes even further to the wildlife of your city and its environs.

Cats

Not quite black-and-white

I was thinking about cats the other day. I find some of them quite cuddly and strokeable but if I am honest, I am not their biggest fan. The sign I saw in a shop window in Folkestone the other weekend summed it up. It was one of those joke signs akin to 'Beware of the dog' - you know the type. This one said, 'A cat lives here with several servants.' I thought that was pretty apt.

I used to have a cat myself when I was eleven. Her name was Twinkles and I got her as a kitten from my then big birding buddy and local neighbour, Cornelious Ravenwing III. Twinkles was a doppelganger of her mother; slender, black and white and likeable. As a kitten she was very playful. I used to routinely have lascerated hands after a bout of boisterous playing with her. Perhaps the best thing about Twinkles was that she used to meet me as I walked home from school. She would wait on our street standing on someone's wall and then jump into my arms. Sometimes I'd whistle for her as if I were calling a dog and she would appear out of nowhere, delighted to see me.

One day, I came home from school and Twinkles was nowhere to be seen. Wailing, I searched the streets for two days. No sign. I had only had her for six months although it seemed like an eternity. I was heartbroken.

There. That's my cat story out of the way and I bet you thought I was going to talk about cats killing birds!

Cecil Fowler

Cecil the Eagle Owl giving us the eye

Cecil looking for lunch

Cecil reading up on survey work!

Last spring whilst co-leading a bird walk at Arne RSPB Reserve in Dorset, I had the pleasure of meeting Cecil Fowler, the then fluffy and adorable captive Eagle Owl. I was impressed by his weight as he sat on my gloved arm. We had a special bond and at one time we were both independently looking up watching flocks gulls passing over. He was being primed as an Eagle Owl ambassador to be taken around schools for kids to marvel at his size and whoop when he would spread that impressive wingspan.

The more alert amongst you would have noticed that I used the phrasing 'the then fluffy and adorable captive Eagle Owl'. The news that I heard recently was quite disturbing. He is now an adult and has reverted to being a wild animal who probably wouldn't think twice about taking your eye out and/or sinking those massive talons into a fleshy human appendage!

Obviously, his school days are over and now he is a stud in a breeding program. You can take an owl out of the wild but you can't take the wild out of the owl.

Redwings, Fieldfares and Brass Monkeys!

Fieldfare (Anthony McGeehan)

It is totally brass monkeys out there!

I have just come back from giving a talk to the Luton and South Bedfordshire RSPB Group and I must thank God for arranging for a fast, warm train to be waiting on the platform to shift my quarters back to London in double quick time. The cold weather is obviously having an affect of the birds as I have been noticing the roving Fieldfares and Redwings in particular. I feel bad that I haven't been able to watch any recently but I'm planning to rectify that tomorrow morning when I arise from my warm pit to brave the elements and journey to Wormwood Scrubs.

Fortune favours the brave they say. Let us see.

Plenty of Bullfinches but where are the Crested Tits & Black Woodpeckers?

Male Bullfinch (Russell F Spencer)

Bullfinches seem to be the flavour of the month right now. Everywhere I turn I see Bullfinches apart from in real life.

Okay, I haven't been out as much as I should have been recently but ever since I wrote a piece in RSPB 'Birds Magazine' on these delectable birds I have had loads of people sending me emails and tweets telling me about the Bullfinches in their gardens. There seems to be an awful lot of them out there - Bullfinches that is and it's heartening.

Now, on a slightly different subject, can somebody please tell me why there are no Crested Tits anywhere in the UK aside from their outpost in Scotland and why Black Woodpeckers haven't been officially found in the UK?

A stroll along the Folkstone seafront

A winter plumaged Mediterranean Gull - (Sacha Barbato)

Over the weekend, I decided to spend time cogitating in Folkestone, Kent. I've recently decided that it is important to have time away from the daily pressures in order to figure out ideas and generally replenish the creative reservior. The coming week will be a busy one for me as I will be giving four feature length talks including two RSPB groups in Twickenham and Woodbridge in Suffolk, plus I'll be speaking at the Destinations Travel Show in Earls Court and at Slimbridge WWT next Sunday at their Festival of Birds weekend.

I was nice to stroll along the seafront at Sandgate, on the eastern end of Folkstone watching the gulls stream past. They were mostly Herring Gulls, but I counted a fair number of Black-heads plus at least 30 Mediterranean Gulls. Those white-winged wonders have been a particular favourite of mine for years. I just love their graceful look and those glorious white wings.

Indeed, I saw my first ever Med Gull a few miles down the coast at The Patch at Dungeness back in the early '80s'. I remember fretting about whether I would be able to recognise one when I saw it and if I would struggle from deciphering it from the far more common Black-headed Gulls. I need not have worried because when I eventually saw one it seemed so obvious. I must say that I rarely have trouble spotting adult birds these days. I've just lock into them now.

Anyway, mulling ideas are over with now. Time to start the week.

Family Guy

European Goldfinch (Russell F Spencer)

This month has raced by as far as I can see. However, most of my time has been spent behind a computer screen, perhaps peering over the top of the laptop screen to squint at a some Family Guy every now and again.

Today, I put the finishing touches to a tour of Serbia in April that I will be leading. More details regarding that.

Right, back to Family Guy!