Monday 15th May

Then there was a slightly curious bike ride to Dalry last Wednesday.

Having decided to start at the car park above Glenkilns reservoir in beautiful weather, a bird I had never seen before landed on the remains of the stolen Henry Moore statue - a common sandpiper.

It was a day when I reckoned to watch and listen for cuckoos and so set of over Speddoch Hill in anticipation. there were green-veined whites and orange tips, but no cuckoo.

Heading up towards Loch Urr it was a good day for stonechats and pipits and I reckon I must have seen about five stonechats on the ride overall. On the run down to the loch itself there was a good view of a male wheatear, just when I started to wonder if one would turn up.

Then I flushed a roe deer out of the undergrowth of the moor on the right hand side.  So it stupidly decided to jump the fence onto the road in front of me and started trying to batter its way through the fence on the left hand side of the road as I slowed in the hope of stopping its panic. Eventually it climbed clumsily over.

A bit further on, a ewe and lamb decided to jump out onto the road too and then ran on ahead in front of the bike for about half a mile until there was a gate across the road and they faded away through a gap to the left.

By that time I was running late and had to push the pedals quite hard for the rest of the day. During a brief rest, I spotted yet another flower I wasn't familiar with:

Greater Stitchwort

The last part of the trip was my old favourite cuckoo haunt between Bogle Bridge and the reservoir, but not a cuckoo to be heard.

Riding back up to the car park, I caught sight of two or three black swans on the reservoir and as soon as I got of the bike, heard a cuckoo singing from the hill right next to it!

Saturday 15th September

Did a 'bikebirding' effort round Glenkiln loop hoping to see 16 species excepting crows and gulls (which were strangely absent anyway) rather than trying to actually spot anything.  In the end only 14 as wren repeatedly heard not seen, as were a jay and a curlew.  For the record: wood pigeon, sparrow, chaffinch, house martin, meadow pipit, swallow (loads of), blackbird, chaffinch, black swan, greylag goose, buzzard, blue tit, starling, goldfinch.  Didn't count mallard or mute swan as too common.

The bird target this winter has to be the waxwing.  Next fishing target a river chub.  Research suggests that they are not as frequent on the Annan as they once were, but have come back a bit in the Sark and Kirtle Water.

Monday 7th November

There was also a profusion of sparrows feeding in the bushes outside my mother's place yesterday, and making a major racket.

Today set off on the Glenkilns loop via Terregles and regretted it at first as it was cold and misty.  But the mist cleared a bit before Shawhead and the sun got out. Came across a field full of greylag geese and some canada geese at the back.  Slightly further on spotted a few linnets, although I only eliminated twite after looking in the bird books.  The neck is the best distinguishing feature by the looks of it.

There were two small buzzards on successive telegraph poles on the road up to Glenkilns Reservoir, where there were lots more greylags and canada geese as well as some mallards and the inevitable pair of black swans.

I saw a couple of volleys of long-tailed tits in the trees at the back end of the lake (they are doing well) and, almost to order a few stonechats on the way over the moors, messing around in the dead bracken.  Unfortunately, the weather seemed to get colder again as I went down into the Cairn valley from the tops, so I wasn't for hanging around on the way back.

If I'd named two birds I wanted to see today it would have been linnet and stonechat, so you can't really have better than that. And the bright light over the reservoir and the moorland made for some lovely views - great to be out on the bike again.

One bird NOT seen today or on Friday was the meadow pipit, so perhaps they're all away to the merseland.

It made me think that winter isn't too bad a time with days like this. I think my key targets this year will be twite and waxwing, so that's something to aim for.

24th June

Day before yesterday bike ride to Penpont via Morrinton.  Bullfinch by station, first sighting for a long time.  Also whitethroat on minor road west of Cairn.  Return journey ruined by heavy rain.

Today RSPB Geltsdale, Stagsike/Woodland Walk.  Nice mixture of habitats.  Surprised to see linnet on farmland.  Black swan and canada geese on lake, then osprey being mobbed, seen from distance on way into woods.  Several meadow pipits and two kestrel.  Female stonechat and, saving best for last, female whinchats near Howgill Farm - another first sighting.