Hi,

The first house martin of the year arrived on the 26^th, a single bird which was seen feeding over grassland with swallows from the woodland trail. However this was trumped by a singing wood warbler on the woodland trail the same day. A single fieldfare at Bonnington Pavilion (26^th) may well have been the final sighting of this species for the 2014/15 winter. Numbers of sand martin, swallow, blackcap, willow warbler and chiffchaff increased as additional birds arrived for the breeding season.

A singing wood warbler was a surprise find along the woodland trail during the week (c) Margaret Holland. 

Spring flowers added a splash of colour across the woodland floor with bluebell, wood anemone, red campion, goldilocks buttercup and water avens along the boardwalk (an excellent area for wildflowers on the reserve), leopard’s-bane on the woodland trail and primrose in full bloom along the Clyde walkway.

Regular early morning roe deer sightings included two near the boardwalk and a single grazing on Bonnington Pavilion (26^th ). Visitors also reported regular otter sightings from Bonnington Weir.

Water carpet was a new addition to the 2015 moth list, meanwhile the weekly butterfly transect produced orange-tip and small tortoiseshell.

Other interesting sightings included, two goosander (Bonnington Weir, regular), two common buzzard (Peregrine Watchpoint, regular), two stock dove (Bonnington Pavilion, daily).

Weather Watch

Migration may slow down a little during the first part of the week as cold northerly airflow takes hold. However the winds are predicted to veer round to southerly’s by the weekend from which migration should quickly resume. After the discovery of last week’s wood warbler, I’m going to up the stakes on the migration front and suggest visitors should look and listen out for pied flycatcher, a scarce passage migrant, on the reserve.

Adam Jones – Scottish Wildlife Trust, Falls of Clyde Seasonal Ranger
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