Finlas Water Hills started bright, low (400m or so) clouds. Quite a few birds, ravens, crows, hoodies, buzzards, a kestrel, pipits. Between Creaghan & Ruisg put up a snipe. By then clouds thick, visibility 30-100 metres. Flora turning, lots of scabious, some grass of Parnassus. Finally an eagle. Turned round at Creag an Leinibh as I didn’t fancy the walk down to the Finlas Water from the South in the mirk.
Map and more photos: 14-09-2026 Finlas Water Hills.
Walk round Ardinning this afternoon. Cuckoos calling. Willow warblers & ravens heard. Corn bunting & stonechats seen & heard. Warm & breezy plenty of butterflies, mostly Orange Tips & Green-Veined whites, a Painted Lady. A few small red damselflies didn’t stay still although one landed on D’s hat.
Walked the Jaw – Greenside loop this morning. Small tortoiseshell & a few orange tips. Lots of birds singing. Cuckoos calling. Cuckoo flowers out & hawthorn quite green now. On the hill: stonechat, larks, a wheatear moving along the path in front. Meadow pipet, a reed bunting. A couple of ravens over the Greenside path.
I had left my camera’s SD card in the reader so missed a couple of opportunities.
Walk in the rain round the short Kilpatrick loop this morning. Lots of birds singing mostly out of sight. Tree pipets in good voice, & displaying in the trees at the edge of the moor. Blackthorn fully out, trees starting to bud. Flowers hanging their heads in the drizzle.
An afternoon walk round the Kilpatrick braes yesterday. Warm and sunny, occasionally clouding over.Egrets, Opposite-leaved golden-saxifrage, lesser celandine, the first primroses of 2026. 5 ravens flew low and fast overhead two pairs twisting together wings loud. A few stonechats on the Muir.
A bright almost spring like afternoon at Greenside. First toad of the year, unfortunately squashed by a motorbike on the footpath. A couple of ravens with big crusts of picnic bread by the reservoir.
Beautiful day yesterday, walked part of the loop. Photos, note & map: walkmap
I arrived at the Kilpatrick hills car park at dawn this morning. It was already pretty full. Frosty with a clear sky. The full moon going down. More folk than usual on the tracks and paths. Saw a few redwing feeding on hawthorn along with blackies & thrushes.
Beautiful warm light to start, long shadows.
The frozen ground was much nicer than the usual bog between Loch Humphrey and Duncolm.
On Duncolm a raven circled diving & twisting with quiet croaks. Seemed unfazed by me and came quite close, shining in the sun. Saw a few more on the way back. A little egret in the horse field. I wonder if they come to the field when the tide is high. I saw this one at 12:30 and high tide at Old Kilpatrick was at 12:40 today. I’ll try and keep a note.
Nice view of a buzzard in a hawthorn near the road and a flock of fieldfares on the field and hawthorn.
Photos on flickr & on the
walkmap
Walking up Slackdhu in the Campsies this afternoon, saw a few patches of this fungi. Golden Spindles I think. Happy to be corrected. #Fungi
Photos, notes & map from a walk on Tuesday: walkmap
