Can You Feel The Love Tonight...

In Europe the orchid was the main ingredient of the love potion and throughout the world they are still seen as symbols of beauty, royalty, luxury and love through many different cultures.

So does my love of Hogganfield Park just stem (pun not intended!) from the fact I'm under a spell? Certainly not...

However, on my last visit to Hogganfield (admittedly this was a while ago) it was lovely to see orchids all over the place. I am no flower expert and I'm in no hurry to be one either, but that doesn't mean I can't admire their beauty. So on this visit I was pleasantly surprised to find three different types of orchid.

Here are the photos of two - the first I believe to be some sort of Marsh Orchid and the second a Common Spotted Orchid. If you know better please let me know, considering my rushed photography I would be surprised if anyone could help though. The first one had a bit of discussion about it possibly being an Early Purple Orchid, however the placement of them next to the reeds along the loch's edge suggested the marshiness(!) of it. I could be wrong.

The third variety - unphotographable at distance with my phone camera - was definitely a Pyramidal Orchid. Which was easily identified using binoculars.

Flower spotting had not been my main objective that morning, and overall my records of flowers are pretty sparse. However I hope to go back soon with a proper camera, pick up some more detail and find out what other flora is hiding within Hogganfield Park.

Can someone remind me to do that....

Summer Sun on my Local Patch

As you can see I’m really good at this blog thing! Nearly three months since my first post, oh dear...

Although to be honest I haven’t been out birdwatching that much, just a few visits to Hogganfield and a washed out trip to Wood of Cree RSPB reserve.

Wood of Drear More Like...

The North Ayrshire RSPB Local Group’s trip to the Wood of Cree on Saturday 4 May was a bit bare, the forest still grey with not much of a sign of greenery about. Normally the trees would be full of bird song and flutters, easy to spot. Not so this time, we appeared to have visited a week early! We did get some views of pied flycatcher, long-tailed tits, willow and wood warbler.  Overall though it was a pretty disappointing day, considering Wood of Cree is one of my favourite reserves, especially with the dull weather. There will be a full report in the North Ayrshire RSPB Local Group newsletter this coming August, just in time for the start of the new season.

Hogganfield Delight

Elsewhere summer finally reached Hogganfield though and I got a great range of sightings over my last four visits over June. The great crested grebes have nested and at least one pair have some grebelets looking to be fed now. Warblers have flocked to the eastern end of the park where you can see lovely views of willow, garden and sedge warblers along with whitethroat, meadow pipit and reed bunting. Swallows and house martins swoop across the water and swifts skim the treetops of the island.

There is something calmingly beautiful just standing on one of the smaller paths (away from the joggers and families), surrounded by long grass, trees and occasional scrub bushes, with the early morning sun bringing out the rich green colours of summer. The bird song filling the air, different songs slowly becoming indistinguishable from each other, instead creating and orchestra of melody. Damselflies, darters and bees buzzing, the breeze rustling the grasses. Imagine the tranquility...

Woof, woof, woof!

Dog walkers. This can be the down side of a city park, although having said that most dogs are well behaved and content just passing on by without any bother. 

Either way I still look forward to my little jaunts into the wild side of Glasgow at the weekend!

Long Tails and Long Tales

Welcome to my blog!

I'm Laura and I figure I should tell you a little bit about my background before I go off on one...

I am currently on the committee of the North Ayrshire RSPB Local Group as the newsletter editor (you can find my beautiful creations here) and have officially served the committee since I was 14. Not that I like to brag but I was the youngest committee member of a local RSPB group in Scotland, if not the UK, at the time! And how I got there? Let's just say I was born into a family of nature nuts - mum, dad, grandma and grandpa. They helped create the NA Group in 1976 and with the build of the Lochwinnoch RSPB reserve - a little bit before my time though.

Although I didn't make a career out of my interest with nature, it is still close to my heart and take the time whenever I can to get out and adventure. My local haunts being renowned Hogganfield Park and Alexandra Park.

I plan to divulge all my adventures (I imagine to a very small crowd) on the hunt for birds and bees and bats and bluebells. Or anything to do with nature really, it doesn't necessarily have to start with a B! So before I dive into a big adventure (which I hope to scatter with photos of my own) I'll end this blog with a couple of snippets of recent sightings.

Long Tails
Sitting out my back garden, sketching up some drawings ready to paint (which I will get round to some day!) I noticed a pair of long-tailed tits flitting through collecting nesting material. In the time I was sitting they passed through three times - so cute! Coming from the middle of Saltcoats it was very unusual to see them, now I've got them nesting close by. Quite exciting for me!

Coots Galore
A quick walk through Alexandra Park the other evening had me counting coot nests. The total coming to five across the two reasonably small ponds. And after seeing two pairs fighting, I can only imagine it's going to get uglier before the summer is out!

Hope you come back for more!