16-MAR-2008
Sparrowhawk - female
A female Sparrowhawk stayed in the compound workshop for most of the day, It was a strong flyer and looked healthy but for some reason it wouldn't fly outside. It eventualy flew outside in the afternoon only to fly back in when a Lesser Black-backed Gull flew at it, it eventualy left around 1530 hrs. This is very strange behaviour for a wild Sparrowhawk, maybe an escape from captivity?
2 Greylag Geese flew south over the compound at 1630 hrs.
18-FEB-2008
Sparrowhawk - female
This female took me by surprise by flying out of a group of trees about 30' from me in car park 6 and flying off towards the SECC main building.
8-FEB-2008
Peregrine
An adult Peregrine was sitting on the Finnieston Crane at 1600 hrs.
28-JAN-2008
Goldeneye
7 Goldeneye flew downriver past the SECC at 1345 hrs.
23-JAN-2008
Iceland Gull - 1st winter
1st winter Iceland Gull flew over Pacific Quay (Princes Dock) at 1305 hrs and flew off towards Ibrox again, also 2 Cormorant there.
22-JAN-2008
Iceland Gull - 1st winter
Record shot of the first winter bird at Pacific Quay/River Clyde, the bird was feeding around the inlet to the quay (opposite the helipad) before flying off.
22-JAN-2008
Iceland Gull - 1st winter
The 1st winter Iceland Gull (Image above).was again behind the Glasgow Science Centre opposite the SECC (from 1245 - 1255 hrs), there was also a Little Grebe, 2 Cormorant and 3 male Red-breasted Mergansers there.
16-JAN-2008
Iceland Gull - 1st winter
Record shot of a 1st winter bird at Pacific Quay, behind Science Centre opposite the SECC, Glasgow.
15-JAN-2008
Tuesday 15th January 2008
Female Sparrowhawk hunting over the site at 0830hrs.
4-JAN-2008
Mute Swan - female
Young female on River Clyde at SECC, Glasgow
24-AUG-2007
Shag
This juvenile Shag turned up on the River Clyde at the SECC on 24th August 2007 and was the first record for the site.
20-JUL-2007
Nesting Lesser Black-backed Gulls
Up to seven pairs of Lesser Black-backed Gulls nest on the roof of the SECC, there are usually only a few problems with people being intimidated by the birds swooping down at them. A real conflict of interest arose when the re-roofing of the main halls was planned to go ahead when the gulls were breeding.
I approached the management and very much to their credit they allowed me to intervene on the gulls behalf when re-roofing was carried out during 2006/07. This allowed the roofing work to go ahead as planned and allowed me access to monitor the birds and get involved with any conflicts between the two.
As it happened everything went pretty much as planned other than 3 young from a nest I didn't know about. They had to be moved for their own safety so I decided to take them to Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Trust where they fledged successfully. A successful outcome for the gulls and the SECC, unfortunately gulls get a lot of bad press and regarded by some as vermin. They are a victim of their own success; as they are so adaptable they have moved in to cities where food is abundant (due to our untidiness).
They can be aggressive during the breeding season, they swoop down on people but very rarely do they ever make contact (despite some of the press talking about birds "attacking" people), I have demonstrated this to several people who were surprised that the birds did not make contact with me despite standing still while they made repeated dive bombing runs at me.
They are (to me) very elegant birds that deserve more respect and to be left alone for the few weeks they need to rear their young, not to much to ask, is it?