GARDENING

THE long dark nights are upon us, the clocks have gone back, autumn has arrived and winter is coming! The thought of this reminds me of the opening to ‘A Christmas Carol’ conjuring a dark and cold, spine tingling feeling of what is yet to come.

The majestic array of colours have left us, falling to the ground, death and decay seem inevitable and yet what sounds like a story’s end is in fact the beginning, as living in Glasgow offers us a flicker of hope; milder weather.

Protected to the North by the Kilpatricks and Campsie Fells and a higher elevation to the South, Glasgow can boast of 5-degree winters, even though it is on the same latitude as Moscow. While we may have seen the swifts and swallows lured away by the heat of Africa, Glasgow tempts other birds with its promise of a mild winter:

The Whooper Swan overwinters from Iceland from October to March and can be seen on the loch at Hogganfield Park Local Nature Reserve. It has a black bill with a distinctive triangular patch of yellow allowing it to stand out amid the resident Mute Swan.

The Whooper is unfortunately among many other birds on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern: Red, Amber or Green, the Whooper is Amber, requiring action to protect their winter roosts. Fortunately, Hogganfield is a bird sanctuary and a Local Nature Reserve, so we can enjoy watching these truly beautiful birds fly in from Iceland.

PINK Footed Goose is another wildfowl, which graces the green dear place from October to April. It flies in from Iceland and Greenland to Scotland in their thousands and one place where you can spot them is Hogganfield Loch, in the east of the city.

They are a small to medium sized goose, pinkish-grey in colour with a dark head and neck, pink bill, pink feet and legs, and are unmistakable.

They feed on grain, winter cereals and grass. Like all wildfowl on our Lochs and ponds of Glasgow, the search for food in winter is challenging but we can help by feeding them grain, barley or wild birdseed.

Fieldfare’s and Redwings belong to the thrush family, with the latter being the UK’s smallest true thrush. They appear in Glasgow from September/October and stay with us until March/April. These birds have similar eating habits and hang-out with one another in fields, open parkland next to trees and hedges, eating berries; especially hawthorn, insects and worms. They are both of conservation concern with a red level status and are under threat.

Both are a treat for the eye with the Fieldfare being a large colourful thrush and the Redwing’s creamy stripe above the eye and a patch of orange-red on its flank. Redwings join with Fieldfares creating large flocks of birds sometimes 200 in size, which are a delightful and attractive part of the winter scene.

f you would like to find out more about birdlife, Glasgow City Council’s Countryside Rangers are running a weekend of guided bus tours. The tours are running on November 25 and 26. They are free to attend but places are limited so please contact the Rangers on 0141 276 0931 for more info or to book a place.