3 days - 3 walks - 3 blanks 😩 Roll on spring!

Tuesday 6th Jan Found this small (body c4.5 mm in length) Harvestman under some discarded timber on Lochburn Rd. I thought it was one of the Oligolophus sp but i'm not sure. #arachnidae

Monday 5th Jan 3 of 5 #foxes seen on my walk back from Clydebank. The first one appears to be blind in its right eye 😔

Sunday 4th Jan The Kelvin Walkway produced several tenanted (with puparia) leafmines of Dizygomyza luzulae/silvatica, on Great Wood-rush. Both these species are grade 5 and require rearing with male gen detting to ascertain the id. #diptera

Sunday 4th Jan Another bitterly cold morning ; Waning Gibbous #moon and 2 vistas from Maryhill Locks.

Woodcock low across the F&C Canal, Knightswood at 10:45. Cold weather movement/flushed by a Fox. #clydebirding

Saturday 3rd Jan A couple of 1st winter Gulls on a frozen Cowcaddens Basin : Black-headed & Herring.

Saturday 3rd Jan I'm going to try and include more landscape pics this year, so i'll start with these from early morning ; Firhill Basin : completely frozen over as was the rest of the canal. Looking SE over the canal/Firhill Basin from Panmure Gate. SUDS pond : Hamiltonhill Claypits.

Friday 2nd Jan 1 of a pair of Ring-necked Parakeets seen in Summerston, on my walk to Asda.

Friday 2nd Jan Surprised to see the flower buds starting to appear on a Goat Willow, on Lochburn Rd. Quite a few things seem to be a bit topsy turvy lately! #trees

Thursday 1st Jan The last few steps of my walk produced my first Moth species of the year : Light Brown Apple Moth. The feeding signs on the lower of 2 stuck together Bramble leaves caught my eye and peeling them apart revealed the caterpillar. #teammoth

Thursday 1st Jan It's always a joy to happen upon your first Scarlet/Ruby Elf Cups of the winter (F&C Canal, Maryhill) #fungifriends

Thursday 1st Jan I think it was pretty much nailed on what my first flowering things of the year would be ; Gorse & Hazel (F&C Canal)

Thursday 1st Jan Found my first #diptera mines of the year on this morning's bitterly cold walk ; Phytomyza ilicis : on Holly (Great Western Rd, Kelvinside) Phytomyza chaerophylli : vacated mines on Cow Parsley (F&C Canal, Temple)

Wishing all you beautiful people (you know who are) a wonderful 2026 when it arrives and many many thanks for all the follows, likes, reposts & comments 😃 each and everyone is greatly appreciated 👍 Last night's Waxing Gibbous #moon to close my year

Tuesday 30th Dec A few #birds from a change of walking destination ; Chaffinch : female (Old Kilpatrick) Goldeneye : female (F&C Canal, Old Kilpatrick) Wigeon : 1 of around 20 (River Clyde, Bowling Harbour)

Monday 29th Dec This will probably be the last Moth species i'll see this year ; Light Brown Apple Moth : tenanted larval spinning, on Broom (Hamiltonhill Claypits) #teammoth

A couple of non-photographed highlights from the last few days ; Ring-necked Duck : drake (Bingham's Pond) 27/12 Great Spotted Woodpecker : drumming bird. (Ruchill, F&C Canal) 27/12 Water Rail : 1 calling from the reedbed by the boardwalk (Panmure Gate, Hamiltonhill Claypits) 29/12 #clydebirding

Friday 26th Dec I've neglected Diptera 'Fly' mining species this year, so here's a couple of stem miners i found on my morning's walk. The red marks are the larval feeding signs ; Phytobia carbonaria, inside Hawthorn (Kelvin Walkway) Phytobia cerasiferae , inside Blackthorn (F&C Canal)

Friday 26th Dec A walk north along the Kelvin Walkway produced my first Oyster Mushrooms of the winter. Had to use the flash for the underside shot due to the poor light. #fungifriends

Wednesday 24th Dec A nice sunny day (for a change) made for a very pleasant walk back from Clydebank. Here's what made it onto the camera ; 1 of 3 #foxes seen. Cormorant. Velvet Shank : in my opinion, the best angle to view them. #birds #fungifriends

Tuesday 23rd Dec A nice male Larinioides sp. Found on the window of a moored abandoned boat on the Forth & Clyde Canal (Applecross) #spiders

Tuesday 23rd Dec Good to get out this morning after not feeling well (mentally) for the previous 2 days and i managed a couple of #fungifriends both from Hamiltonhill Claypits ; Common Inkcap & what is most likely Glistening Inkcap.

Saturday 20th Dec A few #fungifriends from along the Kelvin Walkway ; Turkeytail, immature Ganoderma sp ? & Wood Blewit. Still no sign of Orange Peel Fungus & Parrot Waxcap at the regular sites 😔

Thursday 18th Dec Segestria senoculata 'Snake-back Spider' Found behind a broken brick in a wall, along the F&C Canal (Temple, VC99) Added to iRecord and if accepted it will the first modern day record for Dunbartonshire VC99. The only other record from the VC was back in 1965! #spiders

Tuesday 16th Dec These shots of a Grey Heron weren't affected by the foggy conditions due to it being on the same side of the canal as i was #birds

Tuesday 16th Dec A few Cormorants in the fog. The 2nd pic is of a traditional drying out/resting up site on an old bridge support on the River Kelvin. #birds

Tuesday 16th Dec Bit of a challenge getting photos today due to the foggy conditions but get some i did #foxes

Monday 15th Dec A couple of #fungifriends from my walk to Summerston ; Dead Man's Fingers (Cadder) Crystal Brain Fungus : showing the clear inclusions which helps to identify this species from the similar White Brain Fungus (Summerston)

Friday 12th Dec A few #birds from along the F&C Canal. Quite a rare thing for me these days, getting pics of birds ; Fieldfare, Grey Heron & a drake Goosander.

Friday 12th Dec A couple of #fungifriends from along the F&C Canal ; Mycena sp & Coral spot.

Thursday 11th Dec A fine male Textrix denticulata. Found behind a board leant against a wall at Lambhill Stables. Note the visible spinnerets. #spiders

Thursday 11th Dec A couple of #fungifriends from Cadder Wood. Stump Puffballs : the smallest ones i've ever seen with the largest being 1cm. Velvet Shank : nice fresh ones.

Wednesday 10th Dec When i set off on my walk this morning i never expected finding a new to me species...but find one i did 😃 Scaly Oysterling, on a fallen Horse Chestnut branch (Great Western Rd) #fungifriends

Waning Gibbous #moon from yesterday evening.

Monday 8th Dec My first Yellow Brain/Witch's Butter of the winter season (Hamiltonhill Claypits). Now to keep an eye out for some of the other Jelly species, namely White/Crystal Brain. #fungifriends

Sunday 7th Dec My first Amber Jelly of the winter, on Willow. F&C Canal #fungifriends

Sunday 7th Dec Moth species (all stages, no trapping) #167 for the year ; Winter Moth : 1 Lochburn Rd & 2 Lambhill Stables. I had a feeling i find something this morning with it being overcast, 8°c & no wind overnight. #teammoth

Saturday 6th Dec A rather uneventful walk (nothing new there for the time of year) was saved by this Angle Shades caterpillar. #teammoth

Dermestes sp (Hide Beetle) found in the stairwell of our tenement yesterday 04/12

Waxing Gibbous Moon 92.7% illumination from yesterday evening.

Tuesday 2nd Dec Another not so productive walk along the F&C Canal with the highlights being ; Dipper 1 Fox 1 Ring-necked Parakeet 4 I'll have to start and travel a wee bit further if i want some variety.

Sunday 30th Nov Despite the cold/bright start i couldn't muster anything other than a couple of Rabbits. Give them their due though, they don't make a run for cover at the sight of people walking past.

Waxing Gibbous Moon from yesterday evening, taken from the living room window.

Saturday 29th Nov A very early Hazel 'female' flower in bloom along the F&C Canal, Maryhill but not as early as Joanie's #wildflowers

Friday 28th Nov The wind this morning was brutal so it was no surprise i didn't see anything. On a positive note, i'm away out later to see one of my favourite bands. It's an intimate gig with only 90 tickets allocated and the added bonus is the venue is only a 5 min walk from home. #punk

Thursday 27th Nov With it being a balmy 13°c overnight i went to check around my usual outside light sources and surprisingly not a single moth was to be found 😩 but i did find this Amaurobius sp (Lochburn Rd) #spiders

Wednesday 26th Nov Judging by the 'vacated' mines on this Hazel leaf there was a bit of a Stigmella microtheriella party going on (Kelvin Walkway) #teammoth

Tuesday 25th Nov Highlights from this morning's walk along the F&C Canal ; #Fox sleeping out in the open at -3°c. Ringed-necked Parakeet : 1 of 11 #birds by Cleveden Rd.

Sod all to report from these last 2 days, so here's a couple of subjects from last week. Amazing artwork across from Doncaster train station and a Cormorant on my walk back from Clydebank. #streetart #birds