Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

The distant Lomonds glowed pink at dawn as we lay on our bellies in the thick heather and snow: watching the stout jet-black birds with fanned tails as white as the snow that lay around them. I was with my dad at a Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix) lekking-site in the North East of the Kilpatrick Hills.

We tried to inch closer through the tangle of heather - our clothes were soaked with snow-melt. The wary birds flew up and landed in the birch trees.

We lay in the snow for a further 15 minutes...the Black Grouse returned.
13 males on the lek site and 13 females sitting somewhere in the heather nearby. We watched them strut around for a bit - the lekking period is still a long way off.

The Black Grouse like to gather at this site throughout the year - to size each other up and establish pecking orders/hierarchies before the intensive lekking period when males compete for females.

Suddenly, the grouse flew up again - spooked by our presence. We waited for another 20 minutes in the unbearable freezing cold and then walked over to examine the lek site.

The snow was imprinted with 3-toed tracks and besmirched with ridiculously large piles of droppings. These birds can seriously poo.
Here and there lay scattered black feathers - I collected some to add to my collection.

After this, we walked to The Whangie: a distinctive rock feature near Burn Crooks Reservoir. Basically, it's a narrow pass/gouge through a rocky cliff. The steep walls of rock at either side are many metres high: it's like a fortress carved by natural forces.

The Whangie

Flying overhead, a pair of Ravens (Corvus corax) croaked hoarsely at us - there is always a pair nesting here during the summer. The wedge-shaped tail and 'fingered' wings are distinctive, as well as the sheer size: this is the largest species of corvid in the world, weighing up to 1.6kg.

Raven (Corvus corax)

This footprint (below) belongs to a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes). Unlike a dog's footprint, the 4 toe pads are positioned together in front of the central foot-pad and the whole foot-print is oval-shaped.

Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) foot-print

Large blocks of compacted, ice-crusted snow had formed around the Whangie and we struggled to plough our way through.

We put up a small group of Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus) above Burncrooks Reservoir - they left behind their plodding tracks:

Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus) foot-prints

...and wing-beats as they took off...

Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus) wing-beats in snow

At Burncrooks Reservoir we spotted a male Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) singing from the top of a pine, a pair of Bullfinches (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) and a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus).

In the fields near the road to Burncrooks we saw a large winter flock of Reed Buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus).

Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) female

The snowy Campsie Fells (nearly 600 metres in height), to the East of the Kilpatrick Hills, looked spectacular.

Campsie Fells

Campsie Fells

On the way to Carbeth Inn (where we would stop for a coffee and a warm up), we passed this little Robin (Erithacus rubecula).

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Robins are one of the few birds that sing right through the harshest winter months - possibly why they are associated with Christmas time. Both males and females sing at this time of year, defending their separate territories from intruders.