Scottish Wildlife Blog: Kilpatrick Hills, West Dunbartonshire

This week we experienced the deepest snow-fall in over 20 years - waist-high in parts of the Kilpatrick Hills!

Keen to look for tracks and trails - my dad and I took a circular route up to the Greenside Reservoir and back.

Above the layer of fog which lay across Glasgow and the Clyde valley, the sky was clear azure-blue and the snow sparkled brilliantly in the sunshine.

The hills were transformed by the snow, mist and sun, into an almost lunar landscape - our footprints were the first human ones on this unfamiliar terrain.

Further into the hills, the snow proved a real challenge to walk through.

Walking up the Cochno Hill towards the Greenside, a foraging flock of Reed Buntings (Emberiza scheoniclus) alighted on the snow ahead of us.

Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) female

The view from the Greenside was spectacular! Duncolm is a volcanic plug - at 401 metres it is the highest point in the Kilpatrick Hills. Covered with snow, it somewhat resembled a huge dumpling, dusted with icing sugar! Yum!
*now craving mum's home-made dumpling*

...EXACTLY the sort of high energy food you should bring with you on a hike like this!

View of Duncolm

Greenside Reservoir

The snow really brings out the textures of grasses and reeds:

In the snow, even shy and reclusive animals cannot help but leave a record of their movements.

These footprints (at Little Round Top) belong to a Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus):

Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) footprints

These tiny footprints (below) most likely belong to either a Bank Vole or Field Vole (no tail drag - unlike a Wood Mouse's footprints).

Vole footprints

We found these much larger tracks near the Greenside Reservoir - they belong to a Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus). The distance between strides was over 2 metres!! These graceful long-legged gallopers have a very different gait from rabbits.