The Hidden Glasgow Forums

I walkled the Kelvin walkway from Kelvinbridge to the Botanics today and spied them diving for fish a few yards downstream from the wee bridge just past Queen Margaret Drive that takes you up to the Botanics.

They only feed on fish, so they're a good indicator of the state of the river, unless they'd just arrived and were checking it out.

They're a member of the merganser family, aka 'sawbills' as they have serrated beaks to hold on to their prey. They're the only fish eating birds to have evolved 'teeth'.

There's a video of a pair on this RSPB link


http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdgui ... index.aspx

Have you some pictures of your own for us to see?

Dave wrote:Have you some pictures of your own for us to see?

Nah. I'm not much into photography and didn't have a camera with me. They're big birds, bigger than a mallard, but it would need to be a good camera to take a decent photo of them in the middle of the Kelvin.

I've seen a flock of them on the Clyde where it runs past the Baron's Haugh nature reserve at Motherwell. They seem to be getting more common in these parts as water quality improves.

I wish I had brought a camera when I got into the Botanics, though. There was an incredibly tame squirrel running up the legs of people sitting on a bench. One guy was feeding it monkey nuts and it was scurrying away with them to bury them for later. Next time I'm in, I'll have some monkey nuts and a camera, although I wouldn't be surprised if some homeless illegal immigrant decides to make a kebab out of it.

All they ever think about, those ethnics.

potatojunkie wrote:All they ever think about, those ethnics.

I can hardly sleep at night worrying about the safety of our small tame mammals being eating by the ethnics, especially if they've been caught by the nuts first!

munroman wrote:

potatojunkie wrote:All they ever think about, those ethnics.

I can hardly sleep at night worrying about the safety of our small tame mammals being eating by the ethnics, especially if they've been caught by the nuts first!

Caught by immigrant Englishwoman with nuts.

BrigitDoon wrote:

munroman wrote:

potatojunkie wrote:All they ever think about, those ethnics.

I can hardly sleep at night worrying about the safety of our small tame mammals being eating by the ethnics, especially if they've been caught by the nuts first!

Caught by immigrant Englishwoman with nuts.

I can clearly see its nuts!

(So its true, immigrants are actually catching our small mammals with nuts, I thought the original comment was a little 'off', but apparently its really happening- more sleepless nights!)

This was the bastard responsible for the massacre of the teddies in the oddities thread. They're not as cute as you think.

Just wait 'til Big Ted gets home from the pub...

Come to think of it, I haven't seen a swan for ages . . . .


http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/arti ... -europe.do

yonza bam wrote:

Dave wrote:Have you some pictures of your own for us to see?

........ it would need to be a good camera to take a decent photo of them in the middle of the Kelvin.

How true

(2 March 2010 from the bridge at the Botanic Gardens entrance (near the loos) - there were three pairs, very elegant looking birds - the one on the left is the boy)

Sunflower wrote:

yonza bam wrote:

Dave wrote:Have you some pictures of your own for us to see?

........ it would need to be a good camera to take a decent photo of them in the middle of the Kelvin.

How true

(2 March 2010 from the bridge at the Botanic Gardens entrance (near the loos) - there were three pairs, very elegant looking birds - the one on the left is the boy)

That's just uncanny! You'll be showing us a photo of the squirrel in the Botanics on yer knee, next!

lets get those homeless illegal immigrants

FREE THE SQUIRRELS

yonza bam wrote:

Sunflower wrote:

yonza bam wrote:

Dave wrote:Have you some pictures of your own for us to see?

........ it would need to be a good camera to take a decent photo of them in the middle of the Kelvin.

How true

(2 March 2010 from the bridge at the Botanic Gardens entrance (near the loos) - there were three pairs, very elegant looking birds - the one on the left is the boy)

That's just uncanny! You'll be showing us a photo of the squirrel in the Botanics on yer knee, next!

a hahahaha.... that was out loud kinda funny, and yes, ppl here do seem to get about the place with the camera's eh?

Glasgogirl wrote:ppl here do seem to get about the place with the camera's eh?

Isn't that the point generally?

Dave wrote:

Glasgogirl wrote:ppl here do seem to get about the place with the camera's eh?

Isn't that the point generally?

yes of course, I'm sure that is the point, but still.. it's amusing just how quickly ppl here can produce evidence of things that others are speaking of... in this case animals (and they move about, making it, as he said... uncanny!)