The pond is situated approximately 3 miles north west of the City Centre and is bounded by Great Western Road, the car park of the Pond Hotel, Shelley Road (Gartnavel Hospital) and the rear gardens of private housing in Whittingehame Drive.  It is owned by Glasgow City Council and is open at all times.

The pond can be accessed by regular bus services operated by First Glasgow along Great Western Road e.g. Nos. 66, 20, 159 and 118.

The pond is a firm favourite with locals who come to 'feed the ducks', staff and patients at Gartnavel Hospital, visitors to the Pond Hotel and local taxi drivers who have a stance at the hotel car park. It  has

• two picnic benches; and

The 'Pond' consists mostly of standing open water with two islands and is enclosed on all four sides by trees.  A well used public footpath surrounds the pond with access available from Great Western Road (by steps); the Hotel car park and Shelley Road (two entry points). A number of 'interpretation' boards are located around the edge of the pond.

Prior to its naturalisation by Glasgow City Council in 2003, the pond was a semi-derelict concrete boating pond. The water quality was poor and generally the variety of bird life found on the pond was limited to a few species although numerically the pond could accommodate 100s of birds primarily Mute Swans and gulls.

As part of the naturalisation  scheme the Council not only constructed  two islands but also created shallow shelves along the edge of the pond and planted 1000s of plants. Now, plants such as Bulrush, Bottle Sedge, Yellow Flag, Reed Sweet-grass, Bur-reed, Water Forget-me-not and Purple Loosestrife can be found.

As a result of all of this work the water quality has improved and five species of waterfowl now breed when previously there were none.

The trees surrounding the pond are of mixed age and type - mainly deciduous but with some conifers. Those to the north and west of the pond stand on a embankment and they provide shelter to visitors from strong winds and rain. The berry bearing trees are popular with winter thrushes and a large flock of Waxwings was recorded in November 2004. The understorey includes bramble and ivy with bluebells prominent in spring. The Grey squirrel can be seen in the woodland, coming in from adjoining gardens.

Bingham's Pond in November 2007

The Pond is an excellent place to see common wetland and woodland birds and, if you are a keen photographer, you can get good shots of birds such as Mallard, Tufted Duck and Goosander. I have personally seen 57 species (excluding hybrid/domestic species).

Typical bird species include:

All year round - Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Coot,  Black-headed Gull,  Lesser Black-backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch and Greenfinch.

In spring and summer -  Sparrowhawk, Swift, Swallow, Sand Martin, Grey Wagtail and Willow Warbler.

In autumn and winter - Goosander, Common Gull, Redwing, Fieldfare and Goldcrest,

More unusual records include Little Grebe, Whooper Swan, Scaup, Peregrine, Iceland Gull, Oystercatcher, Common Sandpiper, Waxwing and Siskin.

Sightings

Your wildlife sightings at Bingham's Pond can be e-mailed to me at j.coyle13@ntlworld.com

All photographs copyright Jim Coyle.