Strathfarrar Winchat - and Osprey Suprise!

Not too far west of here is the beautiful Strathfarrar.  The views and wildlife are enhanced buy the lack of people to get in the way.  We had a day out there a couple of weeks ago and were treated to our first views of Winchat and Whimbrel for years - with a fantastic suprise at the end!

The Winchat can usually be seen in rocky coastal country in summer.  It's a lovely little bird that will often perch high on top of gorse or low branches to give great photo opportunities.

Some of you might have already seen a Whimbrel and thought you were looking at our friends from the beach - the Curlew.  They are very similar except for two distinct differences: the eye and head stripe and the size - it is much smaller.  Take a look at these two pics I took in Strathfarrer.

And whilst driving around in the empty roads you can take in the great views.

After a day full of picnics, the journey home was highlighted by an Osprey feeding on top of a telegraph pole at the side of the Beauly Firth!  Kate hung out of the car window and managed to catch this shot as it flew away!  What a woman!  Well done Kate!

Birdsong along the river.

We met with a friend today for an early morning walk along the river (10:30am - I was late!) to listen to the birdsong.  We were treated to a number of Willow Warbler and Song Thrush songs and a snippet from a Blackcap.  Also making themselves heard was the usual suspects, a Robin, Chaffinch and Wren with the odd Blue Tit.   They will always be heard on the stretch from the Merryton to Jubilee Bridges at this time of year.

Here are a few of the pictures taken as we listened.  They are a mix of Willow Warbler and Song Thrush.  Keep listening!

 

Swifts

Swifts are here at last!  I spotted three flying overhead on the road from Kinloss to Forres (I was driving - so no photos!). They are usually around much earlier in May.  They will shortly be in the skies over the Links, where I see them every year.  They also like to fly around church spires - and they make a fantastic screeching sound as they fly overhead.

I saw them whilst on my way home from Burghead where I saw these Ringed Plovers (17 in total) and a solitary Sanderling (the paler one in the middle of the pic).  Just along from these were 27 Sandwich Terns. 

Finally - out at see were Gannets diving for food.  When you are next down at the harbour or anywhere along the beach for that matter, you should be able to see sights like this for the next couple of months.  It will probably be either Gannets or Terns.  Take time to stop and watch them; they are brilliant flyers and fishers!

Seamus

Redpolls

A really exciting visitor to our garden this week is the Lesser Redpoll.  I struggled to tie down the precise species of Redpoll because the bill seems too long for the Lesser.  But after consultation and lots of paging through books I am confident that it is the Lesser Redpoll. 

They seem to be much more common this year, as a number of people have told me about them feeding on their feeders.  I noticed them sitting among some Dogwood across the road from my front garden, but they are very sensitive and flew as soon as I made a move for a closer look.  So when they turned up in our garden a couple of days ago I was thrilled!  They come and go from the same direction - so it looks like they have set up home in the quarry.

This first picture was taken through my kitchen window on Saturday - so it just shows it is good to have your camera ready!  The next one was taken this evening when the light was a bit of a struggle, hence the poor quality (well that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!).

 

 

Blackcaps

Thanks to Zimmie for reporting Blackcaps feeding in the garden.  Since then I have seen a couple in my back garden and heard them singing in Kingsteps Quarry.  When you see them notice the black top to the head - hence the name.  The female / juvenile male has a reddy brown cap.  And don't forget the song - a lovely, bubbly ramble.

Here are a couple of pictures from the quarry taken last year - the male is blurred, but it shows the cap. 

By the way - there are still a small group of Waxwings in the area!  A friend spotted 11 in her garden last week, this seems very late for them to be here, but I'm not complaining!  One last thing - keep your eyes open for the swifts.  A flock of 22 were spotted near Elgin today.  These are different form Swallows and Martins and will usually be seen around church spires and older buildings.

Willow Warblers have arrived - at last.

They're here at last!  The wonderful cascading sound of Spring.  That is the Willow Warbler song, sung high in the trees in gardens and beyond.  I heard my first two singing this morning in the quarry behind Old Bar Road and a third one in the trees along the Dunbar Golf Course and Lochloy Road.

These two pics were taken last year.

The Blackcaps will be singing soon too.  They have a lovely liquidy (not a real word!) bubbly song, and sing from the tops of the trees.  When I hear one I'll pop a picture on so you can look out for them.

You'll probably have noted the skies are full of Martins and Swallows.  They've only been around for about a week - but they are here in very large numbers.  The Sand Martins are already looking at the holes in the embankment along the river, ready to start nesting.  Stand on the Merryton Bridge and just watch how acrobatic these birds are!

Seamus

Red Kites are Coming

Red Kites are popping up over the fields by the airport, and drifting nearer to Nairn, so keep your eyes open for them.  They are spectacular birds and make for great wonderful opportunities.

The RSPB have a great site at Tollie, by Dingwall.  After years of educating and nurturing, the reintroduction of the kites is a success with breeding pairs all over the Black Isle.  Tollie is an RSPB feeding station where a snack is put out each day at 13:30 GMT (14:30 BST) to attract the kites down to show off their fantastic acrobatic flying abilities.

Rest assured that this is only a snack and not enough for the birds to become dependant on it.  Its main aim is to attract visitors to witness the spectacle and enjoy these wonderful birds, with the hope that the enthusiasm generated will feed back into the wider community, hopefully resulting in the birds being less likely to fall prey to the harm inflicted by man.

Here are a few shots I've taken over the year.  A couple has them feeding and the final one shows a tag to identify where the bird was born.