Feeding the Family

It’s been a while since my last blog; as ever I have been pretty busy - with binoculars and camera not far away though!  But I haven’t been as busy as the birds of Nairn as gardens all over town have been full of families foraging and juveniles mouths wide open, demanding food from the over worked parents.  I am hoping to capture some pics of a family of Yellowhammers feeding near my home and when I do I will post them here.  

But it's not just the garden birds that have been busy: here are some pictures from the past few weeks

The family of Mallards below are regulars on the river.

And then there's this little beauty: every garden should have one!  How hard do these Blue Tits work every spring!










It was a great surprise to me was when I saw hundreds of Greylag Geese all peacefully relaxing on a local loch, happily mixing adults and juveniles. I wonder how they know which is which?

On another note; I'm pleased to say that the Willow Warblers are still happily singing their beautiful song. As I’ve said before, they are the first real sound of Spring and are usually the first to stop singing (around about now), so it’s great to still hear them. And I was really pleased to identify the song of the Whitethroat at the weekend. I really struggle to match this sound to the right migrant at this time of year, always forgetting the bird it belongs to. But this year it came to me as soon as I heard it, despite my brain being an extra year older! I have tried to capture a photo of the ones down around Minsters Pool, but I have failed miserably!



Whilst doing it though I did notice a dog own sending his dog into the pool and the surrounding reed beds for ‘fun’. This does no end of damage to the ground breeding birds. I wish these people would be more aware of the sensitivities of these delicate habitats, especially at this time of year.


Ramble and rant over!  Any finally....

As ever our very own pair of Swans have been busy. I don’t need to post many pictures of these as Joe thrills us with the great pictures on his blog; but here are a few of my own taken at the harbour (no more Joe, I promise to leave this family to you!).

And a close up to finish with.