Looking Back Over the Year - a Few Photos

I thought I'd share of few of my photos - just for fun!

(By the way - we are making progress with the Caper - more in my next blog)

The first photo is of a Red Kite soaring overhead at the RSPB Red Kite Centre at Tollie, by Dingwall and Strathpether.  It is on the road to Ullapool off the Dingwall roundabout.  It's well worth a visit to get some spectacular views of the kites fromThe Black Isle and beyond (and you may well bump into Kate and myself!).  The RSPB has done a tremendous job re-introducing these fantastic birds to our skies: a great success story; so share in tit and pop over to visit the Centre.

You can also get close up views of all the birds feeding on the nearby feeders, like these Great Tits.

This time of the year is good to see Red Breasted Merganser venturing up river.  this pair were taken last year on the RiverNairn, and an new pair have returned this year - the same pair?

The Pinkfoot will  be returning north in their thousands soon; here are a couple of images from last year's migration.  The sky will be filled with sights like the two below.

As we are now on the right side of winter, I thought we could look at what pleasure we have to come.  Here is a Willow Warbler singing its heart out to welcome in spring.

                       

This Coal Tit was feeding its young in Strath Conon.

Whilst this Blue Tit was keeping busy in a garden in Nairn

In early summer you can hardly fail to see the white rump of a Wheatear flash past your windscreen as you drive down our county roads.  Here a parent watches over a juvenile.

And of course you can always keep watch for River Nairn's very own Heron and Dippers - ever present.

Here is a Dipper from Inverness feeding on the River Ness, next to Eden Court.

And finally, don't forget to keep an eye out for the Tree Creepers all over the woods around here.  The first was along the River Nairn and the second one from Old Bar Wood (in Kingsteps Quarry).

By the way - some of you may have noticed I have cheated a wee bit on this post - quite a few of these photos have appeared before - I just thought it was nice to see them all together!

Seamus