This blog has been quiet for a while – we’ve been away enjoying the Bald Eagles (they were all over the place, including two juveniles gallivanting on the beach in the middle of Vancouver!) Why can they survive there when our beautiful Golden Eagles need to be in the middle of the wilderness? Anyway, by the end of the holiday we hardly gave them a glance as they flew overhead! Add to his the Whales and Bears along with the multitude of squirrels and the Racoons, your camera and binoculars are kept very busy.
But getting home to our own wildlife is a real comfort. The sound of the Oyster Catcher overhead and the twitter of the Goldfinches welcomed us home. We were really pleased to see a juvenile Dipper on a rock under the footbridge in Inverness, and an excited Dutch tourist contorting her camera to get a good view, despite the bouncing bridge underfoot! I have noticed the lack of Yellowhammer song that filled the air before we left, but the Swifts have arrived in abundance. The Sand Martins are still all over the river in town and a couple of Grey Wagtails have taken up home near the footbridge.
On my first visit to the river I noticed a dark furry animal running along the shore near the bridge, hoping that it was an Otter. I bumped into Joe the swan man and he tells me that he has seen a number of Mink over time in this same area, which isn’t good news for the Swans trying to rear families each year.
August is bound to be a quiet month for birds as they patch themselves up after their hard summer activity, But September and beyond will be great for the birder as always, so it’s great to be back!
Séamus
Another mink in the harbour tonight, completely unimpressed by the Swans and Ducks that had their eyes glued to it !
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