It was great to start the day at RSPB Scotland Loch Leven with a visit from a cheerful flock of redwings darting through the trees in the picnic area, there were about thirty in total. The day ended with a beautiful sunset while we unpacked the shop delivery in the dark and felt like Christmas elves.
Today we had our first sighting of the juvenile white-tailed eagle on St.Surf's Island for over a week, the last report way back on Monday 5 December. Hopefully we'll get more views of the eagle tomorrow and over the weekend as the cooler weather has returned. It seems like old news now but we continue to get daily visits from the little egret that was ringed as a fledging last year in Lancashire. At first we were surprised to see it, now we wonder if it will ever leave...
110 curlews were visible from the Gilman hide today, quite a sight!
Also on the reserve this week we've had a sighting of hundreds of teal with a few reports of the unusual green winged teal. Large numbers of tufted ducks, two sightings of a redhead smew, lots of wigeons and shelducks were other highlights. Also on the wetlands we've had little grebes, Slavonian grebes, whooper swans, coots, goldeneyes, gooseanders and even some cormorants.
In other news, we have an exciting new opportunity for a volunteer learning assistant to help with the school visits next year. it's a great opportunity for someone looking to get into conservation and work with children, for more details and how to apply follow this link.
Photo credit: Redwing - Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com), Little egret - Paul Ashcroft, curlews - Paul Ashcroft, teal - Paul Ashcroft