Since moving back to Scotland in 2022 and to a much more rural location my interest in the birds and wildlife in general all around us has increased dramatically such that, I now consider I have a "patch", an area that is within reasonable walking distance that also has lots of variable of habitat and surroundings.
For example, our mailbox is one mile down a lane which has a burn with reed beds, mixed woodland, fields and ponds. Wonderful.
A little bit further afield, heading for town there are two larger burns, another pond, a golf course fields and mixed woodland, much of the land is owned by the farmer whose land we live on so wandering around on it is no trouble, the right to roam still applies in Scotland anyway but there are those (newer) landowners who have brought the "get orft moi land" syndrome with them.
So, I thought I could share my explorations and photos here, yet again I've been trying to work through the backlog and get some of it sorted, edited or deleted, my drives are beginning to struggle
I'm going to stick to 2024 for now and if I stumble upon something interesting beyond that I'll slip it in as I go along.
Well, looks like I didn't go far from home in January! Very few photos outside of my regular walks and garden birds.
This shot in January is of the gulls returning from .......... whence they went!
Every morning they would fly due South from up the glens somewhere, or further afield and every evening, fly back due north again.......... hundreds of them and I've never found out why or where to and from I used the term gulls because they seem to be mixed!
There's a field just across the farmyard that offers a fairly level and clean walk past a rough moorland area of gorse and local trees and shrubs. The farmer's wife has been planting Scots Pines, for example.
So the Pheasant was out strolling with his harem when I walked over there in February.The female Pheasant are much more wary and disappear as soon as they see or hear us so it's always nice to catch a glimpse of them.
We are very lucky to have a pair of Hen Harriers somewhere in the vicinity, I've seen both at different times working across the field behind us but I never have a blooming camera when they appear!!!!
So .....
A very long distance of the female ............. I'm pretty certain.
The white patch above the tail feathers clinched it for me but I'm happy to be corrected as ever
That's it for them, so far and that was back in February, I live in hope.
There are lots of Buzzards around here and Red Kites, which seem to be growing in numbers recently and they often pass over the house which is wonderful.
They also tend to sit in the surrounding trees and on fence posts but still very shy.
Red Kite on the same fence as the Hen Harrier earlier.
I loved this next shot, although a long shot.
A Pheasant below the Kite!
A Buzzard hiding in plain site in the tree down the field from us.
The field behind us can be a haven for all sorts
Roe deer grazing in the back field on January 1st 2024
So that's it for a start, January and February of this year, also shows me how few times I head out but, it was Winter right?
I'll make sure I've edited all the shots for March before I start again, I know there are more.
I hope you enjoy having a nose around the area.
It would be amazing to photograph a beaver Scozmos. The closest we have come is while stopping at Pitlochry for a couple of nights on the way to Skye, we had a walk down the river Tummel and I photographed some tree trunks that had been gnawed through by them.
I reckon that counts Snappy ... a bit like getting otter poo lol
I've seen Otter prints on the river bank, that's it and I too have shots of gnawed trees SnappyMac
We did catch a fleeting glimpse of an Otter on the Ericht (Blairgowrie) So surprised that my lovely lady couldn't think of the right word so shouted Seal!!!! (still an ongoing laugh between us)
Cracking photos Scozmos I had to have a chuckle when I saw your Flickr video of the ladybirds.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Thank you yeah, I've never seen that sort of action before!!!
It's quite a while since I saw any ...
October 12th - I headed out for a walk down to and round the ponds near the bottom of our lane, it was one of those mixed, kind of sunny, kind cold, who knows what it will do next days but, I felt like I hadn't been out for ages so, out to the farm yard then off down the lane.
I always like to check the nest box in one of the barns ..
Still there, still sleeping, we rarely see them in the evenings or night.
I've been looking back through similar shots, we were always on the lookout for young but saw nothing definitive although I have a couple of shots that show a possible fluffier head
In between a couple of the sheds and round the back to check the two fields and fences, there's a hug old wood pile round there, who knows what lives in that!?
I caught sight of a Pied Wagtail on one of the roofs.
It looked to me like there's a bit of yellow in the face, a maturing young bird maybe?
When I got round the other side, it popped up again, against a darker sky, perfect.
Is that pale yellow on its face?
It sat a while to allow me a few more shots.
Either way, it was nice to see it so clearly.
Onto the lane and down the hill, there's a great mixed hedge all the way down, usually a good spot for mixed sightings
What looks like a young Yellowhammer dropped onto the lane in front of me for a few moments. Then back onto the hedge where a few more were watching, flitting ahead of me.
I spotted a few Tree and House Sparrows as I walked down but they kept hidden or well ahead of me.
But then ...
A lovely female Reed Bunting sitting up nicely for me, catching the sun.
Of course she was off ski as I got closer. Onward past the reed beds, nothing to see here and into the wooded part of the lane. I have started leaving a mixed food offering on a post here in an attempt to attract the Jays to stop for a moment, they're super shy up here.
The light between the trees is beautiful and catching the leaves nicely.
A couple of flocks of Pink-footed Geese flew over as I was going down the hill, dodgy to stop and look up in the sky here, end up on my butt very easily.
They're passing over us every morning and again evening in there 100's maybe more!
As I started to put the camera away ...
A few moments of cruising Red Kite.
Down and round to the ponds, there were a few "strangers" out walking their dogs which usually scares off the wildlife, and did, so I made my way back up through the woods, to the lane again.
There's an Ash tree half way up (or down) the lane and the Buzzards love it, great clear views.
And so I was back in the wooded area, keeping an eye out for the elusive Jays, no chance but ...
A Robin popped up out of the ditch and started preening and tidying after a bath, right next to me ...
So I stopped and grabbed a few shots
It was pretty dull so these had to be fast and high ISO but I was pleased with them.
That Look!
Sorry, Robin overload but what an opportunity
It flew off eventually so I headed for home, there was a big dark ominous sky brewing over to the SW, a good fast pace almost kept me ahead of the rain, which turned out to be snow, but only on the higher ground, as I discovered this morning.
So, I finally got all these edited today, after a good long walk up at the reservoir again, a good walk into a new area and gave me my first re0sighting of the Crossbills since May this year , at last.
I'll edit those tomorrow and inflict them on you all asap