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.
Lovely Robin Scozmos
Thank you ILR, isn't it just?
October 22nd - Went for a wander down to the ponds yesterday evening and spotted my first Redwing of the year, no photos .............. yet. Elusive little beggars
They are tricky Scozmos . But you reminded me to upload my Redwing taken on the 17th October at RSPB Sandy...
Scozmos said:October 22nd - Went for a wander down to the ponds yesterday evening and spotted my first Redwing of the year, no photos .............. yet. Elusive little beggars
Very illusive.
My first redwing for winter 2023/2024 was Nov 14th, seen on the trailcam around 07:00 that morning.
Playing around with the Merlin app, suggests some may be passing through the yesterday morning 24th Oct.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Good evening all and happy Hallowe'en
Well, it's been a lovely day up here on the hill, looked and felt chilly but the sun's been out most of the day, which is always nice and I went for a good long-ish walk which turned out to be a real cracker, more later but, this morning as I was fetching her ladyship's breakfast, I looked out the patio doors to see a Corvid swooping and diving over the moorland area.
It was chasing something.
Down breakfast, camera dash.
Grab the binoculars.
It's a Kestrel!
Two Rooks harassing it now.
This is all happening just under 300m away so the lens is at full stretch and my shooglie hand isn't helping but I persevered and cropped a bit. (lot)
I don't speak Kestrel but it looks like a youngster to me? Anyone?
I've been seeing one fairly often recently out and about on the patch.
As I was watching and grabbing shots, then editing later, I could hear the voice of Iain Cuthbertson from the old TV series Budgie. (That IS old)
I can hear a broad wedge (Glaswegian) twenty a day voice ..... "You git that side, Ah'll get this ane!"
Look at them just sitting there now ....
Where's the 800mm lens when you need it?
And that's how I left it!
A) The breakfast is still sitting on its tray in the house
B) It's pretty chilly and I'm in ma goonie!
I have no doubt that no birds were harmed.
PS. How annoyed was I to be half way through writing and posting this earlier when the site went down!!!!!
Well!
It's been a blustery, dreich day the day (as we Scots are prone to saying) but, I decided I needed a walk so got all wrapped up, grabbed a suitable bag of food (for the beasties) and headed out.
Blustery probably isn't a windy enough word for the weather out there today! Definitely gusty but not exactly freezing so it wasn't too bad, just a bit dull for photography ...... maybe.
I went and checked the owl nest box. Still there, still sleeping, then out round the sheds and onto the lane.
I spotted a few Tree Sparrows in the hedge down the hill but not a lot else so I was round the bend and up the hill in no time.
I dropped som e food on the first feeding post and walked on through the trees to the old Oak feeding area, where the Nuthatches appear. Just before I got there I became aware of bird sounds around me, there were Blue, Coal and Great Tits in the branches above and as I walked towards the feeding post, they followed! Including, a Nuthatch!!!!!!
I've had this happen up at the reservoir, the Coal Tits up there almost landing on me as I walk up to the feeding area, wonderful.
Anyway, I dropped off some food with birds all around, loved it; Robin, Coal, Great & Blue Tits, Nuthatch with a couple of Treecreepers on trunks nearby, beginning to feel like Ms Poppins! (Was there a Mr Poppins?)
I took a few photos , the Nuthatch got so close I couldn't focus, then wandered on. A pair of Red Kites were soaring way up high and three Buzzards flew nearby as I turned up the first green lane.
None of these are cropped at all just de-noised and light adjusted.
Near the top, I came across a small flock of Bullfinches feeding in the trees there. On round the corner, down the hill past the standing stone where I heard the ever elusive Jays and got a couple of flashes of white tail feathers dammit!
At the bottom of the green lane a couple of Yellowhammers leapt out of the hedge and a Blackbird joined them, scaring a Pheasant out for under.
I decided to do the full wide loop so walked along the road to the far green lane and up that hill towards the ponds. A couple of Chaffinches flew ahead of me down the hill to the ponds where I saw another Kite, possibly as I turned into the woods to work my way back up the hill. I stopped to check Jodie's pond, four Teal, a male and three females. Back to the old Oak area eventually and I could see small birds still flitting around so I approached the feeding post to check food status when the Red Squirrel hopped off the ground in front of me onto the tree trunk and scurried off up, checking where I was from time to time, I almost jumped out of my skin!
So I headed back down the lane for home, watching the squirrel in the tree tops ahead of me. It crossed the lane way overhead and started diving from tree to tree away from me when ........
It missed! I actually called out "oh sh1t" as I watched it fall 60 - 80 feet to the ground
Then pop up and scamper off into the woods! Phew! I don't suppose they weigh much at all but I've never seen anything like that before, poor wee soul, hope it was unhurt.
Quite an exciting and traumatic walk.
I'll add a full set later
Happy Sunday all
Red Squirrel, yellowhammer, bullfinches... any one of them would make my day Scozmos . Nice photo's as well.
Superb picture of the Nutty Scozmos, one of my favourite birds. Excellent timing with the Coal Tit too ...
You did have a good day out birding. Hope the wee Squirrel was okay!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.