A fabulous walk on the patch - The best bits

So, I'd just left some Buzzards buzzing around each other, the sun was shining, I was getting way too warm but what a day for a walk! Ahead is an area of the road that has Broom or Gorse on one side and Elder and Hawthorn on the other, they then give way to a bank of Brambles and Ferns and it was on those ferns that I finally got a chance to photograph a butterfly! I'd seen between 3 and 5 of them so far and was quite surprised they're still around but it was a really warm day 

I'd seen a few flitting around as I'd walked but this was the first to land and sit still for me, albeit not in the best location 

I was just about to head down the hill towards the bridge and I could hear and see birds flitting around in the canopy.

This is a lovely, quiet area, the bridge is just around that bend.

There were birds everywhere down there, I was craning my neck, binocs out, trying to see what was around ...

At least one Treecreeper

A GSW tapping away and trying to keep an eye on me.

Bet you can't see it? 

Another Treecreeper

Something right above my head, moving fast ...

A couple of Goldcrests, I'm amazed I managed to get a few decent shots, almost broke my neck and fell on my butt 

And, as I tried to get a shot of a Chaffinch, another Nuthatch 

The entire year thus far without seeing or hearing one and today, two, probably three!

Do Nuthatches store food? It was carrying that Beech nut around for ages, like it was looking for somewhere to hide it? 

There were Coal, Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits

I was sure I'd got a couple of shots of the Long-tails but, obviously not  can't have everything 

I stood there a good while just watching, trying to get shots, failing but loving the moment, before crossing the bridge and heading down to the river bank.

I sat there for half an hour or more, enjoying a wee picnic in the sunshine next to the river. There were a couple of loud splashes in the deep pool next to me, jumped out of my skin but eventually I saw a large fish jumping. No idea what it was just pretty big, couple of feet maybe?

Time to head back eventually, this is a favourite place of ours for a picnic, I've seen a Mink down here but no Otters .... yet.

I intended to walk back pretty quickly, get the heart going and get home of course but ...

What a beauty! A Migrant Hawker according to iNaturalist, well chuffed to see it at all, never mind on the last day in October! 

See! What a walk this was turning out to be and, dare I say, it wasn't over yet!

I haven't edited the rest of the photos yet, suffice to say nothing spectacular but a nice wee surprise, so until the next instalment 

We're off to Gourock for a puckle o' days, a nice pub / hotel where we kind of met, many moons ago and of course,  for decent weather.