Loch of the Lowes

 We had a fabulous day yesterday at Loch of the Lowes, cold but bright. 

We seem to be blessed with Red Squirrel sightings at the moment, not that we are complaining!

All from the cosy warm the SWT visitor centre. 

From the visitor centre as well;

Obliging Nuthatch,

Female Mallard waiting for whatever falls from the bird feeders.

Great Spotted Woodpecker.

The loch was quiet though with lots of Goldeneye;

Wigeon

Plus plenty of Tufted Duck, a few Great Crested Grebe, Mallard and a very distant Goosander.

Some Greylag and Cormorant flew through and a solitary Canada Goose appeared from the Beaver channel briefly.

Apart from that we had a nice rainbow in the distance!

Tay Reed Beds

 We travelled up to the Tay Reed Beds yesterday as the weather was nice and very little wind in search of Bearded Tits, there have been some great photos recently on facebook, so we thought we would try our arm. This was our third attempt there with no luck on the previous two. But despite the good conditions (Bearded Tits don't like it windy) they were a no show again. We did see plenty of other birds, including Marsh Harriers, but nothing for any photos.

However in the trees behind us a couple of Red Squirrel put in an appearance and didn't seem bothered by us:

A Little Milestone - American Wigeon

 On Tina's birthday we popped to Otterston Loch on the way home from Aberdour (Birthday Brunch!) to see if we could catch sight of the reported American Wigeon.

And there among the regular Wigeon was this chap....

He's a long way from home! There was also allegedly a Lesser Scaup but in the amongst all the Tufted duck we couldn't see her. Never mind.

This was a small milestone, it took the number of species of birds we have seen in the UK to 240 and our world wide life total to 1019.

RSPB Loch Leven Last Weekend

 Had a busy week this week, so I am only just posting a few bits from RSPB Loch Leven last weekend, while Jo & Jimmy were up. It was quite a windy day, so the birds were keeping pretty hidden snf tuckrd away:

So some Whooper and Mute Swans,

Pink-footed Geese

Whooper and Mute Swan, compare and contrast! 

Gadwall,

Roe Deer nearby,

and becoming a common sight in the area a Great White Egret.

More Pink Foots

and an obliging Red Squirrel.

Other birds seen; Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Teal, Grey Heron, Mallard and the usual woodland birds.

Bits and Pieces

 We have only been out for a couple of short outings this week, the first was just down to Lochore to the hide and NR there, it was pretty quiet apart from a Great White Egret showing reasonably well from the hide:

Otherwise it was just Mallard and Teal on the pool. It was pretty quiet in the wood too, with nothing much to report.

Yesterday we went to Kinghorn for a bit of Dolphin and Whale watching in the Forth, but as usual, they didn't turn up for us although we did get about a dozen distant Long-tailed Ducks, which was very nice, our first of the Autumn.

We popped down to the harbour car park at Pettycur just in case, but again nothing although this Kestrel put on a nice show:

Branklyn Gardens, Perth

So staying away from wildlife again and going for some autumn colour at Branklyn Garden (SNT) in Perth on Thursday: