RSPB Loch Leven

 We took an afternoon out at Loch Leven last week as the sun was shining!

It was a great afternoon, with plenty seen. But all the birds were staying a fair distance away.. The Great Egret was miles away, but a Little Egret was a little closer:

The pool at the far hide was pretty quiet, well I say quiet, the Black-headed Gulls were making a racket as they vied for the best nesting spots and called out for mates.

The Teal must have had ear plugs in!

Away from the wetlands and in the wood, we came across our first Bullfinches of the year;

But the highlight has to be a very obliging Red Squirrel;

Anyways here's our full bird list for the visit:

Teal, Goldeneye, Mallard, Shelduck, Lapwing, Redshank, Curlew, Pink-footed Goose, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Black-headed Gull, Woodpigeon, Moorhen, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Wren, Carrion Crow, Raven, Tufted Duck, Magpie, Dunnock, Great Crested Grebe, Pheasant, Oystercatcher.

On the Hunt for Dolphins

 We took ourselves up to Cromarty for a couple of days last week, stopping just outside Inverness for the night, tp give us a couple of chances to see dolphins at Chanonry Point on the Black Isle. We arrived at about 1.30pm to coincide with a local dolphin watch that we had seen on Facebook. The westher was brilliant calm and sunny, so not too cold.

However our luck was out, we stayed for about 3 hours, so then had a drive up to Cromarty and Udale Bay before checking in to out travelodge.

Next day we packed up and did the previous day in reverse, before driving home. So Udale Bay and the RSPB hide for a bit. Firstly a single Pink-footed goose form the previous day

A curlew posed nicely,

There were plenty of Gulls, Herring, Common and Black-headed

and lots of Teal.

as well as Redshank, Shelduck, Wigeon, Lapwing, Crow and Hooded Crow.

But now back to Chanonry Point....success!!