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:

RSPB Loch Leven (27/09/24)

 We spent a great few hours at Loch Leven the other week, the Pink Footed Geese were there in large numbers;

But the outstanding bird of the day for me was this one:

Spitfire T.9 based out of Biggin Hill, so what it was doing over Loch Leven is anyone's guess!

So keeping to this theme, here are a couple of gliders from the nearby club:

Back to the birds! Greenfich,

Kestrel, why when the appear do the always fly or hover between me and the sun!

Pink-footed Geese grazing,

with a few Greylag Geese for company.

In the woods behind the visitor centre there was lots of bird activity, but only manages a Blackbird and Robin for a decent photo.

Other birds seen where Whooper Swans (10), a Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, no winter ducks yet, the usual Tufted Duck and Mallard. In the woods, Long-tailed, Blue, Great and Coal Tit, a Spotted Flycatcher. I won't list them all!

But the star of the woods was this chap

It doesn't matter how often we see Red Squirrels, it's always a joy!

It's been a while!

 Well it's been a very busy summer with one thing and another, so there's been very little time for birding as such. We have been away a few times but not on birding trips. 

We had a spectacular 10 days in Switzerland and we did see some birds on our travels, notably a Nutcracker and Alpine Swift from a cable car near Zermatt and Alpine Chough at Jungfraujoch:

Otherwise plenty of Red Kites seen from the car plus plenty of common UK species.

Back on our home patch we have managed a couple of walks recently, firstly Seafield (Kirkcaldy), this is a favourite walk and one which we have neglected, so it was great to get back there.

Nothing out of the ordinary on a very dull day, but here are a few photos:

There were 3 Wheatear on the sea wall,

Some Redshank,

Ringed Plover,

Cormorants,

plenty of Seals on the rocks just past the tower.

and a Kestrel on the hunt.

Also  seen were Twite, a solitary Curlew, Eider, Sandwich Tern, Purple Sandpiper, distant Gannets, a Fulmar, a Merganser and plenty of Gulls

 

We followed that up with a walk at Portmoak Moss a couple of days later, the highlight was a Spotted Flycatcher who was to quick for a photo and a Red Squirrel way up in one of the conifers munching on cones:

Otherwise plenty of birds about, but all too shy for any photos; Bullfinch, Great Tit, Siskin, Chaffinch, Wren, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, a mass of Swallows by the small car park and a distant Kestrel perched on a tree in the peat bog.

We are off to the Isle of Bute soon so hopefully I might have something to post after that.

TTFN

Loch Leven - A Findatie Walk

 Well with all the work going on in the house and visiting Birmingham we haven't done much Birding. But Monday was our wedding anniversary so we made sure we got out for the afternoon, had a walk, lunch and a really lovely time.

We parked at Findatie on Loch Leven and took a stroll to the hide and beyond. These were the highlights:

Long-tailed Tit

First of our Red Squirrel Sightings

Grey Heron from the hide

Red Squirrel again!

Coal Tit

Our first Dipper on the River Leven

So apart from the photographed sightings above, we had Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Jay, Starlings, Buzzards, Cormorant and Pink-footed Geese. Also a winter plumage Slavonian Grebe was seen briefly.

Then to Loch Leven Larder for a superb 'late' lunch, we stayed for a bun and a pot of tea, sitting outside at dusk, waiting for the Geese, but it got really cold and there was a biting wind, so we called it a day before the geese arrived. However:

A Kestrel displayed for us, always looking the other way of course!

Some Whopper Swans flew past

and we had a glorious sunset.

Happy 41 Years!

The Annual Birding Visit to Norfolk - Part 2

We had a decent weather day on the Wednesday the wind had died down just a little, so we parked up on Lady Anne's Drive at Holkam with the view to spend the day. We first walked to see the Shore Larks and Snow Buntings, but the birds were very mobile in the wind and we only had a fleeting glimpse of one Shore Lark and perhaps groups of Snow Bunting zooming around, but never staying put. There were also Meadow Pipits, Linnet and Skylark, but nothing close enough for decent photos so I won't bother putting any on here.

On the way back we stopped at the benches overlooking the dunes at the top of the stairs down to the beach, where some Brent Geese offered some nice views;

Oh I forgot as we left the car a Grey Partridge was busily feeding on the adjacent field;

After the Shore Lark expedition we walked down to the Jordan Hide to see what was about and we had a bit of a Geese fest! But started with a nice Kestrel;

 that later flew in front of the hide,

as did this Mute Swan.

 Plenty of Greylag Geese of course,

 some Barnacle Geese

 and some White-fronted Geese

 as well as Egyptian and Pink-footed Geese.
The Wells Rough-legged Buzzard put in an appearance and decided to roost up miles away, that is it in the tree honest! Plus a Muntjac in the grass.

Ducks (mainly Wigeon) up in a panic

 as one of the many Marsh Harriers pay a visit!

A Thoroughly good day.

The weather wasn't kind to us the following day, the wind just didn't let up, and along with that came a fair bit of rain, so we elected for another mooch day, trawling some nice spots we know along the coast, we started with Brancaster Staithe, it is one of my favourite drop ins because you never know what you are going to find, on this occasion though with the wind being so high, the birds were mostly sheltering elsewhere, but the Turnstones are a hardy bunch and came quite close to the car;

We travelled along the coast, not seeing a huge variety of birds, but did get one or two;
A Bar-tailed Godwit,

 Grey Plover,

 Little Egret

 and Redshank

were the few that were photographable (is that a word?) A Greenshank was seen at Morston Quay, then a huge gathering of Pied Wagtail at dusk at Blakeney Harbour, we are guessing at least 200, one even landed on the windscreen wiper, then looked at us in amazement (not quite sure what an amazed Wagtail looks like!) through the windscreen before flying off.

Last day took us to Sculthorpe more for a nice cold wander around the reserve;
Snowdrops,

 Bullfinch,

 Pheasant,

 Bank Vole,

 Long-tailed Tit,

 Greenfinch,

 Coal Tit

 Goldfinch,

 Brambling,

 Nuthatch

 and another Brambling.

So that concludes our Norfolk trip, with 86 species seen, someway behind some of our visits, but not bad considering the weather.