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.

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!

RSPB Loch Leven (Vane Farm)

 We had a nice afternoon out at the RSPB at Loch Leven,

Young Goldfinch,

Reed Bunting,

Goldfinch,

Gadwall,

Black-headed Gulls,

Shoveler,

Tufted Duck,

Lapwing,

Black-headed Gulls,

and Greylag Goose.

It was actually quite quiet, so not a lot else to say!

RSPB Loch Leven

 We paid one of regular visits to the RSPB reserve at Loch Leven this week. It was a nice calm bright day for a change, our last two visits it has been blowing a gale so the birds were keeping a very low profile.

This time was pleasingly different with lots going on, the Lapwings were very busy in front of the middle hide,

nice view of its bum!

and plenty of aerial activity too.

We saw our first Reed Bunting of the year

and the duck species count was high with Wigeon still around,

Teal, Goldeneye, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Shoveler and Shelduck

Great Crested Grebes were busy pairing up on the loch and also on the reserve pools, as were two Little Grebes. I have to say the improvements made in front of the middle hide to make it more suitable for the Lapwing are paying dividends, it looks great and seems to be attracting birds in numbers. The curlew seem to like it too:

We counted 75, but i'm sure there were more.

Then to cap it off a couple of Hare were spotted on the bee/butterfly meadow,

a great day.

Over 30 species in all!

Loch Leven - Findatie

 I haven't posted for a while, a number of factors, but we've mainly been very busy and not a lot of time for birding!

However we managed to get up to Loch Leven for a few hours on Wednesday, going for a walk from the Findatie car park. We enjoy Findatie as it's a good mix of loch, river and woodland, so a good variety of birds if you can spot them! 😏

In the end though we had a good list, with few photo opportunities though, but I did manage a few.

As we started down the path from the car park, I caught a brief glimpse of a Goldcrest before it shot off, the nearby field held a few Greylag, one of which is shown below,

From the hide a number of Grey Heron were seen constantly moving from fishing spot to fishing spot in the strong winds,

Amorous frogs were about on the paths,

a male Goldeneye showed briefly on the river, through the undergrowth, befoire it flew off!

A Treecreeper gave us a good show,

and we saw our first Sand Martins of the year hawking over the loch.

An Oystercatcher smartening himself up,

and a pair of Black-headed Gulls sunning themselves now in full summer plumage.

That'll do for now!