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.

On Our Travels Again - Orkney

 Off we go again.....

We started a two week holiday by driving up to Scrabster to get the evening ferry to Stromness on Orkney Mainland. It was nine years since our last visit, when we went in February for a slim chance of seeing the Northern Lights, which we didn't! But the birding was good as we remember.

For the whole 8 days on Orkney the wind was  shall we say 'keen' to put it mildly, lots of showers, that we mostly managed to avoid, but thankfully there were 4 hides not too far from out digs in St. Mary's to take shelter in. (3 RSPB and 1 Community hide)

So we started the next day by visiting The Loons RSPB.....

Some Mute Swans posing nicely in front of the Loons hide.

The hide at the Loons overlooks some pools, but the main action is further away, where Lapwing, Curlew, Redshank, Godwit and Snipe are nesting and foraging in the boggy meadows and reeds. I think I have some shots from later in the week. Distant Hare were seen in the adjacent fields so that was nice, as well as Teal, Shelduck, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe, Mallard, Coot and Moorhen in the further away pools. They could really do with another hide further around the reserve., although the Listening Wall is a good viewpoint with parking.

We drove on to the coast at the Bay of Skaill, where there were quite a few waders about, Dunlin, Sanderling, Turnstone and Ringed Plover. The wind was so strong though we could hardly open the car doors, so photographic opportunities were limited as the wind was buffeting the camera around, I could hardly keep it still, so just the one picture for you!

We carried on exploring and ended up at the Ring of Brodgar, so a couple of tourist photos to be going on with.... The Stones...

there were a few Orchids around the site, I think this is a Northern Marsh Orchid, but I'm willing to be corrected!

More of the ring,

and there is plenty of Cotton Grass (Bog Cotton) on the islands.

After the ring we found a nice little viewpoint on the opposite side of the Loch of Harray to have a stop and a brew, as we approached it, we couldn't believe a male Hen Harrier came and flew alongside the car, we sopped and I jumped out and tried to get a photo, this was the best of a bad bunch as it flew on ahead of us:

We did watch it for a while as it hunted in the nearby fields. This was the first of many Hen Harrier sightings.

One of the must see sights on Orkney are the Churchill Barriers and the Scapa Flow Wrecks, I won't go into the history, but if you want to know more go to:

Scapa Flow Wrecks

Here's a shot of one of the wrecks at Barrier No 2:

Finally for day 1! We discovered a wildlife hide a couple of minutes from where we staying in St. Mary's. It overlooked Loch Ayre, a very small loch on the edge of St Mary's. There were loads of Arctic Terns using it to bathe after fishing out at sea, unfortunately the weather and light was awful, but here you go:

Black-headed Gull and Red-breasted Merganser,

Male Red-breasted Merganser,

Male Eider,

Mute Swans with Cygnets,

Female Eiders with Eiderlings (is that a word?),

So that'll do for starters...don't want you to get bored...yet!!

Lochore Meadows

 So after the Outer Hebrides we went for a walk down to the Meadies on a bright Monday afternoon.

It was great to hear all the birds singing, but most stayed pretty elusive. But here are a few that did show themselves:

Mind you while sitting on one of our favourite benches for a coffee stop of course, Tina spotted two birds dropping into the top of a tree about 50 metres away. Crossbills!!

We have been all over Scotland and only found them once before! But delighted to get a pair on our local patch!

Our list for the afternoon:

Moorhen,
Carrion crow
Mallard.
Teal,
Rook,
Robin,
Great Tit, 
Blue Tit,
Woodpigeon,
Magpie,
Buzzard,
Chaffinch,
Jackdaw,
Crossbill,
Siskin,
Grey Heron,
Blackbird,
Mute Swan,
Coot,
Great Sotted Woodpecker,
Cormorant,
Coal Tit,
Great Crested Grebe,
Goldfinch,
Pink Footed Geese.

Heard only:
Goldcrest,
Chiffchaff,
Wren,
Redwing and
Jay.

A Quick Trip to the Isle of Bute

 We took ourselves off to the Isle of Bute for a few days towards the end of September and added it to our Scottish Island list. We loved that it is compact and takes no time to get anywhere and has some great bird watching spots. Of course probably not the best time of year to go but it was a good recce trip.

Having said that we did see a few things:

From a hide at Loch Fad, there were a few Mute Swans,

Dragonflies, I'm always trying to get a shot in flight and I think this is my best attempt so far.

(I think this is a male Emperor Dragonfly, but I'm happy to be corrected!)

A very obliging Buzzard,

plus lots of Goldfinches.

St Ninian's Bay was a great spot, we went there a couple of times, it was just such a beautiful place to be. With lots about;

Stonechat,

Curlew,

Merganser,

another Curlew,

Common Gull,

and Wheatear.

On the Salt Marshes at St Ninian's there were loads of Canada & Greylag Geese as well as Gulls and the odd Grey Heron.

Another great spot was Ettrick Bay (Great Cafe there as well, with some of the biggest cakes we've ever seen, so we had to try a couple!) Again Curlew, Gulls, Merganser plus some Sea Ducks too far out to identify even with the scope, but the hide looks a great place for winter birding.

So for two full days we 'only' managed 39 species, but the potential is huge at the right time. We'll certainly be going back, plus we found a great studio apartment with sea views only 5 minutes from the ferry.

A Walk Around Lochore

 We went for a stroll around the Loch on Tuesday and added Gadwall to our year list and our Loch list up to 39 (only two visits this year so far!)