Pastures New at Loch leven

 Even though we have been here nearly two years, there are parts of Loch Leven that we haven't explored yet. (It's a big loch!!) This time we parked at the far end of the Kirkgate car park, then walked away from the park and Kinross, past Kirkgate point. We were told there's another hide/screen that way. It was a delightful walk and within 10 minutes we had seen a Red Squirrel and two Roe Deer. Then 5 or so minutes further we found the hide. It's a screen with a roof, although the few across the Loch is hampered by a tree on the left hand side. We had great views of Pink-footed geese, 

Pochard,

a solitary Goldeneye,

as well as Great Crested Grebe, Buzzard, Lapwing, Nute Swan of course, there are hundreds all year round on the loch, another Red Squirrel and Tufted Duck.

In all we had four separate Red Squirrel sightings, but they were all a bit skittish and I couldn't get a photo... next time!

Finally on the way back we saw a Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk having a bit of a barny.

A great recce for a new walk, perhaps we might explore a bit further next time, we'll see.

A Bit of Birding in Suffolk Part 2

 After our B&B we moved to a flat in Aldeburgh for 4 nights, it looked a bit grotty from the outside (the website pics must have been taken years ago!), but was perfectly fine on the inside.

We decided on pastures new on full day 1, as some birders at the Hen Reed Beds had recommended RSPB North Warren, just outside Aldeburgh. There are no hides, just a platform overlooking reed beds. However it's a lovely circular walk, with plenty of benches to stop and have a coffee and just see what happens.

Not many pics from here just the one, showing our first Wheatear of the year:

Not bad to watch while having a coffee. The other highlight was discovering a Nightingale singing, then finding it for a brief view, the first time we've actually seen a Nightingale in the UK (The only other sightings we've had have been on Lesvos... 6 weeks to go😃) , heard them before, but always hidden.

So 24 species seen at North Warren, but the Nightingale, Wheatear, Kestrels, Marsh Harriers, Skylark and a Bittern Booming were definitely the highlights. Oh and a Roe Deer in the reeds, mustn't forget that.

So Next day and on to Minsmere. From our previous visits when we've had good views of Bittern, Bearded Tits and Hobby, we were looking forward to seeing them again, but this time sadly not, even though we were patient and spent all day, it was not to be, apart from a 3 second glimpse of one Bearded Tit popping up and quickly disappearing again. But of course Minsmere has loads to offer, it's a delight to watch the Sand Martins to and froing to their 'burrows'. 

Plus we saw our first Avocets of the year:

and Black-tailed Godwit,

Teal,

Gadwall,

Shoveler,

Black-headed Gull, nest building,

Kittiwake,

Sandwich Terns aplenty!

A Catepillar!

Redshank,

Shelduck,

Cormorant,

Pochard,

Courting Shelduck,

Greylag Goose,

more Avocet,

Little Grebe

and plenty of Prey.

We saw 43 species in total, with some notable birds not seen, but that's birding for you.

Finally the next day we spent some time at Dunwich Heath, with the sole objective of seeing Dartford Warbler, this time mission accomplished. Plus our first Stonechats of the year as well.

TTFN!

A Muted start to February Birding here in Fife!

 We have struggled to get out birding since the beginning of the month! Firstly we had 5 days of continuous heavy rain and strong winds, which meant that going out walking was no fun, this has been followed by sub zero temperatures and heavy snow, the paths around are about 2 foot deep around where we would walk. Today is lovely and sunny but we have decided to stay put and follow the travel advice and stay at home. Hopefully with improved weather we can get out walking again.

I have cleared all the snow from the drive and our footpath, put water and food out for the birds and will wait to see what turns up! If anything, just a Magpie and Robin so far!

So in between rain and snow where have we been?  On the 1st we managed to get up to Loch Leven and try a new walk (Findatie) It was brilliant, another one added to the list to take people to when it's allowed.

There were tons of Greylags in the fields, as we walked down from the car park, then once we crossed the river, we had Goldcrest and at least 6 Treecreepers, one of which gave me a fairly decent view;

We walked to the hide, but the pool in front was completely frozen, so nothing on there, but outside the hide in the woods, it was pretty busy with Long-tailed Tit;

Goldfinch, Treecreeper, Buzzard, Blue Tit, Great Tit and our first Redpoll of the year, judging by the colouring I think this is a Common Redpoll and not a Lesser, but if anyone who knows actually reads my blog, I'm glad to be corrected 😅;

We walked back at this point, as the weather was looking grim and there was snow in the air, we carried on to Leven Mouth just below the car park, found a bench and finished our coffee, with good views over the Loch. There were a load of Pochard down this end of the loch;

Plus Little Grebe, Goldeneye, Mallard, Grey Heron, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan and a Goosander.

With the continued rain after this we were going stir crazy, so on the 4th decided on a little drive along the coast, without leaving the car. No photos from this as the weather was just too bad, but we did find some Slavonian Grebe sheltering in Dalgety Bay.

Our final bit of exercise before the snow, was gain at Loch Leven, this time back to another favourite, Burleigh Sands, it was though bitterly cold and we did get caught in a Blizzard. So we didn't venture to far.

The highlight was a sheltering Kestrel above the path:

Believe it or not this was the Loch just before the Blizzard!

So hopefully next week will be a bit warmer and better underfoot, so we can get out.

Belvide Nature Reserve

We decided after some years thinking about it! To join the West Midlands Bird Club, this gives us access to a number of private reserves within a 45 minute drive from home. Once we received our membership details, that contains the codes to access the reserves we took the short hop over to Harborne to check the reserve there out.

The reserve is tiny and is adjacent to the Harborne Walkway, having said that it's a nice place for a shortish walk. There are no hides but quite a few benches which we made good use of for a coffee or two of course. Now that we are getting in to late June the bird activity is a lot less, so not much was seen, the highlight being a family of at least 4 Goldcrest dancing around in the tree canopy above our bench, so getting a photo was nigh on impossible. I do have a blurry one, but I won't put that on here.

The only other photo was of a patrolling Buzzard:

So now on to the title of this post, Belvide NR, this another WMBC reserve not far from J12 of the M6. This reserve is based around the Belvide Reservoir, there are 6 hides, plenty of benches and two toilets (luxury!) To cover all 6 hides the walk from the car park and back is about 3 miles, which on a hot afternoon like yesterday was a bit tiring for us oldies. Also it's always strange sussing out a new place, because you don't know where anything is, luckily at the second hide we visited we had a nice socially distanced chat with a regular he gave us a rough idea of what was where.

So onto the birding bit.
Tufted Duck, of which there were plenty,

 Peacock Butterfly Catepillar,

 Common Terns,

 'Dancing' Lapwing,

 Common Tern,

 Great Crested Grebe,

 Ringed Plover,

 Pochard,

 Carrion Crow,

 Tufties and Coot,

 Reed Bunting going for it,

 I think this is a Buff Ermine Moth Catepillar, but I'm no expert, so sorry if I'm wrong.

 Juvenile Coot,

 Damoiselle,

 Young Tree Sparrow,

 Young Great Tit,

 Tree Sparrow,

 Sedge Warbler

 Red Admiral,

 Long-tailed Tit

 and Pheasants.

We had a lovely 4 hours or so there, taking our year tally up by 3 to 120 and 72 for the month, so not too bad.