Middleton Lakes

Very busy at the moment so apart from seeing Argo on Saturday night, it was so good I thought I might give it an Oscar, we managed to get up to Middleton on what was a bleak Sunday afternoon.

The paths were quite manageable, but still recommend Wellies or Boots.  The feeders by the Heronry were very busy as was the Heronry itself, most of the Heronry nests were occupied, so looking good! The star for us at the feeders being the Lesser Redpoll:

The others seen here were Great & Blue Tits, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Dunnock and Reed Bunting:

So on up the path to the reserve, the path through the woods is closed for repair, so had to continue up the Bridleway. There was plenty of Crow activity as usual (I say as usual, it's the first time weve been since June last year!)

The reserve was pretty quiet as the water levels at the first lake were high so no waders, I guess everything is up the far end the other side of the works. It's difficult to tell how this is progressing other than the pathways are a quagmire because of the vehicles going up and down, but never mind!

We walked as far as we could around by the river, this resulted in:

Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Cormorant, Coot, Lapwing, 

BHG, a Kestrel and some Mallard, we heard a Cetti's we think, but couldn't find it. The river produced a pair of Goosander:

It was very cold so after coffee we headed back and encountered a very friendly Robin!

So 30 species in all, not great but a pleasant afternoon all the same. Just a shame there's no hide so you can get out of the wind! Especially at Coffee time!

TTFN

Scotland Trip Part 1 (Braemar Again!)

Well last week we were up in Scotland again using Braemar as our base. We had quite a few plans, visit Loch Garten, Loch Kinnordy, Montrose Basin, Loch Muick, plus various other places. However the weather had other ideas!  We arrived on the Sunday (spent Saturday with our fantastic daughter and partner in Edinburgh) and it promptly started snowing and didn't stop, so much so the snow gates were closed and we couldn't get very far.

Before arriving in Braemar though we did stop at Glenshee at the Ski Center car park, to see our first Snow Buntings of 2013 and they duly obliged with a small flock of about 12 birds:

We then headed down the valley to Braemar keeping our eyes peeled for Dippers and again result!

in fact we saw 3! We finally finished off with a White Mountain Hare, very distant though and only just about visible in the snow.

So Monday and Tuesday were spent going for local walks in the snow and a drive down the Linn of Dee. (in a blizzard!) The first walk on Monday around Keiloch Crag didn't produce much in the way of wildlife or birds in fact we only saw 4 species in a 3 hour walk, however the walk was fantastic with some great views (when it wasn't snowing).

Coffee Break in the Snow! Halfway up the hillside

On Tuesday we walked through Braemar and out on a track that runs parallel to the A93 but the otherside of the river, this proved a good choice with 15 species (not a huge amount but better than the 2 or 3 we expected)  The best being Buzzard (3), Lesser Redpoll, Red Grouse and Siskin, so a few record shots:

 Oh and a Westland Lynx!

In the few hours we were out the weather changed from Blizzard, to Glorious Sunshine, to Blizzard, Sunshine and then pouring rain! This made photography a nightmare!

So onto Wednesday, we thought we would head out as the Snow Gates had opened on Tuesday afternoon, only for the Tuesday afternoon rain to turn into heavy snow overnight and the gates were shut again. So we headed north to Glen Tanar a supposed Crossbill hotspot. After seeing some Goosander on the River Dee we arrived on the Tanar Estate and went on one of the circular walks through the woods and along the river. In 2 and a half hours we didn't see a single bird, despite stopping and being patient not even a Pigeon or Crow! Then just as we arrived back at the car park, I got excited a bird in the distance on top of a fir tree, so I whipped out the bins and............. a Woodpigeon! You can't win them all! That's birding for you!