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Last Friday I went on a boat trip around the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth. I joined 11 others on the rib named “Osprey” from Anstruther. I nearly missed seeing puffins altogether but thankfully there were still a few stragglers around. Apparently there were 10,000 on and around the island on Wednesday!Continue reading “Late to the Puffin Party”

Last week I was house sitting at our friends’ renovated farm house near the barn owl box. I was on site to watch the barn owl fledglings Ace and Duey stretch their wings and begin to explore the barn. But there were more than just the barn owls to observe, and I got a bigContinue reading “Amazing Nature”

Remember these teeny scraps that hatched out of their eggs on May 5th and 7th? Well here they are now, able to fly out of the confines of their box. I’ve been observing them closely but so far have only seen them stretching their wings and doing short hops around the top of the box.Continue reading “Out the Box”

Highlights of the last week or so include a range of both birds and mammals. I’ve been privileged to see two kinds of owls, some colourful smaller birds, hares, deer and a rare one for me, a beautiful red fox! Then a walk around the ponds revealed that the swans nesting there so far haveContinue reading “All Sorts”

Here are some photos of a variety of chicks seen outside during the last fortnight. A first for me was seeing these shelduck chicks on the Isle of Jura. They looked like fluffy, stripey humbugs! There had been five when I first saw them. I witnessed some drama when these four came under attack fromContinue reading “Chick these out!”

In just over three weeks there have been dramatic changes in the barn owl box. On 5th May the first chick hatched out of its egg. The parents looked rather astounded! Every second day after that another chick hatched out. The dad did a great job of delivering voles onto the box and the mumContinue reading “Chicks in the Box”

It has been an exciting few days. I’ve been walking daily in the wood trying to photograph the tawny owl parents. Sometimes they’ll see me first and fly off. The other day I heard this parent before I saw him, as he was making a very soft and low “hoo..oo” noise. I’d seen an owletContinue reading “Protective Parents”

Last week I was so fortunate to see three tawny owlets in their nest high up in a tree hollow. I was away for a few days and as soon as I was back I went to see what had become of the owlets. One was in the nest and one was sitting in aContinue reading “Owlet Outings”

Over the weekend I went walking along the river Tyne in Haddington looking for kingfishers. On my first evening looking I had no luck but was treated to lots of other interesting sights. First I saw a pair of colourful bullfinches feasting on dandelion seeds on the path in front of me. The male hasContinue reading “Riverside Ramble”

It’s been over two years since I’ve last seen a tawny owl, although I have often heard them twitting and too-ooing in the evenings. Yesterday I was thrilled to find a nest with three tawny owlets snuggled up inside. It was in a tree hollow that I’ve kept an eye on over the years. I’veContinue reading “Tawny Owlets !”