Recently on Shetland I went on a boat trip to the sandstone cliffs of Noss, home to a gannet colony and many other seabirds. On the way past the Isle of Bressay we got close up views of the great skua, known as a “bonxie” (meaning big breasted) in Shetland. This one had its eyeContinue reading “Bonkers Bonxies and Greedy Gannets”
Tag Archives: birds
Water Babies
Tonight, instead of watching “Springwatch” on TV we went out to enjoy the sunny evening and see what we could observe on the canal. All was quiet and I was just saying, “I hear there’s some cygnets been seen…ooaah, and there they are!” Coming round a bend towards us was a swan with a groupContinue reading “Water Babies”
London Exotics
I went hunting in the centre of London for ring (or rose) necked parakeets and then realised I didn’t really need to hunt as they seemed to be everywhere! They originally come from Africa and Southern Asia but were kept as pets in the UK. However many escaped and they are living in the wildContinue reading “London Exotics”
Feeder Firsts
We’ve had some new visitors to our garden feeder this winter, smaller than the goldfinches and tits, wee redpolls. They have a maroon streak on their heads and pinkish breasts. I’ve never ever seen them in the garden before. There was a group of three feeding from the feeder and on the ground. We’ve alsoContinue reading “Feeder Firsts”
On Return Tickets
The whooper swans have flown in from Iceland to spend the winter here. Down in an English nature reserve they have seen thousands, however I was pleased to see seven at my local Hogganfield Loch. There are a couple of young ones in the group whose grey plumage is gradually changing to white. Whooper swansContinue reading “On Return Tickets”
Fabulous First Fledgling
Last night we had a long awaited fine evening and we saw from the owl cams that the fledglings were out! So we headed over to the barns and sure enough our bairns were practising flying the lengths of the barns. The light inside the barns was too poor to capture them in flight butContinue reading “Fabulous First Fledgling”
Bigger Barn Owl Bairns
The blurry photo below shows the first of our barn owl bairns to venture out of the box last week. This was perhaps his or her first sighting of a human being, myself, at 10pm. I had crept around the corner of the barn as I had seen on the the security camera footage thatContinue reading “Bigger Barn Owl Bairns”
Barn Owl Bairns
All is well in the barn owl box, although due to a technical hitch its only this last week or so that I’ve been able to check in on it. At the start of May Marny left the nest for a few minutes to reveal six white eggs. Also a lovely juicy mouse for breakfast!Continue reading “Barn Owl Bairns”
Great Crested Grebe Chicks!
Today we returned to Hogganfield Loch and were delighted to see that the great crested grebe chicks had hatched and were riding along on their Mums’ backs. Two lots of chicks were on their parents’ backs far off in the middle of the loch but we saw that one lot were being kept close toContinue reading “Great Crested Grebe Chicks!”
The Waiting Game
May is a month of waiting. Nests have been constructed, eggs laid and now the parent birds sit it out and wait. Let’s hope this moorhen’s nest on a branch over the river Tyne at Haddington survives any deluges of water. The swan has her nest on an island in the middle of the river.Continue reading “The Waiting Game”
Sarah's Wildlife Watch 