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”
Tag Archives: nature
Going Nuts
Autumn is approaching and squirrels are actively collecting and stashing nuts. I’ve been watching both greys and reds busy doing this. I photographed this cheeky grey squirrel in Northern Ireland. Here its looking hopefully at me, hoping I might have some nuts to give. Of course I was a big disappointment and it jumped offContinue reading “Going Nuts”
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”
Beaucoup de Beavers
Last October we tried to spot the Knapdale beavers near the Crinan canal but had no luck. They’ve been introduced back into the wild in Scotland, including at Loch Lomond. Recently in Pitlochry I saw lots of evidence of beavers, mainly sharp angular toothmarked gouges on riverside tree trunks and pointed stumps of trees. AContinue reading “Beaucoup de Beavers”
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”
The Long and the Short of it
Always expect the unexpected. A few weeks ago we took some friends to see if we could catch sight of a barn owl at dusk. When we arrived by the barns we were excited to see an owl on top of a post. At first I thought it was our male barn owl, but thenContinue reading “The Long and the Short of it”
The Joys of Spring Part 1
Spring has arrived at last! I’ve been out and about enjoying the sunshine and listening to the birds. I mostly hear them before seeing them. (A wonderful app to help you identify birdsong is the Merlin bird app.) The wren is our second smallest bird but its song is a real belter! Rather more sweetlyContinue reading “The Joys of Spring Part 1”
Wetland Wonders, Mallorca
As well as the flamingos in Mallorca there were many other wetland waders which were new to me. I loved seeing the black winged stilts, named because of their stilt like legs. When they flew their legs trailed out behind them. The heron was as common as back home, always so photogenic, especially when reflectedContinue reading “Wetland Wonders, Mallorca”
