A number of Short-eared Owls have been wintering together on the East Coast. Rather excitingly they have been emerging before dusk, giving us photographers a fighting chance of a picture. So far, six visits but nothing terribly pleasing; still we carry on.
At a different site I found a Field Vole feeding in the snow.At first I thought it must be close to death but an approach resulted in it scurrying into cover then returning five minutes later. It was such fun; it squeaked when I put a hand near so I desisted. The link is, of course that without the Vole there would be VERY few Short-eared Owls in Britain, in fact all our Scottish Owls depend on them not to mention other birds like Red Kite and Kestrel. Long live the vole.

Winter seems to have arrived during the last few days with the first real frosts. The Pinkfeet have been coming into Loch Leven in the evening to roost with the Mute and Whooper Swans, and the coast has attracted one or two Black Redstarts.
Visiting a local stream today, we found Dippers feeders avidly, and this one was very tolerant of people and dogs on the footpath. He even sang with great gusto for a few minutes - whether he was defending a territory or singing for a mate we don't know but we certainly enjoyed listening in.