Eric & Lesley's Wildlife Blog - Wildscotphotos

Travellers

12/11/2020

Autumn is a time of migration, especially in relation to birds. Many have left to warmer shores. Of course it's usually not the case that they can't stand the cold but that the changing seasons have taken away their food source. In most cases that means insects that were used to feed adult birds and raise the young.
The other side of the coin is that we are in receipt of new birds - we principally think of wildfowl and Thrushes. They have different diets that are still available.
Another group that join us comprises wading birds that arrive from the Arctic. Birds such as Knot, Purple Sandpiper and Sanderling (pictured). As winter progress they turn whiter to blend in with our winter landscapes. Some Sanderling winter much further south, indeed we have seen them at the Equator on our first Galapagos adventure.

Patch Bird

11/9/2020

Birders talk about having a patch where they visit frequently throughout the seasons. Over time, they get to know it intimately and are aware of how and when to look for something unusual.
My "patch" is where I feed birds. I also provide water which hugely adds to the attractiveness to wildlife although that is largely dependent on the amount of recent rain.
By dint of spending so much time I find more unusual birds. Earlier in the year I had a Crossbill. Two weeks ago I heard a Nuthatch in the area but it wasn't until a couple of days ago that it decided to present itself in front of the camera. (Nuthatch is becoming more often seen but is still uncommon) It was raiding the seed feeder to find the Sunflowers and then taking them away for later storage. I fear that it may have moved on since I no longer hear it but, nevertheless it was a treat.

The Smell of the Crowd

22/7/2020

Lock down from coronavirus has restricted our movement as it has to all our fellow Scots. Now that it has eased we have been able to travel further. Since we do not live at the coast one of the bird groups we were missing was Seabirds. We lost out on our planned trip to the Isle of May. It is a great place to see and experience seabirds, however it is not the only place. Accordingly we headed up the East coast and found a good mainland site.
From the outset the noise and smells assault the senses but a world without that would be a very much poorer place. Being late in the season we saw young birds but this Razorbill caught our attention. It seemed to be checking out the lower "flats", perhaps to check there's no collision when it takes flight.

Rare Gulls

11/7/2020

Over the past month we have seen a number of rarer gulls. At Arbroath a full adult Mediterranean Gull has been consorting with the similar, but much more common, Black-headed Gulls. The Mediterranean Gull is a fairly recent colonist to Britain; another with an expanding range.
Close to home we found an adult Little Gull. These are found regularly on the east coast, as passage migrants in all sorts of plumage. However ours was decidedly inland.
Rare, however, was the Ring-billed Gull. This is a North American species. Occasionally they find themselves stranded on the wrong side of the Atlantic. Although the one pictured left is a first sighting of this bird for us it has been know to spend the summer in the same area where Common Gulls nest. I do not believe it was partnered with a Common Gull but it was certain looking good.

Hope

17/5/2020

There'a plenty of new life out and about this month - we have seen young ducklings, goslings, Long-tailed Tits, Moorhen and Song Thrushes.
Following on from the previous blog note we find there's always some hope to be found. Revisiting the reedbed area a few days ago we encountered fewer breeding birds than usual. Hardly surprisingly since an estimated 30% went up in flames. We then visited a different part of the Reedbeds. Slightly more active with birdsong. We spotted a darker Warbler and suspected that we had found a Reed Warbler. Frustratingly we didn't see it again so we returned the following day and secured a picture. Reed Warbler is presently colonising the Tay reedbeds but, at the moment, it is heavily outnumbered by the less fussy Sedge Warbler. A real find - the first we have seen locally.

Up in Flames

30/4/2020

Its not often we have a natural disaster locally but we do now. We live close to the largest single reedbed in Britain. We visit regularly and are aware that bird migration to the reedbeds has been ongoing for about the past 10 days, however, on Monday a fire ripped through the whole area. It could have been even worse. With great fortune a local man stepped in. His job was putting out fires by dropping water from his helicopter. His contribution was immense since the Fire Service had difficult in taking water from the river due to difficulty of access.
It will undoubtedly be a poor year for the breeding birds, nevertheless there is plenty of hope that it will recover. Meanwhile the smell lingers.

Home Under Construction

26/4/2020

Well we have just has to get used to the major changes to our lives. One little project is that we are trying to further develop an understanding of what is on our patch along the river. We have walked it quite a few times in the past but now it generally is constrained by walking from the house. So far we have seen a creditable 69 species of bird and 5 mammals. It is already becoming more difficult to add new ones but there are a small number of migrants due in the next week.
We also found a Long-tailed Tit building a nest. Perhaps of all the local birds their nest is the most beautiful. This bird (pictured) is bringing in a little piece of lichen which will finish the outside. The interior decoration will finish the job. Life renews constantly.

March 30th, 2020

30/3/2020

Well the world has changed. Not just for me. Coronavirus dominates the headlines worldwide and will continue to do so for some months. Huge restrictions are begin imposed on our lives to save lives.
My photography will have to be carried out as part of our daily exercise. Nevertheless we have heard many Chiffchaffs and seen a few. Nature continues the cycle of renewal no matter what we do or don't do. It is reassuring and uplifting to witness. The current pandemic will be largely good for wildlife, in particular lower levels of pollution and people disturbing wildlife. The downside is the fraternity who wish to harm wildlife may do so without the likelihood of being caught.
Here is a recent pictures of one of our commonest birds in a setting which cries out Spring - the Blue Tit.

Hawkeye

8/3/2020

Just back from a week's photography in Sweden. We had hoped for some weather i.e. snow and frost to enhance the pictures. In fact we had only a couple of days of that kind of weather. A fair amount of drizzle though.
That said, we had a series of highlights with five raptors, including two eagles photographed, plus three Owl species. To get the raptor pictures we spent over 40 hours in hides. If you include travelling time it would be around 50 hours to get a series of pleasing images.
The Owl highlight was a Hawk Owl. This winter there are a few present; they are certainly entertaining the local birders and photographers. This Hawk Owl was finding food easily enough since it was caching the food for later.

The Jewel of the Pond

22/2/2020

Its been a long winter albeit without any real wintry weather. It continues cold, wet and sometimes very windy. A hard life for wildlife out in it all the time.
Dippers are coping well despite record high water. They hunt the water's edge where the current is less strong, apparently finding enough to eat. I know they are doing just fine because I see a pair and they have time to sit around and preen. They are built to thrive in these conditions.
It has been more of a surprise, therefore, to find a local Kingfisher. I have seen this female a few times now. Each time I wonder if she will survive the next onslaught of poor weather. Time will tell but my fingers are crossed.