Eric & Lesley's Wildlife Blog - Wildscotphotos

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.

Snow Melt

7/2/2020

We continue with the theme of the last blog. Yesterday we looked at the forecast and decided it would be a good day for the hills. It was. After the early fog cleared it was wall-to-wall sunshine and really a pleasant temperature. If fact, having prepared for the hill we were overheating. Still sitting, having lunch with a mountainous vista is always agreeable. However, for the time of year the snow was disappointing.
Nevertheless we saw a number of Mountain Hares and calling Red Grouse. The hares we encountered were pure white so they are banking on the snow not disappearing yet. We also encountered a flock of Snow Buntings. I'm not sure if this one was was looking to bathe, feed in the melting snow, or what. Still, its unusual to get a pictures of a Snow Bunting with some sort of reflection.

The Phoney Winter

27/1/2020

After a rather cold November the weather has been not at all wintry. No scraping ice from car, no snow and barely any frost. Many of the winter visitors have moved on but where? No Waxwings are around any more and very few Thrushes remain. Some may have gone to their breeding grounds. The comparative mildness has brought surprises though. There are a number of Great Egrets in Scotland. Until recently that would be a real shock but the northward colonisation continue pace with many species involved.
At the coast things are more normal. A flock of Ringed Plover is easily disturbed, even by birdwatchers although more often by dogwalkers and their pets. I guess when spend time on the tide line disturbance is a way of life.

Velvet Beauties

13/1/2020

If someone asked me what the most difficult habitat to photograph birds I would say woodland. The light is often difficult and you have the problem of not seeing the wood for the trees.
However, on reflection perhaps the sea is a bigger challenge, certainly when working from solid ground. The problem is simple - you need the wildlife to approach you. There's no easy answer but studying tide tables putting in the time and visiting repeatedly gets some results. Here we found a flock of Velvet Scoters feeding and socialising just offshore. Getting this close happens less than annually. They will be around for another couple of months but likely that's it for this year.