Catching up with old friends

One of our other trips out when we are in Speyside is to the Black Isle. Only about an hours drive north, this is not actually an island but a jut of land coming out into the Moray Forth. We first went a couple of years ago after heard about the dolphins which follow fish into the estuary and can be seen from the shore at Chanonry Point. So, after studying tide tables we timed our trip to get to the point just after low tide.
On the way we stopped at a couple of small fishing ports which were offering boat trips out see the dolphins, but it was a tad cold for that sort of malarky!

Eventually we end up in the carpark at the point along with about about or so other cars. The tide was only just turning an everything was pretty quiet apart from a few gulls mooching around on the beach and some oystercatchers noisily flying past.

On the beach, everyone just stood around looking out Fort George on the far bank, waiting for the dolphins to turn up.

After an hour we got our first, and only, sighting of the beasties. Quite long way out and not showing for more than a few seconds each time.

We waited for I suppose another hour but no more shows. The gathered photographers took to doing an impromptu photo shoot of a very obliging and friendly dog playing in the waves!

  After a warming lunch we carried on round the island, getting eventually to an area where the forth is filled up with oil rigs waiting to be repaired. It's an amazing sight.

There is one small RSPB reserve on the Black Isle, more of an area of estuary really, but it was filled with thousands of pink-footed geese. What I found fascinating was that you get giant flocks of these in Norfolk over winter, so its not possible that I was watching exactly the same geese I had seen a few months ago on the East coast further south.

The backdrop of the oil rigs with the flocks of geese, numbering onto the thousands, made for an interesting image.
Apart from that the only interest was a pied wagtail and some sheep with rather comical expressions!

Heading North

We are about halfway through our traditional Easter break to Scotland. This time we are focusing on Speyside, staying in a lovely house on the edge of Aviemore. We drove up on Good Friday, stopping the first night at Dalhousie outside Edinburgh. We stayed in an old castle now converted to a slightly too posh hotel - perfectly pleasant thought.

On the upside the grounds had a stream running through them which yielded a pair of dippers! They were showing well albeit in the gloom under the overhanging trees!

After that we stopped at Rosslyn chapel, made famous by Dan Brown in the Da Vinci Code novel. Apparently visitor numbers quadrupled after that! Fascinating place, and you can see why symbologists love it.

 Anyway, back to the wildlife. We then drove up to Aviemore, staying in a nice house on edge of town. Very central for all the min spots.
First trip on Sunday morning was to Loch Garten to pay homage to the ospreys. I remember visiting here in probably 1975 or 1976 when the RSPB were first showing off the nest. It still attracts crowds, with EJ and Odin the resident pair already having 3 eggs.

There is an osprey on here, honest. Whilst we were there though she ddi stand up once allowing us to see the 3 eggs on the CCTV they have set up another nest. Siskins and brambling on the feeders kept up amused, as did a small vole opportunistically grabbing the spilled seeds.

After that we went for a walk around the woods. One of the last surviving areas of old Caledonian pine forest in the country, the views and shapes of the trees are amazing. Loch an Eilein was looking particularly moody in the low cloud and mist.

Reflections of Spring

I woke up at dawn this morning. More accurately I was awoken at dawn by one of my cats using the landing as a race track into the bedroom and back out again, chasing his sister! As it looked like a beautiful morning rather than trying to get back to sleep I grabbed a quick coffee and went for a very early stroll around the aquadrome.
It was a gorgeous morning. The sun was just starting to rise, there was not a breath of wind and the lakes had a light covering of mist. Birds were singing from just about every bush.

On the main lake, the yachts they use for the schools sailing club were all tied up in the centre of the lake, almost glowing with the sun behind them and appearing to float above the still water.

It's really interesting how light changes everything. The same scene taken only minutes later from a different angle give a totally different view as you look into the sun.

The coot was one of many aggressively defending territory lines on the lake which are invisible to us but of vital importance to them!

A few of them though were keeping out of the melee on the main lake and were trying to find a quiet bit of breakfast near the shore though. On the canal itself the moored barges looked resplendent in the  gradually strengthening light.

Of course, there were a few birds around to attract my attention as well.

One I particularly wanted to catch up with was an early sedge warbler reported the day before on Herts birds. Even from a distance I quickly picked up it's scratchy call coming from the reeds on the causeway. It never gave itself up well for a photo but a couple of times it came out of cover enough to be able to make out that eye-stripe.

Finally I made my way over to the farm where the first swallows of Summer had been reported a couple of days earlier. I think there were 4 to 5 birds around, twittering happily and perching on the wires by the stables. Always nice to have them back as they are one of the sounds of Summer.

By the time I left, the dog walkers, joggers and baby strollers were just starting to arrive - having missed the best part of the day! Still home by not far after 8 in time for a nice coffee and toast with two new year ticks under the belt.

Wind in the willows

Spring has definitely sprung. Early Saturday morning was the work party at Maple Lodge but I had an hour or so before it started to walk the boundaries to see what was around. Pretty much as soon as I got there you could tell the birds were getting excited. Song thrushes, blackbirds, robins, chiffchaffs, blackcaps, tits - both great and blue - were all declaring territories. The weather had been damp overnight, normally good for dropping migrants so I headed for our best place, the Long Hedge. This does what it says on the tin - it's a long hedge near one of the boundaries of the reserve and is normally the best place to find and small migrants.
It wasn't exactly heaving with birds, but there was a decent number moving through. Mostly great and blue tits feeding on the emerging buds. There was a constant calling from a territorial chiffchaff as well. It felt just right though for a willow warbler, the rarer but related cousin of the the chiffer. Without a call from it though, it would be hard to find one as they are very similar. Standing by the Jubilee oak tree though I heard a very distinctive trilling call, clear notes ending with a downward finish -willow warbler.
Sitting in the nearest bush was a small phyllosc warbler looking quite sorry for itself, probably fresh in from migration.

It showed all the classic marks of a willow warbler as opposed to a chiffchaff - bold supercilium, clean yellow colour on the breast, and crucially light coloured legs.

 You can't see it from stills but it also held its tail still unlike chaffers which wag them up and down when they call.

It wasn't in full song, probably as it wasn't intending to breed here, and soon started to focus on feeding, another sign that is had probably had a long flight.
Compare this to a chiffchaff, taken nearby.

Much weaker eye-stripe, dull brown on colouration, and dark legs. If you struggle to remember which his which, a mnemonic to help is that the riffraff have dirty legs!
Finally, the last of the spring songsters was also declaring territory near the sluice along the hedge.

This one was quite aggressive and kept coming to see me off!! All together we had a very tuneful little time.
On the lake the great-crested grebes were nesting on the small island, one sitting tight on the nest whilst the other pottered about fishing.

Their small cousin the dabchick, which always breed very successfully on the reserve, was having its breakfast by the long hedge hide, diving down repeatedly for what looked like small beetles or snails.

Otherwise the reserve was looking very nice with lots of blossom trees attracting early bees.

A vey nice morning and another year tick - 182 so far!