Natural highs and lows

" and we weren't to discover the actual answer until much later in the holiday."   Those were the words with which I ended the second blogpost of our Blairgowrie holiday, so here we are at the finale and one last big splash. A few years ago, friends left Orkney and moved to deepest rural Perthshire. We spent a day with them in and around Comrie, experiencing their wonderful hospitality and sharing the local wildlife. As a regular moth-trapper, our host had kept a few species from the previous night's haul for us to see, including this Red Chestnut. At the nearby community woodland, we were shown around and given a potted history of the site. Whilst inspecting a pond for potential odes, we were all amazed to see a Palmate Newt. Towards the end of the holiday, we journeyed to the Angus Glens, driving up Glen Clova to reach Glen Doll. We did not attempt to reach any summits, but were content to potter around the valley, taking in the splendid views. And then one evening,...

Whilst the longer holiday meant that were more places we could visit in the available time, there were a few sites to which we wanted to return. One of these was the RSPB reserve at Loch of Kinnordy, and in fact we went twice, the second visit in the company of Megan's parents who joined us in Blairgowrie for a few days. The view from the Gullery Hide. Not "Gallery" as I read it, which neatly explained the lack of artwork on the walls.   Grey Heron hunting at the water's edge Brown Hare in the fields behind the reserve A distant female Marsh Harrier hunting through the reedbeds Osprey beginning a dive to catch a fish Shovelers doing their best to mimic porcelain ducks on a wall Amazing light from the East Hide Looking in the other direction The Marsh Harriers and Ospreys which frequent different habitats of the reserve were all too far away for my puny optics to do them justice. However, it was fantastic to watch several pairs of harriers gliding over the reedbeds and...

It may have been apparent from my previous post that Megan and I have recently spent some time outwith the county. Once again, we took our Summer holiday in a self-catering let on the outskirts of Blairgowrie in Perthshire, but this time for two weeks, the better to soak up the ambience of trees and rivers, as well as a wealth of birdsong. So how did a fortnight's wildlife watching go? Well, the weather was just peachy, barely a drop of rain, with the only persistent precipitation occurring on Day 15 during the drive home through Sutherland and Caithness. We explored nature reserves from Loch Fleet to the Tay Reedbeds, sauntered along riverbanks, through woods and by fast-flowing burns, eyes and ears open for plant and animal life. It could be said that this is a bit of a bus-person's holiday for Megan, what with her job as a wildlife guide, but finding things she's never seen before or witnessing different behaviours are just as exciting as ever. Caledonia did not disappoi...

Now that we were ensconced in our actual holiday location (as opposed to taking the circuitous three day route to get there), mornings were quite slow, especially as there was so much wildlife on tap at the cottage. We would wake to the dawn chorus, fall back asleep, then eventually surface once more to shuffle to the lounge to watch the bird feeders on the patio and their clientele of feather and fur. But that's a story for another day. Once such morning, we journeyed to RSPB Loch of Kinnordy, a small wetland habitat midst rolling farmland in Angus. As was becoming a holiday theme, we had to take a diversion due to some roadworks, but the place was still peaceful and quiet when we arrived. For the rest of the morning we were sensory sponges, soaking up the sights and sounds of a mixed woodland, reedbeds, marsh scrub and open water. Ospreys regularly flew over the loch, occasionally hovering and diving at fish, Marsh Harriers quartered the reedbeds, Water Rails squealed from deep c...