Natural highs and lows

Spending longer on holiday made for a much more relaxed time of it. One of the things I wanted to try during the fortnight in Blairgowrie was to deploy a new wildlife camera in the garden of the cottage. This allowed us to monitor the local wildlife when we were out and about elsewhere, or even when we were asleep at night. Three Long-tailed Tits Blue Tit Great Tit Coal Tit   A cat on the prowl A different cat on the prowl Why they were prowling... Wood Mice Bullfinch Robin Nuthatch Great Spotted Woodpecker Jays Carrion Crow Jay Red Squirrel Red Squirrels Red Squirrel Long-tailed Tit And one photo from the usual camera... Jay All in all, during the two weeks, we logged thirty species of bird in the garden. Perhaps the most surprising was a small flock of Common Crossbills which appeared for three evenings running (flying?).

It is said that whilst on holiday there's the chance to do things differently, maybe staying up late and sleeping all morning, or skydiving, or eating and drinking oneself into an absolute stupor. We may have had the odd lie-in, and the occasional meal out, but the one thing we had less of on holiday was sky. No, we didn't go caving or exploring a nuclear bunker, our 'different' is habitat, rather than habit. At home, there are not, as yet, any trees in our garden, so the views are quite unrestricted, less for buildings and neighbours' planting. Consequently, the birds we see in, or from, our garden are not the usual garden birds. In fact, as I've been typing this paragraph, a Great Skua flew by, pursued by an irate Curlew. So our holiday indulgence is trees, and if possible a river. The cottage we were staying in is very much in the category of 'can't see the wood for the trees', mainly Scots Pine and Birch, and the birdage is so very different from...

Usually, having spent at least a day travelling to a holiday destination, I like the first full day on holiday to not involve a car. So, having carelessly forgotten to check the weather forecast, we woke to a wet Sunday morning and immediately resolved not to be so carless. Instead, we drove to RSPB Loch Garten to see a pair of Ospreys. The visitor centre has a wall of tv monitors showing camera close-ups of various scenes. Two large monitors showed the Osprey nest and a favourite perch in a neighbouring tree. Another monitor was split-screened into four, giving a view of a bird feeder; a couple of nest cams (Goldeneye and Great Tit); and a mammal box baited with nuts which had a Bank Vole foraging busily. The female Osprey had very recently (within the hour) laid her first egg for the year, so the staff were very excited. Her mate was sat in the neighbouring tree, having just caught a Brown Trout, which he was undecided whether to offer to the female or eat himself. After watching for...

Towards the end of April, it was time for our "Summer" holiday, before Megan's busiest months of wildlife guiding around Orkney from May to September. This year we chose to return to a favourite destination, booking a week in a self-catering cottage at Nethy Bridge in the Cairngorms area of Scotland. We had previously only visited in June (in 2021 and 2022, although those two holidays had been quite different owing to the very cold Spring of 2021), so we were keen to see how we would fare several months earlier in the year. The journey south meant an early sailing from Stromness, the mv Hamnavoe easing out of port at 06.30 for the 90 minute crossing of the Pentland Firth. After a quick breakfast aboard, we headed out onto deck to sea watch for birds. I was rewarded with my first Great Skuas (Bonxies) of the year, and also a couple of Puffins as we neared Scrabster on the mainland. Driving off the ferry, most of our fellow passengers headed east for the A9 and the quick wa...

Contrary to all expectation, there have continued to be a few occasional balmy (for Orkney) days at the beginning of November. Here are some photos from three walks of varying distance and location. There's a comfortable three mile loop close to home, along single track roads which allow us to circumnavigate the Stromness Loons. I should say that 'loons' refers to marshland, rather than to any opinion of local mental stability. In the shelter of a bridge over a small burn, a Beech tree was hanging onto its leaves as only a Beech tree can. By one of the many ditches running through The Loons was a Grey Heron A couple of Hen Harriers seemingly uncomfortable sharing the same bit of sky A Fieldfare in a roadside garden November wouldn't be November without a trip across the Churchill Barriers and down to the southern tip of South Ronaldsay to marvel at the wonder that is Grey Seal pupping time. We set off from the car park at Burwick in a rain shower, but thankfully this so...

Sunday afternoon saw us pottering out and about, armed with binoculars (Megan) and camera (me). Despite a chilly northeasterly breeze, a brief sunny spell tempted us to walk across the brae to the other end of town in the hope of seeing a few migrating birds. As it turned out, we only managed a brief view of a female Blackcap, which I helpfully failed to photograph. Leaving the narrow lanes behind, we ambled downhill through flagstone alleys until we reached Alfred Street, then headed homeward along the main street with its cobbled strip. In Victoria Street, we were pleasantly surprised to find the delicatessen open on a Sunday afternoon, so we popped in for a cup of hot chocolate to warm ourselves up, as well as a couple of pistachio cannoli. It's important to support local businesses.  Stepping back outside, we sat down on a helpfully-provided bench to drink our hot chocolate, listen to small flocks of Waxwings trilling overhead, and gaze across the street at an art gallery. Cert...