Thursday, November 24, 2016
The rough, grassy verge was white with frost that melted on our boots, but we walked there for safety; it's not a really busy road, but it is a fast one. As we looked back, a red squirrel ran across - fortunately during a pause in the traffic. A bit further on, a sibilant sound from a small conifer stopped me in my tracks, and I could see the bird at eye-level. "Are you a goldcrest?" I wondered aloud. Or was it a rather drab blue tit? No! "It's a crested tit!" I blurted out, and Greger raised his bins and agreed.
It flew across the road and was joined by a second bird, and in between whizzing cars and thundering lorries, I grabbed a couple of pics.
We also stopped for a short walk at Glascarnoch dam. Across the bleak moorland a snow-clad Ben Wyvis looked especially lovely when it turned pink in the light of the setting sun.
As we walked back to the car, nine whooper swans flew over muttering quietly among themselves and heading south. Greger chose today's walks and he couldn't have chosen better! Later: Research on the internet revealed that cresties are found in Glen Luichart, which isn't far away. But they came as a huge surprise to me - which is the kind of birding I like.
It flew across the road and was joined by a second bird, and in between whizzing cars and thundering lorries, I grabbed a couple of pics.
We carried on to the forest track and followed it up into bright sunshine, sitting on a heathery bank to eat our sandwiches. We had intended to walk further up to look for crossbills; but the thought of seeing the cresties again drew us back down. And not far along the track, we encountered two crested tits - presumably the same ones. This made for more peaceful viewing.
In the picture above, the bird has extracted a pine seed. They zoomed about like pinballs and uttered a range of calls, including the inevitable trill.
We also stopped for a short walk at Glascarnoch dam. Across the bleak moorland a snow-clad Ben Wyvis looked especially lovely when it turned pink in the light of the setting sun.
As we walked back to the car, nine whooper swans flew over muttering quietly among themselves and heading south. Greger chose today's walks and he couldn't have chosen better! Later: Research on the internet revealed that cresties are found in Glen Luichart, which isn't far away. But they came as a huge surprise to me - which is the kind of birding I like.
// posted by Christine @ 12:19 PM 
