Monday, October 26, 2020
I've tried several sites for crossbills recently with no luck, so I parked in the Ben Wyvis walkers' car park mid-afternoon and made my way up the track through the woods. The autumn colours were intense (would have been even better with some sunshine) but the mountain is missing from the picture - thanks to low cloud.
Actually, this is one of the sites I tried, although, as our main aim that day was to get to the top of Ben Wyvis again, there wasn't much time to birdwatch. Today it was quite nice to just stroll up the path, lingering and listening - and eventually I heard crossbill calls.
They were some distance away but there seemed to be at least 8 birds in the flock.
Earlier, I'd seen eight whooper swans on Loch Glascarnoch; also present were five Canada geese and a small flock of wigeon, while a dipper was busy along the rocky shoreline.
I really appreciated being able to be drive around and walk where I liked today. Earlier this year I moaned about Nicola Sturgeon - but I still obeyed the rules; and I think she handled the Covid crisis better than Johnson. We don't feel like going south to house-hunt, and I've accepted that we're staying put for the present. I complained about being cold for six years - I might as well be cold for seven! Meanwhile, lockdown could happen again, so the thing to do is to get out and walk and bird like a maniac here while I can.
