Sunday, January 30, 2022
I hope this.....
Thursday, January 27, 2022
Mid-afternoon on this greyish day I spotted a diver far out on Loch Broom, its up-tilted head and bill identifying it as a red-throated. A second diver, closer in to West Shore but still distant, seemed a bit small for a great-northern; and the fairly conspicuous patch of white to the rear of the flank confirmed that this was a black-throated diver.
Inspired by another birder writing an occasional column in the Guardian, I recently compiled a list of birds seen within a mile of home. Looking at it when I'd uploaded my photos, I realised that black-throated diver wasn't included. It is now!
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
There was an icy wind today so I filled the feeders and then settled down to birdwatch from the window(s). If this sounds easy - it wasn't. The birds are constantly being flushed up into surrounding trees and bushes by passing people and cars (for some reason, the garden is at the front) and by my own uncareful movements near the window. A cruising sparrow-hawk didn't help matters. One of my targets, the brambling, made only sporadic appearances and could only be snapped through a smeary part of the window.
There were at least seven redpolls. I thought the second bird from the left looked interesting but next moment they were all gone - and I didn't get a second chance as they didn't come back. I'm now exhausted. It's much less tiring going out for a walk!
Monday, January 24, 2022
A walk to the river spit this afternoon brought four purple sandpipers.
Thursday, January 20, 2022
With Covid cases appearing to be falling, Greger decided to get a new house valuation from the solicitor. In order to minimise risk for all (we're still much more careful in Scotland than people generally seem to be in England) it was agreed that on the day she called, I could go birding - and after two days spent indoors cleaning the bungalow, I was raring to go. I went to Achnahaird, not expecting any waders but hoping for something on the sea.
Pulling into the junction lay-by I scanned the river and salt-marsh, but all I could spot was a shelduck.
This was a welcome sighting however, being both a first for the year and (I think) an unusual January record for this location. A walk on the beach brought a bunch of gulls, two oystercatchers, and a solitary curlew. Back at the car park I counted one red-throated and three great northern divers in the bay; this individual called twice in between dives - not the full monty, but still nice to hear.
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
At last - my long crossbill drought is over! Last year was the first since we came to live here that I've failed to see any; and, hoping to put that right this year, I drove north and east to check out some previously reliable locations. A short walk near Loch Craggie brought nothing but a distant buzzard, and I drove back to another forestry road to have lunch. Naturally, just when I had my hand in the crisp packet and a mouthful of apple (post-Christmas frugality) two chunky birds were spotted flying over the conifers on the far side of the road, and I reached for the bins with sticky fingers. A couple of faint "gip" calls confirmed these were indeed crossbills.
If I got out, I reasoned, I would probably drive the birds away; so I manoeuvred the car until it stood across the entrance to the forestry road (keeping an eye out meanwhile for any timber lorries) and got some distant shots. I think the first picture shows a female, and the second a male.
Friday, January 07, 2022
A brambling spent a brief time in the garden this morning then disappeared on more pressing errands. The big flock of winter thrushes left long ago, but a solitary redwing was at the camp-site point.
Way across the river as the tide dropped, turnstones and ringed plovers could be seen foraging on the tip of the spit - and among them were two purple sandpipers. I couldn't quite make these out through the bins, though; it was the camera that provided dodgy but definite images to confirm their continuing presence.
I almost had my first rant of the year over the antics of Novak Djokovic - but you know what, I just can't be bothered. He's not worth it.
Wednesday, January 05, 2022
We had a good though cold (1ºC) walk by Loch Glascarnoch; we didn't see many birds today but at least they were all firsts for the year. A call made me turn to see two whooper swans fly low over the dam and land on the water.
Greger identified the tracks as those of hare - probably mountain hare as the brown hare is, I think, not found in the north-west.
A red grouse was spotted checking us out from the snowy slope of the plantation.
On the way back three small birds were foraging near the ditch; this one is a meadow pipit, so presumably the other two were the same.
Two red grouse flew away up the hillside but were seen later just beyond the conifers.
We drove to the wind-farm road to have coffee and cake - and a black grouse was seen in the distance, very conspicuous in the top of a silver birch.
We called it a day when it began to snow again. Driving back we saw a black grouse fly across the road from left to right near Altan Wood; and as we approached Loch Droma I saw another one flying towards the road from the Fannichs. This one cleared the water before landing on the bank. Perhaps they were both escaping from bad weather on the higher moors. There were lots of red deer grazing lower down; but as we dropped from Braemore Junction to sea level the road got wetter and the snow turned to rain.
Sunday, January 02, 2022
I was wrong about the brambling; at least two are still present in Ullapool. I spotted them alighting on the top of the ash tree behind our bungalow - but wherever they went from there it wasn't into our garden, as I kept scanning it for most of this rainy afternoon.
Looking out at about 2.30pm I noticed a large dark shape cruising south over the village, and ran outside to grab a couple of pics of an immature white-tailed sea eagle.
A bit later, a sparrowhawk zoomed past low and then up into a tree several gardens away. It sat there for several minutes, but there were too many intervening twigs to get a clear shot. I had been meaning to go out birding somewhere today, but decided to stay at home. Sometimes, this turns out to be the right choice.
Saturday, January 01, 2022
What a madhouse after the calmness of yesterday! The southwesterly wind got up in the night and carried flurries of rain with it; but I wanted to see a purple sandpiper on the first day of the year, so I put my hood up and got on with it. Battling out into this wind (which immediately blew my hood off again) along the edge of the golf-course, I despaired of finding any small waders at all, although oystercatchers and one curlew were present, foraging in a sheltered stretch of the river. A shellfish picker (probably winkles) went right out onto the exposed, stony spit and I followed; but I could see nothing at the water's edge. I walked back taking a different line, and a small movement to the left caught my eye - ringed plover! There were three or four of these and with them, hunkered down by a clump of seaweed, was a purple sandpiper.
