Friday, April 14, 2023
Some early spring returners cheered me up today, with sand martins busy round an established nest site above a river, and a pair of greenshanks on a nearby loch. The presence of ten or so restless goldeneye provided a seasonal overlap, the males throwing their heads back in display; and as I watched them, a now-familiar clamour made me look up to see about 40 pink-footed geese flying north.
Stopping for a while in the lay-by at Ardmair I watched a close-to-shore great northern diver whose summer plumage was well advanced, but failed (as ever) to produce a nice crisp shot.
Yesterday: My first wheatear at Ardmair this year seemed to suggest that there is some point to the cairns visitors feel the need to build everywhere - although, as in previous years and possibly with different individuals, he was also using as a perch a nearby boulder (too heavy and well-anchored, I think, for someone to decide it would look better elsewhere).
The wheatear must have been a very recent arrival but already he was throwing his weight around, chasing away any meadow pipits that strayed into what he clearly sees as his territory.
// posted by Christine @ 2:33 PM 
