Christine's walking & birds blog

A cold bright day called us out to Loch Glascarnoch, where we had a 5 km walk during which we both experienced hip pain - Greger, worse than me. Oh dear. Never mind, soldier on. There was snow on the surrounding hills but it was dry underfoot, with thick ice on the few puddles that remained - although a vehicle driving along the track earlier had shattered most of it.

A sudden swift drumming of wings between us and the loch - into the dazzling sun - had us confused for a moment, then Greger pointed out two birds flying towards the plantation on the hillside. He thought they were black grouse. On the way back we flushed them again, and I grabbed a shot of one as they appeared to return to their original location.

Might as well start the new month with some rubbish pics - here's another one.

That's probably a male kestrel on the skyline. A raven was flying around an established nest site, a stonechat was spotted at some distance, and a pair of mallards were dabbling near the dam. And that, bird-wise, was it!