Christine's walking & birds blog

This morning's low cloud and drizzle gave way to a blue sky and sunshine, and I went for a short walk to the golf-course spit, where I sat on the stones to keep out of the wind. The only waders I could see were two turnstone with three ringed plovers, and a pair of oystercatchers. Just before I got up to go, I heard a cuckoo from the other side of the loch, probably from the wooded gorge near the house; the bird cuckooed three times and then fell silent. Magical.

Walking back, I ventured up to the entrance of the allotment, where I've never been before. A scolding call from the undergrowth made me think "Blackcap!" and eventually he came out into the open and sang.

His head looked perfectly normal until I pressed the shutter - could be the effect of the wind. Several willow warblers and a chiffchaff were also singing. The one downside to the afternoon's birding was a little heaving heap ahead of me on the path as I walked along the river bank. It looked like two drake mallards having a fight; well, in a way they were, but as I got closer I could see that pinned underneath them was a hapless female. Both were trying to mate with her. As I approached, the ducks separated and the female was able to fly away. One male followed her, the other one flew onto the water. It would be nice to think she escaped their attentions, or paired up properly with another male. Nature's great - except when it isn't.