Autumn Round-up 2024

 As the title suggests this is a round-up of some of the local places I visited this Autumn; highlighting the wildlife and views I recorded. 

First up is a mid-September visit to Outh Muir, which is an upland area near to Knockhill just north of Dunfermline. The reason for my visit was to check for the presence of raptors in the area (in particular Short-eared Owls) as part of a local study.

View across Outh Muir

Upland Moorland at Outh Muir

Whilst raptors (birds of prey) were a bit thin on the ground (or in the air) during my visit there were still plenty of other birds to see:

Male Stonechat

Carrion Crows and Meadow Pipits

Swallows on the gate

Even got some videos of these birds:

The Swallows took to the air making it a bit more difficult to video, but I did my best:

Whilst I was enjoying the views down the Forth Valley I did manage to see a Buzzard flying away from Outh Muir, so there are raptors here after all:

View towards Stirling from Outh Bridge

Looking back towards the moorland, a small flock of Goldfinch flew in and started to feed on the thistle seeds:

Goldfinch Feeding on Thistle Seeds

Goldfinch on Thistles

.......... and there was also another Stonechat:

Juvenile Stonechat on Fence Post

In fact there were several Stonechats and Meadow Pipits perching on various parts of the fence:

That was about it for my short visit to Outh Muir, apart from the fact I saw a Kestrel hovering over the moor just as I was driving off. So not totally packed full of raptors but plenty of birds to enjoy.

Meanwhile back at the ranch.

Some of the garden birds are getting ready for the colder weather by visiting the feeders, scouring the leaf mould for invertebrates and some even seeking out potential roosting sites, like this Great Tit checking out our bird box:

Great Tit checking out Bird Box

The last Blue Tit (Nibbler) to use the box opened up the entrance hole so much with his nibbling that it is now suitable for the larger Great Tit to get in. Let's wait and see if gets occupied as a Winter roosting box.

At the end of September I took a local walk to the area known as Gallowridge Hill, less than 15 minutes from our house:

The Track to Gallowridge Hill

The Fields around Gallowridge

First significant bird I came across was this Kestrel perched at the top of a tree:

Kestrel on Tree Top

As I walked along the field margin the Kestrel flew from the tree top and landed on a shrubby hedge further along the field:

Kestrel landing on Hedge

I decided to leave the Kestrel in peace and headed back to the track to carry on walking up the hill. It's not a high hill but you get some decent views across the fields towards Crossford and Dunfermline:

Autumn Colours starting to appear

Looking back towards Crossford

In fact, with my binoculars, I could see the roof/back of our house from this vantage point:

Our house peeking through the trees

Which would make sense as I can see the hill from our house!

Once again back at the ranch, the garden action is hotting up, and the local Magpies have decided to attempt a raid on the bird feeder:

Magpie raids bird feeder

Preparing to shake it all up!

Basically one Magpie would dive up from the ground and knock the bird feeder, causing it to shake and drop seed, which the second Magpie (plus other birds) would gladly hoover up:

Yes that is a Hen Pheasant amongst the Woodpigeons, she is a regular visitor in the Autumn and Winter, usually joined by a Cock Pheasant and some juveniles.

Hen Pheasant

Pheasant below Feeder

Another 'raider' of the feeder is a Grey Squirrel, which seems to be using an old Magpie nest in a nearby tree as a Winter roost:

Grey Squirrel on Fence Post

Creeping towards the Bid Table

I am not a big fan of Grey Squirrels (prefer the Reds) but this one seems to be on its own (for now) so we tolerate it for a while before chasing it off the feeders so that the birds can get it.

In mid-October we had some beautiful sunrises and the Autumn colours were starting to appear on most of the trees and shrubs:

October Sunrise

Autumn Rowan Sapling (still to be planted in garden)

Tulip Tree starting to turn Yellow

Even more birds are visiting the feeders and the water bath:

Female Chaffinch

Male Greenfinch

Blue Tit in Tree

Blue Tit on Feeder

Robin on Fence

Always on High Alert

Yes the Robin is always on high alert and spends most of its time chasing other Robins and Dunnocks away from our garden. Seems to tolerate some birds though, including other ground-feeding birds like Blackbirds:

Female Blackbird on the ground

Female Blackbird in the tree

Male Blackbird searching food in the leaves

Come November we were moving into the frosty mornings:

Frosty November Morning

Sunrise over the frosty fields

This made the race to fatten up for winter a bit more intense, with all sorts of creatures visiting the garden in search of food:

Magpie searching for food beneath the bird table

Searching High and Low

Squirrel searching for food on the ground

Grey Squirrel trying to look as cute as a Red

The Grey Squirrel had a large wound on its nose, maybe been in a fight, doesn't look like Squirrel Pox (I hope). Another mammal that was visiting the garden looking for food was a Hedgehog:

We usually only see these at night or very early in the morning, but this one was out during daylight, searching every nook and cranny.

Our bird box was also attracting the interest of a Blue Tit:

Blue Tit checking out Bird Box

Wonder if it's Nibbler from last year?

Wonder what would happen if the Blue Tit meets up with the Great Tit that was also showing interest in the bird box?

At the end of November I had another trip up the hills to Outh Muir to see if any raptors were about. Unfortunately I saw even less than I did when I visited earlier in the Autumn, but I did get some good views:

View over Outh Muir towards Forth Bridges

Edinburgh in the distance

Tanker at Hound Point

The Forth Bridges

 Sorry some of the photos are a bit hazy, but there was an evening mist descending over the River Forth.

Still no Short-eared Owls though!

That's it for Autumn, we are now into Winter, in fact Christmas is just around the corner.

Hope you have a happy one and a guid New Year tae yin an aw.

cheers

Teddy Edward

Summer Trip to Pitlochry

 With Winter on it's way I thought you might enjoy a taste of warmer (slightly) weather with a blog covering a trip we had to Pitlochry back in August. 

We took the van up to Milton of Fonab Caravan Park for a few relaxing days, and were greeted by some welcome sunshine and some summer wildlife:

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

We soon got the van set up and sat back to enjoy a relaxing few days:

Moira enjoying the views

View at rear of Van

View towards River Tummel

Nice Pine Trees

Some swallows were flitting about above the fields and one stopped on a nearby telephone wire for a bit of preening:

Swallow on the wire

Checking it's safe

Time for a bit of preening

Here's a little preening action if you are interested:

We didn't do much for the rest of the afternoon, other than enjoy the peace and quiet. we went out after tea for an evening stroll. It was a relaxing time so I only bothered to take one photo and that was the sunset over the river:

Sunset over River Tummel

The next day wasn't quite so sunny, a bit overcast but pleasant enough. Behind the van was a small wall that bordered a field, and I was pleased to see plenty of wildflowers along the field margin:

Wee Wa' behind the van

Wildflowers along the Field Margin

Looking along the Wee Wa'

When I looked along the wall behind the caravans I noticed lots of birds flitting around. Most of these were Swallows, but there were a few other birds, this is what I managed to capture on video:

I slowed it down a bit so you could see the birds, which were zooming around pretty fast.

One other bird on show was a Pied Wagtail, which was bobbing about at the side of our pitch, stopping occasionally for some vigorous preening:

Pied Wagtail Preening

Pied Wagtail at edge of our pitch

Then it was time for our lunch.

After lunch I took a walk over to the far corner of the caravan park, where you can join a path leading down to the River Tummel.

The River Tummel

The sun was shining and the riverside walk was lovely; I kept my eyes open for some wildlife and the first most obvious sign was a group of Mallard ducks and ducklings on the river, followed by some lazy Mallard Drakes sleeping beside the river bank:

Mallard Ducks and Ducklings

Sleepy Mallard Drakes (eclipse plumage)

I carried on alongside the river and a  little further downstream I noticed some other Mallards on rocks beside the river, in addition there was a Female Goosander on some nearby rocks.

Heading Downstream

Goosander on the rocks

Not a great photo, probably slightly better with this video:

I carried on walking, scanning the river upstream and downstream looking for more signs of wildlife:

River Tummel Upstream

River Tummel Downstream

Then directly opposite where I was standing I thought I saw some movement on the far bank:

Spot the Birdie!

It was a Grey Wagtail! and as I watched it moving in an out of the rocks I started to notice there was more than one:

It was a small family of Grey Wagtails, I counted at least three, maybe four.

As well as enjoying the views of the river, I also enjoyed the views over the adjacent fields, where you could back towards the caravan park:

Milton of Fonab Caravan Park

Vannie at our pitch

Look along the riverside path:

Path alongside the River Tummel

Or admire the views across a field of barley:

View from Riverside Path

A Sea of Barley

View across the fields

In fact the field of barley did look very much like a sea when the breeze was blowing through it:

In addition to these beautiful views, the riverside path (which ran along the field margin) contained some lovely wildflowers:

Meadow Cranesbill amongst the Clover

Ragwort on the field margin

Field Scabious

Harebells by the river

Wildflower Bouquet

Very pretty, meanwhile the river kept on flowing by:

I took my last couple of riverside views before heading back along the path towards the caravan park:

Wildflowers on the banks of the River Tummel

The River Tummel

I did stop briefly on my way back to watch a juvenile Pied Wagtail in the tattie field near the caravan park:

Juvenile Pied Wagtail in the Tattie Field

You gotta luv a Pied Wagtail!

Later on that day we were relaxing in the motorhome when we were treated to an aerial display by a Buzzard:

Buzzard Soaring above the Motorhome

The next morning it was misty to start with and it seemed there was another Buzzard up in the sky, this time over towards the River Tummel:

Another Buzzard?

A quick zoom in and I soon realised it wasn't a Buzzard but something a bit more interesting:

Osprey above the River Tummel

It was hovering (or at least hanging in the sky) over the river as though it had a fish in its sights, but it never actually made the plunge-dive. I did however switch to video and got some good footage of this Osprey in flight:

Pity it didn't dive in, but I would not have seen it anyway as the river is behind the trees.

As the morning mist burned off and the sun came out we decided to go for a walk along the river to Pitlochry Hydro Electric Power Station:

Pitlochry Power Station and Dam

Moira at dam outlet on River Tummel

We carried on upwards, past the fish ladder and onto the dam walkway, where we got some spectacular views of Loch Faskally:

Loch Faskally from Pitlochry Hydro Dam

Me, Moira and Faskally

The views on the other side of the dam weren't too shabby either:

River Tummel from Pitlochry Hydro Dam

Moira on Dam with Visitor Centre in background

After a bite to eat and a quick tour around the Visitor Centre we headed round the corner to Pitlochry Railway Station. It wasn't that we were going to get a train somewhere, it's just that it is an interesting station. It has some traditional railway buildings and some other quaint things; for instance the station building on the southbound platform is mainly a second hand bookshop:

Pitlochry Southbound Platform

Station Building and Bookshop

The pedestrian bridge across the track is an 'old school' lattice steel bridge; there are few of them left as they were not suitable when rail networks were electrified.

Metal Lattice Bridge

On the northbound platform the waiting room is also very traditional; a wooden pavilion built with painted pine slats, a bell cast roof and ornate cast iron cresting:

Northbound Platform Waiting Room

Ornate Waiting Room

And to top it all there is a very colourful coo on the northbound platform:

Legacy Coo

Legacy Coo at Pitlochry Station

The coo forms part of The Hairy Highland Coo Trail, in which a cast of 30 differently painted coos are popping up in various locations in Scotland, after which the coos will be auctioned to raise money for CHAS (Children's Hospices Across Scotland)

We had a wander along Pitlochry's main street, trying our best not to buy anything, before heading back to the caravan park. Back at our pitch we were greeted by a group of Pied Wagtails of varying ages:

Pied Wagtails

Adult Pied Wagtail

Juvenile Pied Wagtail

Older Juvenile Pied Wagtail

we had a great few days in Pitlochry, nice walks, plenty of wildlife, good food, some shopping and even a trip to Pitlochry Festival Theatre to see 'Sense and Sensibility'. I won't tell you how it ends!

Take care until next time

cheers

Teddy Edward