A Tale of Two Lochs

This is a little tale of two lochs that Moira and I visited recently and the wildlife we seen there. They are both Lowland lochs, but apart from that there are few similarities.
Let us start with Linlithgow Loch which we visited a few days back:

Linlithgow Loch

It is quite a small loch (some might say a glorified duck pond) and it is an integral part of the town of Linlithgow. It has a pathway all the way round it, giving a pleasant circular walk of around 2.5 miles.
The southern end of the loch adjoins the town of Linlithgow and is favoured by tourists, casual strollers, mothers and toddlers, sun worshippers, would-be-sailors and those who like to feed the ducks. On this southern shore lies the picturesque Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots:

Linlithgow Palace

It is a very historic place and well worth a visit; I enjoy exploring the structure of the palace as much as I enjoy the history. It is true to say that this southern end of the loch hosts limited wildlife such as Mallards, Coots and Mute Swans but in winter it can hold less common waterfowl and I have even seen Red-crested Pochard there in the past! (but that was about ten years ago).
Here is a view of the Palace and the southern shore......... very pretty..........apart from the carbuncle of a 1960's apartment development; although there are some who think it is equally a historic structure which must be retained??



The Southern Shore of Linlithgow Loch

 

Moving to the northern shore; this less-travelled path, combined with the reed-fringed banks means that wildlife is less disturbed and biodiversity is more varied.
Here we saw waterfowl such as Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Great-crested Grebe, Heron alongside the usual Mallards, Mute Swans and Coots. There was also plenty of other birds in the surrounding trees including Willow Warblers, Chiff-chaff, Long-tailed Tits, Robin, Wren, etc. We even saw a Stoat run across the path in front of us (sorry I wasn't quick enough with the camera to capture it).
I did however capture some images and videos of wildlife as outlined below:
There was a Heron flying over the loch and landing on the bank:

Then we saw a Great-crested Grebe preening and occasionally diving on the lookout for fish:

A Mute Swan with seven cute Cygnets were dabbling at the side of the loch (prepare to say aaaah!):

The adult swan lead them away, but they stayed close to the shore so I was able to get a few photographs of them a little further along the path, along with some other birds:

Swan Family

Mute Swan with Cygnets

Rear View of Moorhen

Black-headed Gulls and a Coot

Well that was effectively our trip round Linlithgow Loch, so after a cup of tea and a slice of Selkirk Bannock in a local café we headed home...................spookily Selkirk is quite near the second loch I wanted to talk about???

St Mary's Loch in the Scottish Borders lies a few miles west of Selkirk in the Yarrow Valley. It is not the largest or deepest loch in Scotland but is huge in comparison to Linlithgow Loch. It is also far more isolated than Linlithgow Loch, even though the A708 (the main road between Moffat and Selkirk) runs along the north shore for most of its length.
Even in the height of summer the A708 is not the busiest road you will find and those walking in the area are limited to a few hardy back-packers or hill-walkers. In other words it is much more rural and much quieter that Linlithgow Loch and that is reflected in the wildlife that you find on it and around its shoreline.
We stopped at a make-shift layby just where the Megget Water joins the loch as I know it is a favourite spot for one of our most iconic birds of prey to go fishing................I am of course talking about the Osprey!

St. Mary's Loch

When we arrived there was no sign of  Osprey fishing so we instead contented ourselves with watching a mess of Martins (which I'm sure is the collective term for a group of Sand Martins) catching insects in front of the small woodland where we had parked. Here is a video of said Martins, which are very fast indeed............blink and you will miss them ( I have slowed the end of the video down so you can see them better):

Shortly after filming these Sand Martins my eyes were drawn to a large bird which was hovering above the loch relatively near to where we had parked; not 'hovering' in a Kestrel sort of way, but more like an Osprey..............

I tried my best to stay on the bird as I was sure I was going to get the dramatic footage I wanted of and Osprey diving in to the loch and pulling out a large fish................but every time it looked as though it was fixed on its prey and ready to swoop, it pulled out and moved to another position. Eventually it gave up and headed towards the far bank of the loch and out of sight.............I was gutted!
I thought that it may come back so we hung about a bit longer. Whilst I was waiting I filmed these three Oystercatchers displaying; they do this head-down, straight-back, loud chattering display that reminds me of the 'parallel walking' display that Red Deer stags do during rutting (but much noisier):

Shortly after this the Osprey re-appeared in almost the same spot..................so I started the camera rolling................ever hopeful I might get that elusive fish-dive video clip:

Once again I was thwarted, but this time I knew who the culprit was, a pesky Common Gull (who no doubt was defending it's nest of eggs or chicks). I can understand why the Osprey flew away from a much smaller bird, it was already one flight feather down and did not want to lose any more, which may have hampered its ability to fish. The Osprey gave up and flew on down the Yarrow Valley in search of other (quieter) places to fish.

Towards the Yarrow Valley and Selkirk

We also headed in the same direction but never saw the Osprey again.
We turned north at Selkirk and headed back to Peebles along the Tweed Valley mulling over the fact that we did get some good Osprey video clips even though we did not get the fish-catching part.
This Bluebell woodland scene at Elibank Forest did cheer us up though:

Bluebells (and Yellow Poppies) at Elibank

That's all for now folks, but shortly I will be posting an update on our Blue Tits in the nest box.

Take care

Teddy Edward