Blue Tits Revisited (The Fledglings)

Back in May I shared the story of our Blue Tit parents who, after occupying our nest box with the hidden camera, laid ten eggs. This is the continuation of that story and I will start with a picture of the ten eggs which were being dutifully incubated by our female Blue Tit:

Blue Tit Eggs on 5th May 2016

Female Blue Tit Sitting on Eggs

Blue Tit Eggs on 15th May 2016

The 16th May saw the first egg to hatch, which was just over three weeks after the first egg was laid:

 

First Egg Hatches

Young Chick is Tiny and Vulnerable

The rest of the eggs started to hatch over the forthcoming days until we had seven young chicks in the nest. Three of the eggs did not hatch, which is not unusual in a Blue Tit brood.

The chicks were well fed by both parents and grew quickly:

 

Both Parents fed the Chicks

The following time-lapse video (covering a period of about four weeks) will give you an idea how quickly the chicks grew:

 

I have a lot of videos of the chicks over the four weeks they spent in the nest; but I will spare you and only show a few clips, the first illustrating how the chicks react to food being brought in:

 

 

They can certainly tell when the parents are coming to feed them.

The following video (or series of videos) was captured using my trail camera and shows how diligent the adult birds were in feeding the young chicks:

 

 

The next clip shows how big the chicks got within a few weeks after being fed intensively by the adults (there was barely room for seven chicks, just as well all ten did not hatch!):

 

 

 

 The chicks had even started to preen by this stage, in preparation for leaving the nest.

By the 7th June all seven chicks had grown and were very restless; looking very much like they were ready to fledge:

Crowded and Restless

 Anticipating that they might fledge the next morning I put my trail camera in place outside the nest box in the hope that I might capture a picture of the chicks leaving the nest.
My hunch was right and on the 8th June I woke to find an empty nest:

Empty Nest?

At least I thought it was empty!.............. then just as I was about to shut down the nest-box camera................. I noticed a little beak sticking out from the corner of the nest-box:

I'm Still Here

It was the smallest of the chicks (commonly known as the runt of the brood) and he hadn't left the nest yet!
Over the next hour or so I watched the drama unfold as the adult Blue Tits tried to coax 'Runty' out of the nest by bringing in food and then taking it back out to a nearby branch:

This coaxing exercise was repeated several times.................. and was also captured on my trail camera:

The last chick eventually succumbed to the temptation of food and left the nest-box to join its siblings in a nearby tree.
Great that they all fledged successfully, but did I capture any of the seven chicks leaving the nest on my trail camera? ..................the simple answer is no! ...........................not even Runty!!
I was most disappointed, especially since the trail camera was in the right place at the right time; however the way that I set up the camera was to take a ten second video when it detects movement then shut off for one minute until the next movement is detected. With hindsight I should have had it on for longer and off for shorter........you live and learn! The chicks obviously fledged between the videoing gaps.............like Ninjas!!
I did however capture a video clip of an adult Blue Tit attacking the camera after all the chicks had fledged ...........as if to say "move along, nothing to see here":

 

 

So that is the end of our Blue Tit story; two adults successfully laid ten eggs, seven of which hatched and seven chicks fledged to start their own story.
Here's hoping we have similar success with the nest-box next year (maybe I'll catch them fledging next time?)

Take Care

Teddyedward

 

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

Blue Tits and Commando Cats

Amongst many other lovely presents I received for my recent birthday I was given a couple of great gadgets.
The first was a nest-box fitted with a camera and I wasted no time in getting this installed in a tree in my garden and wired back to my computer:



Nest-box with Internal Camera

I had to modify the box slightly so that it had a smaller entry hole and a small perch, ideal for Blue Tits. No sooner had I installed this des-res in the tree and we had our first interested party, who gave the box a thorough examination:

This Blue Tit and her mate checked out the box several times over the next few days before finally deciding this was the place for them.
Over the following couple of weeks the female Blue Tit started to bring in nesting material and built a nest lining it with moss and feathers. The week after that she started to lay eggs, all of this captured on camera in both video and still photographs.
From the still photographs I compiled a time-lapsed movie of the nest building process as follows:

She laid her eggs at a rate of one per day for a period of ten days!!

Ten Eggs in Ten Days

A Well-earned Rest

She is currently sitting on the nest incubating these eggs and has been doing so for over a week; so hopefully we will have ten chicks to look forward to within the next week or so.
What a great gadget this has been, giving a tremendous insight in to the lives of Blue Tits.

The other gadget I got for my birthday was something I have always wanted...........a Trail Cam (aka a Camera Trap) and I have been trialling this trail cam in my garden.
The camera is activated by the movement of animals and can be set to take still photographs or short videos. I also like the option it has to be able to take several photos in quick succession; as demonstrated in this sequence showing a Goldfinch and Greenfinch doing battle over the rights to the bird feeder:

The Goldfinch won on this occasion, but it soon got chased off by the feisty Blue Tits who were defending their territory from the nearby tree.
As well as good quality photographs the video images are pretty good as well; here is one of a Blackbird in the garden:

However where this Camera Trap is really impressive is in its ability to capture night-time videos; aptly demonstrated by this cat trying to catch a mouse hiding under our wheelie bin:

Thankfully the cat failed to catch the mouse, which run and hid under our shed.
We do get a lot of cats in our garden at night, but they are not the only animals caught on camera at night:

It visits our garden quite often this Hedgehog and roots around looking for worms, it is definitely not camera shy:

Unfortunately the most impressive night-time video so far is...................the Commando Cat...........which not only scales the fence with ease, but stops to check the old Blue Tit nest box for a snack on the way:

Just as well the new Blue Tit nest-box is higher up the tree, otherwise we may capture some unwanted footage on our bird-box camera.
I'm sure there will be more to come from these two wonderful gadgets

Take Care (and watch out for Commando Cats)

Teddyedward

Guthrie's Path & The Riccarton Hills

Guthrie's path is an old 'drove road' in West Lothian which runs along the southern boundary of Beecraigs Country Park near Linlithgow.
It bears all the hallmarks of a 'drove road' being a wide grassy track, bordered at each side by an earth bank, line of trees or a dry stane dyke which cuts directly through the countryside. Farmers used these 'drove roads' to bring their livestock from the field to the markets (or trysts), and the route of Guthrie's Path is recognisable on maps going as far back as the 1600's.
My walk along this path started at the south-east edge of Beecraigs Country Park, next to a suitably informative signpost:

Guthrie's Path at Beecraigs

At this point I choice to head west along the newly laid path that runs between the original Guthrie's Path and the conifer plantation of Beecraigs.

 

Southern Boundary Path

Adjacent to this new path it is just possible to see the original drove road on the other side of the dry stane dyke; you can see the line of trees which mark the opposite side of this drove road:

Line of Trees marking Original Guthrie Path

Unlike the trees in Beecraigs plantation which are nice and straight and uniform the trees lining the route of Guthrie's Path look old, twisted and gnarly (best viewed in black and white I think):

Twisted Pine along Guthrie's Path

Old Tree-line along Guthrie's Path

 In terms of wildlife it is typical of the edges of an upland pine plantation with a few Coal Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Wren, Robin, etc. nothing too spectacular. I only managed to capture a poor photograph of a Robin and a brief video of a Great Tit (so brief I've given you the slo-mo version):

Robin on Branch (if you look closely)

As there was not a lot doing here I decided to walk back to the signpost and go in the opposite direction; heading east from Beecraigs and up the slope towards the Riccarton Hills:



Heading up Guthrie's Path towards Riccarton Hills

Although the Riccarton Hills are not particularly high, walking up Guthrie's Path you can immediately see the habitat changing from forest-edge to grassy upland. It feels a lot wilder, more exposed and the wildlife living in this habitat is also different.
I found the path up to the top of the hill quite intriguing, with lots of charismatic photo opportunities, some scenes looked as though they had not changed in hundreds of years (hence the black and white):

Antique Gate

Twisted Hawthorn

Dry Stane Dyke Up the Riccarton Hills

Dry Stane Dyke down to Longmuir

Cairn at top of Riccarton Hills

Once I had reached the top of the hills (a meagre 833ft or 254m high) the panoramic view was fantastic. Even though it was slightly overcast I could clearly see the Forth Bridges, Edinburgh, Livingston, Grangemouth, the Ochil Hills and Rosyth in Fife. Some of these places featuring in the video below:

The Riccarton Hills along with many other peaks in this landscape were formed during volcanic activity some 350 million years ago. Lava from a line of volcanoes solidified into hard igneous rock formations and subsequent glacial action scoured away the soft sedimentary rock leaving these volcanic plugs, sills and mounds. This includes landscape features such as the Bass Rock, North Berwick Law, Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, Binny Craig, Cairnpapple and Cockleroy.



Looking East towards Binny Craig & Arthur's Seat

Looking South towards Livingston



Looking Southwest towards Cairnpapple

Looking West towards Cockleroy

Looking Northwest towards Grangemouth

Looking North towards Fife

Looking Northeast towards The Forth Bridges

 Another feature of glacial action was the erratic boulders once carried within the glaciers which were deposited half way up hillsides when the ice melted. A typical example of this exists near the top of the Riccarton Hills:

Glacial Erratic on Riccarton Hills

With regards to wildlife at the top of these hills it would appear they were having a great time until I came along. Firstly I disturbed a small group of Teal swimming on the pond formed in an indent at the top of the hills. Sorry I wasn't quick enough to get a photograph, but here is the pond:

Pond at Riccarton Hills

 

View from Pond (sorry no Teal)

I then disturbed a Buzzard which was on the ground near some gorse bushes; this time I did get a video of it flying away:

 I love how Buzzards master the thermals near a hillside to effortlessly gain height..........brilliant to watch.
Just before I reached the top of the hill I spotted a few Meadow Pipits darting about and managed to get a good view of one on the grass just above me:



So there you have it............. the Riccarton Hills; with a dollop of history, a plateful of views, a small helping of wildlife and a dash of geomorphology..........what more could one ask for.
I could get a job with the West Lothian Tourist Board.

Take Care

Teddy Edward

Scone with Jam

Last weekend my friend Grant and I took a trip to lovely Perthshire to do a bit of bird-watching.
Our first stop was to Scone Palace (pronounced Skoon not Scone) to try and see some Hawfinch. The grounds of Scone Palace are a favourite haunt of a small flock of Hawfinch, which is a relatively rare bird in Scotland.
Being Scottish we did not pay to go into Scone Palace but hung around the area near the back gate in the hope we would see a Hawfinch. Apparently that is often where they are seen.....but not by us on this occasion. We did however enjoy views of the wooded palace grounds:

Scone Palace towards Perth Racecourse

Scone Palace Grounds

Yew Tree Avenue (we were not authorised)

 

We did see some birds including Dunnock, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, etc..............but no Hawfinch! We also saw a pair of Buzzards which looked like they were going to 'display' but didn't:



 

 

 

Having 'dipped out' with the Hawfinch we decided to move on, and twenty minutes after leaving the low lying farmland of Scone we were in the Hills and Glens.

The Sma' Glen to be precise, where we planned to scan the River Almond in search of either a Dipper or Grey Wagtail, preferably both. Although the sun was shining brightly, in the shaded valley of the Sma' Glen it was very cold:

 

Sma' Glen with Dun Mor casting shadows

River Almond in Sma' Glen

It wasn't just cold we were also having no luck on the bird front and 'dipped out' with Dipper and Grey Wagtail. We only saw a couple of crows and they looked cold too, so we decided to head for higher ground and hopefully catch some sun. We headed further up the Sma' Glen and turned right just before Amulree to take us into Glen Quaich.

Here it was much warmer in the sun................. Grant didn't even bother putting his coat on?

 

Grant in Glen Quaich

It really was a beautiful day and the scenery was spectacular (the jam on the scone I thought).

Here is a few pictures to illustrate my point:

 

Glen Quaich looking East

Glen Quaich looking West towards Meall nam Fuaran

 

My photos might not do the scenery justice, but here is a video to supplement them:

 



 

We did however see a few birds here including Lapwing, Pink-footed Geese, Buzzards, more Crows, hundreds of Rabbits ..............oh! and a Red Kite.

By the time I got the camcorder fired up it had almost gone and I only got a few seconds of it flying away passed some big house (so I have done it in slo-mo in the hope you might make it out):

 

 

 

 I could see that this was not going to be a day where I would get stunning wildlife shots!

We moved further into Glen Quaich and stopped alongside lovely Loch Freuchie; once again the scenery stole the show:

 

Loch Freuchie looking East

Loch Freuchie looking North

As well as being picturesque Loch Freuchie is also a winter home to many birds and on the loch that day were Mute swans, Greylag Geese, Mallards, Grebes, coots and hundreds of Canada Geese. You might not make them out in this video but if you have the volume turned up you can certainly hear them, even though they were on the far side of the loch:

 

 

Sounds a bit like we were being hunted by a pack of dogs, but they were feral Canada Geese.

We also saw Lapwing, Pheasant and Red Grouse but once again no decent photographic or video evidence I'm afraid.

Although Grant was driving I suggested that we should complete the round trip by continuing on through Glen Quaich and return via Kenmore, Aberfeldy and the A9. I didn't tell him this involved a dodgy road with hairpin bends over a mountain pass which may still have some snow on it. So it was onwards and upwards (literally):

 



 

Having successfully negotiated the mountain pass the view across to Schiehallion (over 1,000m high!!) and the surrounding mountains was simply stunning:

 



 

Thanks Grant for doing all the driving; which allowed me to capture some good footage of our trip.

Hope you all enjoyed it too!

 

Cheers

 

Teddyedward