By The Silvery Tay

There is a bit of a debate over which is Britain's longest river; the Severn or the Thames. I have no intention of adding to this debate, but I do believe that the River Tay is Britain's largest river. By largest I am referring to the volume of water flowing down the river each day; and with an average daily flow of 3,326 million gallons, the Tay has more water flowing down it than the Severn and the Thames combined. Impressive or what?
Anyway we had a little trip recently with our motorhome to Scone Caravan Park, which afforded us some cracking views along the banks of the magnificent River Tay.
First of all we had a trip into the fair city of Perth, and after a nice cup of coffee in Brown & Black's we headed to the North Inch for a riverside walk:

View Across the Tay from North Inch

The sun was shining and the temperature was surprisingly comfortable for early May so we enjoyed our stroll, taking in the scenery, including the magnificent Perth Bridge:

Perth Bridge (aka Smeaton's Bridge)

 Smeaton's Bridge (aka Perth Bridge)

This bridge was built in 1771 by John Smeaton and is often referred to as the Auld Brig by locals. It has certainly stood the test of time.
We stopped to admire the bridge and take some photos:

Moira at Perth's Auld Brig

I was intrigued by this weird sculpture of a very fat fish and a cartoon-like bird:

Fat Fish and Fat Gull-Hawk

Eddie with Weird Sculpture

I understand it is called "The Eagle of Perth" by artist Shona Kinloch .................. I think she skipped the anatomy class at art school that day!
There is an art trail through Perth, I must check it out one of these days.
Further along the river there is a viewing platform which has a huge curved railing and you could imagine yourself being at the stern of the Titanic (if you have a vivid imagination that is!)

The Silvery Tay from the Viewing Platform

One thing you will notice about Perth is that it has quite a few churches and very Presbyterian in its outlook. In fact it was only a few years back that a shopping visit to Perth on a Sunday was nigh impossible, with very few shops and cafes open and certainly no pubs in the city centre.
We passed by the impressive St Matthews Church of Scotland with its steeple and across the water was the slightly less ostentatious Kinnoull Parish Church:

St Matthews Church and Steeple

Kinnoull Parish Church

Shortly after this we reached another bridge across the Tay, this was a modern(ish) concrete bridge called Queen's Bridge. It was built to replace an older steel bridge constructed in 1900 as the plaque explains:

Queen's Bridge Plaque

It doesn't have the look of Smeaton's Bridge so I didn't bother photographing it, but it did provide a good platform for looking back down the river to a more scenic part of Perth:

Perth from Queen's Bridge

That was basically the end of our riverside walk in Perth, lunch was calling us, followed by a swatch round the shops (yawn!)

The next day was apparently "the Royal Wedding" and as I had no intention of watching Prince Charming and Cinderella getting married I went for a walk down by the riverside near to the campsite.

Track Leading Down to the Riverside

View of Farmland and Woodland near to Campsite

It was a pleasant enough walk down towards the river, the only downside being that there had been a massive hatch of black flies (you can probably spot one in the first photo above). I think they were St Mark's Flies and whilst they don't seem to bite they can be very annoying as they fly about your head ......... I hurried on.
Down by the river it was a much more pleasant affair, the Tay was glistening in the sunshine and the flies had gone:

River Tay at Campsite Fishing Grounds

Across the River Tay from Campsite Fishing Grounds

At this stretch of the river the campsite actually had fishing rights and you could buy a permit for a few pounds (which is a lot, lot cheaper than fishing at other stretches of the river Tay).
As I had no fishing tackle with me I rejoined the riverside track and moved further up the river bank:

Riverside Track

It was a very pleasant walk along this riverside track which had lots of trees, shrubs and wildflowers to enjoy:

Wildflowers along the Riverside Track

Bluebells

Crosswort

Red Campion

There were also plenty of butterflies to see, including Orange-tip, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock Butterflies:

Peacock Butterfly

I heard lots of birds singing but they were proving very elusive and it was hard to try and get a photo or video of them. There were Skylarks singing high in the sky, too high to focus on; Yellowhammers calling from the trees, but not showing themselves; a Sedge Warblers with its scratchy song in the reeds, but darting down when I tried to video it; a Whitethroat singing in the bushes, but only venturing out briefly to do a display flight.
Here is about the best video I got of the Whitethroat display flight, with a slowed down portion so you might have a chance of actually seeing it:

A short while later I was able to get back down to the river bank and was greeted by some lovely views:

Looking Downstream

Looking Upstream

Once again there were plenty of wildflowers to enjoy:

Wildflowers on the Banks of the Tay

Common Comfrey by the Tay

I was also pleased to see that the birds here were a bit more 'showy' as I enjoyed watching some Black-headed Gulls skimming the surface of the water in search of something to eat. This one flew so near to the water surface its wings dipped in several times as it 'quartered' the area:

Then there was the spectacle of three Greylag Geese flying overhead:

I continued along the riverside track a little further, until I found another good place to stop and enjoy the views:

Tayside Track

A Good Place to Stop

On a large rock near the opposite bank I spotted a Common Sandpiper preening itself. I had no sooner fired up my camcorder when it decided to fly off ............ I did at least capture the distinctive bow-winged flight of a Common Sandpiper:

You might have noticed that I had slowed it down a bit for you.
Further upstream on the opposite bank I watched this Grey Heron patrolling the bank side looking for something to eat:

You can see in this previous video of the Heron how deep the water is just a few feet from the bank, luckily Herons have long legs.
Continuing along the bank I came to a spit of land (rocks really) that jutted out in to the river. I was reliably informed that the Roman's had a ford across this part of the river............. which they used to traverse between two camps on either side of the river............ could this be said ford?

Remnants of Ford Across the River Tay

Brave folk these Romans, even crossing the Tay at low, summer flows sounds daunting to me. I have seen whole trees washed down the Tay to Perth in the winter floods!!
When I first approached this spit of land I was lucky enough to spot another Common Sandpiper on the rocks. It was pretty well camouflaged, but it did hang around long enough for me to get this video clip:

Great views of Sandpiper, I also saw lots of Sandmartins, but they were flying too fast for me to get a decent video of them.
I decided to head back to the campsite. By the time I got to the motorhome the royal wedding was almost over (never mind, what a pity, I am sure I will catch the next one!).
After a spot of lunch and a bit of lazing around I managed to pursued Moira that a little walk down to the river would be very therapeutic. We took a leisurely stroll down and saw most of the wildlife I had seen in the morning. In addition we were lucky enough to see a pair of Greylag Geese with four or five little goslings............ very cute! Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camcorder with me.
We also explored the possible Roman ford:

Moira By the Banks of the Silvery Tay

Eddie at Possible Roman Ford

We concluded that there was no way we were going to attempt a crossing and headed back to the campsite for a well earned cup of tea.

That's the end of our little trip to the banks of the Tay, hope you enjoyed it.

Take Care

TeddyEdward

Late Winter Wildlife

The latter half of the recent 2017/18 Winter had been relatively mild to start with, January was snow-free but the usual wintering geese could be relied upon; such as these Greylags in a field at the back of Edinburgh Airport:

You may have also noted in this video there was what I call a 'farmland goose' which is basically a white derivative of the Greylag. This one however has decided that it was "Born to be Wild" and if you look at the video again you will see variants of white and grey geese, proving that it has definitely integrated.
Moving into February it was still quite mild and I managed to capture these Roe Deer hinds relaxing in a field near Pepper Wood, Kirkliston:

The bird at the end of the previous video was of course a Red-legged Partridge (in case you were wondering!).
In February I also had a trip out with Fife Bird Club to Scone Palace and Glen Quaich, the relatively benign weather (cool and clear without rain) made for a successful day out.
Firstly at Scone Palace we were treated to clear skies and (with the lack of leaves) a clear view to the top of the mature trees in the palace grounds:

Avenue of Trees at Scone Palace

What were we hoping to see at the top of these mature trees?........... well, a small flock of Hawfinch that are regularly seen in winter in this area.
Were we lucky enough to see these birds which are quite rare in Scotland?............. of course we were:

Sorry if the video is slightly poor, the birds were quite far away and silhouetted against the sky, hope you still managed to identify them as Hawfinch.
Next we moved on to Glen Quaich; we parked just outside the village hall at Amulree  and had a spot of lunch whilst we enjoyed the views down the Sma' Glen:

Towards the Sma' Glen

We also enjoyed the view of a Red Grouse posing on a grassy knoll above the heather:

We then headed on down into Glen Quaich on foot:

Heading in to Glen Quaich

We saw some good birds on our trip to Glen Quaich but the highlight was probably the two Golden Eagles we saw soaring above the Glen Almond Hills.
I did get a video of them but they were quite far away, so I won't bore you with a video clip showing two dots on the horizon, instead here is a photo of several happy birders:

Eagle-spotting in Glen Quaich

Back at home the birds continued to visit our garden to feed on any food we had put out and it was all starting to feel a bit Spring-like; male Chaffinches even looked like they were getting in to their full breeding plumage:

Male Chaffinch in Garden

We were just getting used to this relatively benign weather when the 'Beast from the East' rolled in, bringing a large dollop of Siberian weather:

We got off fairly lightly, in some areas the transport links ground to halt and people had to spend hours trapped on snow-covered motorways. Farmers could not get to their livestock and many hill farmers lost sheep in the snow drifts.
I was glad we didn't have to go anywhere and could watch the winter weather from our window (with the heating turned up to max):

The start of the snow

Icicles forming

'Beast from the East' wasn't a total disaster as far as I was concerned as it forced some less common birds to look for food in towns and gardens and I could view them all from my window. This included a few birds swept over from Scandinavia, such as this Fieldfare in a neighbour's garden:

I enjoyed watching this Song Thrush plucking berries from the hedge outside our front garden:

In our back garden this poor Pied Wagtail struggled to find something other than old bread to eat in the snow (and it struggled to keep its feet warm!):

The snow only lasted for a few days, but even after it had almost gone some less common birds still hung around for a while, including these Yellowhammers and Redwing:

And a bird not often seen around these parts, a Tree Sparrow in our back garden:

In case you don't know, male Tree Sparrows wear brown caps whilst their more common cousins the House Sparrows wear grey caps.
The Winter Migrants have since left and the weather is improving............. Summer migrants are on their way (some are already here) and the Blue Tits are nesting in our bird box.................. can't wait to see what Springtime will bring!

Take Care

Teddy Edward

The Garden of Ed

We don't have a big garden at the rear of our house (in fact some might call it a back yard) but what we do have I try to make as wildlife friendly as I can.
By the time you take into account the space taken up by the large shed, the paved area and the conservatory you would probably call it a small garden. We do however have a small Birch tree, a Buddleia bush, a small wildflower plot and a generally unkempt scrubby patch............ and these all provide habitats for wildlife. I have also provided some creature comforts such as a birdbath, a couple of bird feeders and a couple of Blue Tit nest boxes.

Our back yard in Winter

Over the last month or so I have been keenly observing the birds in our garden which are taking advantage of the facilities provided and I would like to share some of my observations.
Most of the birds will be familiar to you, others may be a bit less common.
Let us start with the Blackbird, a common garden bird:

Male Blackbird on the grass

Male Blackbird on the fence

 

These are obviously male Blackbirds, because they are black, the female (and juveniles of both sexes) are of course brown Blackbirds:

 

Female Blackbird on the grass

Hopping about on the grass is where you are most likely to see Blackbirds in your garden (especially if you put bread scraps out), but if you have a birdbath they will visit it and they will also pick up crumbs from under the bird feeders:

 

Male Blackbird having a drink

Male Blackbird below the bird feeder

 

Another 'black' bird you may or may not get in your garden is the Carrion Crow. We have a few that nest in nearby woods and visit from time to time:

 

Carrion Crow on neighbours clothes drier

Carrion Crow on fence

 

These crows like to pop down for a bit of bread now and then, and we have one particular crow visitor (Duncan we call him) who always dips his bread in the birdbath to soften it before he flies off to eat it:

 

Duncan the Crow

 

Another member of the crow family which occasionally visits our garden is the Magpie.......... not everybody's favourite bird........... however it is very intelligent and resourceful creature and I think a visually striking bird:

 

Magpie lurking in the branches of the tree

Magpie doing a gallus walk along the fence

 

Okay so it may take young birds from the nest......... but it isn't the only predator that does this.......... however when the sunlight hits a Magpie at the right angle the green/blue/purple colours of this bird are stunning.

 

Let us now consider those birds that visit the feeder, what I like to refer to as 'perching' birds; those more comfortable perched on a branch of a tree or a bush than on the ground.

First of all we will look at examples of bird feeder etiquette, starting with a good example of birds queuing politely for their turn at the feeder:

 

 

 

Well it was reasonably polite until the Blue Tit cleared everything out at the end.

More than often this polite queuing does descends in to utter bedlam where it is every bird for themselves; as demonstrated in the following video clip:

 

 

 

The bird you are most likely to see on our feeder is the Goldfinch; we can get up to a dozen of these noisy, colourful birds jockeying for position at any one time:

 

Goldfinches on the feeder

You looking at me?

Goldfinch on plastic apple feeder

Dining with friends

In the last photograph the bird sharing the feeder with the Goldfinch is of course a male Greenfinch; the bully boy of the bird feeder! Greenfinch are chunky finches with suitably chunky beaks and will force most birds off the feeder, staunchly defending their position once they are feeding.

 

Female Greenfinch on feeder

Female Greenfinch dining alone

 

The 'pecking' order on the feeder goes a bit like this:

The Greenfinch will bully the Goldfinch

The Goldfinch and Greenfinch will bully the Robin and the Chaffinch

The Chaffinch will resign itself to feeding on scraps below the feeder, where the Robin will bully it.

Some photos of those at the lower end of the 'pecking' order:

 

Where's that Greenfinch?

 

Robin in the flower tub

Where's that Chaffinch?

Male Chaffinch in the bush

Where's that Robin?

 

I have missed some birds off the feeder 'pecking' order for the moment; firstly I want to introduce you to a bird who will regularly see off Greenfinch, Goldfinch and any other bird that gets in its way.............. that is our resident maniac the Blue Tit:

 

Blue Tit in bush

Blue Tit on feeder

Blue Tit close up

 

This tiny bundle of feathers and fury terrorises anything that encroaches within its territory, and by its territory I mean anywhere within a few metres of its winter roost............ which happens to be the birdbox on our Birch tree:

 

Home Sweet Home

 

In other words any part of our garden is Blue Tit territory; in fact in the bedlam feeder video above you may have seen the resident Blue Tit fighting with another Blue Tit plus its own reflection in a garden mirror (which I have since removed at it was in danger of doing itself a serious injury).

I first noticed that the Blue Tit was going into our birdbox back in October 2017, so I fired up the internal camera to see what it was doing:

 

 

 

It was clearly checking out the box as a potential winter roost and the droppings on the floor were evidence that it had spent some nights in there. So I cleaned the box out and put some sand/grit in the bottom then sat back to see what would happen when it got dark:

 

 

 

 

It was obviously quite happy to roost in the box and has done so every night since then (with the exception of Guy Fawkes night......... who knows where it went then?) 

Our Blue Tit sometimes even attacks the ground feeding birds, most of which are much larger that it and most are not a threat at the feeder. Here are some of the ground feeders we get in the garden:

 

Wood Pigeon on fence

Keeping an eye out for the Blue Tit

 

We don't really get Feral Pigeons in our garden but we do get its chunkier country cousin the Wood Pigeon. We also get the more delicate Collared Dove:

 

Collared Dove on fence

I wonder if I can fit on the feeder?

 

These birds spread from the European continent a few decades back and have since populated most parts of the UK. 

One of my favourite ground feeders (which will also perch on the feeder given half a chance) is the Starling. I think this charismatic bird is hugely under-rated and if it was rarer we would be raving about it's iridescent plumage and cheeky character. They often visit our garden in ones and twos, but in winter that is usually just the scouting party and a second wave come in thick and fast:

 

Starling Scouting Party

Reinforcements start to arrive

Feeding frenzy begins

 

A group of Starlings can make short work of a loaf of bread.

They are handsome birds really:

 

Starling posing on fence

 

This one is even sporting a Beatles hair cut:

 

Ringo Starling

 

Sorry about that!

 

Let's get back to the feeder and see who is waiting to be served:

 

Finch Queue

 

We have covered the common feeder birds, but what about the less common?

Well, in the Winter we tend to get regular visits from another of the finch family, the Siskin. Here is a male Siskin sharing a meal with a Goldfinch :

 

 

 

Compare this with the slightly less colourful, but just as impressive female Siskin:

 

Female Siskin on feeder



Who's less colourful?

 

The Siskin tend to sit level with the Goldfinch in the 'pecking' order even though it is slightly smaller.

They are a bird of the coniferous forests so tend to be found in the North of the country, however during Winter they will spread further South in search of food. We can also get an influx of migrants from Northern Europe.

Another even less common bird we have had in the garden this winter is one that usually heads further South at this time of year.......... but it has been bucking the trend in recent years.............. check out this video and see if you can tell me what it is:

 

 

 

It is of course a Blackcap! ............ yes I know it has a brown cap............. but female Blackcaps have a brown cap:

 

Female Blackcap on feeder

Yes, I'm really a Blackcap!

 

The Blackcap is a warbler and doesn't seem to adhere to the 'pecking' order like the finches do. It chosen to wait until the feeder is empty (often when the other birds have been scared away by someone going out the back door) and it nips in for some seed before the others return.

This blog posting has hopefully given you a snapshot of some of the birds that visit our garden and hopefully demonstrates that you don't have to go too far to enjoy wildlife.

Why don't you spend a little time observing the birds in your garden and see what they get up to?

 

cheers

 

Teddyedward