Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonnie Doon

 It's that time of year again, when the spring is springing and the birds are breeding, which means it's time for my annual Upland Breeding Bird Surveys. 

Well I did the early survey at the end of April, but I am only now getting round to do a blog about the birds I saw. I would also like to add that this blog relates more to the birds I saw the day before the survey when I had an overnight stay at Loch Doon Caravan Park. Let's start with the magnificent views from the great pitch I was allocated for the motorhome:

Great Pitch at Loch Doon Caravan Park

Vannie at Loch Doon

Great View from Rear Window

Great View from Side Window

Once I got parked up and levelled out I grabbed my binoculars and camera and headed out for a walk along the side of the loch. First stop was at the nearby Craiglea Burn which runs passed the caravan park and down to the loch:

Craiglea Burn

Waterfall on Craiglea Burn

Once down on the shoreline of the loch I enjoyed the views, whilst scanning for birds:

Where the burn meets the loch

View down the loch

Loch Doon viewed from shoreline

It wasn't long until I spotted my first bird of note; a female Wheatear perched on the remnants of an old building:

Wheatear on ruins of old building

Female Wheatear with a Feather

She had a feather in her mouth so was obviously in the process of building a nest somewhere.

Just a little further along the shoreline I noticed a Black-headed Gull patrolling the water's edge, chasing away other gulls from the area:

Black-headed Gull patrolling the shoreline

Black-headed Gull Loch Doon

The main antagonists appeared to be a pair of Common Gulls who were also intent on making that stretch of shoreline their own:

Common Gull, Loch Doon

Common Gull (No.1)

Common Gull (No.2)

Noisy Common Gull

After a bit of posturing and some noisy squabbling the Common Gulls moved further along the shoreline leaving the Black-headed Gull in peace.

I also moved further along the shoreline, where I came across a couple of waders. Firstly there was a Common Sandpiper probing the rocks on the water's edge looking for tasty morsels to eat:

Common Sandpiper, probing for invertebrates

Common Sandpiper, Loch Doon

They are pretty well camouflaged against the rocks, easier to see when they move; so here is a short video of this one:

The second wader I saw was a Ringed Plover, which was also checking every nook and cranny for something tasty to eat:

Ringed Plover looking for food

Ringed Plover, Loch Doon

Ringed Plover

They are slightly chunkier and more boldly patterned than the Common Sandpiper, making them easier to spot. Here is a video of this one anyway:

I decided to come back from the shoreline and head for the road that runs down towards Loch Doon Dam. Just before I reached the road I spotted this Male Wheatear, resplendent in its breeding plumage:

Male Wheatear, Loch Doon

Male Wheatear watching me

Always a good bird to see, plenty of them around in these upland areas at this time of year.

When I reached the road I headed North towards the dam (and towards the Roundhouse Cafe, which does lovely coffee and cake):

Loch Doon Dam and the Roundhouse Cafe

Looking back towards Loch Doon

At the cafe I ordered a latte and a Danish (as you do) and sat down on an outside bench to enjoy the views, the wildlife and the snack:

Benches behind the Roundhouse Cafe

Latte and a Danish

I had no sooner sat down when I heard a Willow Warbler singing from a nearby tree. It was hard to get a photo of it in the tree but it duly obliged by hopping on to the telephone cable just in front of the cafe:

Willow Warbler on the wire

Willow Warbler pole dancing

The Willow Warbler flew off to start singing again in a further away bush, then the stage was clear for the next act. As I munched on my Danish and sipped my coffee a Stonechat appeared on the wire:

Stonechat on the wire

Male Stonechat, Loch Doon

Male Stonechat in breeding plumage

It was a pity that the light was in front of me, making the image a bit of a silhouette. You can't really see the bright orange breast of the Stonechat. If I were to adjust the image (which I don't normally do) it might look a bit like this:

Male Stonechat (altered image)

After my delicious snack and on-line (or cable) entertainment I headed on to the little nature trail that sits at the foot of the dam: 

Signage for Nature Trail

Behind Loch Doon Dam

Paths through Ness Glen Nature Trail

I decided to take the right-hand path which leads down towards the river flowing from the dam. It was a rough trail in places but there was plenty to see:

Little burn in Ness Glen

Pretty Primrose

Woodland heading towards the river

Unsurprisingly the river running from the Loch Doon Dam is in fact called the River Doon. It flows all the way down to Ayr Bay where it joins the Firth of Clyde, a journey of almost 40 miles (60 km). The Loch Doon area has quite an industrial past and the loch itself was dammed to provide hydro-electric power to Dumfries & Galloway. 

Some of the industrial heritage is clearly visible at the rear of the dam:

Behind Loch Doon Dam

Large discharge pipes, a weir and other structures

However amongst all these civil works nature is still thriving as represented by this wonderful Willow Warbler which was happily singing in a tree by the River Doon:

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler, River Doon

Wonderful Willow Warbler

It was quite happy to sit there and pose for photographs.

The riverside path was starting to get a bit rocky and I was getting a bit tired so I decided to head back to the caravan park.

Riverside Path

Rocky Road Ahead

Back at the caravan park I got my last treat for the afternoon when a Meadow Pipit decided to perch on a flower tub that was only a few yards from Vannie:

Meadow Pipit on tub at Caravan Park

Meadow Pipit Close-up (note long rear claws)

Magical.

After my evening meal I went for a short walk near the caravan park and took some scenic photographs in the fading light:

Loch Doon Caravan Park in the evening

Loch Doon in evening light.

I had a relaxing evening then off to bed ready for an early rise in the morning.

The next morning I was up with the Larks (literally) and managed to capture the sunrise over the hills surrounding Loch Doon:

Sunrise over the hills

Loch Doon at Sunrise

Southern Uplands at Sunrise

Looked like it was going to be a good morning for my survey. I had some breakfast then got the van ready to drive round to the other side of the loch, the starting point for my bird survey.

In order to concentrate on my survey I decided to leave my camera in my rucksack and get it out only if I really needed it. That was my biggest mistake; I was only ten metres in to my survey when an Osprey flew right over my head. By the time I got my camera out it was gone.

So no dramatic wildlife photos were taken during my survey, only some sheep........

Ewe and Lamb

........... and some scenic photos showing how the weather changed as I carried out my survey:

Loch Doon, halfway through my survey

Clouds rolling in from the East

Loch Doon, near the end of my survey

I won't bore you with the list of birds I recorded during my survey, but I probably seen more species the day before the survey.

I will leave you with a few words from a certain Mr Burns:

Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,

How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair;

How can ye chant, ye little birds,

And I sae weary, fu' o' care!

That's all for now

Take care

Teddyedward

New Camera, Same Old Blogger

 My lovely wife treated me to a new compact camera for my birthday, ideal for producing the snaps and videos I use in my blogs. 

This gave me the perfect excuse to get out to some of my local patches to test out this brilliant piece of photographic equipment. My first stop was down at the Forth Estuary under the Rail Bridge:

The Forth Bridges

The Rail Bridge

I had a look about for some wildlife to photograph but it was a bit quiet; the birds I could see were quite far away, but I tried my best with this little camera:

Heron under Rail Bridge

Red Breasted Merganser

There were a couple of birds on the shoreline which were a bit closer, but they kept dodging in and out of the rocks:

Curlew

Oystercatcher

Thought that it would be a good time to try the video recording on this little camera:

I was certainly pleased with the quality of that video. You might not see the full benefit of it as I had to reduce the quality level in order to upload the video to my blog.

Whilst I was in video mode, I managed to capture the Pilot's Launch returning to the Hawes Pier:

And here is that same boat moored at the pier:

Skua the Pilot Boat at Hawes Pier

Here is my last photo from this area, a train crossing The Bridge:

Train Crossing The Rail Bridge

Next stop on my outing was Pepper Wood near Kirkliston:

Pepper Wood

It was reasonably quiet here, but I did manage to snap a Blue Tit and a Blackbird:

Blue Tit in Pepper Wood

Blue Tit Close-up

Blackbird in Pepper Wood

I was just about to leave Pepper Wood when I heard the unmistakable sound of Pink-footed Geese. 

I frantically searched the sky through the trees and finally managed to catch them flying overhead:

On my way back from Pepper Wood I stopped at the back of Edinburgh Airport to check out the River Almond:

River Almond

Again there was not a lot about; a pair of Mallards on the River and a large green and white bird landing behind the trees:

Mallards on River Almond

Plane Landing at Edinburgh Airport

That was all for that days outing.

A few days later I was out again, this time a little trip to Humbie Pond:

Humbie Pond

Snowdrops at Humbie Pond

This private fishing pond can sometimes be quite good for birds, but on this occasion there wasn't too much and what was there was quite far away. I did manage to video some Teal, Coot and a solitary Dabchick:

There had been a lot of rain a few days earlier and some of the fields (and roads) in the Humbie area were flooded:

Flooded Fields near Humbie

It was however a really nice day, if a bit cold and windy, so I took some snaps of the scenery:

View towards The Queensferry Crossing

View towards the Snow-covered Ochil Hills

I also went for a walk along the old railway line from Dalmeny to Royal Elizabeth Yard to see if there was any wildlife about. However the only thing of note was a little group of Tree Sparrows, which are not particularly common in this area:

Tree Sparrow hiding in bush

Another Tree Sparrow a bit more visible

Tree Sparrow out on a limb

Not too great in the photographic stakes, but I did my best. Maybe the video is a bit better:

Short but sweet.

The rest of my photos and videos with my new camera were taken in my back garden, some better than others. Let us start with some birds I caught way back in February when we had a little snow:

Crow in Snow

Fat Pigeon of the Wood variety

Grumpy Greenfinch

Moving forward a week we saw some more Spring-like activity such as this Blue Tit investigating our old birdbox:

Blue Tit Entering Birdbox

Blue Tit in Birdbox

And here he is leaving the birdbox after checking it out:

Not sure if he approved or not.

We also had a Goldfinch practising his Spring song:

Goldfinch in our Tree

I know you can't hear him singing in the photo; here is the video evidence:

The Goldfinch song is supposed to sound a bit like someone jangling keys! you can make up your own mind about that.

We had a some other birds who visited the garden over the next few weeks:

Is that a new camera you have?

Is this pose okay?

This is how you pose?

I'm not really Grumpy

It's just the way I look!

Strike that pose!

But I wasn't limited to birds posing in the garden, oh no, our resident Wood Mouse just had to get in on the act:

Did you want cute?

Foraging in the sun

Last one for the camera.

So that's it for now. 

Some local photos and videos using my new compact camera, next time I will go further afield and seek out more exotic wildlife and scenery ................ I hope.

Hope you enjoyed these ones

cheers

Teddy Edward

Mammals not in our Garden

 Last month's blog posting featured mammals that have visited our garden but I don't want you to think that they were the only mammals I have ever seen. I have photographed and filmed many other mammals in the UK over the last few years, so I thought that I'd share some of these with you.

Here are just some of the mammals not in our garden, starting with a common garden visitor for some people, the Red Fox., which I have seen in both an urban context and in a rural context.

Firstly here is a short video of a Fox visiting the caravan park at Crystal Palace near London back in 2018:

This would probably be considered as an urban Fox, the next one however was in a field adjacent to a holiday home we had rented in Somerset in 2015, it was definitely a more rural Fox:

I have seen foxes in our housing estate, but to the best of my knowledge they just haven't ventured in to our garden.

Next up Squirrels, now you know that we have had Grey Squirrels visiting our garden, but not proper Squirrels. I am of course referring to the much cuter and definitely more native Red Squirrel. Here is a photo of such a creature that I took in the woods near Carrbridge way back in 2006:

Red Squirrel in Glencharnoch Woods, Carrbridge

They are quite hard to capture with a camera as they don't sit still for very long, except if the are visiting a feeder. I have seen Red Squirrel in many places ranging from Speyside down to Formby in Lancashire and have managed to catch one or two on video:

Here is one visiting the feeder at Anagach Woods near Grantown on Spey:

And here is one filmed using my trail camera, taken when we were staying at Tarland Caravan Park in Aberdeenshire (yes it is also at a feeder):

Very cute all the same.

Let's move on to somewhat bigger mammals now...................Deer........................  there are several species of deer you might see in the UK but ignoring the more exotic species such as Sika, Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer (mainly because I haven't seen them) I want to concentrate on the three most common species.

Let's start with the most common in our area, the Roe Deer. I see these smallish deer quite regularly, particularly in the fields and woodland edges at the back of Edinburgh Airport. Here are some Roe Deer hinds sharing a field with some Greylag Geese near to the Pepper Wood:

I filmed this sturdy Roe Deer buck in another field nearby, just off the old railway track:

I have been fortunate to see Roe Deer on many occasions over the years, each time it has been a pleasure and reassures me that wildlife will find a way to survive.

Slightly more tricky is a deer that is much less common in Scotland, I am referring to the Fallow Deer of course. Back in 2015 we were on holiday in London for a few days and took a trip to the place you are almost guaranteed to see Fallow Deer, Richmond Park, we weren't disappointed:

Fallow Deer in Richmond Park

White Hart Grazing

Back in Scotland we do have a large deer that is slightly easier to see, provided you go to the right places, and have your camera at the ready:

Red Deer in the Snow near Aberfeldy

Red Deer Stags in Winter

You don't always have to go up to hills in the middle of Winter to see these magnificent beasts, sometimes you can get a 10 pointer stag at the side of a layby on the A82 (if you know what layby to go too that is!)

Red Deer Stag at Loch Tulla Viewpoint

A Magnificent Ten Pointer

The next mammal is a bit of an embarrassment to me, mainly because I haven't made the effort to go and see them in the wild, even when I know where they can be found. I am talking about the beast that is known as the Badger. I have been reluctant to go to known Badger sites and sit in the dark woods being eaten by midges for hours in the hope that I might get a glimpse of one.

I have seen semi-wild Badgers in Somerset may years ago, they had been provided with a home (a man-made sett) but otherwise could go out into the wilds to forage at night. Does that count?

The nearest I have come across them in my local patch is some Badger footprints in the mud at Pepper Wood:

You can tell they are Badger prints and not a dog as they are wide and have five distinct toes each with long claws.

Moving swiftly on, another mammal I have seen on several occasions and in various places throughout the country (including Avalon Marshes in Somerset and Loch Duich in Kintail) is the Otter. 

I however have failed miserably to capture a decent image of the Otters during these wildlife sightings and have to resort to showing you captive Asian Small-clawed Otters I filmed at the London Wetland Centre:

A poor substitute for a sighting of a wild Otter, but entertaining non-the-less.

I do however have plenty of photographs of wild Rabbits, but I won't bore you with that and instead will show you a video of a wild Brown Hare:

Once again my 'go-to' place to see Brown Hares round here is the fields at the back of Edinburgh Airport. I have yet to get a proper view of Mountain Hare but not around here I am afraid, I did however see Irish Hare on Mull back in 2013. I know that Mull isn't in Ireland, but it does have a population of Irish Hares!

What about the marine mammals I hear you say!

Well, I have seen Dolphins and Porpoises in the Forth Estuary, I have witnessed the Dolphins at Chanonry Point fishing for salmon in the Moray Firth, but as usual I didn't catch them on film. I did however manage to capture a (not great) video of some Dolphins swimming in the bay at Stonehaven:

Back in 2014 whilst visiting Tentsmuir I spent about an hour watching dozens of Atlantic Grey Seals hauled out on a sandbank which was gradually disappearing on an incoming tide:

Grey Seals on Sandbank near Tentsmuir

Sandbank disappearing under incoming tide

This little video captures the Seals' reluctance to leave the sandbank until the very last minute:

That is about the sum total of my marine mammal photos and videos.

With regards to my land mammals (excluding humans) all I have left is a few fuzzy photos of Field Voles and Bunny Rabbits...................... Oh! unless of course you want to see my favourite video?

Pine Martens at Cruachan, you beauties!

They say to be a good wildlife watcher you have to be at the right place at the right time. I would also add that you need to also have your camera ready if you want to share it with others.

I guess I will need to go looking for Badgers now.

Take care everybody

cheers

Teddyedward