Just back from a few days in Dumfries & Galloway, in south-west Scotland. Lots of lovely stuff to see...
Red Squirrels. Irresistible...
Lovely Loch Ken
Willow Tit! This bird visited the feeding station of our host, Brian
Black Guillemots fighting in Portpatrick harbour. Imagine if I'd had a 500mm lens... ;o)
Mochrum Loch, where we watched a pair of Otters playing
We'd only stopped there for a few minutes on the offchance that there might be some ducks (there were a few Goldeneye), but then Derek spotted something 'porpoising' and it turned into a pair of Otters frolicking in the water. We watched them swim to an island, chase around a bit and then swim off out of sight. Magic...
Looking up Loch Ryan towards Ailsa Craig on the horizon
The River Bladnoch flowing into Wigtown Bay
Black-headed Gull in Stranraer harbour
So the geese know which way to go from Carsethorn...
In three days of birding (with a quick visit to Leighton Moss, kind of on the way home), we notched up about 85 species, including...
- Black Guillemots chasing around Portpatrick harbour
- Thousands of Barnacle Geese at Mersehead
- Lots of Pintail
- Purple Sandpiper at Carsethorn
- Red-breasted Mergansers and Goosanders in several places
- Loadsa Red Kites and Buzzards
- Willow Tit and Nuthatch at Brian's feeders
- Slavonian Grebe, Eiders and a big flock of Scaup at Loch Ryan
- Bittern and Little Egret at Leighton Moss
But we didn't see Sparrowhawk or Mistle Thrush.
See Flickr for more photos
Very nice! I am in the Southeastern U.S. but gegularly view the RSPB live feeder cam in the Abernethy Forest in Scotland. Love those red squirrels. My son-in-law is from Falkirk Scotland.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos, especially the Black Guillemots fighting.
ReplyDeleteSome great shots from one of my favourite parts of the world.
ReplyDeleteI really like your 'Lovely Loch Ken' shot, and of course the sight of Ailsa Craig!
ReplyDelete