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Wildlife highlight of the day

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  1. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Twitter reports of a Spoonbill at Loch Leven. Gloriously improbable birds.

    Have recently been getting more involved as a Committee member of the Figgate Friends, primarily as a wildlife bod (and there are some weird and wonderful queries). Wildlife there is just constantly changing. At present there are regular Otter sightings. We tend to get stars for a while. A couple of years ago it was a Mandarin Duck, then last year a pair of very, very confident Kingfishers. We usually get Otters passing through, or around for about a week before exhausting food stocks, but for around three months now there are weekly sightings (and at the start there were three that were being seen daily). Saturday morning shot below.

    Also now a trustee on the Council of the Scottish Wildlife Trust - aim in my initial three year tenure is to visit every reserve.

    Saturday at the Figgate at sun-up, then a wander to Fast Castle to watch the Gannets (Bass Rock landing trip in a couple of weeks as well - have done it once before, and it was properly amazing).

    Figgate Otter_17 by Anthony Robson, on Flickr

    Figgate Sandpiper by Anthony Robson, on Flickr

    Fast Castle Gannet_7 by Anthony Robson, on Flickr

    Fast Castle Shag by Anthony Robson, on Flickr

    Fast Castle Peregrine_2 by Anthony Robson, on Flickr

    Posted 5 years ago #

  2. gembo
    Member

    Great shots

    Good to have ye back

    I spotted a very sandy coloured hawk hovering over a field. Could not say for sure. Would love it to have been Eleanora's Falcon. Unlikely but as I am sitting outside in a big garden scented with orange blossom and drinking citron presse from lemons I picked off the tree you may be able to tell I am not in Scotland. Rather I am in Mallorca.

    Small town called Sineu that has now had electric train extended to it.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  3. amir
    Member

    Lovely photos!

    Posted 5 years ago #

  4. gembo
    Member

    Many swallows and house martens swooping (Mallorca) Though also told that swallow spotted at Kirk Yetholm last Saturday.

    Spoonbill at Loch Leven

    swallow at kirk Yetholm

    What is the world coming too?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  5. ejstubbs
    Member

    @gembo: Four years ago almost to the day (18/4/15) we were sat in the garden of the Gordon Arms Hotel (seven miles south of Traquair) enjoying a drink in the spring sunshine, and watching swallows swooping across the field at the back of the pub.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  6. gembo
    Member

    @ejstubbs , nice swallow action, keen to get down to Ettrick valley via Gordon arms and tibbie shiels soon.

    Today's wildlife largely Brown goats. The young girls of the Holmfirth CC were very taken with one at Cap de Tormentor. Well Formentor

    They were maybe twelve years of age (the girls) but they did not quite catch us on the way to the lighthouse and I think stayed for lunch et cetera whilst we returned to Puerto Pollenca

    Posted 5 years ago #

  7. acsimpson
    Member

    I was nearly hit by a large gull this morning. I think it was possibly fighting another gull but by the time I was aware of it there was about 1m between my head. Thankfully it swooped up just as I noticed it and my last minute flinch was probably unnecessary.

    I was already aware of their size but up close their wingspan is quite intimidating.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  8. Zenfrozt
    Member

    Saw my first ducklings of the year on the canal path on the ride in today. Then on the way home I was super excited to see a Swan building her nest.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  9. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    On the way home starlings were quite clearly imitating the swifts which are now only three weeks away at most.

    Time to resurrect the Swiftwatch™ thread or did I imagine that?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  10. chdot
    Admin

    Posted 5 years ago #

  11. gembo
    Member

    Two large birds of prey high above Soller in Mallorca, lunchtime today. We then cycled up to the point they were soaring above. Was quite a climb.

    On the way up we startled a white egret

    Posted 5 years ago #

  12. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @gembo

    Damn the egrets. Any news on the swifts?

    Posted 5 years ago #

  13. ejstubbs
    Member

    @gembo: Swallow flew overhead as I was cycling past Swanston Steading yesterday evening. First of the year and pretty much bang on schedule!

    Ah, the goats of northern Mallorca... If you fancy a walk as a change from the saddle then the Boquer Valley is worth a visit, especially at this time of of year as it's a bit of a migration stopover hotspot. It's also home to a number of semi-wild goats, some of which have worked out that tourists are often good for a free meal:

    We encountered this particular one two days running. We named her Agnes, for reasons which probably made perfect sense at the time. (The wee beach at the end of the valley, where that photo was taken, is very pleasant for a dip to break the walk. Incalculably more appealing than e.g. Cala San Vicenc which we found to be overrun with overweight, sweaty, sunburned Brits reading the Mail and the Express.)

    If you're feeling adventurous you can go back along the Cavall Bernat Ridge which has some interesting scrambling and some impressive 'windows' in the rock.

    Caveat: all the above is based on our last visit, in 2006. Things may have changed since then. Based on what we saw then, I wouldn't recommend the Torrent de Pareis - although the road down to Sa Calobra is quite spectacular and would probably be an interesting ride. When we were there the beach at the end of the torrent was horribly overcrowded so we did a 180 and walked straight back out. There followed the absolute low point of our visit as we encountered a sweaty bloke walking in, wearing a "Free sex lessons" tee shirt - accompanied by his son who couldn't have been more then 12 years old, sporting the same unappealing slogan on his top. Nice. We ended up at Cala Tuent just along the coast (off the same road that goes to Sa Calobra), which was much more civilised. When we went you had to walk in through the reserve on the headland above but I understand that there is now parking at the beach - which might mean that it's not as secluded as it was 13 years ago.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  14. gembo
    Member

    @ejstubbs, was at sa calobra last year, the climb back is treacherous with the buses coming down. There is great walking in Mallorca. The climb up to the Respol Garage before the Col de Reis descent to Sa Caolabra with the 270 degree turn has great looking gorge walking.

    Today numerous small birds of prey, I am saying Hobbies. Also many red kite (Milano). And a different white egret. Still just house martins and swallows swooping. How long does a swift take to fly from Mallorca to Inch Park?

    We went up to one monastery near Petra this morning then found local bar for coffee at 1 euro (less than apple pie prices). Then out to a strange German surfing community. Everything quiet as off season but big procession through sineu tomorrow night. We were listening to the choir at the church rehearsing two nights back.

    Found two litre flagon of red wine for 3.95 euros. Was drinkable. Poured from stainless steel tank.

    Many goats all answering to Agnes. Some great wee donkeys too of course

    Posted 5 years ago #

  15. gembo
    Member

    Persistent drizzle this morning. Could have been Scotland. The hedgerow birds were very happy, many greenfinch and yellow finch types. Also ducks, not seen them before. The big red kites came out later.

    Today we found the valley of the pistachios. Just outside of Petra on the way to Son Serra take a right turn and descend through the fertile valley, eventually you reach large groves of very straight tall slim trees with lilac flowers and nutty aroma in the air.

    Beyond this on the way to Arta the cooncil have put in new ashphalt and few cars have ever touched the road. Even the way up yo the hermitage of Betlem has been well repaired.

    Turning round we had a mighty tail wind all the way home. Spotted some vulture like birds (turkeys?) at nearby farm

    Posted 5 years ago #

  16. gembo
    Member

    @iwrats, feint possibility that the two swift like birds I saw quite high up this afternoon were swifts, there was an accompanying shriek, though this may have been a child I could not see, further down the street.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  17. jdanielp
    Member

    A peregrine falcon circling the tower of the Church of St Walburge, a duck on the Lancaster Canal with eleven ducklings in tow, and (so far) a pair of bullfinches, a male great spotted woodpecker and a parakeet on the bird feeders in my parents' back garden.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  18. Frenchy
    Member

    Hedgehog in the garden last night. Dog very interested, took two of us to pull him away.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  19. jdanielp
    Member

    A large terrapin basking on the bank of the Lancaster Canal this morning.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  20. chdot
    Admin

    Posted 5 years ago #

  21. gembo
    Member

    Swallow there in Balerno, has followed me back from Mallorca where it has been raining

    Posted 5 years ago #

  22. unhurt
    Member

    Dark phase Arctic skua from the Hamnavoe five minutes ago.

    Posting mostly for @iwrats

    Posted 5 years ago #

  23. unhurt
    Member

    Arctic skuas PLURAL now. In a perfect golden evening. Like piratical swifts, slicing through the sky.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  24. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Our relatively regular Otter in the early AM in the Figgate today, a young Woodpigeon acting voyeur to an older pair to the daily spectacle on the telephone wire over our garden yesterday, and Purple Sandpiper off Gullane Point on Saturday.

    Figgate Otter_19 by Anthony Robson, on Flickr

    Juvenile Woodpigeon_2 by Anthony Robson, on Flickr

    Gullane Purple Sandpipers_1 by Anthony Robson, on Flickr

    Posted 5 years ago #

  25. unhurt
    Member

    That pigeon image. A friend told me about the time their six year old wanted to point out the bird giving the other bird a piggy back ride...

    Posted 5 years ago #

  26. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Well it must be that, and not the other, cos you never see baby pigeons....

    Posted 5 years ago #

  27. fimm
    Member

    First skylark of the year - from my parents back garden in Dunbar. Also a very, very, very persistent blackbird.

    A lizard! in the Pentlands! On the track up to the Bore Stane.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  28. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    It's the inclusion of the third bird that makes the photo for me.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  29. unhurt
    Member

    Do pigeons have an equivalent term for dogging? Sparrowing?

    Two lovely dunters (eider) up close from the wee shingle beachlet below Stromness Museum.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  30. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/video-giant-rats-running-riot-on-scottish-housing-estate-1-4912405

    Posted 5 years ago #

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