Ducklings and Little Ringed Plovers

Politics moved to below the photos.

I had a long look at the Lurgies on Wednesday while waiting for the tide to bring birds up the basin which it did, but nothing of great interest or rarity. I probably should have gone back in the evening as the tide receded. Moving inland later I checked if the Little Ringed Plovers had fledged any young as they are getting close but none yet in or near the protected nest.

Mallard with 12 ducklings, but how many will she manage to keep from the ever increasing numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls waiting for the Eider ducklings to be brought down to the water

Probably the last two Mergansers to pair up, they are always later than the ducks

The male Little Ringed Plover at our local site benefitting from the protective cage which has kept the nest and eggs safe despite persistent attention from crows but it does leave the nest on each occasion

The colour rings are more clearly seen in this photo taken just after the cloud moved in

The first photo I've got of a Tree Sparrow in my garden for some time now, they have been coming in but are very flighty and spooked by the noisy Starlings

If it wasn't "just a Feral Pigeon" more people would give these more attention, just look at the colours on the neck and the red/orange eye

The world is watching and it's an embarrassment for Scotland, the Scottish Government and the SNH. Click here to read a conservationists blog  

Japanese Conservationists to help with Raven Cull?? Click here for full article

The predation of Tern chicks by sheep. Click here
R.W. FURNESS Applied Ornithology Unit, Department of Zoology,
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

Birds first, photos second or even not at all!

It's nesting season and the information here is now at its most relevant and is worth reading. I do have some photos to post and will do so soon.


Bird Photography, the law, moral, ethical and legal. links to an RSPB article

Wildlife & Countryside Act

The Schedules

SNH Protected Species Guidance

Schedule 1 list and information in pdf format


The promised photos, these taken from the Ultimate Predator out of Arbroath when ADBC club members undertook a sea based count of sea birds for the current national seabird survey. It's surprisingly difficult to take photos from a moving boat, just take lots and hope you get some with birds in the frame.

The sea birds first, then some very unexpected Barnacle Geese, a skein of 90 heading northeast and finally a couple of views I don't normally see.

Only 17 Puffins seen

Lots of Guillemots

Looks good but it's likely all of the species counts will be considerably lower than the last count in 2001 - 2002

Fulmar

Barnacle Geese

Couldn't get all 90 birds in as they appeared from behind the wheelhouse of the boat

Ethie Haven

Red Castle and a strangely pinkish sky. Googles fault I'm sure, the original isn't pink

St Cyrus NNR - Dolphins and Moths

Monday is "go for a walk day" and today it was St Cyrus where we saw the first Cinnabar Moths of the year, Whitethroats, Stonechats, Sedge Warblers, Reed Buntings and Ravens. At one point I had a photo of what looked like a Yellow Wagtail, they say the camera doesn't lie.The bird was being lit by the sunlight reflecting off the gorse, it's back looked green the underparts a strong yellow, the tail was short but the legs were pink and not black as they should be. Goes to show that without a photo, as I couldn't see it well into the sun, it nearly became a report in error.

Cinnabar Moth at St Cyrus NNR

One of eight Bottle-nosed Dolphins well offshore putting on a display which I couldn't get even with the Tamron 600mm

I also had splashes, photos of tails and confused shots

My garden has become over-run by Starlings making a huge racket with the youngsters demanding food from parents almost constantly

Plenty of leather-jackets and more

I said "feed me"

Corn Bunting - Songbook

I've been busy doing non-birding things but did manage a short video from my first Corn Bunting survey this season. The link below is to the YouTube version which will play in Full HD if selected in the settings and I've added the same video directly below but have never been impressed with results in that system. Currently Corn Buntings are likely to be seen sitting on the wires between Arbroath and Lunan Bay on the back road, with mornings being the prime time to see them.


Corn Bunting male singing at 0600 on the Angus coast, click to play YouTube version

Taken at 65 - 104 zoom with audio dubbed in later

A still of the same bird in the low morning sunshine taken with a Canon SX60, as the video was

House Sparrows 2018

A cleanse of my camera and computer before I start some surveys during which I probably won't carry a camera, or at least a good/heavy one.

Apologies if I've posted this before but it's about Angus where I live. It's a blog post on wildlife crimes investigated in Angus and includes a motion submitted to the Scottish Parliament.

The blog post, ignore the editors picture in the intro and read on. Click here to open

The first of the many expected broods of House Sparrows I'm expecting in my garden, although I didn't think they would be around for a week or so and some are still nest building on my roof

Dad doesn't seem to know what to do, or doesn't care

Mum no doubt has been the busy parent with regard to the chicks while Dad would have been the provider of food

A lonely Pink-footed Goose flew past the new Shelduck Hide at Montrose Basin on May 18th. It looked fit enough to have migrated and may yet

Same goose, both photos from the Lurgies path

Probably the last photo of a Red-breasted Merganser until the females emerge in a few weeks with their new broods

Red-throated Divers and a host of others

Two or is it three days of photos, starting with a totally unexpected pair of divers found on a long excursion in the hills. Many of the other photos were taken nearby as I searched out flat ground to ease off my stiff legs and joints. They say, "old age disnae come its sel"

On Carnoustie Golf Links today I met a group of golfers who asked, what are you looking for? "birds" I replied. Quick as a flash one said, " are you Frank McAvennie", brilliant!

Red-throated Diver on a hill lochan which I doubt could support a nesting attempt unless the adults fly elsewhere to fish

I can't be sure, but I believe the pair were flushed from cover on an island by a Golden Eagle which flew over but quickly banked at away. The birds could see me but as I was at a distance they didn't seem bothered and I found a suitable large rock to disappear behind

Kestrel, brightened from a dark original to prove it was just a Kestrel and not a Merlin

An unusually confiding Red Deer, originally it hid behind a peat hag only 30 metres away

Female Blackcap, I suppose nowadays it might have to be renamed a Browncap in the interests of equality

The male of the pair in Craigmill Den

Not often a Carrion Crow sits still and with the sun lighting it up

Purple Sandpiper on the beach near Craigmill burn. There were two there along with around 30 Sanderlings, Turnstones and Ringed Plover

One of the Craigmill Den Rooks, their rookery is expanding to the north bank and upstream

Inconveniently this Sedge Warbler and another have set up home surrounded by gorse bushes on the small loch at Carnoustie Golf Links

The drake of a pair of Sheducks that Olive didn't see when she flushed them from the burn at Craigmill

One of many Skylarks in the fields between Easthaven and Craigmill

A new parent on the golf links with a maggot, worm and Hawthorn Fly, yummy

Starling at Barry Halt where a helpful security guard confirmed that access is still available to the links, probably up until July 2nd. To be confirmed

Swallow on the beach at Craigmill

Turnstone

This is one of a pair of Wheatear which look to be considering nesting in a tattie field at Easthaven. I'll check again on my Webs at the weekend

A little bird but with a big character, I like Whitethroats

Two of eight to ten Bottlenose Dolphins just north of Whiting Ness at Arbroath Cliffs

Jackdaw. It's the kind of look only a wife could produce, that's why I don't have one

Kittiwake at the Mariners Grave, Arbroath Cliffs

The "odd couple", the same Mallard drake paired with the Tufted duck at Keptie Pond as before. Two other female Mallards have four and five ducklings each, the four are getting close to being to big for the gulls to swallow

Big fellow, little fellows

An unexpected find when driving around Angus looking for gull nesting sites recently and reward for my efforts I think, a sub adult White-tailed Eagle. I expected that many of the sites would no longer be in use since the last survey was done in 2000-2001 and that was the case. Finding where they've gone isn't easy.

Also some photos from a recce I did to get the lay of the land before I start Corn Bunting Surveys and very encouraging that I saw three singing males on the area of the farm where they were absent last year. Then a few more photos from the garden as I tested out the remote again.

This photo must have been before it gained height and drifted into the next glen

Reed Bunting female, in company with a male on one of my Corn Bunting survey areas

Skylark

Another Skylark looking a bit damp

Yellowhammer

Not often that a Dunnock is seen out of cover but this one lands on the stub I left for it when I cut the leylandii

Olive's Goldfinch, it and three others are emptying the feeder some days, or could it be that we only see four at a time and more birds are involved. Very unusual for us to see them at this time of year

Greenfinch

The undergrowth was still wet and this House Sparrow is soaked. You might be able to see the many spider legs in and around it's beak

An interesting Tulip in one of Olive's planters