I'm not making any comment on this as I've nothing to compare it to or the consequences for the future. Elsewhere, pipes have been installed on the outlet burns and ditches to keep water flowing from the loch, but the Beavers can build counter-measures quicker than the RSPB.
Sunday 31 March 2019
Beaver Landscape Engineering Ltd, (unlimited?)
Loch of Kinnordy Beavers.
I'm not making any comment on this as I've nothing to compare it to or the consequences for the future. Elsewhere, pipes have been installed on the outlet burns and ditches to keep water flowing from the loch, but the Beavers can build counter-measures quicker than the RSPB.
I'm not making any comment on this as I've nothing to compare it to or the consequences for the future. Elsewhere, pipes have been installed on the outlet burns and ditches to keep water flowing from the loch, but the Beavers can build counter-measures quicker than the RSPB.
Thursday 28 March 2019
Video catch-up - Flickr now behaving
Now that Flickr has got their act together, here's some video I've now managed to upload. Better conversion than YouTube but still not as good as the originals.
Great Crested Grebes, Forfar Loch, click here for video maybe dancing at the weekend?
Green Sandpiper still at Murton, click here for a chase! halfway through it flies and is then chased by a Redshank
Green Sandpiper at 104 zoom, click here, (short video)
Teal, immediately in front of the Gullery Hide, Kinnordy
Yellowhammer pair, through double glazing and chicken mesh
Roe buck at Kinnordy, losing its velvet
Close up of one of my Greenfinches
Another dull day Little Egret video, fishing (120 seconds)
Might have posted this Brambling before?
Great Crested Grebes, Forfar Loch, click here for video maybe dancing at the weekend?
Green Sandpiper still at Murton, click here for a chase! halfway through it flies and is then chased by a Redshank
Green Sandpiper at 104 zoom, click here, (short video)
Teal, immediately in front of the Gullery Hide, Kinnordy
Yellowhammer pair, through double glazing and chicken mesh
Roe buck at Kinnordy, losing its velvet
Close up of one of my Greenfinches
Another dull day Little Egret video, fishing (120 seconds)
Might have posted this Brambling before?
Harriers and Hybrids
Some on a dull day, some in the sun and most in a wind that makes handheld photography a challenge. I need my Sherpa to step up and carry my tripod!
Gadwall courtship and mating, Kinnordy, click here for video
Slow motion video of the hybrid duck below, click here
Marsh Harrier, collecting nest material, click here for video
Gadwall courtship and mating, Kinnordy, click here for video
Slow motion video of the hybrid duck below, click here
Marsh Harrier, collecting nest material, click here for video
Pochard drake and Tufted duck hybrid at Balgavies Loch. I thought it was a Scaup at first and was busy trying to get some video when Barry pointed out it was a hybrid. I should have known as I've seen the same version before and I'd suggested to Colin it could be. I jumped the gun!
At the car park at Forfar Loch, male Bullfinch
One of the pesky Feral Pigeons who daily try to get at the fallen seed from the messy Sparrows at my feeder. The seed drops into a 50mm mesh cage so they can't get at it
Fly past at Kinnordy
Cock Pheasant, Kinnordy
Teal drake, Kinnordy
Teal duck
Toads at the Lily Pond, Kinnordy
Male Marsh Harrier with some nest material, very far away
This Roe buck at Kinnordy is just beginning to lose its velvet from the antlers
Wigeon drake
Beaver at work
This Carrion Crow was berating a dog at Forfar Loch, constantly calling from the nearest and safest tree
Again, the dog's gone
At least six Great Crested Grebes just now at Forfar Loch
One of these two photos is from the Canon SX60, I'm surprised
Always calling from a conifer nearby at Forfar Loch. Magpies appear all of the way around the loch now
Goosander
It's the time of year when Dunnocks lose their fear and start singing from the small trees and bushes
Still a few Tree Sparrows visiting my garden despite the constant and recurring Sparrowhawk
One of Olive's daffs
Sunday 24 March 2019
Redshanks and Knot - in numbers
Photos from Friday when it blew a gale and was overcast. I thought I'd sit at Maryton Ditch to see if I could capture birds as they flew up the basin to shelter at high tide. I think a bit earlier might have been better for birds still on the mud, and the birds in flight didn't fly past as close as I've seen them before, hey ho. As the tide peaked I moved down to the Bank of Scotland Hide but didn't see anything I didn't expect. Finally a couple from my Webs count on Saturday.
Not the whole flock of Redshanks seen flying past Maryton Ditch on Friday. I reckon the complete flock and three smaller groups reached around 400 birds. There are a few Dunlin and at least one Knot in the photo
Some of the birds returned to feed on the tiny bit of mud before it was covered by the fast incoming tide
I counted 37 Knot in the flock these were part of
A closer look at a few of the Knot
I think some are just beginning to show a tinge of orange on their bellies, or is it just silt
The Snipe at the Bank of Scotland Hide were forced to break cover and move to dry ground when the large high tide flooded most of the salt pans. They were still impossible to photograph in poor light and their unannounced short flights
The "resident" Little Egret which chased another away again
One of the Craigmill Den Stock Doves no doubt, in a field near Easthaven
Turnstones at Easthaven, seen on my Webs count. When they took off it turned out there were 17 of them, most unseen on this photo
Friday 22 March 2019
Wild Justice, Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage
This is it for Friday, but it's Important.
I don't normally donate as I'm tight, so says Olive, but this legal challenge to "General Licenses" caught my attention on the same day I found out via BirdGuides that Scottish Natural Heritage have authorised the killing of Cormorants and Goosanders on the River Tweed, "to study what they eat", apparently without looking at other factors affecting salmon populations! They eat fish!
Support "Wild Justice" to stop the licensed casual killing of birds, click here to donate
This is from the Wild Justice "donate page",
Wild Justice challenges the casual killing of birds
The statutory agency Natural England allows the unlimited killing of a wide variety of bird species under a series of ‘General Licences' which are published at the start of each year. Birds such as Carrion Crows, Rooks, Magpies, Woodpigeons, Jackdaws, Jays and Ring-necked Parakeets can be killed without applying for a licence, without having to justify why the action is necessary, without having to explain why alternative non-lethal measures such as scaring or proofing are ineffective or impracticable, and without having to report on how many birds are killed. All a person needs to do to ‘qualify’ to kill unlimited numbers of these birds is to claim to have read and understood the relevant General Licence.
I don't normally donate as I'm tight, so says Olive, but this legal challenge to "General Licenses" caught my attention on the same day I found out via BirdGuides that Scottish Natural Heritage have authorised the killing of Cormorants and Goosanders on the River Tweed, "to study what they eat", apparently without looking at other factors affecting salmon populations! They eat fish!
Support "Wild Justice" to stop the licensed casual killing of birds, click here to donate
This is from the Wild Justice "donate page",
Wild Justice challenges the casual killing of birds
The statutory agency Natural England allows the unlimited killing of a wide variety of bird species under a series of ‘General Licences' which are published at the start of each year. Birds such as Carrion Crows, Rooks, Magpies, Woodpigeons, Jackdaws, Jays and Ring-necked Parakeets can be killed without applying for a licence, without having to justify why the action is necessary, without having to explain why alternative non-lethal measures such as scaring or proofing are ineffective or impracticable, and without having to report on how many birds are killed. All a person needs to do to ‘qualify’ to kill unlimited numbers of these birds is to claim to have read and understood the relevant General Licence.
Thursday 21 March 2019
FLICKR - fully open as a trial
A new trial, I'm publicising my Flickr Albums, and Photostream after asking myself, "what's the point of all of my photos if nobody sees them"?
I'll still keep this blog in the same format and will update it as before. The difference if viewers choose, is that photos on the blog at 1200 pixels might also be put on Flickr in a better resolution. Flickr's video processing also seems to make for a better result than YouTube.
Note, there's no guarantee of quality, only my best efforts and rarities will be posted even if they are rubbish (sometimes). I'm using a paid version of Flickr as one of my backups, so sometimes there will be duplicates or multiple photos of the same bird, animal or view. I don't sell, try to sell or make any money from this, as I said to Olive, "it keeps me oot o' thi hoose".
The first screen grab below shows the current album list I have, dated 21/3/2019, and below that the same info split into two in the hope it would be clearer on a phone or tablet.
ALBUMS, click here to go to Flickr Albums
PHOTOSTREAM, click here to go to Flickr Photostream
I'll still keep this blog in the same format and will update it as before. The difference if viewers choose, is that photos on the blog at 1200 pixels might also be put on Flickr in a better resolution. Flickr's video processing also seems to make for a better result than YouTube.
Note, there's no guarantee of quality, only my best efforts and rarities will be posted even if they are rubbish (sometimes). I'm using a paid version of Flickr as one of my backups, so sometimes there will be duplicates or multiple photos of the same bird, animal or view. I don't sell, try to sell or make any money from this, as I said to Olive, "it keeps me oot o' thi hoose".
The first screen grab below shows the current album list I have, dated 21/3/2019, and below that the same info split into two in the hope it would be clearer on a phone or tablet.
ALBUMS, click here to go to Flickr Albums
PHOTOSTREAM, click here to go to Flickr Photostream
View of my album list in Flickr
Left hand view enlarged
Right hand view enlarged
Wednesday 20 March 2019
Puffin Return
Flickr is back up and running videos! I've uploaded 17 this morning and they should play better than those on YouTube. The latest are in an album called VIDEOS and can be accessed on this link.
Link to my Album list, click here to open
Four photos of some six Puffins at Auchmithie, Maiden Stane on Wednesday and the first butterfly I've seen this year, a Small Tortoiseshell. Note, the Puffins are still on the sea and never came close in. You can probably see them from the village, the road end, with binoculars or a scope.
Puffins at Auchmithie, click here for video Puffin, Auchmithie, click here for video
Link to my Album list, click here to open
Four photos of some six Puffins at Auchmithie, Maiden Stane on Wednesday and the first butterfly I've seen this year, a Small Tortoiseshell. Note, the Puffins are still on the sea and never came close in. You can probably see them from the village, the road end, with binoculars or a scope.
Puffins at Auchmithie, click here for video Puffin, Auchmithie, click here for video
Fulmar
Little Gulls, Monikie 18/3/2019
Still being hindered by a wonky eye, I've been restricting myself to "easy" opportunities for photos!
In this post I've covered Monikie CP, Montreathmont Forest, Murton NR and my kitchen.
In this post I've covered Monikie CP, Montreathmont Forest, Murton NR and my kitchen.
Little Gull at Monikie CP, Angus. Only four gulls on Monday, but it's early and the lack of wind meant all of the gulls were sitting still on the Island Pond Needless to say, they were in the middle of the large pond
Lesser Black-backed Gull, Monikie
Brambling (again) Montreathmont Forest
A proud looking bird
Chaffinch, Montreathmont
Coal Tit
Goldfinch
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Redpoll
Lesser Redpoll
Sorry about the Red Squirrel fest, I promised myself that I'll stop taking photos, how many Squirrel photos does anyone need! Olive likes them and so do the many grand-kids
Siskin
Siskin
Yellowhammer, female
Yellowhammer, male
Goldeneye drake at Murton NR
Goldeneye duck
Goldeneye duck
Lapwing, also Murton
Common Quaker Moth, my kitchen on Tuesday. Olive thinks it originated in my wallet!
Common Quaker Moth
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