8.3 million dogs in Britain - What's their Carbon Footprint?

Not so much "8.3 million" dogs in Britain, more like on Balmossie Beach! Olive reckons this is an exaggeration, maybe it is, but sometimes it feels like that when trying to find birds being constantly chased and disturbed by free-running dogs!!

A previously promised Bullfinch video, click here  taken at Backwater Dam near the house on the west bank. Note it's filmed in 4K UHD and may need a fast connection or it might buffer

Bar-tailed Godwits, I counted around 210 birds

At last they got a chance to feed, but the Grey Plover had fled permanently

Bullfinches and Dippers

The Great Grey Shrike wasn't found on a visit to Backwater Dam on Thursday but some Bullfinches entertained me for a while. 
Forfar Loch wasn't inspiring but one Goldeneye co-operated for a couple of photos, but everything else was staying away from the busy shoreline.
Finally a few photos of a pair of Dippers on the Brothock Burn seen swimming and singing not far from the sea.

Maybe a video to go here later.........

Five male Bullfinches in the tree that the Waxwings have abandoned at Backwater Dam

Just as I managed to get the confidence of this male Goldeneye at Forfar Loch it was flushed by a free roaming dog

The result

Two Magpies were at the feeders near the Sailing Club at Forfar Loch. The low sun has made this photo far too green, but I suppose that's what it looked like through my binoculars

Many Robins along the path but the light had gone

One of the the Brothock Dippers, a male and apparently a bigamist! It was sitting in the darkest spot it could have found

This one presumably a female was with the male above and it seemed that both were singing. Even I could hear it and they say I've got "stoor in mi lugs"

The arty shot taken into the sunset, both birds were swimming in one of the deeper bits of the burn

Treecreeper creeping!

Too dark when I saw a Woodcock at Douglasmuir but a Treecreeper obliged briefly when the sun was still up a bit. I'd been at Murton earlier and will post more Green-winged videos if they are as good as I think they are.

These wee fellas just won't stay still enough for sharp photos in late afternoon

Same photo as above but with a portrait crop

The same idea again, first a landscape and below a portrait

Robin visiting a feeder at the car parking opposite Parkgrove Crematorium

One of the two Buzzards which I'm blaming for not seeing a Green Sandpiper. One sat in a tree near where the Sandpiper would likely appear, then the other had a go at it. Then to make it worse a female Sparrowhawk flew in to the vacant tree!

Goldeneye drake on Buddy's Pond, Murton

Mute Swan on Buddy's Loch at Murton

Back to Black - Scoter that is

I wasn't going out today until Gus reported the Black Scoter at Lunan Bay and I was lured out to spend what seemed like an age finding the Scoter. After scanning the Scoter flock numerous times, and I don't know why, I focused on a likely bird which was sleeping. Eventually it lifted its head and behold it was the Black Scoter, too far out for any photo or video attempt, but I was glad, no relieved to see it. A bonus group of four Velvet Scoter and the many Long-tailed Ducks and Red-throated Divers completed the visit.

Returning to Arbroath I found the birds below around the harbour but no sign of the Iceland Gull seen yesterday. I couldn't access Victoria Park as some fool had driven a 4 by 4 onto the beach and got stuck, the Coastguard had blocked the road to pull it off!!

The first Little Grebe I've ever seen in the inner dock/marina or Arbroath Harbour

A Wren on the banks of the Brothock Burn near Peppos chip shop. No Dipper or Grey Wagtail to be seen there since the end of the year

A single Curlew was feeding in the large pool behind the Old Brewhouse

The male Sparrowhawk in late afternoon, back in my garden and to make it worse for the wee birds I saw a female take a House Sparrow yesterday. The female had been hunting closer to the cemetery at the other side of the street/crescent

Black-bellied Dipper and drake Smew

A trip to St Andrews with Olive, who claims she's my lucky charm! I was hoping to get the drake Smew at Cameron Reservoir, find the Black-bellied Dipper on the Kinness Burn and Snow Buntings at Out Head. We ran out of time, or did Olive run out of steam? We did get the Dipper and the Smew as you'll see below.

The Black-bellied Dipper on the Kinness Burn at Hallow Hill in St Andrews. As with most Dippers it was in a shaded gully which meant a long reach with a high ISO result. I happy with these, for a change!

My preferred photo with "the bling" hidden

For comparison, a UK Dipper with the brown belly, this one appeared to be paired with the Black-bellied Dipper

Drake Smew in the centre of the photo, a small bird on a big loch, and I was using effectively 600mm. Cameron Reservoir, at the far end from the car park

Crop of the photo above

When getting back into the car in St Andrews Olive noticed Redwings in a tree nearby, unusually they didn't fly away, to start with....

Without being noticed this male Sparrowhawk slipped into the Redwings tree and then dropped into the garden where they appeared to escape without a casualty

Wren in the undergrowth in Kinness Den near Hallow Hill

Chinese, or Swan Goose at Cameron Reservoir, free to roam on the loch. When the same freedom was given to this species at Murton they cross bred with the Greylags, and who knows what else. No wonder we find so many hybrids

If it's windy - then fly a Kite

No Green-winged Teal on Wednesday so I photographed what was there at Murton near Forfar. Further down this post are photos taken in this weeks storm from Gourdon where I'd hoped to find a Glaucous Gull but failed. I might post a video from my phone of the sea.

Gourdon on a stormy sea, click here for video  still 2 hours before high tide!

Wigeon feeding at Murton, click here     Teal drakes displaying, click here

Goldeneye displaying, click here           Goldeneye ducks, click here

Red Kite at Murton, seen while trying to find the Green-winged Teal again. The plan being to get a photo in better light but it had went very quickly to gloomy from sunny...

Photo from a fair bit away using my 2 times teleconverter

Goldeneye drake

Goldeneye duck

Incoming Goldeneye

The drake Teal were displaying, mostly to each other as many already had found the love of their lives, much like me, but I gave displaying in my late teens!

Teal drake

Teal pair

It walked past the Gladstone Hide so it got photographed

Yes, another gloomy day photo, this time a female Kestrel near the Twite feeding station at Montrose Basin

A short sequence showing a Herring Gull carefully plucking what looks like a piece of plastic from the big waves at Gourdon. The photos aren't in monochrome, at 1430 on a poor and very stormy day that's exactly what everything looked like!

Black-headed Gull feeding in the stormy waves which were crashing over the harbour side buildings at Gourdon