In the bleak midwinter

   
I've reproduced Raptor Persecution UK's top ten most read posts from 2020 below. Just click on the links to see what's been happening in the world of persecution.

Satellite-tagged white-tailed eagle found poisoned on grouse moor in Cairngorms National Park

Golden eagle Tom disappears in suspicious circumstances on Scottish grouse moor

Missing eagle’s satellite tag found cut and wrapped in lead, dumped in river at Strathbraan

45 hen harriers ‘missing’ or confirmed illegally killed since 2018

The five brood meddled hen harriers from 2019 are all ‘missing’

Scottish Government commits to develop immediate licensing scheme for driven grouse shooting

The eagle’s satellite tag found in the river: poetic injustice

Licensing scheme for release of pheasants and red-legged partridge in England following Wild Justice legal challenge

Post mortem reveals Welsh golden eagle had suffered gunshot injury

RSPB announces its ‘new’ policy on gamebird shooting 

and three popular posts from this blog in 2020

Yellow Wagtails and Wheatears

Great White Egret and its mate the Otter

Pinkies, and outrageous zoom failures

618 Linnets

   
I'm not sure how or if this will work. The photos below were uploaded at full size, but if I display them at that they don't fit. I have though.....

This will be a one of as it's too untidy, but 1430 pixel versions wouldn't show the birds well at all.
The photos were taken for the Corn Bunting Project, just one problem, no Corn Buntings on this farm's wild bird cover yet.

Believe me, there are 618 Linnets in this photo

I know for sure as I counted them

Soon, "not a leg to stand on"

It's a sad state of affairs when people can't retain or pick up litter, especially when wildlife is around. The photos below are only the tip of a very large iceberg. I've seen many birds entangled, some missing legs or feet, seals with plastic cutting deeply into their flesh and many birds dead in netting. All of this from the society that thought it was great to engage with wildlife in 2020!

I'll have a look through my photos to see if I've kept any of the previous birds and animals in the same distress.

Great Black-backed Gull with anglers fishing line wrapped around both legs, already severing the right leg and most likely it will lose both legs!

It can't or doesn't want to put its foot down, a double amputee at less than a year old will soon be its fate. This gull was seen at Arbroath Harbour and only 25 metres from the Turnstone in my last post which had lost a foot.

Some more "Purple Sandpiper Love"

   
I had to go out to get a replacement light tube, yes of course it failed on Xmas Eve after everything was closed. It seemed approriate that I should go to the harbour while out to see if the Purple Sandpipers were making it any easier for photography, yes and no. My arms aren't long enough to reach far enough over and out from the sea wall to keep the white wall out of the shot, yes I'm never happy. The Little Grebe was still there and a Turnstone missing it's right foot.

Later I saw the Kingfisher at Keptie Pond but in the shade and it wouldn't settle with the people and noise around, even electric scooters today!

Redshank guard at Arbroath Harbour, click here        Goosander drake, click here  Video is UHD

Purple Sandpipers roosting out the hight tide at Arbroath Harbour, avoiding their preferred roost the west breakwater due to the waves washing over it

Little Grebe in the outer harbour

I originally thought this Turnstone had one foot in a puddle on the deck of this boat, it's missing the right foot

The Redshanks standing on guard, obviously someone walked straight at them and flushed them all

Still on the 2020 nest at Keptie Pond

A Walk on the Wild Side (Lou Reed)

   
First midwinter look at some of the Wild Bird Cover with a view to getting some photos of birds flying over and landing in the cover. It worked to a degree, but I'll have to go again when the sun stays out and the wind isn't so cold.

Lou Reed, Walk on the Wild Side, top song from my youth

Some of the large flock of Linnets feeding on and near to one of the Corn Bunting Project's Wild Bird Cover strips

I counted the birds in this photo at 190, more were left and right of the frame, perhaps 250+ Linnets

They got a bit closer before a free-running Alsatian flushed them to a stubble field, at that point I'd had long enough sitting in a cold wet field

Pied Wagtail at the Old Brewhouse

The large crane/barge working on the new Bellrock wind farm. Photo with a 300mm lens, I'll try later with the P1000 3000mm

Garden/Covid/Lockdown/Cats

   
I'd gathered some garden photos for Olive's daughter to show the potential birdlife that could be seen in her garden if she put up feeders, and kept the mad Spaniel indoors. She'd kindly given me a sack of mixed seed for Christmas.

These are the photos from earlier in the year, and I've detailed as much as I remember about breeding success. The numbers were down on previous years, but I hope that's because everyone this year was providing food and enjoying the birds in their gardens, and spreading the birds around more.

The highlight and a first for the garden was a Jay. I'd seen it fly over and one morning Olive saw it in the garden. Only  a few days later we sat in the garden and watched it return to a feeder, then it fed on the ground. It could clearly see us but continued as it would have chicks to feed, probably in the West Woods of Ethie.

Cat Scarer Collage, click here for trail camera video   how I was confident the cats didn't succeed in the garden

Cat Scarer, does what it says on the box, click here  the cats learned not to cross the garden hose

Young Blackbird, not many appeared in my garden this year, no broods, just a few individuals that didn't stay. Perhaps the local cats got them, but not in my garden, the cat scarer worked a treat, again

Blue Tit, they didn't appear to do well either, I recall two broods of two birds each

Chaffinch, we never see many fledged  birds and this year I can't remember any

Coal Tits are still coming in most days despite the Sparrowhawks. They generally disappear to breed and return in late summer

I believe one Dunnock managed to get two youngsters fledged and later another two appeared, maybe a second brood?

Despite Olive's best efforts in feeding Goldfinches they were few and far between

Some of the winter Greenfinches hung on into spring but disappeared to breed, and have only returned in the last month in any numbers, six is the current max

House Sparrows, this years puzzle. We usually have up to five nests in the roofs of both houses, this year none. I can only assume the male Sparrowhawk that spent the winter here, sometimes roosting in the garden, put the Sparrows off

The theme continued with the Robins, I only saw two young birds and they didn't stay long

An unexpected and fleeting visit by this male Siskin, possibly it had strayed from some woods at the end of the road

Even the Starling numbers were lower this year, I hope it's because many more people were feeding birds in their gardens. There certainly was a high demand for bird foods and consequently the prices went up and stayed up

Good news for our Tree Sparrows, they kept the numbers from previous years and we had a succession of different aged youngsters over a long period

Only three Yellowhammers stayed around in early spring, and the weather lately hasn't forced any to return, yet 

The greedy gull - they all are

   
A lucky escape for a greedy gull at Arbroath Harbour, and some photos taken in sunshine at Keptie Pond, a first for some time. The water level is high at the pond and I wonder if that's why no Wigeon or Teal were around. The lack of any frost and many flooded areas in the countryside seems to be keeping most birds away from the town. 

Great Black-backed Gull, so determined to get at whatever was in the container that it fell in!

Getting out seemed impossible, I couldn't help as the gate was locked

It decided to use it's beak to get extra purchase

It made it after this lunge

Coot, or is there two...

An uncommon vistor at Keptie Pond, a Cormorant. It was very wary and I could only get this photo through the reeds

Goosander drake, I don't often see this behaviour, something must have spooked it

Jackdaw at the picnic tables, they're becoming quite tolerant of humans, I'm not

Little Grebe

Mallard drake

Mallard duck

Grey Heron sitting on this years failed nest

Great Black-backed Gull, the one in the top photos

Herring Gull   

A Corvid Christmas

   
A short walk at Forfar Loch on Monday didn't turn up many birds, probably due to the current and sustained milder weather, warmer than normal for this time of year. 

Magpie, Forfar Loch, click here for video      Magpies, Forfar Loch, click here

Magpie feeding on seed left by a regular provider at Forfar Loch

The only bird at Arbroath Harbour during a brief visit near dusk

The other Magpie at Forfar 

A Christmas tree made from sunks (lobster pots) at Arbroath Harbour. I've posted the original stitched photo here to see how it looks and behaves. It's five photos joined together using Microsoft's free tool ICE, Image Composite Editor.