Osprey, Little Gulls, Great Crested Grebes, best Garganey?

   
It looks like the Black-necked Grebe at Monikie has moved on, although I didn't cover the whole area on a windy day with choppy surface waves.

The Little Gulls were still around and there's time yet for their numbers to rise from around the 40 I saw on Monday. They seldom ever come close to the pond edges except when flying to preen and rest in Denfind. Their erratic flight in strong wind doesn't help photography, all photos here are at distance.

Great Crested Grebes, four were on Denfind and displaying but not dancing. I fear that the water levels in Denfind may be unsuitable for nesting as it appears to be used as a means of shedding water from the Island Pond. The deep water has also covered anything that the many Black-headed Gulls could have nested on.

A yearly visit to an Angus Osprey nest site found a female waiting on the nest to be fed by the male known to be around.

I ended with a look at the Garganey pair at the east end of Forfar Loch. I wanted to see if some markings on the flank of a drake I saw at Murton were on the Forfar bird, they weren't so I can't say for sure that one of the pairs at Murton moved to Forfar Loch.

Chiffchaff singing      Great Crested Grebes displaying      Windswept Little Gull (2nd cycle)  

Osprey in Angus      Garganey pair at Forfar Loch      Garganey drake

Little Gulls at Monikie CP, these on the Island Pond, they were catching what looked like Hawthorn Flies, then resting and preening in Denfind Pond

It's just possible to see the fly this Little Gull is about to pick off the surface

Little Gull on Denfind with a Black-headed Gull for size comparison

It's a rare sight to see a Great Crested Grebe flying, this one on Denfind had been involved in a stooshie with a pair and flew towards a male further up the pond

Lesser Black-backed Gull sequence, it didn't like the big free-roaming dog on the path, it's mate had already flown off

A female Osprey on it's nest on an Angus Loch. This photo and a video were taken from some cover 180 metres away from the nest. I hope other photographers will stop approaching the nest and standing for hours on the water's edge. Schedule 1 Regulations for protected species covers Ospreys. I've seen the male Osprey agitated, usually once it's chicks have hatched, flying laps around the island and constantly calling.

I think this is the best Garganey drake photo I've taken and with the Nikon P1000, the camera just needs the light, a slower shutter and a better understanding of what works. This is from Forfar Loch where a pair have been around for over a week