clydeboy
Well-known member
Yesterday, my wife, out of the blue, announced that we should maybe start walking round the loch on a sunday afternoon as it is a nice walk, my son likes to feed the ducks, and I would be able to take my camera and "do my Jurdies" at the same time.
Whoo hoo I thought, she's finally getting the message.
So, we set off laden with camera, bag of goodies for us to eat on the way round (which probably defeats her purpose for going round :-O) and a bag of bread and rolls for the ducks.
As it was the afternoon, and I usually go round in the morning, I was hoping to see maybe something different, however, the place was surprisingly quiet.
There were no redpolls, bullfinches and in fact even the herons were no where to be seen which was a shame as I wanted to impart my new found knowledge on my walking companions.
The loch itself was still almost entirely covered in ice which probably had a part to play.
My son, as expected, was in a hurry to get to the jetty for his duck feeding highlight, which meant that every time I stopped and looked upwards or jumped into the bushes there was much whistling and sighing, which to be honest was starting to get on my nerves. (Does birding make you selfish? I'm starting to believe so:eek!::-O).
Anyway, there was the usual unfrozen area around the jetty which again meant that all of the birds on the water were fairly close together, even though the area was larger than it was previously due to the slow thaw.
Right at the back, as far away from the jetty as possible, beyond the mallards, tufties, coots swans and gulls was a Red breasted Merganser, which made all the sighing and whistling worthwhile.
While wife and son were busy feeding the quack quacks, I rattled off as many shots of the "merg" as I liked, even though it was a fair bit away.
A week or two ago I posted a couple of goosander pics to get confirmed as they were new to me and I also knew that, especially females, which I had shot were "confusable" with mergansers.
Had I seen a RBM prior to this, there would have been no need for confirmation as the merg is a standout stunner which I would have i.d'd immediately, as I did yesterday.
I also think it was a Scottish Merganser, which you tell by the 2nd pic, where he tells an encroaching gull to **** off in no uncertain terms.:-O:-O:-O.
That was first number 1.
Number 2 was again down to the wife.
She decided that rather than going straight home, we should nip to a shop in a local village for a few bits and pieces, where while stopping at a junction on the way, I came face to face through the car window with a buzzard which was sitting on a tree about 10 feet from my drivers window.
I was quite taken by the size of the thing, and the fact that it stared straight at me:eek!:
Needless to say there were no pics as I think both motoring and marital mayhem would have ensued had I whipped out the camera.:C
So, in summary, A very long winded story, ending in the sighting of 2 birds that everyone on here have probably seen before many times.
But remember, I have a lot of catching up to do.
Ian
Whoo hoo I thought, she's finally getting the message.
So, we set off laden with camera, bag of goodies for us to eat on the way round (which probably defeats her purpose for going round :-O) and a bag of bread and rolls for the ducks.
As it was the afternoon, and I usually go round in the morning, I was hoping to see maybe something different, however, the place was surprisingly quiet.
There were no redpolls, bullfinches and in fact even the herons were no where to be seen which was a shame as I wanted to impart my new found knowledge on my walking companions.
The loch itself was still almost entirely covered in ice which probably had a part to play.
My son, as expected, was in a hurry to get to the jetty for his duck feeding highlight, which meant that every time I stopped and looked upwards or jumped into the bushes there was much whistling and sighing, which to be honest was starting to get on my nerves. (Does birding make you selfish? I'm starting to believe so:eek!::-O).
Anyway, there was the usual unfrozen area around the jetty which again meant that all of the birds on the water were fairly close together, even though the area was larger than it was previously due to the slow thaw.
Right at the back, as far away from the jetty as possible, beyond the mallards, tufties, coots swans and gulls was a Red breasted Merganser, which made all the sighing and whistling worthwhile.
While wife and son were busy feeding the quack quacks, I rattled off as many shots of the "merg" as I liked, even though it was a fair bit away.
A week or two ago I posted a couple of goosander pics to get confirmed as they were new to me and I also knew that, especially females, which I had shot were "confusable" with mergansers.
Had I seen a RBM prior to this, there would have been no need for confirmation as the merg is a standout stunner which I would have i.d'd immediately, as I did yesterday.
I also think it was a Scottish Merganser, which you tell by the 2nd pic, where he tells an encroaching gull to **** off in no uncertain terms.:-O:-O:-O.
That was first number 1.
Number 2 was again down to the wife.
She decided that rather than going straight home, we should nip to a shop in a local village for a few bits and pieces, where while stopping at a junction on the way, I came face to face through the car window with a buzzard which was sitting on a tree about 10 feet from my drivers window.
I was quite taken by the size of the thing, and the fact that it stared straight at me:eek!:
Needless to say there were no pics as I think both motoring and marital mayhem would have ensued had I whipped out the camera.:C
So, in summary, A very long winded story, ending in the sighting of 2 birds that everyone on here have probably seen before many times.
But remember, I have a lot of catching up to do.
Ian
