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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

My Highland garden (1 Viewer)

Marcus Conway - ebirder said:
Some unbelievable sunsets from the garden this week - just waiting for the geese to fly through now!
Click to expand...

Your not wrong there marcus, thats the one thing I miss the most about not living there anymore, the sunsets and sunrises can be breath-taking. I'm gonna trawl through my photos and post some of my favourites...

Have you seen any aurora yet? I remember back 2005/6 we got an incredible display right overhead...
 
The Hairy Highlander said:
Your not wrong there marcus, thats the one thing I miss the most about not living there anymore, the sunsets and sunrises can be breath-taking. I'm gonna trawl through my photos and post some of my favourites...

Have you seen any aurora yet? I remember back 2005/6 we got an incredible display right overhead...
Click to expand...

Yes, Dafi sent me a PM and we had a green sky flicker by. Nothing phenomenal yet though!

I nearly lit up the sky when I went to fill up the Landy with diesel yesterday ;)
 
Nice shots HH.

Bit of an update. Lots of birds clearing out and some new arrivals. Only one new bird lately which is Red Throated Diver. A nice looking adult, but unfortunately a bit far out. Two auk species whizzed by too far away for ID.

The sea has been nice and calm which really shows what is out there. Typically 20 or so Slavonian Gebe, 50 Long Tailed duck and about 10 each of Eider, Red Breasted Merganser and Goldeneye. Anything greater than sea state 3 and it all seems to disappear.

Glaring omission at the moment is Fulmar - have scanned the distant cliffs but just can't pick one out. Also, not had a Coot yet.

We've planted a 15 metre mixed hedgerow of Hawthorn, Buckthorn and Beech (fingers crossed) as well as some bushes; Blackcurrant, Raspberry and gooseberry which should help increase the numbers of some commoner birds.

We had a woodcock roding last week, which was unexpected.

No dolphins yet this year, but they have been off Chanonry so just a matter of time.

Birds Down
Lapwing
Curlew
Oystercatcher
Bar Tailed Godwit
Redshank

Birds Up
Pied Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
Common Gull
Black Headed Gull

No summer migrants yet.
 
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The migrants will be there soon enough Marcus, You'll be garenteed Wheatear in the garden, you'll get the fulmars along with Great, Arctic and Pom Skuas - a chance of Long-tailed, Manxies can be quite numerous in the right conditions and a good storm will bring in the Petrels, and as you probably already know, the whole of the inner Moray Firth is very under watched so I'd put money on you getting a much overdue 'biggun' for the area!

Have you had any Barn Owls yet? the area around Stuart Castle is were to look out for them, I used to get them on a nightly basis sitting on the fence posts....
 
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Fulmars have been back at Rosemarkie for a few weeks and kittiwakes have been seen as well. I saw dolphins off Avoch, so right opposite you, several weeks ago so they are around.

I've just been in Jedburgh the last 2 days, chiffchaffs were everywhere, I'll be out tomorrow around Avoch listening for ours!
 
Some nice looking Long Tailed Duck offshore, 10 Whoopers flew through North Westish. Slavs seemed to have moved. Some Red Breasted Mergansers and two Eider.

Two Dolphin.

Still no summer migrants
 
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come on Marcus, you can't have all those LTD and whoopers in April and expect to get summer migrants in the same month. ;)
Seriously though, I'm loving the thread and just gobsmacked with the garden list you are building.:t:
 
Thanks Keith,

I found a flock of Yellowhammer about a mile from the house. Not on the garden list yet!

I went back out for another scan and had 20 or so Barwits and the eider numbers were up to ten.

Cheers, Marcus
 
Still struggling for many summer birds.

Had two Linnets on my niger seed today for the first time. Maximum count of 7 Shelduck was nice. the odd buzzard and Kestrel hunt over the garden and I can now hear Yellowhammer in the mornings distantly towards the airport. Fingers crossed they are coming my way soon.
 
Glorious day in the Highlands. After popping out early doors to get some Golden Eagle action I came home to find four members of the BTO at the bottom of the garden! Part of the Inverness ringing group. They rang 40 Oystercatcher and 30 Barwits, 1 Redshank and 1 Curlew. They are forwarding me the details. I wondered if it was all the Birdtrack records I have submitted, but turns out they come to the site once a year. One of the birds had been rung in Helsinki, I think.

We had some friends over so sat in the sunshine all afternoon and added Swallow, Sand Martin, and White Wagtail to the Yearlist. More Sanwich Terns offshore.
 
Osprey!

Just had our first Osprey fly over whilst I was in the garden photographing the Linnets. :king:

Raptor number 6 :t:

Also Swallows arrived on mass. Saw a blur of white on the hole in the garage that I cut, but it turns out our first visitors for potential nesting are a pair of Pied Wagtails. Willow Warbler singing outside too.
 
Now up to 65 for the year, number of bird days in brackets.

Mute Swan (4)
Whooper Swan (5)
Pink-footed Goose (3)
Greylag Goose (7)
Shelduck (3)
Wigeon (6)
Teal (1)
Scaup (1)
Eider (3)
Long-tailed Duck (4)
Goldeneye (5)
Red-breasted Merganser (4)
Black-throated Diver (1)
Great Northern Diver (1)
Slavonian Grebe (4)
Cormorant (3)
Shag (2)
Grey Heron (5)
Red Kite (1)
Buzzard (6)
Osprey (1)
Kestrel (2)
Peregrine (2)
Oystercatcher (7)
Lapwing (5)
Dunlin (4)
Snipe (2)
Woodcock (1)
Black-tailed Godwit (1)
Bar-tailed Godwit (3)
Curlew (4)
Redshank (4)
Turnstone (3)
Black-headed Gull (6)
Common Gull (6)
Herring Gull (4)
Great Black-backed Gull (4)
Sandwich Tern (1)
Feral Pigeon (3)
Woodpigeon (1)
Collared Dove (1)
Skylark (2)
Meadow Pipit (3)
Rock Pipit (1)
Pied Wagtail (yarrellii) (6)
Dunnock (2)
Robin (1)
Fieldfare (2)
Song Thrush (1)
Redwing (2)
Mistle Thrush (1)
Willow Warbler (1)
Goldcrest (1)
Blue Tit (1)
Jackdaw (5)
Rook (5)
Carrion Crow (6)
Hooded Crow (6)
Starling (6)
House Sparrow (1)
Chaffinch (3)
Brambling (1)
Goldfinch (2)
Linnet (5)
Twite (1)

Notable exceptions, bogeys!

- Greenfinch
- Yellowhammer
- Fulmar
 
Great list there Marcus, I can let you have one or two greenfinches if you're desperate:t:

One question though, in a previous post you list Osprey as raptor number 6 but I can only count 5 in the list, is it miscount or supression? ;)
 
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