kinnordy

I moved further along the road then decided another view was in order. Still looking this time I was overlooking the west end of the Kinnordy Reserve, known as the bog!! This is the area where the put cattle and sheep in to graze to try and keep the vegetation under control which the ground...

The sun was catching their iridescent head plumage so well I thought. They seem to be showing off, don't they LOL.

On my way to Kinnordy in early February, I stopped again, a bit further on than from my last picture, to take this view from the Kaims of Airlie road. Some of the higher tops had some snow on them, as you can see. I didn't take this through the car window, but actually climbed out of the car...

Well he was.... this was taken just before he put his head down and had a snooze. Sorry, due to the frozen water, all these pictures are rather distant, so a big crop.

.... well for me anyway! Bitterns are the masters of camouflage and, at Kinnordy, they're always pretty distant so you need very long lenses to get decent pictures. Way out of my price range. I'd spent ages searching the reed bed.... gave up, then he was spotted by the young couple sitting...

On the wait to Kinnordy that day, I had to keep stopping to look at the view, it was such a beautiful day. This one is looking towards the Grampian Mountains, which are really the foothills of the Cairngorms, and contain what are known as the Angus Glens (such lovely walks in them).

.... sorry James Joyce, though it was an expression my father used a lot LOL. I only heard Cockneys using the phrase. A mixture of Wigeon and Tufted Duck, though I wouldn't be surprised if someone with sharper eyes than me can see something else in there. Another rather distant and heavily...

So then it was off to Kinnordy for my first visit of the year. Unfortunately, after a spell of very cold weather, the water near the hide was still frozen, so the birds were a little distant for my small camera.

..... or He Got Away Now for the guessing game. And it's so long ago I can't remember but think there's enough clues there for you. Sorry.... had a few bad days again and was back in hospital. Facing more tests and stuff next week.

...... or Not Saturday Fun....... .......or Making fun of myself This picture just teaches me that I should look more carefully through ALL my images before deciding which one to post. I'd rather forgotten that he made two appearances and if had remembered that...... oh well here it is now.

I loved the setting for this Shoveler with the emergent flowering bog bean (well I think it's bog bean). They don't often come that close to the hide so I got lucky. Would you believe, going through the images for that day; I found a better picture of the Wood Sandpiper!!!! grrr

Just about 3 years to the day since I got my Lifer. On the same island of bog bean but a little bit more visible. I could see him clearly through the scope, but had to find the oyc in my viewfinder and move a little left to try and get a picture of him LOL. Tricky little blighters aren't...

Looks a bit more like a Coot in this picture, and a brave one at that. The Harrier departed with empty talons to hunt further away, in the reed bed on the other side of the loch. Hope you've enjoyed this little sequence.

The Coot obviously thought the harrier was a bit too close for comfort. He wasn't visible in earlier pictures, so obviously well into the reeds. Wonder if there's a nest in there. I think it's a Coot though it may be a Moorhen however I can't see any white in this poor back view image of it.

Then he must have seen something, for he suddenly dropped into the reeds..... .... continues tomorrow.

This visit to Kinnordy was one of my best ever - I already showed you my Lifer picture of a Glossy Ibis. Well a Marsh Harrier gave me my closest views that I've managed to get pictures of (I've had closer views but either missed or got oof images!!!) I'll have to record these as a sequence, so...

While the lovely May weather continued, I headed back to Kinnordy. This was the day the Glossy Ibis was there. (I showed you the picture I got of him at the time.) But before he appeared I got these handsome Greylag.... but only one let me see his head properly!!

Unusually, there appeared to be more Common Gulls than Black-headed Gulls at that time and for a while they'd even taken over the nesting raft. I was really rather pleased with the result of the flight shot and couldn't believe how much detail the camera picked up for the distance.

Going through my pictures, I came to a series with a wader I couldn't immediately identify, nor remember seeing at the time. I'd actually been trying to take the bird on the left, to see if a closer view would ID it (I'm prepared to be corrected, but the only ID I can come up with is a...

Another bird that doesn't often get that close to the hide, though they do a little more regularly than their distant cousins, the Moorhen. And another dark-faced bird, that didn't really turn his head quite right for the light, though I can see his eye a little if I blow it up.

Very, very rarely does a Shelduck come anywhere close to the hide area, so a real treat to get this one. Due to the muted colours and lack of a 'knob' I'm wondering if it's not fully adult yet? Not sure how long it takes them to fully mature. In May I'd expect them all to be in full breeding...

I couldn't believe how beautiful that iridescence was when I looked at the images. Needing to upload some extra pictures so I can clear the picture folder before my holiday and a new laptop in the offing!!

Sorry I couldn't get a picture of them with their heads in good light, so we can't see their eyes. They just wouldn't co-operate and turn a fraction!! These two swam across in front of the hide at Kinnordy.

..... but no nests sadly. I've shown you this raft before - a few months ago it had a decoy gull on it, but that has now gone. Two Oystercatchers came in for a doze and a young Black-headed Gull looks like he's on sentry duty LOL Maybe they'll trust it one year and risk using it for nesting.

A wader with a few names, Lapwing from their flight action; Peewit, which is how their call is described, and another is Green Plover, which I presume comes from the pretty green iridescent wing plumage, showing here. There were quite a few around that day in early May.