kinnordy

Shovelers are often seen at Kinnordy, but rarely giving such close views as this guy did, so I don't often manage to get a picture of them (well at least not one worth posting! They're one of my favourite ducks, as they always seem to be smiling!

They always look so regal I think, when they calmly float past with their sails on show!

Early May saw me back at Kinnordy in brilliant sunshine. Bright light either blows the whites on my pictures or seems to bring everything a bit closer... I was lucky with these Oystercatchers!;)

It's wonderful to see such a lively population of Tree Sparrows at Kinnordy. They've been on the outskirts of the reserve for years, but not always easy to find.... this last year or two they've actually come onto the reserve.

I hope you don't mind looking at another Great Tit, but I don't see them in the garden (well very rarely) and I was pretty proud of this image. Nothing done to it except crop, either. It's great to see a decent population of them at Kinnordy.

Two big bruisers of the feeder world, not sure how they agreed to share LOL . I was actually rather taken with the colourful chestnut back of the Chaffinch, I don't usually see it like that. Sadly the picture doesn't show it quite how it was.

I'm home again after a lovely long weekend... pretty tired though!!! The pictures will follow in due course. Back to my early April visit to Kinnordy and moving on to the feeder area in the woodland. Managed to capture this agile Siskin on a tree branch. Pretty guys, aren't they. I'll try and...

Hope you don't mind another M-H picture, however I like this picture. Obviously very distant, and a big crop, but he seemed to contrast nicely against the green grass in the field. Off for the weekend early tomorrow, I'll try and post a SF picture at some point but don't know what the 'net...

I was so pleased to spot this wee Dabchick swimming by, as I don't often get to see them so close to the hide at Kinnordy. In fact I don't often see them there at all - they're generally way over the far side of the loch. When I say 'close', I mean relatively. Still required a big crop! Hope...

I don't have too many pictures of these from Kinnordy in my Gallery, as they don't come very close to the hide area generally. This one was still pretty distant, but recognisable enough to add. He's on the far side of the last bog bean island. I suppose they like the deeper water.

I got lots of flying practise in on that visit, but most not worthy of viewing. This was one that was about to hit the bin, but then realised I'd got more identifiable detail than I thought possible for such a distant view (a huge crop!). I didn't know it was a young one until I looked closely...

I don't usually get a picture of these guys at Kinnordy, but this one landed nicely beside the hide in the reed bed before it started to grow. .... and in lovely light too!!

Hope you're not fed up with Teal pictures already, but couldn't resist showing you the unusual reed reflections he was swimming through. I've never seen it like that before, even though I've spent hours and hours sitting there at different times of the day. I've hardly cropped this at all, as...

..... or at least I got his eye this time This is the Wren I was chasing around at Kinnordy back in March. My friend had to keep saying something like "moving left".... or whatever. We have two baby Ospreys hatched at Loch of the Lowes now. Doubt we'll see much of them in the rain...

Caught 'em at it;) Not sure that she's too appreciative of his efforts LOL

Got this pretty Teal just as he approached a shaft of sunlight hitting the water. Actually the light was lovely that day and was really pleased with the picture.

Out on the bog bean, that hasn't really started to grow in early April! Bet you all missed the other bird hunkered down in there LOL

The Marsh Harriers had arrived and gave us great displays. Sadly I made a complete mess of closer "up in the sky" pictures, but fairly pleased with this rather distant view.

At the far west end of the Kinnordy reserve it is bordered by the 'main' road from Kirriemuir to Glen Isla. I generally stop at the junction there to get an overview of the wetlands to see what I can spot. This bit is double-fenced giving a flat grassy paddock beside the road and stops the...

The beginning of April saw me back at Kinnordy with Spring pretty well sprung. As usual, I first stopped at the west end to check out what was going on there. Behind the fence was this gorgeous Lapwing looking brilliant in the sun. He had to be the far side of the paddock though, so a bit distant.

Back to March!! I followed these Whooper Swans for what seemed liked ages, in the hope they'd land fairly close to me (they didn't). It wasn't until I looked through the pictures to pick one to show you, that I found a Mallard had joined in LOL

As you can see from the title... I got him, even if he isn't very clear in the picture, even after a huge crop. Had great views of him through the scope though. What a great birding session that was, you can read all about it in the Kinnordy Thread here...

Hope you're not fed up looking at them! This pair came hot on the heels of the 'dirty' one! At least they're clean. I really liked their poses, so couldn't resist showing it to you. I'm off to Kinnordy this afternoon.. a Glossy Ibis was reported yesterday - bet it's gone by the time I can get...

My briefest first thought when I saw this picture was that it was a youngster - then I realised that it was just a dirty neck. Some more Whoopers suddenly appeared in front of us; they came from a hidden area behind the tall reeds. This one leading the way.

...... or Bottoms Up I promised you some 'wren disaster' images, as I chased him through the undergrowth. He'd been nice and in the open until I clicked!