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| Stream brimful |
I thought had made my last recording visit for December on Christmas Eve but an opportunity presented itself today so I headed down to the Reserve at 9.15. It was still very gloomy at that hour but a couple of birds crossed my path as I entered the reserve. The old adage "the early bird catches the worm" came to mind and there did seem to be plenty of bird life about trying to do just that. The light had improved by 10 o'clock but my camera was still encouraging me to "Raise the Flash", particularly under the trees by the compost heap where most of the birds seemed to be congregating. Obviously I wasn't going to follow this instruction, so the photos I took today are not great - record shots more than anything else - but I think this is a great bird list for the last day of 2018. Sixteen species. I looked back to my first visit of 2018 ( 2nd January) and noted that I recorded 15 that day, so numbers for this week of the year seem pretty consistent.
Birds:
SC210694 Wren; Goldfinch; female Pheasant; Great tit; female Blackbird.
SC209694 ( path junction) Blackbird, Robin, and Wren heard but not seen. Great tit.
SC209694 ( near hide) female Reed Bunting; Robin; Chaffinch heard but not seen; female Blackbird.
SC209694 ( from Hide) 30+ Goldfinch in trees on Church boundary; Great tit; Heron.
SC208694 ( compost area) 5 x Long Tailed tits; Dunnock; female Blackbird; Robin; Coal tit; Blue tit Wren; 3 x Goldcrest; male and female Chaffinch.
SC208694 ( willows) 2 x Great tit;
SC208694 ( near reed bed) male Blackbird; Chaffinch.
SC209695 ( near Private entrance) Blue tit flew out of bird box.
SC209695 ( gorse boundary) female Blackbird; Hooded Crow; Rook.
Other:
SC209695 Still some Cushag in flower (Ragwort)
SC209693 Hemlock Water Dropwort has fresh leaves already throughout reserve.
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| Hemlock Water Dropwort gearing up for Spring already |
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| not quite uprooted in recent storms - hopefully will survive. |
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| distant Goldfinches in large flock on Church boundary |
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| for those of you not familiar with the Reserve this is the compost area referred to. |
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| record shot of one of the Goldcrests light levels too low for a clear picture |
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| Long Tailed Tit. I was surprised to see 3 of them actually picking over the compost on the ground. They are usually in trees or on bird feeders! |
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| spot the bird? |
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| I would have missed this female Reed Bunting had another Birder at the Reserve not pointed it out to me. (Thank you, Peter) |
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| Small but still going strong - Cushag |
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| cloudy skies over Ballchurry |
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| just over the gorse boundary - new neighbours. about 7 Highland "Coos", including a Bull and calves. |
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| and finally - a last look at 2018 before the board is cleared and we start again with 2019 |
Happy New Year to you all and "good birding"!
