Archive - March 2019


Archive - March 2019

31st March

Doonfoot

It was “best in the west” as far as the weather was concerned. I chose to visit Doonfoot, a suburb of Ayr. We travelled down the M77, stopping oﬀ for breakfast at Kilmarnock Asda (good meal, but cold bacon and stodgy beans: 8/10) before travelling through Burns’ old hometown of Alloway and across Dunure Road to the Castle Walk car park close to the footbridge at the mouth of the River Doon. There was hardly a cloud in the sky as we started our walk. Immediately we got great shots of a pair of Starlings on one of the Hawthorn bushes on the grassy sandbank that separates the car park from a pond. Initially we were disappointed to ﬁnd the pond deserted, however a bonny wee drake Teal ﬂew in (also see “Pictures of the Week”, below), before being spooked by rampaging dogs and there careless walkers. I took a couple of shots of similar ﬂowers - a Coltsfoot and a Dandelion . At ﬁrst glance these look the same but on closer inspection they are quite diﬀerent.

Starling	Drake Teal	Coltsfoot	Dandelion

We walked out along the river mouth towards the sea. I spotted a group of Turnstones on the opposite bank beside a preening Mute Swan. We next came across a solitary Greenshank sitting near some Oystercatchers. There were quite a few dog walkers taking advantage of the nice weather, but who, unconsciously or otherwise, disturbed the birds we were trying to photograph.

Turnstone	Mute Swan	Greenshank	Oystercatcher

The view from Doonfoot of the seafront at Ayr:

A small aeroplane passed overhead, a Druine Turbulent , which appears to be a home-built kit plane. I noticed the Greenshank on a sandbank feeding further out with a large gathering of Gulls and Redshanks in the mouth of the river. As we returned to the car I managed a few shots of a foraging Rook, including a nice ﬂight shot (see “Pictures of the Week”, below), but we saw little else. At the grassy bank by the car a patch of Daﬀoldils could just be seen peeking through the grass.

	Greenshank	Rook	Daffodil

We moved half a mile to the Greenan Shore car park. On leaving the car John pointed out a shrub with striking pink ﬂowers midst the Hawthorns. I later identiﬁed it as a Flowering Currant, Ribes Sanguineum . I photographed a ﬂowering Red Campion as we walked south along the low dunes towards Greenan Castle . John and I were pleased to see our ﬁrst butterﬂy of the Spring, a Peacock. I snapped it as it warmed its wings before the strong sunshine.

Flowering Currant	Red Campion	Greenan Castle	Peacock Butterfly

We paused below the north side of the crags in order to check for Yellowhammers, as we had seen them there in previous years. Sadly we didn’t see any, but I did notice a quartet of interesting plants on the short grass. A 5cm fertile (spore producing) stem of Field Horsetail sat precariously on the very short grass. The stem grows from underground rhizomes. Later in the year sterile stems will grow. Close by I noticed several patches of a plant with 2mm wide white ﬂowers. A newby for us, these were Common Whitlowgrass, a member of the Cabbage family. These were very pretty when seen magniﬁed (see “Pictures of the Week”, below). Below the thorny bushes that lined the rough path I saw some bright yellow ﬂowers of Lesser Celandine . Interestingly it used to be used as a cure for piles and was called Pilewort. There were many very familiar, and consequently overlooked, ﬂowers of the Common Daisy . John and I resisted the temptation to sit and make daisy chains and moved on.

Field Horsetail	Common Whitlowgrass	Lesser Celandine	Common Daisy

On the shaded slopes below the Castle I noticed that several more wildﬂowers were widespread. Few-ﬂowered Leek, an invasive non-native plant, sat in the damp patches at the base of the cliﬀ, while half way up the steep slope were extensive patches of Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage, whose ﬂowers have no petals. Another often overlooked ﬂower is that of Dog’s Mercury (since they are not brightly coloured. It should be avoided though, because it is poisonous if eaten). Looking rather out of place half way up the slopes of bare rocks I noticed an outcrop of Primrose . It is interesting to wonder how it got up there (My guess is that it was the birds).

Few-flowered Leek	Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage	Dog's Mercury	Primrose

Even further up the rocks there was a large Scurvygrass plant. On the south side of the Castle a rough path leads up to the Castle. As we brieﬂy paused on our way up we startled a cock Pheasant. I managed a couple of shots as it scurried into the long grass. When we reached the Castle, we missed a Blue Tit and a pair of Long-tailed Tits but we decided to investigate the edges of the fields to the east of the Castle. Immediately we heard, for the first time this year, the familiar call of the Chiffchaff. I snapped a couple of shots of it sitting in the gloom on top of a distant bush before it flew to the opposite side of the field.The north boundary was edged with Hawthorn bushes that were in all in bloom.

Scurvygrass	Pheasant	Chiff Chaff	Hawthorn

The sky had become totally overcast so the light had badly deteriorated. We walked along the sides of the ﬁelds to the east of the castle as that area often yields some interesting ﬁnds. Our ﬁrst was a Buﬀ-tailed Bumblebee (see “Pictures of the Week”, below) resting on a large leaf. Near it I spotted some Common Field Speedwell, appropriately enough, at the edge of the ﬁeld. Also there was a couple of plants of Red Deadnettle , a ﬂower that used to be called the “Bumblebee Flower” and, incidentally, unlike its relative, the stinging nettle, it has no sting. Further along the ﬁeld’s edge, under the bushes, I discovered some pretty, violet-ﬂowered Ground Ivy . This plant is actually another member of the Deadnettle family. I also saw another common wildﬂower seen in ﬁelds, Common Chickweed. As its name suggests it was once used as chicken feed.

Common Field Speedwell	Red Deadnettle	Ground Ivy	Common Chickweed

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We left the ﬁelds and scrambled down a bank onto a road that allowed us access to the grassy common adjacent to the car park. At the start of that area I came across some Germander Speedwell. As we had a bit more time, I had a quick scan on the beach behind the car park. I managed to put up a Curlew as I sidled towards it but some Redshanks were less ﬂighty. I also disturbed a large Herring Gull which took ﬂight as I passed and protested loudly as it ﬂew oﬀ.

Germander Speedwell	Curlew	Redshank	Herring Gull

It had been a visit rich in wildﬂowers. Spring has certainly sprung. We had some nice bird sightings at the start of the trip at the mouth of the River Doon, but around Greenan Castle most of the birds managed to avoid us. We concluded, as usual, with tea and pineapple topped cream pastries. A tasty way to end the day.

Pictures of the Week:

Teal	Rook

Common Whitlowgrass	Buff-tailed Bumblebee

24th March 2019:

Musselburgh

The best of the weather was to be in the east, so we headed for our old faithful destination, a site that seldom lets us down, Musselburgh. After a good, but not perfect breakfast in Dalkeith Morrisons (cold tomatoes, overdone links, slow service, 8/10), we started our quest at the Millhill car park beside the River Esk, about 1/2 mile from where the river ﬂows into the Firth of Forth. It is popular with people who like to feed birds that gather there. I started our collection of shots with an attractive Feral Pigeon followed by a trio of Goldeneye - an adult drake, a juvenile drake and a female. I also got a close-up shot of a ﬁne drake Mallard (see also “Pictures of the Week”, below).

Feral Pigeon	Drake Goldeneye	Juvenile Male Goldeneye	Female Goldeneye

Of course there were gulls-a-plenty. I snapped another trio, this time of Herring Gulls - 1st and 2nd year immature and an adult.
I next caught a photo of a beautiful drake Goosander as it washed midstream (see also “Pictures of the Week”, below).

1st Cycle Herring Gull	2nd Cycle Herring Gull	Herring Gull	Drake Goosander

A few Greylags were amongst the many birds present. The one shown below was loitering on the slipway with some of the many Mute Swans. On the island, a Moorhen was carefully picking its way down to the water.

Greylag Goose	Mute Swan	Moorhen

We decided to walk further upstream and maybe see a Dipper. There were lots of Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls there, and a few restless Pied Wagtails . I also captured an image of a Grey Wagtail busy on the opposite bank.

Black-headed Gull	Lesser Black-backed Gull	Pied Wagtail	Grey Wagtail

John had a wee seat by the Old Bridge (often called the Roman Bridge ) while I investigated the twittering of a Goldﬁnch in a tree close to the recently-installed Archer statue . I didn’t manage to see the Goldﬁnch but I found Gorse bushes below the bridge and also some nice blue ﬂowers, probably Aubretia Deltoidia, growing wild in an otherwise empty Council ﬂower bed. What I’ve failed to mention is that there were a signiﬁcant number of Canada Geese on that stretch of the river. They were very lively, probably due to all the courting that was going on (see also “Pictures of the Week”, below). I took some shots of a female Goosander on an island, preening in the sun ((see “Pictures of the Week”, below). After studying an interesting information board that detailed how the Council was dealing with the threat of ﬂooding , we decided to move to the mouth of the river.

Archer Statue	Gorse	Aubrieta	Canada Goose

We parked at the Cadet Hall and walked towards the rough coastal path to where the sea met the sea wall. As we passed the Hall a large Carrion Crow ﬂew in with an apple core (see “Pictures of the Week”, below). Maybe it was a vegetarian. Nearby, I was pleased to see some Common Scurvygrass and some early ﬂowering White Deadnettle . By the Hall, on the near-bank of the river, a Curlew was lazily creeping along the edge of the river searching for invertebrates. A small ﬂock of Turnstones ﬂew in, probably displaced from rocks by the advancing tide.

Common Scurvygrass	White Deadnettle	Curlew	Turnstone

Slightly disappointed by the lack of birds to photograph we returned to the car and drove to the Musselburgh Lagoons ,commonly known as “the Scrapes”. The picture below was taken from the north-most hide. There are plans to further develop other lagoons in the area to create even more bird havens.

We got a photo of our ﬁrst invertebrate sighting of the Spring, a wandering White-tailed Bumblebee. It meandered past the front of the hide. A pair of Shelducks were dabbling in the centre of the scrape unconcerned by a small ﬂock of Turnstones that ﬂew in from the sea and circled low over the waters. I also noticed a pair of wood pigeons feeding near the water’s edge.

White-tailed Bumblebee	Shelduck	Turnstones	Wood Pigeon

After a period where they all had their heads tucked under their wings, the large ﬂock of Bar-tailed Godwits suddenly became active. They started feeding before taking oﬀ and landing at the opposite side of the pool. The mass of over 200 Oystercatchers weren’t for moving though. Only a few at the edge of the ﬂock occasionally shuﬄed about. My ﬁnal shots of the day were of a pair of Teal dabbling fairly close to the hide (see also “Pictures of the Week”, below).

Bar-tailed	Godwit	Oystercatcher	Teal

It had been another satisfying day at Musselburgh. We had seen and photographed a wide variety of birds, most at close quarters. Before the drive back west we sipped tea and demolished Danish Apple Lattice pastries as we sat behind the car on our 3-legged stools, sheltering from the stiﬀ breeze. Lovely!

Pictures of the Week:

Drake Mallard	Drake Goosander

Canada Goose	Female Goosander

Carrion Crow	Teal

17th March 2019:

Stevenson, Saltcoats and Irvine Harbour

It was “business as usual” on Sunday. I was ﬁt enough to drive and the weather was to brighten from the west, so after picking up John for the ﬁrst time in nearly a month, we headed for the North Ayrshire coast. Things were going well until just before we reached the M77 when a low tyre pressure warning came up on my dashboard. We had to replace the oﬀending wheel with the spare before we could continue the journey. However oﬀ we went onto the coast, speciﬁcally, Stevenson Morrisons for you know what - yes, our ﬁrst Sunday breakfast in nearly a month. Appropriately enough it was a great breakfast that was very diﬃcult to mark down so we gave it 10/10. A short drive then took us to Stevenson point. Sadly there wasn’t much to see there, only a Cormorant on the rocks and some Oystercatchers on the short grass. I quickly decided to move on to Saltcoats Harbour where we were immediately greeted by a wee Rock Pipit on the sea wall. The tide was going out and we could see a Dunlin picking its way through the exposed seaweed.

Cormorant	Oystercatcher	Rock Pipit	Dunlin

At ﬁrst unseen because of their camouﬂage,Turnstones became visible as they too moved across the weed, searching for insects, crustaceans and molluscs. Close by, a ﬁrst winter Herring Gull was dabbling in shallow water, but not catching much. We walked out along the harbour and John spied a pair of Eider. The drake, resplendent in his ﬁne black and cream plumage, was trailing behind the female who might just have been trying to outrun him.

Turnstone	Herring Gull 1st Cycle	Drake Eider	Female Eider

The view over to Arran was very impressive. A CalMac ferry (also see below) was making its way across the Clyde Estuary toward
Brodick nestled below the snow-covered slopes of Goat Fell.

Around the harbour, the wind was quite blustery. We saw only a few diving Shag, some Feral Pigeons on the walls and a couple of Redshanks in exposed rocks. We looked in vain for Purple Sandpipers , as we had seen them there over the years. They only winter in the UK before moving to breed in Iceland and Scandinavia, so perhaps they had already moved there.

	Shag	Feral Pigeon	Redshank

We next walked around to the north side of the harbour. Unfortunately the skies became overcast, but I carried on photographing nonetheless. The paddling pool was busy with the usual suspects, amongst which were various ages of Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls. I stalked a wee Rock Pipit as it galloped along the edge of a ﬂower bed. I also snapped some bonny Starlings as they poked around in the seaweed (also see “Pictures of the Week”, below).

Herring Gull	Rock Pipit	Starling	Black-headed Gull

A 2nd winter Herring Gull caught my eye (also see “Pictures of the Week”, below). A large Great Black-backed Gull glided threateningly over the pool, but the smaller gulls were having none of it, as they chased it from the area. The main occupants of the pool were a couple of dozen Mute Swans. Occasionally some passers by stopped to feed them bread - much to the excitement of the Gulls. I caught a ﬂeeting shot of a male Pied Wagtail - our ﬁnal shot at Saltcoats, as we decided to moved south to Irvine Harbour.

Herring Gull 2nd Cycle	Great Black-backed Gull	Mute Swan	Pied Wagtail

We arrived at Irvine Harbour just as the sun broke through the clouds. Immediately I saw a few Grey Seals about 200m on the River Garnock just before it joins the River Irvine. The photo is not clear (due to the distance) but I think there may be a Seal pup on the rightmost Seal. A bit closer to the car park John spotted a ﬂock of Wigeon just where the two rivers meet. They took oﬀ and ﬂew overhead (to my shame, I missed that photo-opportunity due to my monopod setup). We followed the estuary past the Bridge of Scottish Invention that leads to the unused Big Idea Science Exhibition Centre . Below the bridge a pair of Eider were paddling upstream. The drake gave a wee ﬂap of his wings to show the female he was well up for it.

Grey Seal	Wigeon	Drake Eider	Female Eider

A bit further downstream a ﬁne-looking Carrion Crow was foraging on a straw-strewn riverbank. On the quay above the Crow a pair of adult Herring Gulls were basking in the sun (also see “Pictures of the Week”, below). On the opposite bank a lone Curlew was working its way along the water’s edge. It seemed to be aware we were looking at it as it scurried behind a rock and out of sight. We continued out onto the viewpoint at the mouth of the river from where I took a panorama shot looking back upstream (see below). On our way back to the car I heard the familiar sound of a huge Goose ﬂock, although when I looked ahead all I could see were a sizeable gathering of Gulsl above some feeders. As we walked on further though I did see the ﬂock of what I think were Greylags - around at least a couple of hundred rising above the Bogside Flats SSSI .

Carrion Crow	Herring Gull	Curlew	Greylag Geese

Below is the view East from the viewpoint at the mouth of the Irvine/Garnock Estuary. Notice, on the right the
former Harbour Pilot House .

We ended the visit in our usual way by consuming delicious chocolate eclairs and tea. It had been an enjoyable few hours, mostly in sunny weather and although there were few surprises I managed to accumulate an engaging set of photographs. After a four-week period of recuperation I am pleased with that accomplishment and I look forward to the next trip.

Pictures of the Week:

Herring Gull	2nd Cycle Herring Gull

Carrion Crow	Starling

9th March 2019:

Hogganﬁeld Loch, Glasgow

With my mobility still being somewhat curtailed by an injured arm I was limited to a quick Saturday visit to a sunny Hogganﬁeld Loch LNR in the east end of Glasgow. My ﬁrst capture was of a line of Black-headed Gulls awaiting the next person carrying a plastic bag, when they will form an noisy aerial mob as each bird competes for each morsel of bread. I’m sure though that those kind people are frustrated that the persistent aerial raids of the Gulls always manage to steal much of the bread intended for the more popular Swans.

On the water, a Moorhen was checking out the skies, for what I don’t know. A couple of quarrelsome drake Goldeneyes were diving for food. Their diet includes insects, crustaceans, molluscs and ﬁsh eggs and aquatic plants. A large Coot was preening on the water’s edge. Not far away on the bank a large patch of Coltsfoot was blooming in the winter sunshine.

Moorhen	Goldeneye	Coot	Coltsfoot

The water birds were brilliantly illuminated by the ﬁne Winter sunshine, providing ideal conditions for photography. I took portraits of some Swans to highlight the obvious diﬀerences between Mute and Whoopers. My eye was then caught by an unusual feral pigeon. It is interesting to realise that these birds are descended from the Rock Dove that was eﬀectively domesticated as Neolithic man turned to agriculture around 10,000 years ago. A big Tufted Duck cruised past before vanishing beneath the water, re-emerging seconds later with a slight damper-looking tuft (see “Pictures of the Week”, below).

Whooper Swan	Mute Swan	Feral Pigeon	Tufted Duck

There was a signiﬁcant number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the Loch. The adults have a dark grey back and yellow legs. The immature birds are a bit more diﬃcult to identify. The one shown below is entering its second year where the ﬁrst bits of adult plumage starts to show, and the 1st year black beak becomes more yellow. Feeders emerged from their car as I was photographing the gulls. As mentioned above, the birds respond to the mere sight of a plastic bag by crowding the shore awaiting what is usually bread (although too much bread is not good for them). At the front of the resulting feeding melee were the Swans, Whoopers as well as Mutes, packed tightly against bank, their eyes tightly focused on the plastic bags.

Lesser Black-backed Gull	Lesser Black-backed Gull 1st Cycle	Mute Swans	Whooper Swans

Unusually, a large Grey Heron ﬂew fairly close to the car park, chased by some Carrion Crows. There is a Heronry on the woods at the east end of the island. They are mainly carnivorous and will take small birds, so the Crows were probably defending their territory as they too nest in those trees. I continued my exploitation of the feeding photo-opportunity by snapping some Black-headed Gulls in ﬂight (also see “Pictures of the Week”, below), of which there were many! When the bread supplies were ﬁnished there was still some ﬂapping of wings as Mute Swans arrived too late for their lunch and for others, there was preening to be done.

Grey Heron	Black-headed Gull	Mute	Swan

I next set oﬀ on a quick circuit of the Loch and soon spotted a Cormorant in its breeding plumage perched in the middle of the Loch. It was defending its position from marauding Gulls who fancied the perch for themselves. Roosting behind one of the many artiﬁcial islands anchored in many parts of the Loch, I spotted a pair of roosting Great Crested Grebes . Hogganﬁeld is a great place to study these Grebes as there are usually at least a couple of pairs that breed successfully - so I’m already looking forward to photographing their oﬀspring. The chirps of a pair of Pied Wagtails then drew my attention. They were scouring the water’s edge seeking invertebrates. The male seemed to be calling the shots as every so often it would take ﬂight with a ﬂourish of chirps to be followed almost immediately by the female.

Cormorant	Great Crested Grebe	Pied	Wagtail

As I snapped the Wagtails, a handsome Lesser Black-backed Gull descended onto the Loch (also see “Pictures of the Week”, below). It added to the ﬂock already numbering in the dozens. Just what they were up to I’m not sure. Perhaps they were new arrivals. When I reached the East side of the island I was surprised to see even more Mute Swans in the lee side of the island, most of them preening contentedly on the artiﬁcial islands.

Lesser Black-backed Gull	Mute Swan

A Lesser Black-backed Gull was making a lot of noise after a short disagreement with a juvenile. I then spotted, 50m beyond the island, another pair of Great Crested Grebes. They were trying to get on with their fascinating mating ritual, only to be interrupted, annoyingly, by a noisy bin lorry circulating the park paths. My next capture was of a Blue Tit that was busy foraging in path-side trees for insects on the branches above the heads of scores of unsuspecting walkers. Another sign of the imminent arrival of Spring was the heart-warming sight of hordes of Daﬀodils in bloom.

Lesser Black-backed Gull	Great Crested Grebe	Blue Tit	Daffodils

As I rounded the path to the North side of the Loch, one of the Great Crested Grebes unexpectedly appeared from under the surface only 10m away (see “Pictures of the Week”, below). With my car in sight I was pleased to see a pair of Greylags loitering close to the bank, pleased as I had seen them earlier when the light was not quite so good. A demure female Mallard looked at me, checking for food, but I was rather more interested in a beautiful pair of Goosanders. They too were in ﬁne breeding plumage, ready for the emergence of Spring.

Greylag Goose	Female Mallard Duck	Female Goosander	Drake Goosander

My visit had only lasted an hour but in that time I had taken a pleasing number of nice shots. Hogganﬁeld is an unusual Local Nature Reserve (LNR) as it is in every other way just a very well used public park. That the birds and people manage to successfully cohabit the Park is good to see and a tribute to the eﬀorts of Glasgow City Council.

Pictures of the Week:

Black-headed Gull	Tufted Duck

Lesser Black-backed Gull	Great Crested Grebe

3rd March 2019:

RSPB Baron’s Haugh and Dalzell Estate, Motherwell

I ventured out on my own on Sunday on a short visit to RSPB Baron’s Haugh, Motherwell, my local nature reserve, to see if my injured arm was up to it. The weather was sunny but a bit cold. So well-wrapped and camera and monopod at the ready I plodded out of the car park and delved ﬁrstly into the neighbouring Dalzell Estate in search of nice pictures.

As I passed along wooded paths I could hear shuﬄing in the branches above my head. It was a pair of Grey Squirrels searching for food. These cute creatures are much-maligned in certain quarters, rightly or wrongly, but they photograph well (see also ,”Pictures of the Week”, below). The woods of the Estate are often ﬁlled with a rich variety of bird life but I was struggling to ﬁnd them. The ripening cones of a huge Cypress tree caught my eye as did the Old Man’s Beard Lichen (Usnea) draped on the young Silver Birch trees. Eventually I came upon a little Blue Tit busily searching for food on the twigs and branches.

Grey Squirrel	Cone	Lichen Usnea	Blue Tit

In an area close to Dalzell House I came across, Wordsworth-like, a host of golden daﬀodils, and Crocuses. They weren’t wild of course, but they were lovely. Still struggling to spot any birds I was delighted when a few Jackdaws passed overhead and then I snapped a wee Coal Tit amongst the coppices. (see also ,”Pictures of the Week”, below).

Daffodil	Crocus	Jackdaw	Coal Tit

I last visited the Dalzell Estate on a Thursday morning a month ago and managed to see Nuthatches, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Song and Mistle Thrushes. I wasn’t so lucky on Sunday. The weather was similar but perhaps the increased number of weekend walkers (and their dogs) had made the birds pull back.

Nuthatch	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Song Thrush	Mistle Thrush

I next left the Estate into the RSPB Baron’s Haugh Reserve and passed along the Chestnut Walk (see map) to the River Clyde. Looking south I saw some Goosanders about 100m upstream. I walked north scanning the river as I walked, as I’d been tipped oﬀ that there were geese on the opposite bank. Sure enough I located about 20 Canada Geese and a pair of Greylag Geese. Close by I also snapped a pair of Mute Swans at the near bank. Annoyingly, these pictures were all taken “contre-jour”, as the sun was shining directly behind the birds.

Goosander	Canada Goose	Greylag Goose	Mute Swan

As I walked I came across the ﬁrst, of what will be many, sightings of a ﬂower that heralds the arrival of Spring, a Lesser Celandine . It was a favourite ﬂower of the Victorian Lakeland poet, William Wordsworth, who wrote several poems expressing his admiration of the pretty yellow ﬂowers. Another yellow bloom that has been ever-present, even throughout the Winter, has been the Gorse ﬂower of which there are many lining the paths of the reserve. I was also delighted to see quite a few tiny Barren Strawberry ﬂowers below the west-facing bushes. The ﬁnal ﬂower I saw by the Clyde was an early-ﬂowering Dandelion. Another sign of a very mild winter.

Lesser Celandine	Gorse	Barren Strawberry	Dandelion

Eventually I reached the Centenary Hide from which I got a lovely sunlit view of a ﬂock of around a dozen Curlews about 100m out from the hide.

I also noticed a Lesser Black-backed Gull, with its charcoal grey back and yellow legs. after a quick rest I next headed further round the course of the river to the Phoenix Hide. I paused brieﬂy at a bench by a bend in the river to observe a pair of Buzzards doing aerobatics, probably part of a courtship display. On a shingle bank on the river a few Mallards were resting just opposite the Phoenix Hide ( so-named, apparently, since it rose from the ashes of the original wood-built hide that was torched by vandals). Just below the hide I could see a pair of Little Grebes diving for small ﬁsh. These are also known as Dabchicks (see also ,”Pictures of the Week”, below).

Lesser Black-backed Gull	Common Buzzard	Mallard	Little Grebe

Near the Dabchicks, a Coot was chewing on pondweed, but little else was showing around the hide. I could see across the Haugh to the Causeway Hide. There were birds on the water around that hide, so I walked round to check them out. On the way, some Carrion Crows were perching high on trees that line the ﬁelds east of the Haugh. As I arrived they had been scouring the ﬁeld for invertebrates and they moved back down oﬀ the trees when I’d passed. From the Causeway Hide I took some pictures of some feeding Teal. I also photographed a solitary Herring Gull that had been making a fuss about something or other.

Common Coot	Carrion Crow	Teal	Herring Gull

I soon moved to the Marsh Hide but was disappointed to ﬁnd it devoid of birds. I did though capture some nice shots of Reed Mace and Goat Willow catkins . I ﬁnally trudged up the hill back to the car park. My last captures of the visit were of a Magpie in ﬂight over a ﬁeld and of a Robin singing on a shadowy hedgerow at the entrance to the car park.

Reed Mace	Goat Willow catkins	Magpie	Robin

A view of Baron’s Haugh, looking west:

I think you can see from the pictures I’ve gathered that my injury has not held me back too much. So I’m looking forward to next weekend, although the weather prediction doesn’t make nice reading.

Pictures of the Week:

Grey Squirrel	Jackdaw

Little Grebe	Daffodil