Wednesday 5th November

Another fine day of low sunlight interspersed between days of rain for bike ride to Beeswing via Troston.

Butterflies seem to have finally disappeared and the talk in the cafe was that the first fieldfares have been sighted.  I didn't see much beyond tits and chaffinches.  Stopped to check some sliver birches for suspected goldcrests but I couldn't get a view before they dispersed.  Apart from that, more wrens, a couple of thrushes and a dead red-legged partridge as well as a dead badger at the roadside.

Thought I also heard some long-tailed tits in town while waiting for a bus.

Where have all the birdies gone?

Sunday 2nd November

Bike ride over the Glenkiln route on Wednesday.  Not much birdlife but relaxed views of the changing tree colours looking back to Glenkiln in the low sunlight as I thought of the black swans that would probably be somewhere near the reservoir.

A lone juvenile buzzard was not inclined to shift from the low telegraph post as I rode right past him past Terregles, and up on the moors two red kites circled each other constantly.

Today on a spiritual trip to the impressive Samye Ling Tibetan Centre, a flight of swans over the Annan and at the Centre a bird picking its way through the gardens that ressembled a red grouse but was probably an ornamental species of some kind. Wish I'd checked its legs out more carefully to allow better comparison with internet images.

Autumn Scenery towards Glenkiln