Tuesday 29th December

On Sunday in post-Christmas recovery mode, went for longish bike ride from Lochmaben to Sibbaldbie, but saw basically nothing.  In any case I left the binoculars at home so wouldn't have been able to identify much.

Just on the way back into Lochmaben at the very end of the ride, there was a very large flock of geese that had settled on a farm field. With the naked eye, I reckoned they were greylag geese but they were too far off to identify positively or check for interlopers with out the glasses.

On Monday I had a rather better day walking along the paddy line westwards from Mossvale.  There was a jay clearly visible from the car on the back road to Laurieston, and the inevitable flotation of red kites, holding steady in the considerable wind.  I got a close-up view of one of them hovering just by the village as the walk got underway.

Long-tailed tit

I found a new path from the old railway that led down to the Black Water of Dee, always one of my favourite-looking small rivers. In the railway cutting beyond the bridge, a volley of long-tailed tits were working their way through the trees and I was able to follow them for a hundred yards or so, trying to take photos as they became slightly less tame. Also spotted a treecreeper at one point.

But the real purpose of the visit was to suss out the moorland at the end of Loch Stroan for any birds of prey, in particular hen harriers, as this is where Tony reckons he regularly sees them.  I found myself a nice perch on a collapsing drystone dyke and hung around for a while, but the sum total of widelife observed was a solitary meadow pipit and a skulking roe deer. I don't nkow if it's something I've been doing wrong, but this area hasn't proved productive for birds of prey over a number of visits. At times I have the distinct impression there is less wildlife around than there used to be.

Although I continued the walk back past Mossvale Loch, nothing more was sighted. Dropped in briefly at Kingholm Park as a short-eared owl has been seen there.

Black Water of Dee

Another view

Wednesday 16th December

I'm enjoying this time more than usual but it's still a bit depressing to see how little decent daylight we are getting - a maximum of around four hours here. No wonder primitive man thought the world was coming to an end.

Went out for an experimental walk yesterday in the area of Barwhillanty Forest and Loch Roan, experimental in the sense I had no idea how attractive the area would be in any respect. Initial impressions in terms of wildlife would have confirmed the notion that the world is coming to an end as nothing was around for the first 45 minutes at all.  In terms of scenery, it was however an extremely attractive stretch of mixed wood and moorland and profoundly still.  I would imagine it to be a beautiful area in the summer and the numerous ponds would probably mean lots of dragonfly and insect activity.

Loch Roan

After nearly an hour I did manage to see a couple of pairs of bullfinches - or possibly the same pair twice about half a mile apart.  They seemed almost to be unwisely limbering up for the mating season, perhaps a reflection of the ongoing mild temperatures that have produced only one frost to date.

Apart from that there were only a few coal tits in the conifers and a couple ofwrens muttering in the undergrowth.

On the way back from Loch Roan (private fishing only) as dusk approached, things did liven up a little.  A reluctant buzzard shuffled around the trees, and half a dozen pipits emerged from the rushes to circle around a bit overhead as if irritated by my presence.  Just I was reflecting that I hadn't seen a single crow or gull all day, a crow wandered lazily across the skyline as the car came into view.  The last bird I saw was a single dunnock.

Tuesday 8th December

Appalling weather recently so not likely to get out tomorrow, though I do have a little alternative plan if it brightens later in the week.

Last Wednesday arrived at Bogle Bridge to cycle to Kirkcudbright to catch a rear view of a large hawk about 20 yards ahead of me. It proved to be a red kite and two of them hovered over the road for several minutes in the strong breeze.

The ride itself was pretty much an endurance test but did stop by the moor on the way back to Gelston, just to check if the birds gathering in a nearby tree were indeed starlings.  In the binoculars, it was apparent that some of them at least were redwings.

Tuesday 1st December

Oh dear! New volutary work responsibilities mean I've had a busy fortnight and little time to report on nature events. Not sure if I'll get out anywhere tomorrow so best to catch up now.

Finally I did manage to see some redwings in a field South of Bogrie Moor last Wednesday.  Some were actually sitting nicely in a tree right by the roadside but understandably took fright as I approached in my fluorescent yellow cycling jacket. There must have been about 50 in the field but too far away to get a decent photo on my camera.

Spent a lot of the ride to Dalry trying to keep pace with a member of Dumfries Cycling Club, but did get a good few of some hovering kites on the Crocketford Road a bit before Bogle Bridge. Some long-tailed tits were passing through the trees at some point but I really can't remember when. I did see a good few more today though, when picking up some shopping at the local Halford's.

Spot the parakeet
Dificulty level = moderate

The week before the Brussels attacks I was there, visiting the European Parliament with Amnesty Scotland This was not a very nature-friendly environment but I did manage to sneak off to the Jubelpark to see if the ring-necked parakeets were still as much in evidence as on my last visit 18 months ago.

As soon as I entered the park a familiar screeching sound proved my odds-on suspicion to be correct and they were all over the place, though much more easily heard than seen as I discovered when trying to get this picture (left).

There has been at least one sighting of a ring-necked parakeet in Dumfries and Galloway, with some discussion as to whether they are a welcome arrival or not. Personally I like them.

Previously I think I may have referred to them erroneously as green parakeet.

Saturday14th November

The weather is worsening. Another cycle ride in the Thornhill area was largely an exercise in dodging floods and debris as the weather has been very wet and remained so eight miles North of Dumfries in
either direction As a result there was nothing to report beyond one or two glimpses of the usual finch suspects and a greater spotted woodpecker on someone's feeder. Not a single bird of prey to be seen.

Droids in Nithsdale?

There was however one unusual sighting as it appears that the village of Park hes been invaded by a patrol of extra-terrestrial farming droids, who seemed much happier with the prevailing conditions than I was.

Today on the way back from the Chemist's there were half a dozen long-tailed tits and a couple of male greenfinches in the young trees on the far side of the road, which was heartening after long absences in either case.  It goes to show you don't always have to go a long way to see something interesting.

I had hoped there would still be a few butterflies around in view of the warm temperatures but there has been no sun.  The last one I saw was a red admiral in the garden on 2nd November.

Sunday 8th November

During a fairly busy week managed to slot in a bike ride from Ae village up to Durisdeer and back via Thornhill and Auldgirth. Unfortunately there was consistent mist and a lot of mizzle so there was no need for my polaroid clip-ons, which of course I had with me precisely when they were of no use
whatsoever.

Reception Committee

There were some notable gatherings of chaffinches, gradually building into their flocks for the winter when they will be seen in considerable numbers. Up on the moors there were a few pipits about but nothing more when I paused at the summit, apart from the obvious disapproval of the members of the local Conservative Club who do not like intruders. After that I paused briefly at Morton Pond, wondering what the fishing is like these days. Overall lots of green vegetation still, but lots of mud on road and bike.

On the way back there was a strange occurence when I disturbed a brownish bird in the hedgerow.  It made to fly in front of the bike but realised it hadn't the time. Quick as a flash it doubled back and dived straight through the front and back wheels right underneath my feet as they pedalled along at around 12 mph. Understandably there is no photographic evidence and I doubt if anything like it will ever happen again. I think it was a sparrow.

Also just managing to evade the camera was a male blackcap that briefly turned up in the low trees at the back of my neighbour's garden. That one must have been lost as well as late, I thought. However it seems that Blackcaps are starting to overwinter in the UK, so who knows.

Monday 2nd November

Yesterday took advantage of some dry if overcast and misty weather to cycle down past Caerlaverock and the Nith estuary.  I was looking for egrets or hopefully a salmon going over the caul in Dumfries, but saw neither. It's a pity about the salmon.  After thirty years plus living in the town, I still haven't seen them leap the caul.  I've seen them resting further upstream and splashing around waiting for the chance to go up, but haven't seem them jump.  It's possibly too late this year and maybe altogether.  I may not be here next year at this time.

One the way down to Caerlaverock there was a goldcrest playing in one of the roadside trees though I never got to see the head stripe in the dull light. At the estuary there was the statutory flock of barnacle geese, proving you don't have to go to a reserve to see them. I also saw a few curlew and lapwing wading at low tide.

Distant Barnacle Geese

Then I saw some much larger waders with the curlew-shaped beak, which puzzled a bit as they could have been nothing else but curlew. The beak shape was unmistakeable so I suppose it's possible the first couple were whimbrel. That would seem a bit unlikely as they are only passage birds but it is the right time of year.

The usual goosanders were busy fishing at the caul.

Once home there was a red admiral flying over the patio. More remarkable was what made it's way into the house on the cat's back on Friday.  This fellow (below) is definitely the smallest garden snail I've ever seen. I assume that all baby snails start off that small!

Snail

Tuesday 27th October

Heavy rain forecast for tomorrow, so decided to set off cycling on my own, this time not in the full biking clobber, so a bit more camouflaged than usual in the hope of seeing more birdlife.

It was pretty sparse over Amisfield Moor as just one or two pipits were around.  However it was soon apparent that the crow family had decided that this is 'mob a buzzard' week and there were several such displays during the day, including one on a smaller bird of prey.

Theft by Squirrel

Very quiet through the edge of Ae Forest but the bird feeders at Castle Loch are already getting filled, so there were several tits around, at least when the feeders were not being robbed by a pair of marauding red squirrels. Nuthatch and woodpecker duly made an appearance but there was no sign of willow tit.  Nearby a female bullfinch spent a lot of time gnawing the white berries on a separate tree that, in retrospect, I should have tried to identify. The whole lot dispersed just before a left when a medium sized bird of prey (presumably sparrowhawk) swooped in in high-speed pursuit..

All quiet again until the Brow Well, where a stray greenfinch turned up in the hedgerow.  So I scanned more carefully suspecting redwing plundering the hawthorns in the distance, but I think they were actually fieldfares (see below).

Probably Fieldfares
note the grey head on the right-hand bird

On the way back a kestrel on the telegraph wires appeared not to notice the tit sitting on the same wire close by. Disturbed by me and a lady cyclist passing in opposite directions, it wheeled off.  Must have been intent on looking for voles.

Overall I saw 18 different species of bird today and heard four or five more. An additional bonus were three red admirals and two small tortoiseshells, testament to the fact that there has been no frost yet.

Thursday 22nd October

Nearly the end of British summertime and the sunny days are subsiding to wind and showers.  Again not much to report this week apart from a large flock of starlings at a farm near Milton, a couple of volleys of goldfinches and a couple of buzzards. The one redwing suspect I saw turned out to be a thrush. The coal tit is still visiting the bird table when I manage to replenish it.

Meanwhile I am wondering about learning to fly fish, assuming there's at least some fly fishing gear to be found in the garage. The thinking seems clear enough.  I'm growing a bit tired carting large amounts of coarse gear around and fishing in a pretty much stereotyped fashion. Flyfishing means a lighter apprach, more roaming around and spotting or sensing a quarry to cast to.

So I am reading this introductory book by John Bailey.  I remember being impressed by one of his coarse fishing books, particularly a chapter where he talked of systematically tracking down and snaring some huge roach on the River Wensum.

Up to now it's a bit inconclusive. Fly fishing is about the sort of things I think I want but there are an awful lot of subtleties to it and a lot of jargon, some of which Bailey for all his enthusiasm does not always explain well. So much stuff about different kinds of flies, leaders, and lines. It will need a lot of time and effort to get anywhere with it.

Obviously the first thing I would need to do is learn to cast. So the plan is to try some practice casting on the field at the top of the street.

15 October 2015

Events to report in the way of direct sightings have calmed down considerably.

There was photo last week on Dumfries and Galloway Wildlife and Birding of a redwing arriving in the Caerlaverock area, so I turned my attention away from trees and plants and took the binoculars on yesterday's bike ride for the first time in a month.

The result was yeat another lovely Autumn run in steady sunshine once the chill South East wind had died down, but absolutely nothing of major interest sighted apart from a small flock of curlews by the Nith.

Other subscribers to Dumfries and Galloway Wildlife and Birding have also seen green woodpeckers and, more impressively a turtle dove down by the seashore somewhere. Here green woodpeckers are on the edge of their range and I shared my theory that they move around a good deal, making them hard to tie to a location. But I did not know we even have turtle doves.

In the garden, a coal tit has been appearing on the bird table, which I at first attributed to a change in feed to include sunflower hearts.  But in fact I think one often turns up at this time of year.

Birds often take a tour of the silver birch in the front garden looking for aphids and other insects. This year I have on at least three occasions seen a red admiral settling on the leaves of the silver birch. I don't recall this happening before and so can't help wondering why they are doing it. Are they taking sap off the leaves?

2nd October 2015

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy, so I am playing catch-up.

Little Egret

Last Wednesday (26/09) I was in the North East again for non-nature reasons, so it was quite fortuitous that I happened to see a white shape in the tree line at the back of the wetland by Warkworth Beach.  Wasn't sure at first if it was a bird or a plastic bag and with no binoculars I couldn't check. But I think this distance shot enables us to make out that it was in fact a little egret clinging to the bush.

Indeed a bit of research proves that little egrets have been visiting the area for a good while now.

This Wednesday I had the pleasure of yet another sunny September bike ride up to Moniaive. Bird behaviour seems to have changed since my last run out and it as if they are needing to get nearer civilisation to find food and are therefore becoming more visible.

Cherry Tree?

Just past Skinford Bridge, a nuthatch was on the edge of the road dissecting a peanut. I've only seen them in trees before.

A while later a jay showed well by the edge of a farmyard, flying back and forth rather than just making straight for tree cover with immense squawkings like they usually do. It seemed a little less colourful than other jays, so I wondered if it was perhaps a juvenile of female.

Then just before Moniaive a couple of bullfinches showed briefly, so a good day for reddish birds.

Also very red and sighted while I was looking at the nuthatch was this tree, which I couldn't immediately identify but it looks like it may be some sort of cherry.

Stopping at another bridge on the way back, a dipper made a fairly prolonged experience, the first one I've seen for a little while.

Wednesday 16th September

An excellent cycling day today - plenty of sun and, for the first time for ages little wind.

My theory that swallows may have disappeared early this year was put to rest as there was a healthy cluster on the telegraph wires just north of Newbridge, and a single one doing the same on the approach to Glenmidge.  Here there was also a pale looking slim item that kept landing and flicking its tail in a chat-like manner, but without binoculars and in full fluorecent gear, it was never likely to settle long enough to allow identification.  I wondered about a whinchat, but not really convinced.

On the way to the pharmacy yesterday, a large number of house martins were also in evidence so it clearly isn't quite the end of the summer for the hirundines, though no sign of sand martins over the Nith.

There were also a couple of buzzards and a single magpie north of Keir Mill.  Magpies are definitely spreading into the area.

However the main spot of the day was a small field of what I believe to be a purple leaved norway maples between Holywood and Portrack Estate. Unfortunately the plentiful sun has affected the photograph below. On a non-nature note, my friend Tony suggested a quick visit to see the gravestone of Kirkpatrick MacMillan, the inventor of the pedal cycle, just past Keir.  Interestingly, his achievement does not rate a headline mention on the family gravestone, more a footnote.  Yet without him I possibly wouldn't have been there today!

Purple leaved Norway Maple

At Kirkpatrick MacMillan's Gravestone

Thursday 10th September

Just back from a few days in Spain, where I remarkably sighted not a single butterfly and very few notable birds apart from an azure-winged magpie and one large looking lark that was hanging around the scrub in the storage area at Faro airport.

There were a lot of fantastic South American trees in the Alcazar Gardens at Seville that I wouldn't seek to identify but there was quite an interesting example of a feeding frenzy of hungry carp.

The day after however my attention was drawn to one particular tree that I instinctively thought I would be able to identify, and unless I'm much mistaken it's a young Montpellier Maple:

Montpellier Maple

Returning to normality, did the bike ride to New Abbey yesterday in very overcast conditions.  There was a healthy gathering of house martins hunting flies over Lochrutton Loch, but no longer any signs of swallows though it seems a little early for them to return home to Africa.

On the way back past Kirkconnel Flow, I noticed a large amount of a pink flowering plant that I'm sure i have seen many times, but could not put a name to. It doesn't warrant it's own mention in my Book of Wildflowers, so again it was thanks to the folk at Dumfries and Galloway Wildlife and Birding that I can tell you (if you didn't already know) that it's Himalayan Balsam.

Himalayan Balsam

Around the garden, peacocks but only peacocks are still enjoying the remaining buddleia.

Thursday 3rd September

In the garden butterflies have at last been visiting some numbers, mainly peacocks, all of which continue to be fine fellows of good size, but also red admirals plus the odd small white and small tortoiseshell.

I have been out a couple of times on the bike without noticing much, beyond that the coutryside has been looking great and the weather is a bit brighter.

Purple-leaved Elder

Yesterday I did spot this rather interesting bush some way past Terregles Village on the edge of some estate land.  At first mystified, I could see that it had some of the characteristics of an elder but with strikingly dark leaves - somewhat darker actually than shows up in the photograph. It is mentioned in the index of the Book of Trees although with no further text detail, but a little internet research suggests that it is in fact a purple-leaved elder.

Meanwhile the swallows are starting their autumn habit of perching on telegraph wires in some numbers.  I fancifully like to imagine that they are having a chat about when to return to Africa this year. Swifts incidentally haven't been heard or seen around the estate for a few weeks.

Stopped again at the place near Bogle Bridge where people must put bird food out.  Lots of tits were soon lingering with intent a few minutes after I sat on the moss-covered wall but of course, I didn't have anything for them.

Tuesday 26th August

Some butterflies have started to show up in the garden, if only in small numbers - small tortoiseshells, a handful of fine peacocks that seem larger than usual and just one red admiral, plus small whites.

Rode from Annan to Dumfries yesterday, stopping off briefly at Applegarthtown Nature Reserve, which was pretty much deserted. It was really to see if the sand martins were around and indeed one solitary specimen flew around for a couple of minutes. Notes in the logbook there suggest that they are being predated upon by a sparrowhawk and, sure enough, a large brown shape passed briefly right

Aspen

in front.

I checked out a couple of trees in the same area and was able to identify this aspen on the boundary of the reserve car park. Quite pleased with myself as I'm sure I've never noticed them before.

Again very little butterfly activity in spite of reasonable sunshine.

Meanwhile I submitted the pictures from the last post to Dumfries and Galloway Wildlife and Birding, as a result most of the plants featured have been identified. So I'll add a comment with the details.

Friday 21st August

This is a bit of a catch up on miscellaneous happenings over the past ten days.

Grey alders?

Bike rides haven't produced much except a few close ups of kites and jays, partly because I've been more focussed on the exercise part more than the nature part. Did manage some nice weather for an extended run through the Glemkilns, during which I took a break by the reservoir dtream and spent a happy half an hour feeding bits of orange pith to the minnows. Surprisingly some of it got eaten. There was also a tree spot.  I took this group of trees to be alders but of course the bark is too smooth for a common alder - possibly grey alders?

The day after I took a walk on at the south end of Mabie Forest, mainly looking for butterflies.  Once again the tally was disappointingly small - a few ringlets, meadow browns and a solitary couple of common blues, none of which were keen to settle.  Everyone seems to agree it's a bad year for butterflies. Instead I took a few photos of the flowers I saw but couldn't readily identify.


Now I'm pretty new to this wild flower stuff. I suppose the yellow one in the first snap is some kind of vetch or trefoil (bird's foot trefoil?), otherwise a bit bemused. The main lesson here is that I need to take the photos closer up as it's necessary to see clearly what the leaves and stems are like as well.

A similar experience this week, when I couldn't get very far identifying wading birds at Warkworth without my better binoculars.  Got as far as identifying cormorant, oystercatcher and some common terns that were taking small fry in the shallows.  But the apparent golden plover on the edge of the rocks at the Amble breakwater presumably couldn't have been.  And wasn't sure about the fluffy-looking starling lookalikes on the rocks. Let alone the small waders running across the sand at high speed.

Still lots to see and lots to learn...

Monday 10th August

Finally managed to have a go at the Big Butterfly Watch, aided by a whole morning of reasonable sunshine.

Not surprisingly, the results weren't wonderful.  I decided to try the beginning of the path from Loch Stroan to Loch Skerrow after the farm track turnoff, where there were large numbers of scotch argos at the end of August last year. In the allocated fifteen minutes I managed just six scotch argos and

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

three meadow browns. Outside the time frame, I did see several more examples of the same species, plus a couple of ringlets and two common blues but overall it was distinctly sparse and the scotch argos weren't keen to settle more than momentarily.  There were in fact a good deal more dragonflies around than butterflies, mainly golden-ringed dragon flies, testimony to the wet weather this summer if any was needed.

The picture in the garden is similarly bleak.  Buddleia has been out in large quantities for a week but all it has attracted is one small tortoiseshell. Early days yet though.

I attempted a bit of flower spotting and photographed two plants, neither of which seem to be represented in my Book of Wild Flowers. Also observed were a couple of low-flying red kites as on my last visit here, a juvenile robin and a juvenile bullfinch drinking out of a puddle on the road. Have not however heard a chiffchaff for a couple of weeks at least.

Wednesday 5th August

Continuing cool, damp and windy weather is confirming my suspicion that a lack of any consistent warmth by the end of July means that Autumn will start by mid-August, and so it is already proving this year when the temperatures have struggled to reach 20 Celsius since June.

Currently the Big Butterfly Count is still on hold as far as I am concerned as I cannot guarantee the 15 minutes of sunshine required.

This week's bike ride has also been a rain off, but I did manage on of my rare twitches yesterday in response to the news of two pairs of bee eaters breeding in a quarry near Brampton. Now obviously I managed to see bee eaters in Provence in June but this was a definite news item and I vaguely hoped that it might be possible to see them closer to.

The temporary site put up by RSPB has been really heavily visited and I wasn't too surprised to see a number of twitchers on arrival.  It was also no real surprise to find that the observation post was in fact at some distance from the nest.  However we did catch several sightings of bee eaters flying to and from the nest and occasionally perching on the fenceposts above it. They were too far away to photograph without top-notch equipment but I could make out the colours through my binoculars and it was possible to see them in reasonable detail by telescope. You could also see the hole they were nesting in perfectly clearly.

Twitchers Twitching

The Nesting Hole

Apparently, the only time that bee eaters have nested further North than this was in 1922 at Musselburgh. The chicks are expected to be on the wing in about a fortnight's time, so it may be that even better viewings will result then.

Also in the area were many sand martins, some linnets (spotted by twitchers with very powerful lenses) a couple of crows as well as a kestrel that arrived to interrupt proceedings for a while.

Saturday 1st August

A week of interesting bits and pieces...

Last Saturday Malcolm and I took a quick run down to the Caerlaverock Nature Reserve.  The intention had been to attempt the Big Butterfly Count but as we never had 15 continuous minutes of sunshine, the survey conditions were not satisfied so we turned our attention to a bit of tree spotting, during which I managed to remind myself what an alder really looks like.

Strangely, the best spot was on our way out of the pub that evening, when we noticed that there is a large-leaved lime growing in front of the churchyard on St Michael's Street. Shocking in a minor way that I must have walked past it several hundred times without noticing it was there.

As Malcolm has only seen a red squirrel in Wales, we went to Eskrigg Nature Reserve the day after as I reckoned the chances of seeing them there were odds-on. Unfortunately there was a lot of gardening and maintenance work going on round the lake, which clearly intimidated the local birdies from visiting the feeders and no doubt the squirrels as well.

So we took a long perambulation around the reserve seeing nothing worthwhile but sure enough, on returning to the lake the volunteers were away and the squirrels were already invading the feeders, so we had a good long session watching their antics. The curious thing that no birds of any real interest approached the feeders apart from briefly one female nuthatch and a woodpecker. The scene was heavily dominated by a large number of juvenile chaffinches in feeding frenzy mode, which may accounted for the lack of other species.

On the way out we managed another interesting tree spot, which after much discussion we think we identified as a red oak.

On Thursday I went down to Gretna with the bike to check out the River Sark and the Kirtle Water in the hope of perhaps seeing a few chub lazing around. After an enjoyable diversion to the Auld Acquaintance Cairn near the first house in Gretna, I was astounded to see that the Sark was running at a far higher level than when I last visited in wintertime.  So fishspotting was out of the question, but I would have to say that some spots looked incredibly chubby.  I found it hard to believe that the otters have got them all!

So a week of variations which has highlighted for me how much of nature I have not been taking in as a result of ny preoccupation with birdlife, butterflies and fishing.  I have even bought myself a book on wild flowers, about which I know practically nothing, so who knows...

Meanwhile it appears that there are a pair of bee-eaters nesting near Brampton - after I went all the way to Provence last month to see them!

Large-leaved Lime	Red Squirrel Invasion
Red Oak??	River Sark

Saturday 25th July

Interesting follow up to last week's post in that I posted a photo of the leaf on the Dumfries and Galloway Wildlife and Birding Facebook group, a great forum where people are posting pictures of all sorts of things they have seen about the place - notably some fascinating insects recently.

Someone thought my leaf was an aspen rather than an alder, which did not quite tally with my observations of the trunk and structure.  Then there was another suggestion of black poplar and on consulting again the Book of Trees, that appears to be spot on.

Baby Swallows

A bit of a quiet week this week.  Mainly concentrated on improving my Chris Froome imitation during the Wednesday bike ride, but did manage to see half a dozen red kites between Dalbeattie and Haugh of Urr, flying low and very visible next to a field where a farmer was harvesting grass. What might they have been looking for?  Mice?  On the way to Crocketford there was also a single red
admiral.

On Friday went to visit the Housesteads roman fort.  The area was notable for its lack of birds, especially birds of prey but there were a couple of cute baby swallows above the shop entrance, waiting to be fed.

Wednesday 15th July

My knowledge of trees is pretty poor and I've been meaning to do something about it for some time.

So by way of a change, I took my Book of Trees along on today's bike ride (via Milton, Kirkgunzeon, Loch Arthur, New Abbey, Kirkconnel Flow) and set about identifying some of the broadleafs.  Thus I

Alder Leaf?

now know there are a lot of ash trees north of Kirkgunzeon and generally, plus a lot of oaks, hazels, sycamores and holly trees on the road past Kirkconnel Flow.

One tree near the cycle track in the town has confused me a bit.  I think it was an alder from the trunk and size but the leaves did not match the pictures in my book very well.

Of course there were also some goldfinches, a few yellowhammers near Kirkgunzeon and several ringlet butterflies. On the wilder bit of the run to New Abbey, there were also a couple of stonechats grinding away.  I haven't seen them there before.

A pleasant change from some of the frantic riding I've been doing. Who knows, maybe I will finally show some interest in wild flowers one day as well.

Thursday 10th July

Walked from Mossvale to Loch Stroan in search of birds of prey, as I've heard tales of a few sightings in this area.

The weather was more mixed than anticipated with one heavy rain shower and some drizzle, though this did not put off the ringlet butterflies who were again out in force. However it may have contributed to the lack of birds of prey taking the wing, apart from one red kite I disturbed from its roost, which gave a very good view of its underparts as it flew of squawking.  Apart from that, the most notable thing I had seen on turning back to the car was a grey wagtail perching in the conifers near the loch.  I didn't know they would do that.

Wheatear

But on the way back I noticed two birds of prey, heading over the moorland towards the forest.  The merlin is a bird I have a strange relationship with, full of half and questionable sightings, but from the
adept, speedy flight and the pointed wings, I would be fairly confident these two were indeed merlins. Too far away though to pick up more of the body colouring than a hint of dark brown.

Two or three minutes later, I noted some 'tek, tek' noises coming from a hawthorn, followed by some brief whistling notes. I got close enough to see the bird, but it took me a few minutes to decide it was a very pale looking male wheatear - the first I have come across this summer.  So pale in fact that there was only the merest suggestion of red on the breast, which doesn't show in this photo but I also managed to identify the tail pattern when it started to fly around a bit.

More Photographs From Provence

As promised three weeks ago, here are some more photos of birds and other wildlife from provence. Thanks to Cyndy Hutley for providing them. N.b. some are from her previous trips to the area.

As you can detect, Provence offers good opportunities to see things that are uncommon or rare in the UK, plus some others you wouldn't see at all.

Bee Eater Chamois Citril Finch False Ilex Hairstreak Golden Eagle Great Spotted Cuckoo Mountain Goats Red Backed shrike Scorpion Sphinx Oak Moth

Calendra Lark Chough Eagle Owl Glossy Ibis Great Sooty Satyr Lesser Kestrel Ortolan Bunting Rock Sparrow Wryneck