Thursday 21 January

Winter at last!

A temperature leap out of the -0 C zone enabled me to go for the Wednesday bike ride to Gatehouse of Fleet. Didn't pay much attention on the way there, especially through Laurieston Forest, where it was apparent that winter had finally arrived and was still with us. Spent most of my time watching for potholes and unexpected patches of ice or snow.

On the way back, took a little detour via the Ken Dee Marshes area and was glad I did.  A number of buzzards and red kites were wheeling around and showing well above the road over from Laurieston. There was one buzzard who did not take part and sat moping in a tree as I cycled right by.
Then a flight of redwing took off from another tree, again before I could very close up.  I'm sure they dislike my cycling jacket.

Then on the way back towards Glenlochar, I observed fascinated as three youngish roe deer did a steeplechase through the fields, outpacing the bike until they ended up by the road and the first one crossed the road just in front of me before the others panicked and doubled back.

Last a small clump of snowdrops, not quite out, reminded me I must start thinking what to get for the garden this year.  I think I'm going to go for butterfly friendly plants and maybe leave a strip of lawn to go 'back to nature'.

Saturday 16th January

Spent a few days in Northumberland, which resulted in a lengthy walk at Low Newton.  Part of the idea was to check out the nature reserve that we discovered exists behind the Ship Inn - which was probably the source of the yellow-browed warbler reported in an earlier post.

In fact the beach was the main source of action.  Spent some time watching a cormorant sitting on a pile of rocks in the first bay, wondering if it might be a shag - interesting to find on researching more today that, according to bird-x.com 'There is no clear distinction between the term "cormorant" and "shag". ' Now that I didn't know!

Some usual suspects started turning up, i.e. greenshank, redshank and sanderling.  Further out some tufted ducks were fishing and once we passed a large outcrop of rocks, I was able to identify a pair of eider ducks even further out, messing around in the surface swell - so a first sighting.

On the way back to the pub, a large number of smaller birds were messing around by the kelp brought up by storms and I figured out they were rock pipits - another first sighting! By this time I was glad I had brought the bird book along, even though my fingers got pretty cold every time I got it out.  Just heading off the beach there were a few stonechats in the dunes.  I didn't need the bird book for them, but it was nice to see them again.

Stonechat

Rock Pipit - honest!

In fact the nature reserve, which was heavily flooded so the full path couldn't be covered, didn't have much to add to this.  Apart from more 'shanks, there were some greylag geese on the far side of the pond, too far away to see if other species were among them - plus a few wigeon and a single lapwing.

By now it was getting cold and we made it to the pub.

Monday 4th January

Took advantage in a break in the weather to make a morning trip to Mersehead RSPB Reserve, taking care to make sure I had the wellies with me.

Tree Sparrows and Greenfinch

A quick trip to the Visitor Centre showed a lot of action on the large feeder directly in front of the main window. I very quicly noticed a large number of greenfinches and, amongst the tits and chaffinches, about four or five tree sparrows who kept coming back repeatedly. I have seen them at Mersehead before but otherwise associate them more with Annandale and Cumbria.

The wellie boots were definitely necessary as the path to Bruaich Hide was well flooded.  Having passed a rambling roe deer and some of the 7,000 barnacle Geese present, there were pintail ducks, shovelers, teal and widgeon on the water. Another young roe deer showed up on the far side under the trees. I was a bit surprised not to see any whooper swans, having seen them last week. Meida Hide was less rewarding.  Apart from a decent close-up of a teal, most other ducks were at a distance. The typology of this area seems to have altered and the water levels appeared uneven.

After that there wasn't much to see on the beech.  On the merse there was just one hare running wildly around, as if in pursuit of a lost tortoise, a rabbit and a wren in the dunes.

Friday 1st January

Hadn't intended to anything taxing today, but with weather closing in again, decided to day was the best day to get out on the bike.

Did a quick tour round the Caerlaverock loop. Saw a couple of buzzards, one of which was being mobbed by 30-50 rooks.  There was a jay fussing around a couple of dead trees, and on riding back up the Nith, several hundreds of barnacle geese feeding in the soaking fields.

Last of all I was overflown by a couple of small groups of whooper swans, honking away as they flew.

There was remarkably little sign of flood damage riding up into Dumfries, but a lot of flooded fields and natural debris showing how high the water had been.