Sunday 30th October

Took my first nature walk for a long time and chose to go around the Threave Castle area.

On the way to the Stepping Stones hide I saw the first goldcrest for a very long time.  It hung around obligingly but I could not get a camera shot that showed it up amongst the tree foliage.  At the hide there was a score of corbids sitting on an island in the middle of the river, presumably rooks.  One or two were stockier than the others and I wondered if they could be ravens.  In any case I have never seen either bird behave in this fashion before.

Whooper Swans

Then three whooper swans flew up the river, not quite fully mature as they still had bits of grey on them.

In the trees just before the castle on the far side, there was a flock of birds foraging.  I had a quick check to see if they were all blackbirds and indeed thought I saw several redwing, though the

Fieldfares and a couple of blackbirds

photo I took shows clearly they were fieldfares.

There were a lot of them in the woodland near the other two hides, but they weren't offering more than the most cursory sighting.  From the upper hide, I saw a tree creeper but not much else and from the lower just a couple of roe deer and a pair of birds in the reed grasses I could not identify. They were behaving like whinchats and flicking their tails but surely it was too late in the season for them.

The weather was still very mild and lots of flies on the wing. Ducks and geese were not to be seen but apparently there have been some pink-footed geese very recently.

Saturday 29th October

In view of continuing convalescence, decided to take on the hills and do the bike run to Castle Douglas on Wednesday.

On setting out, a large flock of barnacle geese overflew the estate.  Just before Lochfoot, I was surprised to see there were several flowers still in bloom - cornflowers, purple clover and some sort of tall daisy. Unsure of  my timetable I didn't hang around to investigate further.

Spottes Burn

Stopped by the Spottes Burn in Haugh of Urr to recover from consistent headwind.  I've often thought this looks like an attractive little stream for fishing but have never seen any fish in it - even though it flows into the River Urr, which definitely holds fish.

This reminds me that I haven't been fishing for ages.  Somehow I just can't get the taste for it and have decided not to force myself to try before the urge comes back.

On the way back there was a nice view of a red kite, one large and one small buzzard, plus the almost inevitable goldfinches.

Meanwhile the sunflower in the garden has passed away without attracting a goldfinch but the coal tits are still busy taking seeds from the bird table as if it was a major industry.  Someone told me that sunflower hearts are better for goldfinches so will give it a try.

Sunday 16th October

A fairly quiet couple of weeks.  I did a couple of bike rides where not much was seen.  There was a yellowhammer on a telegraph wire on the way back from Gretna a week ago on Friday and I only identified that by taking a photograph of it and blowing it up.

Crab Apple?

Last Wednesday there were a good few birds stirring in the woods around Cowhill but not hanging around.  There were a couple of buzzards about and it's some time since I've seen them.

On the way back home I noticed this tree near Portrack House.  I assume it's a crab apple but the fruits look very small compared to the ones I remember when I was a kid.

Young Cormorant

More puzzling was a bird perching on the River Nith, which I could quickly see was not a heron.  I reckoned it was a juvenile
but couldn't work out which species.  The answer is actually quite simple - it's a young cormorant.  The white chest is misleading but the posture and other parts are quite typical.

Coal Tit

Meanwhile at home, a sunflower I allowed to grow has become very bedraggled but has attracted the regular attention of a coal tit. It has become extremely adapt at stealing the seeds one by one, but always moves off again to eat them.  In fact there are two coal tits around but I fancy
it's always the same one that goes for the sunflower.

A coal tit is not a rare visitor to the garden but recently they have become frequent. It has opened my eyes a bit to see how agile their flight is and far quicker than most other garden birds as they dart around the bushes.  They also seem to be capable of a hovering action that almost reminds of a humming bird.

Sunday 2nd October

Another trip to Northumberland at the end of last week, which resulted in a pleasant walk along the coast between Craster and Dunstanburgh Castle.

I was a little surprised to sight a number of wheatears, all male, moving around the rocks on the shoreline. I've seen wheatears in coastal areas before but not on the shoreline, plus I would have expected them to be on their way back to Africa by now. Maybe they were getting ready for the effort. There were also a couple of rock pipits darting around in similar fashion.

Nearer the castle, a seal pooped its head out of the water now and again and a couple of eider duck were spotted amongst the floating seagulls.  In the fields next to the castle, quite a large number of swallows were flying around at speed and I was told they are usually there.  The entrance castle itself was guarded by some young cows who seem to like small dogs.

On the way back the smaller birds had been replaced by a number of calling turnstone.

Meanwhile I am hoping that my stray sunflower might attract a goldfinch or two.  So far the only visitor has been a hyperactive coal tit.

Wheatear

Eider duck

Cows and castle