Wednesday 1st November

Set off for a bike ride today and wasn't even out of the town when I saw a white bird on the edge of the Nith at Nunholm.  My first reaction was 'little egret' but on jumping off the bike it seemed too small so I decided to move on.  Looking through a gap between the houses I caught another glimpse and started to have my doubts. So I stopped again on the cycle track bridge and looked back to see the same bird, having flown up onto the bank.  This time I got the binoculars onto it and sure enough, it was a little egret, dangling it's black legs behind as it made off for cover.

This reminds me that I forgot to write about my trip to Northumberland ten days ago, when I saw two little egrets in successive days.  One was wading in a pond at the back of Cresswell Beach and another on the River Aln.  They must be getting common over there.  Unfortunately I didn't have a camera ready on either occasion, which made today's spot even more disappointing as I was sure I'd have been able to snap it.

The rest of the ride to Castle Douglas was a struggle against the wind and I only noticed a red kite getting mobbed by a couple of crows.

I had decided to look out for redwing and fieldfare on the way back.  I did see a large powder puff moving into the trees in MacAdam Woods, indicating the presence of a large deer but otherwise it looked as though I would be out of luck.

That was until I spotted just three or four birds in the trees going over a moorland stretch.  I couldn't get particularly close but the poorish photo I took was just enough to show they were fieldfares.

Fieldfares