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

Wednesday 18th February

The weather forecast for today looking poor, I decided to have another go at looking for goshawks yeaterday.  Started off to aforementioned forest in mid-Nithsdale but somewhat put off by "Private Keep Out" signs. In spite of  the fact that there is no privacy law in Scotland, more and more

Looking back along the path to Auchencairn Hill

"Private" signs are popping up in the countryside.

Anyway I relocated to Loch Ettrick to look over the forest area around Auchencairn Hill. For a long time I thought I was going to see absolutely nothing apart from a couple of crows, but a pair of crossbills briefly appeared in the trees above the road approaching to the hill.  One was certainly a male and the other probably female as well as I could tell in poorish light.  The paths in the neighbourhood of the hill itself are a very pleasant walk with a lot of baby conifers growing right next to them.  So I was a little suprised to spot an unidentified deer running through the forest on the way back to the loch.  Otherwise did not even see a bird of prey or a coal tit, though there were plenty of the latter to be heard.

A sudden improvement in the weather meant that I took a late decision to cycle to New Abbey today.  I had time for a brief excursion to Airds Point, another very pleasant run until the chemical storage tank comes into view.  This seems a promising area for birds as I quickly sighted grey heron, goldfinch, bullfinch and most pleasingly, a goldcrest. I'm not sure when I last spotted a goldcrest as they were certainly a species badly affected by the awful winters a few years back.

Wednesday 1st May

Not much to report over the last fortnight. Last week's Wednesday bikeride took place in wind and rain, making it hard to see anything at all.  Today saw a young deer and a treecreeper plus a bird of prey that Tony thought was a sparrowhawk, though I didn't see much brown on it. Went looking for willow tits at Castle Loch yesterday but feeders have been removed and nothing interesting showing around the castle. Ended up sunning myself.

Have however seen a male siskin in the garden and heard greenfinches on new road. Chiffchaffs now audible most places.