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