River Walks...........Day 6

 We awoke ready for a leisurely day. I pulled the curtain back a little(a great advantage being able to do this without having to get out of the bed 😉) and peered outside. I could already tell their was a chill in the air and the sparkling ground outside confirmed it. Majella turned over and hogged the duvet once more, so I decided to leave her in peace and get dressed and go out for a walk along the River Spean which winds it's way through the farmland.

 The river was lower than I expected but more exposed rocks meant for great vantage points for foraging Dippers. I had just started walking East along the river when the flash of white and brown flew in the opposite direction.I followed the flight to it's landing point and then crept closer keeping behind boulders and vegetation as to not disturb the Dipper.

 I got as close as I dare and stayed partially hidden by a large boulder watching the Dipper. It was quickly joined by a Grey Wagtail too(on the left of the 1st photo). Staying motionless I watched gleefully for around 10 minutes. Just me, the river and the birds.

 

 Both moved further downstream out of sight and my attention was turned to the loud trilling verses of a Wren. It was rapidly followed by the the song of a Robin. The Wren sang louder, appearing to try and outdo the Robin, the Robin not to be outdone once again belted out it's flutey melody.It was like listening to the battle round on The Voice, pure Heaven(not The Voice, the birds😁).

 I continued my walk up river examining the lichen and frost covered ferns. Beauty is to be found everywhere in the Natural World if you look close enough.

 Eventually starting to feel the cold I headed back to the cabin for a coffee. Majella was up as I'd unwittingly been on my walk for 2 hours. Now that she was ready to brave the cold we went for a short drive into Fort William and to Glen Nevis.

                         

 We parked up at the glen Nevis visitor centre and crossed the bridge to walk along the River Nevis. I liked how the light changed as the clear cold water ran over the pebbles in the shallows.

 The River Nevis has been a good place to spot more Dippers and Grey Wagtails in the past but not this time, we were however amazed at how many Song Thrushes were around as we rarely see them where we live. Majella's keen eye also spotted a distant Greenfinch on the river bank.

 These sheep had obviously heard the quote 'The grass is always greener on the other side' as they led a charge up and over this stone wall to get to the adjacent field.

 We arrived back at the car and decided to continue further up the Glen to the Lower Falls.

  

 Slow-mo video clip of Lower Falls, Glen Nevis.

 Leaving the Glen we parked at Morrisons in Fort William and walked across the road to the shore of Loch Linnhe. It was low tide so one of the best times to see Otters. Despite spending some good time here scanning the Loch and islands, no Otters were spotted. There were plenty of birds though with Goldeneye, Goosanders, Grey Herons, Hooded Crows, Herring, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls all in attendance.

 Majella enjoying the view across Loch Linnhe while searching for Otters.

 Our plan for the next day meant a long day so we went back to the cabin early and spent the late afternoon watching the garden birds.Chaffinches, Coal Tits,Great Tits, Blue Tits, Dunnocks, Robins, Blackbirds all pushing for superiority of the bird table.

Photographs by Stuart Pike & Majella Fox

Tomorrow we head for the Isle of Mull, a 2 hour drive and 2 ferries to get there.

Many thanks once again for your continued support of my blog. It's great that I am getting quite a view views each day 😊 It makes it worthwhile sharing our trip and hopefully gives someone ideas of where to visit if they travel to this glorious part of the UK.

More tomorrow from Mull.

 

 

 

Otterly Exciting......Day 4

 To satisfy Majella for the day we just spent the morning in Elgin browsing the shops and getting lunch before heading to Aberlour so we could walk to the Linn Falls.

It was only a half hour drive and it was apparently a gentle walk along the river to the Falls.Parking on the high street we soon found the 'path to the falls' sign. We were only 5 minutes up the trail when the unmistakable white bobbing bib caught my eye. One of my favourite birds, a Dipper sat bobbing and preening on a rock in the river.

 

 What a great start to the walk. It continued to get even better when we unknowingly spooked a Buzzard from it's perch and it flew off between the trees. A little further and we came across this weir.

 Less than 15 minutes later and we were stood at Linn Falls, nothing to be heard except for the sound of the rushing water.

 We just stood in silence, watching the cascading water and searching for Grey Wagtails.

 The slopes around the river were covered with Common Butterbur plants.

 We stayed for a while until another person arrived and decided to leave them to appreciate the peacefulness of this place undisturbed. Soon we were nearing the end of the trail and the path on to the high street, when suddenly I noticed movement under the opposite bank. At first I thought it could be a mink but it reappeared and we were presented with a glorious view of an Otter. She slinked out from under the bank, scent marked a large rock and then made her way downstream. We followed closely behind as she had not taken any notice of us as she slipped in and out of the water.

 We followed, enthralled by her presence for a few minutes until she dived into a deeper section of the river and vanished from sight.

 Majella and I turned to face each other, both gobsmacked and grinning like Cheshire cats.A totally unexpected and mesmerising wildlife encounter.

 We left Aberlour and headed back North towards Elgin.Instead of calling it a day we continued on up to the coast again, this time to a place we'd never been before, Lossiemouth.I had only ever seen it in photos with it's bridge crossing the river to access the dunes and beach. Unfortunately the bridge was now unstable and closed to the public while a new bridge was being built.Unable to cross to the sands we stood and marveled at the amount of bird life along the coastal river. 

 Hundreds of Gulls were joined by Oystercatchers, Wigeon, Grey Herons, Curlew and Goosanders. 

 Ps If any Gull experts want to zoom in on the photos and see if there are any rarities among them all, please do 😉

                         

 Video clip by Majella showing the gathering of birds along the water.

 Photographs of Lossiemouth.

 Finally giving in to our hunger we ended our walk and drove back to our hotel in Elgin for a meal and to reminisce about the earlier breath-taking mammal encounter.

Thanks to all who have taking the time to read through my blog and browse at the many photographs.

Tomorrow we head South to different accommodation on a farm in Glen Spean.

Photos by Stuart Pike & Majella Fox

 

 

 

30 Days Wild - Day 20

Day 20     From Scotland To Northumberland

  Today we had to make it over to the East coast from Gretna so we decided to take the A7 & A698 route which would keep me in Scotland just that little bit longer.:)
  We didn't plan to leave early but we had left the room window open and got a morning alarm call by a pair of Oystercatchers on the roof opposite our room.

  The A7 route took us through Langholm.People who love Birds Of Prey especially Hen Harriers will have heard of this place from its Moor Demonstration Project on Hen Harriers and from the insights in the "Inglorious" book written by Dr. Mark Avery.
  It does have a picturesque river though that had Grey Wagtails, Mallards and a Juvenile Dipper.

Juvenile Dipper

Mallard Ducklings

  The next town along the route was Hawick, another place I had never visited before.It had numerous charity shops and a good sandwich shop lol Also another river with Grey Wagtails.
  The River Teviot

  The third town on a river came in the form of Kelso, on the River Tweed.I didn't get chance to check out the river here but a walk through the graveyard produced a Greenfinch and my first Nuthatch for 2 years.There was also a newly fledged Crow bouncing between the trees and gravestones.

  A quick walk around the town square the it was time to continue Eastwards to the coast.Just as we approached the A1 driving past a farmyard I shouted to Majella to stop the car as I had spotted an Owl.On the wall of the farm sat low was a Little Owl, giving me that angry stare with those striking yellow eyes.

  We finally got the other side of the A1 and stopped to take in the magnificent sight of Bamburgh Castle.

  A brief scan of the long grass was rewarded with a stunning Latticed Heath Moth.

  The final bit of todays journey took us through Seahouses(where we hope to get the boat to the Farne Isles) tomorrow to our hotel in Beadnell.After getting settled in our room we headed out into the village to explore(and visit the pub)
There were lots of Swallows and Swifts on the wing and we noticed that the church was a destination of the Swallows.Inside we found a nest with at least 3 chicks inside.The parents continued to fly in with food for the hungry gaping mouths.

  After a (not so brief ;)) visit at the local pub we walked down to the beach.The tide was rising back up the beach along with lots of Eiders, mainly Females and Ducklings.

  I was able to stand within a few feet of them as the Females dredged up worms for the youngsters.We both stood and watched them for over half hour, much better than being sat indoors watching rubbish on TV, though saying that we did wait til "Meet The Hedgehogs" with Steve Backshall had finished before we left.lol
  In one corner of this section of beach were high sandbanks and more bird activity, it was a Sand Martin colony.

  Three Sand Martins coming fighting out of the same burrow.

  Before heading back Majella took some photos of the Sunset.

    A wonderful end to a great wildlife day and hoping for more of the same tomorrow with Puffins, Guillemots, Terns and Shags on the agenda.

Thank you to all of you for keeping up with my blog.
Stuart