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.

 

 

 

Tales From The Highlands

Day 12 - Dolphins & Dippers

  The day started with the very short 2 minute drive(I couldn't manage the walk up the beach) to Chanonry Point at around 8.15am.Low tide had been at 6.30am so now was a great time to catch the Bottlenose Dolphins as they followed the tide back in to feed on the Salmon.We had only just made it to the point when the unmistakeable dorsal fin of a Dolphin broke the choppy water's surface, quickly followed by a second smaller one.I think it was Zephyr and her calf.

  A third Dolphin came closer to shore.

  If Charlie Phillips, Moray Firth Dolphin behavourial expert and author reads this then maybe he will identify the third Dolphin.We started to leave after about 75 minutes when the rain started to get too much and met Charlie up in the car park and was able to get his new book "On A Rising Tide" with the most stunning Dolphin photographs you will ever see.You can check out about his book on the link below.

http://www.nesspublishing.co.uk/books/on-a-rising-tide/

  This is why Chanonry Point is one of the best places in the UK to watch Dolphins from the shore.

  We left Charlie in the cold wind and headed back to warm up with a coffee.With a couple of hours still to go til lunch Majella suggested a walk up the nearby RSPB Fairy Glen in Rosemarkie.Only 5 minutes into the walk and a Grey Wagtail flew up and settled in a tree on the other side of the stream.

  The Fairy Glen

  Not much further along and I saw what I had hoped to find since last week.The bouncing white bib of a Dipper.Usually I may get a couple of photographs before it flies off but this one seemed happy to have an audience and came within a few feet of us.

  Dipper film clip by Majella Fox

                             

  It was just amazing to be able to watch this fantastic bird so closely.After 20 minutes of a breathtaking wildlife encounter we left it to continue further up the trail.
  Dipper De Do Da
  Dipper De, Yay
  I found a Dipper
  That made my day ;)

  Okay don't leave just yet ;) lol Unfortunately there are no photos of the Fairy Glen waterfalls as we only got a bit further before my left knee(the one drained and injected before we came up here) decided that if we were to press on, it was going to punish me with more pain so we called it a morning and headed back for lunch.

  In the afternoon we set off to meet a friend and fellow Nature lover who was lucky enough to move up here.I am envious of her garden lol A constant procession of Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Siskins, Starlings, Robins, Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Treecreepers, Blackbirds, Dunnocks came to the feeders while we were there.
  Treecreeper

  Siskin

  Red Squirrels usually frequent Helen's garden but had decided today to stay out of the rain.We all then went for a walk with a couple of crazy dogs.

  The 3+ hours were over way too quickly but we are moving into her shed shortly so are not too upset ;)

  All in all in was a good day, lots of wildlife and meeting up again with two great people.
  Thanks again for reading.It is getting near now to the end of our time up here so you will all get your 2 minutes a day back very soon ;) lol

Stuart

Tales From The Highlands

Day 4 - Along The Death Trail

  After a restless night with Majella not being very well I let her sleep to try and catch up some rest.It also takes longer to get ready when the reflection from the mirror we use looks like this lol

  We then popped out and just spent the morning bargain hunting in the Fort William charity shops.I then caught up with my previous blog on Aviemore while having lunch.Then we took a drive down Glen Nevis.The idea was to go all the way to the end to check out the state of the Nevis Gorge trail as there had been quite a lot of rain.

  Lets just say the waterfalls flowing down the hills and through the trail were a bit too much for me to attempt with my limited mobility and even with a walking stick.
 The waterfall/trail means slippy rocks lol

  Therefore we didn't make it through the gorge to Steall Falls this time.It was a lot easier to do 10 years ago when I could still walk okay lol Instead we had to settle for the slightly less stunning Lower Falls in Glen Nevis.

  A quick look along the river produced a Pied Wagtail, along with one of my favourite non-Raptor birds, the Grey Wagtail.Unfortunately it was a bit too mobile to get a photograph.
  Home for tea and hope that the Barn Owl would be out quartering the field outside the cabin but the constant rain soon extinguished any hope of that.Maybe I will have better luck later in the week.

Thanks for reading.Day 5 coming very shortly.
 

30 Days Wild:Day 26 - A Walk Along The River Wye

                                                 











  It was our second day in Rhayader and despite the heavy rain it didn't dampen our spirits(too much) and so we left the farm to walk along the River Wye into Rhayader to get a pub meal.It is a gorgeous walk along the river surrounded by trees and bird song and I hoped to spot 3 species of bird.

  We had not been at the riverside for more than a couple of minutes before we saw a bounce of white under some dark foliage on the opposite bank.It was of course one of my favourite birds, the Dipper.1 of 3 :)
Not a great photo as couldn't get any closer without going wading ;)
Spot the Dipper

  After watching it search for larvae under the surface for a few minutes we continued on.A flash of brilliant blue announced the arrival and departure of the Kingfisher.Species 2 of 3 :) It sped past low over the river of nothing short of Mach 4 so no chance of any photos.
  Seconds later movement was spotted on the pebbles opposite us and Species 3 of 3 was sighted.Another stunning bird, the Grey Wagtail.

  So I was very happy to get 3 out of 3 for the species I wanted to find but I didn't expect to get a fourth.Two birds flying from a branch looked to be catching flies and then returning further into the tree.We managed to edge closer and watched as the 2 Spotted Flycatchers danced in the air plucking flies in flight.

   A fantastic end to our walk into Rhayader and it was followed by great food at the Crown Inn, the beer wasn't bad too :)