It was a couple of days later that I managed to get back up here, my walks are really dictated by the weather and sometimes by any other plans we might have for the day.
09:45 walking up the reservoir
October 11th saw me back for a wander, see what was occurring but it really did turn out to be a very quiet walk, very little going on until ....
Two males and one female Crossbills
A small flock of Crossbills landed in a pine right beside me AND the first males I'd seen since moving here. The camera was in its holster but I managed to ease it out without scaring them off, often they go as soon as I get the camera pointed but not these ones, for now. The females are a bright yellow, males more of a rust red and the young start greyish streaked then colour up as they mature.
Crossbill male
Crossbill male
I could hear voices behind me and remembered I'd passed a couple walking up the other way, they'd obviously turned around and were coming closer all the time but, they did stop and wait while I grabbed a few more shots. The flock did head off to another pine a little way down the trail so the couple walked on and the birds flitted into the trees on the left.
Crossbill group next to the track
I managed a couple more shots before they headed off across the reservoir. A happy chappy, the first males I'd seen and there was a small flock of them :)
That turned out to be it for this walk, I often walk back to the car much faster, to get more exercise than the amble up when I'm looking for birds.
Robin singing against a clear blue sky
October 12th saw me back at the reservoir, another nice day so, why not? I must have got there around 09:30 and yet again, very quiet as I walked up the track, I didn't really see anything until I got to the picnic bench but it wasn't so much what I saw as what I heard.
Green Woodpecker on a dead tree trunk.
Green Woodpecker a bit closer
A Green woodpecker! I thought I'd seen one a few days back but couldn't be sure, I saw a GSW in the same area and that made me doubt what I'd seen but, here it was. Great to get photo proof of it too.
Green Woodpecker watching something
I could hear honking further down the loch, so I moved between two trees to better see what was making the racket, lots of geese around and on the move at the moment.
Small flock of Canada geese
OK so I got a photo of Canada geese but, as I turned back towards the woodpecker ....
A young White-tailed eagle was flying towards the same area just about tree height! I've been looking for an Eagle sighting since we got here, so many people kept saying, you might see an eagle or have you seen the eagles yet? I was always told to look up, they fly high.
I remembered I had a camera with me after a few moments just staring and managed to grab a few shots, no prep time here, it turned and headed back up the loch again.
Everything's a bit of a let down after that, not really. Great to see such a spectacular bird and hopefully, not the last.
GSW in hiding
I see and hear woodpeckers up here quite often, always great to see them.
There are ALWAYS Robins around too but in season, wow, they're everywhere and their song?
I feel a song coming on
Here it comes!!!
There it is!
Going for it!
I guess the robin is just an everyday bird but who can resist? I have quite a few shots of Robins :)
Another very common bird up here are the Coal Tits, they're everywhere and gorgeous busy wee things.
Coal Tit on a tree trunk
One bird that I absolutely love seeing up here is the Goldcrest but, when I say seeing ........ glimpses if I'm lucky. If only the wee buggers would stand still a wee bit longer :)
Almost
Nearly
Close
I'll get some good shots one day, maybe I need to concentrate on them more?
There are some birds that I see up there quite often but not always in camera range like Stonechats, which sit up nicely on stems and trees but sometimes ......
Very distant Stonechat male
Actually, they can also be very obliging and pose for the camera.
