April 19th and back to Loch of Kinnordy, there's unexpected eh? ;) What on earth would bring me back here two days running? I went round to the Swamp hide this time, never been there before... too swampy :)
I got settled in, no-one else there again, which is nice, bit chilly but a nicer day than yesterday.
I got a seat in the corner and opened up a pair of windows, in case I saw something over that way ....... :)
I'm kind of looking NW-ish I think, to give you some idea of my view, the main body of the loch is to my right and an open stretch with reed beds all around, right in front of me.
Reed Bunting back
Male Reed Bunting
Imagine that, a Reed Bunting among reed beds? ;)
There's a Rookery right next to the hide, plenty Rook noise!
Rooks in the Rookery
There are a good number of greylag geese around out on the water and in the surrounding fields, I thought I'd seen a few Pink-footed geese as well but none to photograph.
Greylag goose behind
Greylag pair passing
And then .....
Bet you never knew Marsh Harriers hunted sticks eh? :) Bit of nest building going on. I doubt if you noticed but, going in the opposite direction from yesterday?!
OK, so I came back to photograph the Marsh Harriers again and I will be back again! The shots above were of a bird at the other side of the loch whereas, they did venture much closer today.
I just loved the sequence of these shots.
Oooh, Blue tits!
Blue Tits were picking the floofs off the bullrush heads all around the hide.
They have to be one of our cutest birds.
Blue Tit staring from a Bullrush
In between Blue tit sessions, I spotted a large bird over the loch to the East.
Osprey watching .... prey
Blue left leg ring
I noticed a blue leg ring in the second shot, might be CR9 again, the board I spotted with the huge fish yesterday.
It did cruise closer but I couldn't make out the leg number.
I tend to stop shooting when the birds get too far away, grabbing a shot to identify them is ok but once they start leaving, it's often worth just keeping an eye on them.
Passing Curlew
could see the Blue Tit pair pecking at the rushes again then scanned the trees beyond and above them.
Marsh Harrier female
glance to the sky way down at the other end of the loch showed the Osprey still hunting.
Meanwhile, closer to the hiss, there are quite a few swans around booth Mute & Whooper (bright yellow beaks) and that means there are a few nests around so this Mute male was off on patrol, letting the others know he was around and in charge of his area :)
A gaggle of geese did a few laps of the loch then flew off, look like Pink-footed to me
spotted a young Mute swan flying over the fields beyond and in trying to get a shot of it, also captured a couple of Lapwings that I hadn't seen up until then :)
Mute swan & Lapwings
Greylag goose
