Now this is different, I've hardly been up to the reservoir at all this month, that said, we did go to Lewis and then up to Ardersier so, I guess there's my excuse.
My main avian goal up here are the Crossbills but I love the diversity there is to be seen and the peace and quiet.
March 13th was my first visit of the month.
Commoners on the dam fence
Noisy neighbours
The Common gulls have started gathering, their screeching is quite obvious.
Chubby Chaffinch
There really wasn't a lot going on but I always enjoy the walk anyway.
Reed Bunting male in Broom
I got all the way to the picnic bench without taking many shots at all, as you can see but, at the picnic bench tree, there was a pair of birds sitting lined up, waiting for me with the food!
Robin and friend
Chaffinch and friend
Both singing?
I absolutely loved that they were sitting almost side by side, watching me.
I dropped off some food and wandered and through the first gate, very chilly, very little going on.
Mistle Thrush on the rocks
And that was it! Very little to see or photograph and very cold but really good to be back here. The sky was ok, very changeable.
Looking back from the second gate
I didn't get back until March 22nd and again, it was cold and windy.
Song Thrush on high
I do remember there was a lot of singing going on, both Mistle & Song Thrush singing loudly all the way up the walk. I also remember there wasn't a lot to photograph, just a beautiful morning walk, in the cold :)
I could see a large group of swans on the water, way up at the top of the reservoir and I aimed to get up there, see what they were and photograph them.
A Whiteness of Whooper Swans
There were 23 / 24 Whooper Swans drifting around at the top and of course, as soon as I appeared they drifted off to the other side but I did get a few shots.
I also spotted a pair of Mute Swans over on the other side but way too far for my lenses.
I had walked down the field to the fence to get closer to them so, I walked along the fence to the top gate fence, then back up to the road.
Mistle Thrush on a fence post
That fence along the upper part of the road, between the gates, is a great perching spot for a lot of birds and often allows me to get some great shots. This also a good area for all the grass loving birds in the season.
Meadow Pipit
Meadow Pipits, Stonechat, Whinchat, Larks and more can be seen and photographed in season.
Buzzard
There's almost always Buzzards around up here, I've quite often seen and photographed a bird, wondering what it is but, it's just a differently marked Buzzard :(
So, I hadn't actually seen a great variety of birds today and my walk back down was pretty quick until I was about two thirds of the way back, when I spotted something on a branch right over the track. I did take a photo but it was directly into the sun so it was a terrible shot but, it allowed me to ID a Crossbill! So I headed for that area in the hope that there might be a few and they started to appear as I got closer.
Crossbill females backlit
There's a clump of low growing Larch just off the track and that's what they were on.
Crossbill male ignoring me
Crossbill male looking around
I have noticed that if these birds are hungry and I don't do anything to quickly, they let me quite close. I actually climbed the bank and worked my way above then around the clump of trees to get the sun behind me, all the while, these birds carried on munching away, moving when I got too close.
Crossbill female eating
They were actually all around me so I was moving very slowly, quietly and not staring directly at them.
The closeup shots were taken with the Nikon P950, that's what I bought it for, the huge zoom which allows this type of closeup. I did spot a young bird in the group, still grey coloured but it stayed hidden from me.
he males are usually much redder than the females but I'm finding the colour variations quite confusing sometimes.
I had now walked back down the bank, on the other side of this group and there was a clearing within the bushes.
Crossbill male watching me
Crossbill male peeking out
I absolutely love the shot above, I could just see a bird eating on the other side of the stalk and then it peeped around checking on me.
March 26th.
