Anne's Journal

 Sunday June 1 I believe that we'd have seen almost as many birds if we'd stayed at home and watched the garden. Although relatively warm, with sun most of the day, a strong wind is not conducive to birds. They stay hidden and don't sing as much - if at all. List ready, pen posed, I'd added two birds by the time we got to North Walsham, Carrion Crow and Wood Pigeon. It's sad that, for the first time since we have lived here, 1974, there are no Swifts around the White House. No Swallows in the village and no House Martins on our house, John's next door and the Hughes's across the road. The three weeks of no rain also meant no mud for nests. Did this deter them? We did see one Swift, and both the mentioned hirundine, during the day, but very few. We checked Strumpshaw Mill for Spotted Flycatchers, unsuccessfully. We don't know of anyone who has seen them this year, they do move their nesting sites around, some more viewable than others.  I've read that...

 Friday May 23 As martin had offered to help pack the car, Pam spent the morning packing cases, organising the kitchen, packing foodstuffs etc. One moth in last night's trap, another new one for here, a Grey Dagger.  Burghead is not far, and a good place to sit and watch for passing seabirds.The birding area is dominated by the oldest Maltings in Scotland. It was here that we saw a first for Britain in November 1990. After school on Friiday, we drove to a Travelodge in Edinburgh, then on to Burghead on the Saturday. My coat had been forgotten, ( a fishtail parka, the trendy birding coat at the time), so we stopped in Aviemore without success. Early afternoon on an overcast November day when it looked like dusk, we set off in front of the Maltings. One birder was walking towards us and uttered the comforting words 'it's still there'. We found the Grey-tailed Tattler quickly, feeding amongst the rocks on the shore. Relief and jubilation - and we were the only people there...

  Thursday May 22 I spent the morning in bed - the only way I can keep my legs up - trying to reduce the swelling. I enjoyed reading my book, but got increasingly anxious to be out and about. Via Porthgordon, we took the coastal B road via Buckie. The coast is very rugged here, rocks like jagged teeth. with large beds of boulders where the sea foams in, depositing glossy kelp on the shore. I could watch the incoming rollers forever. On to Portsoy. Although very sunny still, there's a cool northerly wind. Having the window open to scope the sea did not last long, nor did the shortage of birds encourage me to do so.  Lone Gannets passed by well out to sea, as did the occasional Guillemot. their whirring wings made them look like the kite aeroplane Sara had as a child. I played with it more often though. As always, plenty of gulls, Herring and a few Common. For the first time this trip, Cullen's ice-cream shop did not have a queue - and we could park outside. Out of a vast select...

Wednesday May 21  Lochindorb was our first destination, always a favourite. The first part of the road leads us through a Common Gull nesting area. Every post is gull topped, all the nests hidden from view, just the heads and shoulders of the sitting birds showing.    Sad to see a few corpses on the road, they do like to sit there and some of them didn't fly away in time. No birds on or beside the loch. Pam saw a pair of Red-legged Partridges scuttle away into the heather, soon after seeing a female Red Grouse, and then, at least three youngsters. Trying to catch them on camera was a problem as they ducked and dived into the heather, sometimes running over the top. Pam did better  than I, these are her photos.     Via Aviemore Tesco for papers, we then went back to the bridge where we saw Dipper last week.Yes, one adult and two young showed fairly distantly on a fallen tree. Pam also saw a Grey Wagtail, briefly, on the bridge. Loch an Eilein car park has al...

 Tuesday May 20 It was early afternoon by the time we set off, we needed to look for somewhere to eat. We took the Fort Augustus road from the A9n and found a small car park, labelled Littlemill, amongst the woods. The dramatic landscape of Littlemill has a fascinating story to tell. Glaciers from the last ice age carved out the landscape here. The retreating ice left us with the strangely named esker ridges and kettle hole lochans. The mosaic of woodland, wetland and heathland make Littlemill an oasis for wildlife. From colourful springtime flowers to summer butterflies and autumn fungi, there’s always something to see here. Reads as though it's worth a visit for those who walk. We enjoyed our short stay, listening to Siskin, and Willow Warblers, and a distant Cuckoo. Time is flying by, a last chance to catch up with a missed bird. One we are unlikely to see elsewhere this year, Slavonian Grebe. The only accessible site for us is Loch Ruthven RSPB reserve. It's far too...

  Monday May 19 My favourite outing in years past, was to Dunnett Head and Bay, going via the Flow Country from Helmsdale ,and returning via the faster coast road. A lot to drive in one day now, and I haven't been able to find suitable accommodation for an overnight stay.  The east coast must have been a very long route north before bridges were built across the many firths. First, the Kessock Bridge across the Moray Firth, then Cromarty Firth, followed by our destination, Loch Fleet. Why that's called a loch and the other indentations firths I don't know.  A lovely drive in dry, sunny conditions - yet again. The farmers are getting really worried at the lack of rain. Caribbean blue water, freshly green trees, and bright, golden, gorse-covered hillsides. The eastern shores of the loch, designated a National Nature Reserve, are reached via Dornoch and Golspie. There's a parking area for about eight vehicles from which we could view the, at least a hundred and fifty, Harb...