Scottish Blog

 From Thursday April 2th until Sunday May 29th, Pam and I will be in Scotland.


My Blog address for those 5 weeks is:

https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/posts/5721335630087009201

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Scotland

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 Friday May 2 The Scottish  border  is only about five minutes away from Berwick. The  Saltire was proudly flying below another blue sky. No photos today, we missed the lay-by.  We discovered St Abbs Head only a few years ago, it's been a favourite since. We can park near the water's edge looking across at the, admittedly distant, nesting cliffs of mainly Guillemots and a few Razorbills.      The sea below held groups of loafing, washing, diving, birds. Shags occasionally flew in and I saw one Black Guillemot. Our next stop is always Cove, a small gathering of cottages on the cliff edge, looking down on a rocky cliff and coast, Cove is a picturesque village situated 18 miles northwest of the Scottish border with England. Famously Cove was home to “The Glasgow Boys” artists’ colony between 1883-1888 due to its unique beauty. This informal group comprised several influential painters of the time including Sir James Guthrie. Cove harbour is en...
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Last Day

 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...
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Spring-like

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 Sunday March 2 Winter Aconites, Daffodils, Snowdrops, and Acacia Tree in full flower in the garden, blue sky and sun, Alexanders appearing in roadside verges, it looks like Spring. It is meteorological spring. Awaking to frosty lawns and a temperature of 1C says that we have a way to go yet. On such a day it is easy to eagerly anticipate the first Wheatears, my Spring harbinger. So many Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps now overwinter that it's increasingly difficult to separate the latter from migrants. We made our way west, picking up many of the passerines we missed yesterday and at the end of February. Song Thrush is always a treat. It's hard to recall their tameness and sheer numbers on the Isles of Scilly. Even longer ago, a garden bird using our path as an anvil.  The finch flock at Flitcham is decreasing, we managed one Brambling flitting along the hedgerow. Our garden visitor hasn't been for about a week.Still no Little Owl visible at Abbey Farm nor in West Newton. The fi...
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