As a season, winter can be cold, wet and dark but if you can look beyond the weather there is a wonderland of wildlife out there to be observed. Now I look forward to spring and the return of all our summer migrants (along with warm sunny days and emerging flowers) as much as anyone.Continue reading “Winter Wonderland at Caerlaverock”
Author Archives: Wild Scot
Waxwing lyrical (in a roundabout way)
A roundabout isn’t a place you would usually associate with nature. And a fairly busy roundabout in congested Sighthill, Edinburgh even less so. But… this is winter, and winter means Waxwings. Well sometimes it does. Last year it didn’t! It was a poor year for waxwings. Too many berries in Scandinavia for them to botherContinue reading “Waxwing lyrical (in a roundabout way)”
Christmas birding and the year of the Snow Goose
Nothing like a couple of weeks off to plan to get out and see some wildlife after a busy few months with work. And I thought I would just share what I have been seeing over the Christmas and New Year break. Taking a walk from my house in Menstrie and I see the KestrelContinue reading “Christmas birding and the year of the Snow Goose”
Aberlady Bay & Esk Mouth
It is often a rare Scoter (small black duck) that takes me east of Edinburgh. Previously I have been out this way looking for the over-wintering White-Winged Scoter. But this week it was its very close relative (until recently the same species in fact), the Stejneger’s Scoter that peeked my interest. I haven’t been outContinue reading “Aberlady Bay & Esk Mouth”
Birding on North Ronaldsay, Orkney
Over the last few years we have used the October break to get away for a bit of birding and hopefully find some new rarer migrant birds. That has taken us south to Norfolk the last few years (and outside the scope of this blog) but this year we headed North, took the ferry acrossContinue reading “Birding on North Ronaldsay, Orkney”
Argaty Red Kites
This week I visited Argaty Red Kites. Argaty Farm is close to one of the first Red Kite re-introduction sites in Scotland and they have really adopted the kites along with wildlife as a whole. They run daily feeds for the birds most afternoons which is a great opportunity to see wild birds close up.Continue reading “Argaty Red Kites”
Isle of May
Last week I took my annual pilgrimage to the Isle of May. I go here once or twice most years and for sheer numbers of seabirds it never disappoints. I had planned the visit to coincide with some friends going but this was really just an excuse as we were mainly going to do ourContinue reading “Isle of May”
Sheriffmuir in May
My favourite habitat at this time of year is the moorland in and around the Ochils. What seems mostly dead in winter suddenly comes alive with long-distant migrants arriving along with more local birds which expand their territories into all that available nesting ground. You can actually see a huge amount of wildlife just byContinue reading “Sheriffmuir in May”
A wildlife visit to Harris and Lewis
At the end of March into early April 2022, we had one week on Harris and Lewis and it was a great opportunity to catchup with the wildlife of the Outer Hebrides. We stayed in Uig on Skye the night before our ferry and were pleased to see a Great Northern Diver still in winterContinue reading “A wildlife visit to Harris and Lewis”
The River Devon in February
So my “habitat-focus” for this month is the River Devon. At just over 30 miles in length this is a fairly short river starting in the Ochils above Menstrie and Alva and entering the Forth about 5 miles away as the crow flies at Cambus. River’s are a rich habitat that attract a different rangeContinue reading “The River Devon in February”
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