What? you may ask. Spring of course. Finally and fully, the season is really taking shape.
Leaves are bright and growing on the birches, blaeberries are beginning to emerge on the forest floor, sand martins and swallows are dizzying in the skies and the Easter bunny has been and gone.
The Osprey nest is comfortably holding 3 beautiful eggs and as you’ve seen for yourselves, EJ and Odin are doing a grand job to incubate them. There’s even been some panting as the temperatures over the weekend have been in the 20’s!
It has been an entertaining week in identifying some newly arriving migrants. Last Monday I had the pleasure of eating lunch with Caroline and John [our newest team mate] while enjoying the close up views of a willow warbler on a birch outside the centre. Then we started to look even closer. Are you sure it’s a willow warbler? Could it be a chiffchaff? We were looking at leg colour, the length of the wings, generally the stoutness or slenderness of the bird but were hoping for a sound to confirm what we hoped.
“Yes, it’s a chiffchaff!” Caroline exclaimed. She’d read the field guide notes and consulted Ian. The three of us were happy, a new bird for the list and the season. Then Richard showed up and wiped the smiles off our faces.
“It won’t be a Chiffchaff. There are only 2 recordings a year of them here at the reserve”. Of course by this point the birds had flown, not to be seen or heard by any of us. A very amusing string of conversations followed but I pulled myself away to get back to the centre to talk to people about Ospreys. It seemed like hours went by before Richard finally returned to the centre and headed over to the sightings board. He took the pen and wrote in huge letters, CHIFFCHAFF. The smiles were back on our faces, Caroline’s was the biggest of all.
There are many other great things around just now including a common sandpiper at the edge of Loch Garten, and redstarts have been singing around the visitor centre. I wonder if they’ll use the nest boxes again this year. They’ve bred here in the past and I’d love to see them use the space this season. The capercaillie watch has had some great displays in the early hours, sometimes up to 4 males and 5 females. The team here really are amazing at getting them in sight in the cameras and making sure everyone gets to see them through the scopes. If you’re in the area and fancy a great start to the day, you’ve got until the 20th May to take full advantage of their expertise...
In other nest news, watch out for intriguing intruders! Last week I saw some sneaky wee birds on and around the Osprey nest including two Crossbills, a great tit and even a house sparrow! They’re obviously trying to get a few tips from the top birds around. Fair enough I reckon, that nest is looking stunning. Happy viewing.
And thanks for all the cakes. We’ve been inundated with tasty delights and are truly grateful. Cheers a lot.
And a big shout out to the Dunbar Grammar school. Mr Tennant came in recently and he said you’d all be checking out the site, so a very warm welcome to all of you. I hope you enjoy the season’s show!
Posted by Abbi at 16:02 on 25 April 2011.
Leaves are bright and growing on the birches, blaeberries are beginning to emerge on the forest floor, sand martins and swallows are dizzying in the skies and the Easter bunny has been and gone.
The Osprey nest is comfortably holding 3 beautiful eggs and as you’ve seen for yourselves, EJ and Odin are doing a grand job to incubate them. There’s even been some panting as the temperatures over the weekend have been in the 20’s!
It has been an entertaining week in identifying some newly arriving migrants. Last Monday I had the pleasure of eating lunch with Caroline and John [our newest team mate] while enjoying the close up views of a willow warbler on a birch outside the centre. Then we started to look even closer. Are you sure it’s a willow warbler? Could it be a chiffchaff? We were looking at leg colour, the length of the wings, generally the stoutness or slenderness of the bird but were hoping for a sound to confirm what we hoped.
“Yes, it’s a chiffchaff!” Caroline exclaimed. She’d read the field guide notes and consulted Ian. The three of us were happy, a new bird for the list and the season. Then Richard showed up and wiped the smiles off our faces.
“It won’t be a Chiffchaff. There are only 2 recordings a year of them here at the reserve”. Of course by this point the birds had flown, not to be seen or heard by any of us. A very amusing string of conversations followed but I pulled myself away to get back to the centre to talk to people about Ospreys. It seemed like hours went by before Richard finally returned to the centre and headed over to the sightings board. He took the pen and wrote in huge letters, CHIFFCHAFF. The smiles were back on our faces, Caroline’s was the biggest of all.
There are many other great things around just now including a common sandpiper at the edge of Loch Garten, and redstarts have been singing around the visitor centre. I wonder if they’ll use the nest boxes again this year. They’ve bred here in the past and I’d love to see them use the space this season. The capercaillie watch has had some great displays in the early hours, sometimes up to 4 males and 5 females. The team here really are amazing at getting them in sight in the cameras and making sure everyone gets to see them through the scopes. If you’re in the area and fancy a great start to the day, you’ve got until the 20th May to take full advantage of their expertise...
In other nest news, watch out for intriguing intruders! Last week I saw some sneaky wee birds on and around the Osprey nest including two Crossbills, a great tit and even a house sparrow! They’re obviously trying to get a few tips from the top birds around. Fair enough I reckon, that nest is looking stunning. Happy viewing.
And thanks for all the cakes. We’ve been inundated with tasty delights and are truly grateful. Cheers a lot.
And a big shout out to the Dunbar Grammar school. Mr Tennant came in recently and he said you’d all be checking out the site, so a very warm welcome to all of you. I hope you enjoy the season’s show!
Posted by Abbi at 16:02 on 25 April 2011.