This skein of geese was flying north this morning. In this picture there are a hundred birds, and there were more away to the left. They flew high over us, but the noise they made quickly attracted attention.
But even more noisy than a hundred geese were these two blue tits who were chasing each other around the front of the house, twittering in excitement, the male doing idiotic things like trying to land on a vertical wall. The mating season is with us.
The Raptor has been out and about with his camera, and his pictures give an idea of the wealth of bird life that can be enjoyed on this peninsula. 
This red-breasted merganser, in its first year, was pictured by him in Sanna Bay...., 
...along with this loon. The loons, or divers, are best seen at this time of year off the west coast of Scotland, when they can be heard calling out at sea - an eerie sound.
On land, the wheatears are back in residence on the open moorland, this one photographed near Braehouse....
....and the lighthouse road, The Raptor tells us, is a good place to spot stone chats.Many thanks to The Raptor for pictures and words.
The loon is a treat. I didn't know they were so widely dispersed.
ReplyDeleteWe saw the first loon on the lake in northern Wisconsin, USA, where we have a little summer cabin. I don't know if it's identical to your loon, but it looks very similar. The loons that come north here winter in the Gulf of Mexico and are drab brown in the winter there. We're worried about the effects of the BP oil spill in the gulf on the loon population.