Dumfries and Galloway

I spent a nice long weekend in Scotland last weekend, staying in Dumfries and Galloway. It was a good base to explore some of the tremendous sites on the Scottish south west coast. The main attraction and spectacle are the geese. Large numbers of Barnacle Geese winter here, and it was nice to be able to watch them on mudflats, fields, marsh and in flight. In fact they were everywhere. Considering I'd never really seen wild flocks on this scale before, it was a real joy.

Barnacle Geese

On the shoreline at Caresthorn there were waders, gulls and yes, more geese. We picked up some good birds here in the form of Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwits, Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Curlew, Oystercatcher and Pintail. A great little spot where you just had to stand and wait and look through the scope. Great birding.

Dunlin

Pintail pair in flight.

Ringed Plover

We spent a morning at Calaverock wildfowl and wetland reserve and added some more great birds. Tree Sparrow and Yellowhammers were found in the hedges, with Shoveler, Wigeon, Teal, Snipe and Whooper Swan found on the first pool. We moved on to a different hide and watched a super looking male Hen Harrier hunt over some marsh. Fields were full of Barnacle geese once again, but also joined by Lapwings. We were able to add White Fronted Geese, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Peregrine, Rock Pipit, Golden Plover and Red Kite to the list at various other locations. A fantastic few days, and somewhere I'd really like to go back to next winter.

Whooper Swan

Yellowhammer

Kelling Heath

I wanted to discover a new site the last time I was at my parents. So I sought out Kelling Heath. It turns out that what I thought was Kelling Heath previously, was actually a mile and half away from the proper site.
It was a bright morning, not particularly warm, but there was plenty of activity on the heath.
From the car park I could hear plenty of bird song, with Skylarks, Linnets and Yellowhammer calling in the distance and my first Chiffchaff of the year.
It's a fantastic place, and I can imagine this being alive with Cuckoo calls in a few weeks time, maybe even Turtle Dove. It is supposed to be home to the Dartford Warbler and Adders, so I will be visiting again soon.

Linnets were in very good numbers on the gorse.

Great to see Yellowhammers in good numbers. One more for the year list.

Choseley Drying Barns

Choseley drying barns are a great place to stop for a variety of birds at all times of year. Being just a stones throw, inland from Titchwell, I am never far away on my visits to Norfolk. I usually make passing visits as I move on to my next destination and have a good scan of the fields to see what's about.
The barns are used for drying grain and this attracts Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and the odd Tree Sparrow. I have yet to see Corn Bunting here, but was fortunate to see a dozen or so Yellowhammer feeding very close by.
Red-legged Partridge and Grey Partridge were seen in the fields too on what was a really rather nice warm Spring day.

The barns at Choseley. The coastal path follows the hedge line on the left hand side. 

Grey Partridge. Good numbers were seen around the hedge-lined fields.

Yellowhammer in front of the barns.

Yellowhammer

It was the first day of the football season here in the UK yesterday and to recognise my team's comfortable 1-0 victory over West Ham (known as the Hammers) I thought I'd share some pictures of a Yellowhammer I saw a few weeks back.
It was scurrying around a field and even stopped for a second or two to let me take a few pictures. I've had many struggles trying to photograph this bird.