So many birds! It’s like being 10 all over again.

When I was 10 or 11 I was in something called the YOC.  Martin Andrews used to take a whole bunch of us out to see birds.  I can remember fairly well a trip to Pembrey where we got very excited about seeing Widgeons.  Since then I’ve not spent a huge amount of time bird spotting.  I see birds like Crossbills and Ospreys when I’m working in the Highlands, but I’ve not been in an environment where I’ve been able to relearn some proper id skills.

So, yesterday, my first full day here at Loch Gruinart, I went out for a look around, and to spend some time in the hide down by the loch.  And I saw Widgeon and Teal, and a Little Grebe, and a Shoveler, and thousands of Barnacle and White Fronted geese, and some Greylag geese, and that’s not to mention a whole bunch of other birds, like Heron, Mallard, Mute Swan, a Little Egret (yes, this far North!) and Pied Wagtails, that I see more regularly.  And to finish off my day, I saw (although I wasn’t sure what it was at the time, having not knowingly seen one before) a female Merlin flying low over the site.

As you can imagine, I was very excited.