Stirling and storms

In the last couple of weeks the weather has been a bit changeable.  At one point a wind speed of 165mph was recorded on the top of Cairngorm, and we have lost contact with the local radio mast a couple of times in strong winds.  On occasions myself and Ross have been out doing late night and early morning tours of the local roads to clear fallen trees.

On the 10th/11th I spent the weekend in Stirling.  Since then I’ve spent most of every day out on the reserve.  I’ve been lucky enough to get good sightings of golden eagles, and to get reasonably close to a pine marten.  There were a few days when we saw a grey heron nearly every day.  With the lochs freezing over it’s got to be a tough time of year for a bird looking to find food in water.  This might apply to the 14 mallard I saw on Loch a’ Chnuic a couple of days before it froze over, but not the dippers I’ve seen around, who will feed in fast flowing waters that are unlikely to freeze at current temperatures.

There seem to have been an influx of woodcock since the beginning of the month, perhaps late arrivals from Russia and Scandinavia.  I’ve also seen one or two black-billed (adult) blackbirds, which are also likely to be of Scandinavian origin.