Still not getting out that much and the weather is still appalling, 40 days of rain on Skye apparently, can't be much short of that here. However still lots of birds around; a flock of around 40-50 Linnet is hanging around the fields behind the house and seem to be feeding on the seeds found within dandelion flowers. I Put a tape lure on in the garden yesterday and some birds were definitely responding to it, however the hurricane that was blowing at the time made the net very visible and full of blown, fallen leaves. I Have to say that it wasn't all bad as during the shor
t time the net was open yesterday I caught my second Chiffchaff of the year. The Swallows in the end shed have fledged their chicks however they haven't yet left the shed, but any day now. The back field has Swallows feeding everyday in numbers up to around 60 birds, all feeding on the insects thrown up by the grazing cattle. Also counted 21 Pied Wagtails in the field yesterday, taking advantage of the same insects.
t time the net was open yesterday I caught my second Chiffchaff of the year. The Swallows in the end shed have fledged their chicks however they haven't yet left the shed, but any day now. The back field has Swallows feeding everyday in numbers up to around 60 birds, all feeding on the insects thrown up by the grazing cattle. Also counted 21 Pied Wagtails in the field yesterday, taking advantage of the same insects. Jamey, Molly and I drove around Campbeltown Loch this afternoon, the pouring rain discouraging us from going anywhere on foot, but there were a lot of birds to be seen in the Loch. Jamey was first to see the Gannets diving, small flocks at various parts of the loch and as we drove from the Stinky hole I noticed the amount of Shags in the water and on the berthing platforms (dolphins) of the NATO jetty, a count of 328 in this area alone, but there were birds all over the South side of the loch and I took a final count (rough) of 516. The majority of these birds appeared to be feeding on the same fish the gannets were diving for. There were 11 Herons roosting at the NATO jetty and I saw the first Little Grebe of the winter also here. A quick run out to Chisken discovered a flock of 100-150 Chaffinches feeding in the recently harvested barley fields, worth keeping an eye on for possible future ringing. Also found a nice flock of 39 Meadow pipits on the doctors road. Hopefully get the right weather to be catching some of these birds soon.
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