The Flying Squad

Spent a couple of hours at Kinnordy Loch RSPB reserve this morning. A quiet day. Heard a woodpecker, heard lots of things in fact that weren't spotted! No water rail spotted this year, it was the first thing I saw when I got in the hide last year - and a lesson in ensuring the camera's setting swere ready before arrival.... No ospreys either, one of the two things I was hoping to see.

However, did spot a reed bunting - not close enough to shoot (in the photographic sense only, of course) - the usual black-headed gulls, coots, mallards, swans, crows, rooks, pigeons, and various small woodland birds, and these and other greylag geese which were close enough to shoot. Also a male gadwall I got some good shots of, and I was treated to some spectacular flying displays by the lapwings, my favourites - got some okay shots of them too, including one flying upside down! One thing though - when you hate large black birds, why nest next to a rookery? Not complaining, because that was the cause of the best bits of aerobatics, but it does seem a little silly....

Anyway, I wasn't too disappointed about it being a quiet day, because I did see the bird that I went to see - a male marsh harrier, the first I've seen in the UK. Part of a pair nesting there for the first time, both young birds so the RSPB folk I was chatting to (they were doing the monthly count, rather poor choice of day!) said they were not hopeful of a successful breeding season. Still, hopefully they'll be fixtures there now. And the male treated me to a nice display, even if from the other side of the Loch!

EDIT - apologies for the misleading info. I have no idea why in the original text I said these geese were pink-footed! Silly boy.