In total I only saw the silluhete of the young male yellowhammer and even then only identified it by the noise that it was making. I was however rewarded by a stunning male stonechat that was sat on the seashore, my holiday first!
There was no time left to look round new england bay becuase we had to pack up and leave. We had decided that we would go to threave gardens today, after much persuasion by me. Why? well the views of woodpeckers and jays are quite remarkable, with frequent visits by spotted and pied flycatchers, plus the ever present red squirrels and the occasional wood warbler! The feeders in the hide, hidden way off the gardens in some thick woodland, are always busy and becuase they are in a clearing it makes it all the more interesting becuase the birds often rest on the edge of the clearing before flying to the feeder, so you can get a more "natural" photo! As you can see from the below photo there were plenty of birds, and this was just one feeder!
Soon after I arrived this young woodpecker turned up and, although he diddnt stay long, allowed me to get my first woodpecker shots of the day!
Not long after the first jay appeared. The jays here are quite flighty so if planning a trip I would advise waiting for the jay to settle, say 5mins, before whipping out the camera and taking some shots. This one however was really bold, unfortunatly I had messed the shutter-speed up so things diddnt go that well! still the photo directly below scored 17 thumbs up on birdguides so people obviously like it!
Soon an adult woodpecker came to join the fun and was posing for me on the birdfeeder!
Then came everybodys favourite creature at this reserve (but not mine!). I ahd already seen one, running away in a dark thicket on the way up, but this one, the cheeky monkey, was just sat there scoffing all the nuts left for the birds.
By now it was about 1.00 and reception was poor so I assumed that it must be lunch time.It wasnt and so I decided to have a look round all the ponds to see what was there.
Pond no.1-nothing, at all. Not even any birds!
Pond no.2-still nothing (but I can excuse this one becuase it is a decorative pond and so has no plants!
Pond no.3-I had only just discovered this one and its just as well because I soon found some delightful animals. A spotted flycatcher was hunting in the tree behind it, but it eventually drifted away before I could get any decent shots of it.
There was an annoying fence around the pond stopping me from getting a view-solution: climb over the fence! its just as well too becuase I managed to find lots of emerald damselflys which were a first for this holiday! Damselflys are such a joy to take photos of because they are so easy!
I eventually tracked down lunch and after it I returned to the hide. There was a second red-squirrel feeding on the nuts, I could tell that it was different becuase of its dark tail, possibly the very first one I saw whilst on my way to the bird hide!
After that my parents joined me and soon all the wildlife had gone! However a nuthatch arrived which has been quite a numerous species before, only this was the first and only one we saw today so maybe the threave nuthatches have been hit hard by the winter!
My dad then spotted a roe deer sat right outside the hide! I mean right outside. It was conviniently position so that it was hidden in undergrowth and that it was too close to take a picture. I managed this one but I think it gives credit to what I have just said.
After that we decided to head home so that we had ample time. So here end sthe scotland 12 day journey and off we head home. I will miss it but thats the way it is!
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