Ayrshire Coast Path From Glenapp

Excellent sunny day for a walk on the Ayrshire Coast Path, travelling North from Glenapp, which is just over the border from Dumfries and Galloway. Met some nice surprises along the way:

A type of hoverfly or drone fly (Eristalis pertinax?)

Green Tiger Beetle

Common Heath Moth

Tachinid Fly (Tachina ursina)

Mountain Hare

View of Knockdolian Hill

View of Ailsa Craig

Grey Wagtail

Sound of the Week: Sandwich Terns Calling

Sandwich Terns recorded at Garlieston last year

Sandwich Terns Calling by Creative Nature Media

Day at RSPB Mersehead

Spent the whole day wandering around RSPB Mersehead and saw plenty of Barnacle Geese as well as a few Pink Footed Geese and Canadas. Also saw several Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings and a small group of Long Tailed Tits. Duck-wise there were Shelduck, Teal, Pintail, Shoveler, Wigeon and Mallard. Highlight of the day was a short glimpse of the resident female Marsh Harrier. All the birds were singing well and I got a few sound recordings that I will post soon, including my first Skylark of the year.

Female Yellowhammer at RSPB Mersehead

NTS Dollar Glen and Castle Campbell (Historic Scotland)

Driving through Clackmannanshire, I decided to stop at the National Trust for Scotland's Dollar Glen and Historic Scotland's Castle Campbell. Both are well worth a visit and I'd love to come back on a better day and also explore the other sites on Clackmannanshire's Tower Trail.

Dollar Glen

Castle Campbell

Mindork Forest Walk

Went for a walk today round Mindork Forest (or Mindork Moss) today. Not a great day for photos but plenty of wildlife to be seen - lots of frogs, crossbills, buzzards, treecreepers plus all the usual suspects. First frog spawn of the year for me too!

Try and make something of this frog mess

Bit of a tangle

Just a small section of a pool containing hundreds of frogs. 

This frog posed nicely for me on the forest track

Male Crossbill in fine breeding colours. Singing beautifully too.

A nice pond to have lunch by.

View out of the forest towards the hills.

Digger Music

Digger time lapse video I created and composed music to:

Snipe Feathers

Found these feathers in a pile, just the other side of the fence in a neighbouring field. Later identified as snipe feathers. All very small but beautifully patterned: