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Mobbed on Scout Scar

28/5/2018

Male redstart singing on whitebeam

To tell all at the outset would wreck the story. The drama unfolded out of the blue and kept me curious until the last. And beyond.
A male redstart sang on his favourite branch with whitebeam now in leaf. An interlude I see here each spring. Welsh Black cows grazed peacefully along the escarpment edge. There are clumps of mountain everlasting, distributed more widely across Scout Scar by the cattle's grazing. Tiny milkwort flowers of cobalt blue and the cliff-face is a mass of hoary rock rose.

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Aveiro: salt pans and black winged stilts

20/5/2018

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Aveiro in the distance, beyond the salt pans

Volleys of swifts screech about our Aveiro apartment. We look out upon a canal, favoured by kayakers, and upon flyovers with fast traffic. Within easy walking distance is a network of salt pans. Edge-lands: urban fringe with wildlife. Setting out to explore the salt pans, its birds surprise us. Red kite patrol the skies and something is mobbing them. A bird which flies with its long legs stretched out behind, and clamorous.

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Portugal: May 2018

20/5/2018

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Barcos rabelos on the Douro at Vila Nova de Gaia

From Porto, we crossed the Douro to Vial Nova de Gaia bound for Sandemans and Taylors. Porto gives its name to port wine whose producers from the late 17th century were of Scottish and English origin. Beside the river were barcos rabelos, the tradition vessels used to carry casks of wine from the upper reaches of the Douro where grapes are grown in vineyards on steep and rocky hillsides. At Sandeman's we sipped tawny port and listened to soulful Fado.

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Cromarty Firth and bottle nosed dolphins at Chanonry Point

18/5/2018

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Bottle nosed dolphin with young

The Black Isle was beautiful on another sunny day. Villages with architecture of warm sandstone. Cromarty Firth: a name from the litany of The Shipping Forecast whose cult following includes me. With oil rigs, tugs, oil tankers, cruise liners, fishing boats and wildlife it's an attractive location.
Bottle nosed dolphin is a speciality of the Moray Firth. After our trip concluded, Malcolm went to Chanonry Point and was delighted to watch adults with their young.

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Birding in the Highlands: May 2018

17/5/2018

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Wood warbler in song

Birding in the Highlands in May, we had target species. Birds we hoped to see.
In woodland near Aviemore wood warbler were singing loudly. And we heard, but did not see pied flycatcher.
Crested tit were nesting in a dead tree and their secrecy in approaching the nest kept us sharp- eyed.
Curr Wood, near Granton on Spey, was delightful and we found Scottish crossbill high in Scots pine and flitting through the canopy. Sunlight poured through the understorey where birch was coming into leaf.

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Cairngorm: wildlife in May

16/5/2018

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Snow bunting on the summit cairn of Cairngorm

Cairngorm was the lure: its tundra habitat and its wildlife. Cairngorm Mountain, if weather permitted.
The day was bright, calm and still. Rare weather for Cairngorm, perfect for birding. The funicular passed us as we stopped to watch red grouse in the heather. A ptarmigan appeared, perched on a rock against a blue sky. Ian, our guide, told of our good fortune. Ptarmigan rarely show so well. The day, the week, was exceptional.

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Spey Bay

14/5/2018

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Spey Bay 14 May 2018

Sand martin darted above the river, calling to each other. A sound like gravel, Ian suggested. Sunlight shone on a dipper perched on the river bank and we glimpsed a sand piper.
All week, from our base at Heather Lea, we crossed the RIver Spey and today we followed its course to the estuary at Spey Bay. On a beautiful day in mid-May it was the perfect place. We could have lingered, we'd like to return. Some of our party were enchanted by dolphins and I'd go back for them alone.

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Troup Head: with gannet, kittiwake and jaeger

14/5/2018

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Nancy and Carol looking for jaegers from The Sea Cat

Jaegers patrol the sea-bird cliffs. Jaegers: hunters like the great skua who predate kittiwake eggs or chicks. The kittiwake colony is clamorous, caught in sunlight and in deep shadows of dramatic cliffs, with caves, sea stacks and rock pinnacles like ruined castles perilous on the cliff edge. Their cries echo within deep clefts in the cliff. Could be a film set for 'Macbeth'. Place names resonate. At Macduff, we board The Sea Cat bound for seabird cliffs and the gannet colony at Troup Head.

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Mobbed on Scout Scar

Aveiro: salt pans and black winged stilts

Portugal: May 2018

Cromarty Firth and bottle nosed dolphins at Chanonry Point

Birding in the Highlands: May 2018

Cairngorm: wildlife in May

Spey Bay

Troup Head: with gannet, kittiwake and jaeger

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