Stroan Loch near Mossdale, Dumfries & Galloway 14 April 2008.
After "bloating out" at the Solway Gate Mrs B and I thought it would be a good idea to walk off the bucket of ice-cream we'd finished off as dessert the previous evening with a brisk walk. So we parked up at Mossdale and started to walk out along the old railway towards Loch Skerrow (about 8 miles round trip). Willow Warbler and Redpoll (both D&G year ticks) noted at the car park started the walk well, but it was hard to ignore those ever-present Red Kites too.
Loch Skerrow.Pausing at Loch Stroan we added House Martin to the year list and there were plenty of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers along the old railway in the trees and bushes. Scanning the sky frequently produced plenty of Common Buzzards, Red Kites, a Sparrowhawk and a Peregrine being harrassed by a Raven.
Angie "in raptures over raptors".
After all the excitement we headed back towards Mossdale seeing a couple of Crossbills, a Common Lizard and a Peacock Butterfly before reaching the car and a welcome cuppa and Blackcap at the car park. Feeling pretty exhausted we drove around to Auchencairn Bay but saw very little.
Gulls at Loch Arthur.We stopped at Loch Arthur on the way towards Dumfries; somewhere we'd been unable to check on our last trip. Pulling into the car park there seemed to be very little on the water apart from a mixed gathering of 80 or so LBBGs / Herring Gulls. One darker mantled adult "Herring Gull" caught attention though and on closer scrutiny with the 'scope it immediately revealed its bright yellow legs as it bathed frantically. Unfortunately the gulls were pretty "jumpy" and the Yellow-legged Gull took off just as I was about to get a shot of one of D&G's first documented records of this species! The above photo shows perfectly the patch of open water just to the right of a LBBG where this bird sat! I'm sure this will suffice as documentation to satisfy any records committee? Yeah, right .......
Having spent a small fortune on petrol here this garage has been named after me. Shame they couldn't get the spelling right, but it's the thought that counts.
D&G 2008 now stands at 136.
