Tuesday 11 April 2017

The Egg Thief

11th April

This morning I spend two hours getting the paper.  Well ten minuets getting the paper (there was a queue at the shop in Crimond) and an hour and fifty minutes at the Loch of Strathbeg.  There was not a great deal to see from Fen Hide.  Opposite the hide on the far side of the Loch there was an RSPB working party doing something with large lengths of timber.  Not surprisingly most of the birds had found somewhere else to be.

On the way back to the hide I witnessed the cruel side of nature.  My attention was drawn to two Magpies and a Carrion Crow having a bit f a noisy argument.  In a nearby tree a Buzzard was stood on its nest
Buzzard
The Magpie/Crow argument moved into the Buzzards tree.
L to R Buzzard, Two Magpies and a Crow
 For some reason the Buzzard left the nest.  The Crow doubled back and swooped on the nest.  Its prize, an egg.





With all that excitement over I got back to the car and drove to the Visitors Centre.  On the way passing through Crimond Airfield I saw a Wheatear, a nice tick for the year list.  I was driving so was only able to get a very, very blurry photo.  Other photo opportunities will arise during the summer.  Back at the Visitors Centre another tick was waiting in the form of two handsome Black-tailed Godwits seen though one of the Centres telescope.   There was plenty of other birds about as well.  In less than two hours I had 45 species including two new ones for the year.

Total on list 144

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