Todays' morning walk was basically a long route round Cairness House.
(The Pevsner Architectural Guide
for Aberdeenshire North and Moray states that "Cairness House, by James
Playfair 1791-97, is of international importance as the only house in
Britain the design and construction of which reflected and evolved with
the rapid advances in French Neoclassicism towards the end of the C18"
and that "its survival is the more precious as so many of Playfair's
other designs were either not built or have been lost or altered".)
It is privately owned so I do not go into the grounds.
Today the walk was remarkable for two reasons. It was the first time I had seen Canada Geese on any of these morning walks.
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| Six Geese a walking |
And it was the first time I had seen a Glaucous Gull on the walks.
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| Glaucous Gull |
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| Off to join other gulls in a field of newly sown carrots |
I did think I had a third 'new' bird and got a bit excited because it would have been a year tick as well. Despite the white stripe on its crown it was a Curlew not a Whimbrel.
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| Curlew |
There were more Bullfinches and Long-tailed Tits than I had seen before, a Roe Deer, lots of Rabbits and a total of 41 bird species
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| Roe Deer |
The walk was also of note because of the great light for photography.
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| Chaffinch |
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| Linnet |
Just before lunch I went for a short visit to the Loch of Strathbeg. Here I found two new ticks or the year list. At Fen Hide a Bearded Tit. I only caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye as it descended into the reeds so I would really like to get a better sighting and a photo at some point. From the Visitors Centre a Little Gull. It was quite a way off and looking away so again I would like a better sighting and a photo. The species count for this visit was 42 making 64 for the day which isn't bad.
Total on list 148
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