Mink & Phantoms.

Its been a wee bit quiet this month Wildwatchers.  The female Kingfisher hasn't been seen, nor the young Kestrel that was always hanging about. No sign of the local Ospreys yet either. One of the sites unfortunately appears to have been blown down during the storms. I've been sitting at the Beaver Burn or near the Badger Sett most nights for three weeks, to no avail. 

I saw a blatant little mink down the burn the other week.  An invasive, non-native species & a threat to our riverside natives.

Its not all doom & gloom though. 

I've heard Skylark & Chiffchaff.

  I took a wee reccy into a local woodland last week, a little further than I've ventured before. After a warm walk, I found a clearing where I could get a good view of the surrounding landscape.

I found a suitable stump & sat down.

There I saw my first Lady Bug of the season. 

With my back to the sun, I had to remove my jacket.  It was roasting. 

My eyes & ears were kept busy with birds fluttering high in the canopy.  With the exception of the Robin.  One came down & perched on a stump not far from me. I picked up my camera & snapped a few images. The little fellow obliged nicely, then popped off to continue his business. 

You can never have enough Robin photographs. 

After about an hour soaking in the woodland, I got that feeling.  You know the one? Like you're being watched, like when you're facing one way but all the action is happening behind you...

I pivoted round on the stump, sending my flask tumbling, lucky the lid was on. 

There was two large birds soaring high up above the trees. Silently. Right in the direction of the strong March Sun. 

My eyes began to stream as I strained to look. 

I thought, 'Yeah, the Ospreys are back!' 

As I tried to focus in on one of them through my viewfinder,  my hands were beginning to shake. It wasn't Ospreys. Then what was it?  Harriers? Nah, not that shape & not over the woods. 

I tried to get my giddy hands to work the camera.  I really was shaking now, eyes & nose streaming, as my brain realised it could only be one thing.  The one rare raptor I have never seen...

Goshawk & there was definitely two of them.  

 I watched one bird soar down & disappear into the dense woodland behind me. 

The Phantom of the Forest right enough. 

What a bird.  The shape, like nothing else I have ever seen before.  

 I managed to compose myself. I picked up my brew and sat glued to the sky for another hour.  I didn't see them again. 

Once I got home, I uploaded my pictures & looked for some confirmation... 

I messaged Stonefaction Birding & Speyside Snaps.  They both confirmed to me what my heart knew.  

 I've been back to that spot another four times in the past week & nothing. 

That's Wildwatching for you.