Psilos
Bird Journal |
Sunday February
17th 2008 |
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"Scottish
madness " |
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Yesterday saw me photographing
owls in Wales, arriving home and sleeping like the dead until 6am. I
had expected to sleep the day through today but such were my energy
levels at that ungodly time of the day that I jumped out of bed ready
for another challenge. Two hours later found me on a very frosty and
incredibly beautiful Scottish country lane near Dumfries. My destination
was the WWT site at Caerlaverock but such was the incredible scene around
me that I was taking my time and savouring the moment. |
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The weather promised to be
good. The sky was clear but as yet the sun wasnt high enough to burn
off the thick mist that blanketed the fields and hedgerows. Wild deer
were feeding in the fields. Stopping in your car is fine. They will
stop and watch you but appear non too concerned. Deer though as well
as every other animal has radar vision when it comes to cameras. Sitting
on the opposite side of the car I slowly raised my camera and in a second
they were off. How they see it is anyones guess? |
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Foxes are just as
bad and sadly the mist stopped me getting any decent shots even of them
running away. |
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To get any decent shots in
those conditions you need to be pretty close to your target. It seems
that in Scotland a Buzzard sits upon just about every hedge. I lost
count of how many I saw and how many flew the second my car slowed down.
Then I came across one that was bolder than the rest. He was sat with
a hedge to his back and no matter how hard I tried the camera would
not focus on it. After a few choice words the Buzzard flew and was laughing
at me I am sure. This time he was behind me sat on a post with blue
sky at his back. I was going to try again but luck was not on my side
for bearing down fast came the biggest reddest tractor you ever saw.
I was going to reach the bird first and my reversing skills were sorely
put to the test. Needless to say the bird flew but he wasnt going far
and flew back from where he had come and one post further up. This time
nothing was going to stop me. I slowly moved the car forward willing
the bird to stay. The blue sky certainly helped, the camera locked on
and two shots were in the bag before the bird finally had enough of
me and flew to pastures new. |
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I have only ever
visited Carlaverock in the summer so had no idea what to expect as I
arrived. Rounding a cornor a quarter mile from the reserve I gazed in
wonder upon the goose filled scene before me. Right by the side of the
road hundreds of Barnacle geese were feeding. Had I known how lucky
I was at finding this I would have exploited my good fortune much more
vigorously and taken far more care. Sat in my car I still clearly spooked
the birds and within minutes they took to the skies. Thinking scenes
like this were probably the norm for this area I did not persue the
shots. HIndsight is such a wonderful thing and later I sincerely wished
I had. |
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Another bird that is more prolific
in Scotland is the Yellowhammer. They were everywhere in the hedgerows
and were abundant on the reserve. Many birds would come down to feed
on seed scattered on the paths but there were so many people around
that getting any decent photos of them proved impossible. |
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