TAYSIDE
TOADSTOOLS & BIRDS
My voice / Becomes the wind / Mushroom-hunting . . . . . . . . . 19th century haiku by Japanese poet MASAOKA SHIKI [1867-1902]
ESK FIELDS AFTER RE-SEEDING OF AREA TO ENCOURAGE WILD FLOWERS, JULY 9, 2022. DESTROYED BY STORM FLOODING IN 2023 AND IS NOW HOME TO RAGWORT [Jacobaea vulgaris], WILLOWHERB [Chamaenerion angustifolium], POPPY [Papaver rhoeas] and butterflies on JULY 19, 2026
COMMON PHEASANT [Phasianus colchicus]
Above is a male in April 2020. Right side is a female, just a couple of metres from me, on September 7, 2026, at Lurgies
HOUSE MARTIN
[Delichon urbica]
Group of 30+ zipping around and gathering mud for nesting material
Even lucky enough to get an action shot in right-side photo
June 18, 2023
SANDPIPER [Actitis hypoleucos]
Left, male and female on April 17, 2021.
WHITE-THROATED DIPPER [Cinclus cinclus]
Left from August 12, 2021, right on April 14, 2023. Seen over its head in fast-flowing River Esk
GREY HERON [Ardea cinerea]
Left in tree on one leg, 2021. Right with elongated neck in 2020
SONG THRUSH [Turdus philomelos]
Left photo on January 2, 2021
WOOD PIGEON [Columba palumbus]
Right: June 2020. Left : Juvenile without the white neck marking on September 4, 2023,
PIED WAGTAIL [Motacilla alba yarrelli]
April 30, 2026
WHITE WAGTAIL [Motacilla alba]
Lighter colouring from pied wagtail. May 6, 2020
GREY WAGTAIL [Motacilla cinerea]
Left on August 14, 2022, and right is a juvenile on July 9, 2021
BLACKBIRD [Turdus merula]
Left is male in early May 2020, and right is a female, confusingly brown - December 21, 2020