TAYSIDE
TOADSTOOLS & BIRDS
My voice / Becomes the wind / Mushroom-hunting . . . . . . . . . 19th century haiku by Japanese poet MASAOKA SHIKI [1867-1902]
THE LURGIES IS AN INLET FED BY A RIVER AND HAS MUDBANKS BORDERED BY TREE/SHRUB PATH AND A STREAM EDGED BY REEDS THROUGH PASTURE
A GOOD VARIETY OF BIRDS HAVE BEEN SPOTTED HERE CONSIDERING IT'S A RELATIVELY SMALL AREA AND IS EASILY ACCESSIBLE WITH CAR PARK BESIDE IT
IF ONLY ONE PLACE CAN BE VISITED WHILE PASSING THIS AREA THEN LURGIES IS THE SITE TO HEAD FOR.
BIRDS ARE ON THIS PAGE AND [LURGIES MUDBANK] PAGE
GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER
[Dendrocopos major]
Left - October 3, 2021,
and
Right - December 2, 2020
CHIFFCHAFF [Phylloscopus collybita]
May 24, 2023
FIELDFARE [Turdus pilaris]. Group ground feeding on December 7, 2020
FIELDFARE
[Turdus pilarus]
Caught in lowering sun
behind a dark sky
November 20, 2022,
in Wigeon Hide fields
That day I passed fields on the way to Wigeon Hide that had flocks of these beautiful birds
Overall must have seen 100+ birds. Never seen in such numbers before
ROOK
[Corvus frugilegus]
September 28, 2020
JACKDAW
[Corvus monedula]
Bright eyes and silver hood
are defining features
Among seaweed on
March 4, 2021
STARLING
[Sturnus vulgaris]
Left, looking dazzling in its winter plumage on November 8, 2021
Right at River Esk
on May 15, 2021
MOORHEN [Gallinula chloropus]
Male [right] and female in field on October 2021
STARLING [Sturnus vulgaris]
May 24, 2023, showing another change of plumage
ROBIN [Erithacus rubecula]
Juvenile [centre] on June 12, 2022. Adult [right] September 28, 2021. Both Lurgies. Adult, left, December 6, 2020, at Balgavies Loch. Quite a difference in plumage
YELLOWHAMMER [Emberiza citrinella]
Male on October 13, 2022
GREENFINCH [Carduelis chloris]
November 8, 2021
LINNET [Linaria cannabina / moved from Carduelis genus in 2012]
Left is a female on August 23, 2023. Centre is a male on June 8, 2023, from Wigeon, and right is a male on August 11, 2021
CHAFFINCH [Fringilla coelebs]
Group of colourful males, left to right at Lurgies in 2022, Balgavies Loch in 2021 and Tayock on February 25, 2024
CHAFFINCH
[Fringilla coelebs]
Left and right is the same female at different angles at Lurgies on May 11, 2023
Big difference in colour compared to the male above and also shows the crossed bill in better detail
