UKC

Stunning early morning, cold and still. These two fields are next to each other. Roe buck scratching its antler velvet. And a couple of young bucks having a gentle head butt. 

Robin giving it some. And a doe having a good clean. 

Same female made its way into the other field and stopped to have a good look. I walked down that path, very very slowly, and the mini herd was 20ft away the other side of that hedge. Carried on walking and didn’t disturb them. They ambled their way up the field chewing on winter wheat. 

No deer for me but heard lots of curlews and saw a few. Saw a nuthatch feeding on someone's window sill and a dipper in the river.

After 3 years of watching, last week I finally saw one of the Forth humpbacks. This one's called Barney and I saw him on 3 days, totalling 8 sightings. No breaches yet, just his back appearing, logging I think it's called, and two blows. It's ridiculous how excited I got at the sight of some black shapes in the water and some water vapour going up in the air! 

Brilliant!  I was looking at the Seawatch reports and noticed the humpbacks and thought ‘I hope aln gets to see them’. Brilliant. Interesting, I spent an afternoon watching a mother and calf pilot whale off Staffin and described them as ‘it’s as if you’ve held a big log underwater and let go’. 
 

Where you at Kinghorn?

Once you get your ear tuned into the nuthatch call I’m  surprised how many there are. Great birds. (I once found a dead one outside Coops building in Wigan - and once found a dead waxwing outside the heart foundation shop!  Flock of 30 feeding on a massive cotoneaster and it flew into the window).

Same with GS Woodpecker - once you realise it's them making that chink noise

We often watch from the Harbour View car park in Kinghorn, as the whales are often spotted off Inchkieth. But Barney's been spending a lot of time in the Inchcolm/Inchmickery area so we've been spotting from the wee viewpoint car park between Aberdour and Burntisland. 

It's the same with the Buzzard. Often heard first then spotted. Heard and then spotted one yesterday, but funnily when I  was a kid there were none of them around. Love watching them soaring and dropping on a thermal, or being buzzed by crows who pinch the lift from below their flight path.