With only 6hrs 44 minutes of daylight up here at this time of year when the sun finally shines after a few dreich and dreary days, it's time to make haste.
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| Fetternear Bishop's Palace is an archaeological site of what was one of the palaces (or residence) of the medieval bishops of Aberdeen |
A pleasant stroll from home around the local Fetternear Estate produced a decent variety of species and although most posed briefly enough for the odd record shot the local
Red Squirrels were not playing ball. Probably still annoyed by the loss of at least two dreys during Storm Arwen and who could blame them!
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| A couple of Brambling along the paths today. |
There are some good feeding stations based in the gardens of the few residential properties around the estate and these are always worth spending extra time scrutinising, thankfully I'm fortunate to know the residents!
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| Tree Sparrow ~ A species I'm happy to report are plentiful around the area. |
A colony of
Tree Sparrows are always a pleasure to watch and while overlooking one feeding station a couple of
Great Spotted Woodpeckers were busy hammering in the trees above.
Brambling,
Siskin,
Lesser Redpoll,
Chaffinch,
Greenfinch,
Yellowhammer,
Coal Tit and
Treecreeper all noted, along with a flyover
Common Buzzard.
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| Bullfinch ~ A species that seems to thrive locally |
Several
Bullfinch were busy along some of the ditches adjacent to the footpaths and like most of my travels around Aberdeenshire, there are always
Roe Deer on the move.
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| Two of five Roe Deer enjoying the sunshine |
An enjoyable walk overall with
Jays busy looking for acorns under the small numbers of Oaks we have here, and of course plenty of
Pink-footed Geese passing noisily overhead.
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| Redwings enjoying the holly ~ Taken from the kitchen window! |
Just a few
Fieldfare and
Redwing were seen today as it's apparent that there all currently in the village enjoying the bounty of berries around the gardens! I was saving these for the Waxwings 😉
