In the Garden in Forres

We added  a small pond to our garden earlier in the year in the hope of encouraging  Dragonflies or Damselflies. We have not put any fish in it. The first Dragonfly I saw there was this Black Darter.  There are always birds drinking from it particularly the House Sparrows and the Tree Sparrows.

There has been a large amount of Red Admiral and Peacock Butterflies the whole of the summer in the garden and this month I think they have reached their peak.  Certainly the Buddleia flowers attract them and the Bumble Bees,  Carder Bees and Hoverflies.

As usual a Sparrowhawk came in and unsuccessfully tried to hide behind the bird feeder. However, the birds were all too quick for it.  I am not sure if it even actually saw me at the bottom of the garden.

A Rabbit is still coming in to the garden but towards the end of the month there were two.  The Chiffchaff was still appearing in the garden at the beginning of the month but it will not be long before it goes.  There were still young House Sparrows and Wood Pigeons on the go.   One day I had six Collared Doves in the garden.  Usually the most I have had is four.

Loch of Blairs

I have only visited Blairs Loch once this month and I saw that there were now some Wigeon there but only in a small number. There were lots of Mallards, two Moorhens, three Little Grebes and four Mute Swans.  However, for the first time I saw a Grey Wagtail there and a Goosander. 

Along The Coast

We have started going along the Coast to Cullen and working back through the small towns and villages  towards Elgin.  There is usually plenty to see.  At Cullen itself I saw Grey Wagtails where the river enters the sea and some Rock Pipits.  At the East beach there were lots of Turnstones and Redshanks.  In amongst them were three Ringed Plovers. At Findochty harbour there were four Redshanks and a Common Guillemot.  At Buckie harbour there were four Goosanders and a Black Guillemot.

There were lots of Seals basking on the rocks near Buckie.  There are always seals in the harbour at Burghead also.  One of the days I was at Hopeman I saw seven Stonechats and a Wheatear. I don’t often see Magpies at the coast except usually at Cummingston but when I was out walking at Findhorn I  saw four chasing each other on the sand dunes.

On The Dava

When I went up the Dava a couple of times this month I  saw very little.  However at Rumachroy Bridge  I saw this spider making a beautiful web in the sunshine and I saw a Dipper in the river.  Earlier in the year I  had seen Grey Wagtails and Dippers in the river but there was  a spell of really heavy rain when the rivers burst their banks and I did not see any again.

We often stop for coffee when we are up on the Dava at the Old Dava School House and this Red Squirrel was taken at the feeders in the grounds.

Moyness

Finally we had been walking through Lower Bradshaw Woods to the reservoir there  a couple of times this month.  On some of the walks I had seen a Southern Hawker Dragonfly and a Scotch Argos Butterfly.  At the reservoir there were three Tufted Ducks and  two Moorhens with chicks.

On one of the occasions as we got back to the car there were two Great Spotted Woodpeckers chasing each other near the car.  At one of the crossroads on the way there,  near Darnaway,  there is nearly always a Buzzard sitting on  fence post and sometimes it is obliging and stays just that minute longer so I can get a photograph albeit a distant one.