Winter Postponed....

The run of sunny clear days continues. The weather during October and November is better than July and August lately! As the day was so nice, I took a good few pics of varying quality, but they show our coast off at its best.

Most of the day was spent wandering the south end of the patch where a few things of note were seen. A first light (above) a seawatch was less than profitable, but 3 Snow Buntings flew around the rock edges here and later at Rumbling Kern. Through the morning 800+ Pinkfeet flew S in flocks of assorted sizes...

 At the pond, the local Mutes did a lap before returning to the family. However the highlight on here was a fine drake Pintail with the Mallards. I've not seen one on the pond before and it may well be a first.

While watching the pond,a Chiffchaff was calling nearby, an unusual bi-syllabic call. On investigation it turned out to be a Scandinavian Chiffchaff of the race abietinus. It was a washed out buff and peachy toned bird and very whitish underneath. The top pic is blurred but you can see how pale the bird was...   

The view North to our village...

Above - Howick Burn Mouth. A few Goldeneye were here with a Goosander and an adult Mediterranean Gull. 

Above -  The bridge over the Howick Burn mouth.

A walk inland a short way from the bridge up the burn takes in a  completely new habitat. Crossbills were heard up here but only a single male was seen.

Above -  This Common Darter and a Red Admiral helped to delay the onset of winter just a bit longer...

Above - The Rumbling Kern. The Snow Buntings were climbing the cliff faces here, different to their usual beach habitats....

And all this with only a few walkers to disturb the peace. Click on the pics for a larger image ( the landscapes in particular...)