February 06, 2005
Planting cover
Not much birdy to report unfortunately; first Oystercatcher of the year on the island today, feeding in the waterlogged field next door, and flying around calling on and off all day. Many waders on the soggy fields (Redshank, Turnstone and some Curlews), presumably feeding on surfacing worms. The rain has been relentless for the past 24 hours, and the ground here is saturated. Good weather for planting the last of the cuttings we were given in the autumn, this time about 30 pieces of blackcurrant, as well as the last of the icelandic willow cuttings I took from Yell. I reckon last weekend I got about 200 willows in, so hopefully a good percentage of these will strike. Also finally got round to planting the sycamore seeds I collected last autumn; only a dozen or so - this year I will be a lot more professional and gather hundreds - there's nothing like sycamore for attracting those eastern autumn warblers!
Am acutely aware that only a few miles away over the water on Fetlar (so in sight of the house) there's a white phase Gyr Falcon mooching around. So was galvanised into action when I heard a raptor "screeing" this afternoon - grabbed my bins and climbed onto a wall for a vantage point. I could hear the bird calling, and moving fast, but never saw it. Probably just one of the resident Merlins. Still, not a complete loss as my scanning around picked up a couple of early Red-throated Divers on the sea below the house. Only a few weeks and the first migrants will be trickling through...
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Come back soon!
Can't help but notice the lack of comments on your great Blog. Please keep up the good work for alll our sakes.Best read on the net and cannot wait for your Spring. Well done.
Posted by: Steve at February 14, 2005 11:59 AM