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Natural Connections

Modern life in Scotland is increasingly busy. The connections our ancestors had with nature and the land are being lost. As leisure time shrinks, or is filled with hi-tech experiences, opportunities to experience nature become fewer. And yet it is possible to connect with nature on a day to day basis. All around us, the great web of life continues to hold its shape, and nature continues its eternal cycles. Keep looking, listening, smelling, touching - and keep experiencing natural connections.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

The second visit to Strathspey this month took place on a mild, sunny and windless day. The route chosen (see here) was from Kingussie to Kincraig and back, the outward leg via RSPB Insh Marshes, the inward one via the north shore of Loch Insh.
The walk out of Kingussie produced a single Dipper (on the Gynack Burn) and a single Grey Wagtail on the Spey. A pair of Goldeneye (the male displaying to the female) were also on the Spey. Birds in the general area included Oystercatchers and Curlews, both making a lot of noise as they presumably sorted out breeding territories. The first of around five singing Song Thrushes for the day was near the shinty ground Another bird that was to prove common throughout the day was Woodpigeon.
Heading up the hill towards Ruthven, five Pied Wagtails were on the grass bank (with a Meadow Pipit nearby), 20 Jackdaws were swirling around the barracks and four Redpolls flew high overhead. The marsh beyond the Barracks was alive with birds including Whooper Swan, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Redshank, Oytercatcher, Lapwing and Grey Heron. The "Lookout" didn't add any new species but a group of Birch trees to the east of there held around 30 finches, consisting of Goldfinches, Siskins and Redpolls. 
The walk around to Loch Insh was accompanied by the song of Chaffinches and Coal Tits. As usual, the bird count increased as the villages were reached. Insh, in common with most of the other villages, had singing Greenfinches and hedges full of House Sparrows. A  patch of open Birch woodland near Old Milton held 20+ very nervous Fieldfares plus a singing Song Thrush and two Red-legged Partridges. Two Rooks were ransacking the garden feeders at Farr.



Arriving at Loch Insh, almost the first birds to show were a pair of Red-throated Divers. They did some half-hearted diving and one caught a fish. However they mostly drifted leisurely across the loch, coming quite close to the shore on a couple of occasions. Other birds out on the loch consisted of Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Cormorant and Herring Gull. A pair of Long-tailed Tits were collecting nest material along the loch-side and two Domestic Mallards were at the chalet park.



The bridge at Kincraig produced more Goldeneye and a pair of Mute Swans (plus glorious views back down the loch). Kincraig itself had House Sparrows and Jackdaws, and the walk along the north shore of the loch produced more Pied Wagtails and the only Goosanders (a pair) of the day.



After a paddle through the Dunachton Burn, the rest of the walk back to Kingussie had to be done at a bit of a trot. However the highlights of this stretch including more singing Greenfinches, a whole suite of water birds on the marsh at Lynchat, Greylag Geese already on territory at the cemetery and two Domestic Mallards "doorstepping" in Kingussie. The final birds of the day were a pair of Starlings entering a nest hole under the canopy of Kingussie Railway Station.

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