500 Blog Posting

Since I first started blogging I had no Idea that it would take on a life of it's own. I have never been one for diaries, so this is quite a surprise that I'm still chapping away at the keyboard. Loving the natural world, being retired and having gotten involved in the life of the River waterbirds this was a natural progression . The Natural World holds endless fascination for me, and the more I observe the more I realise that we should have much more regard for the welfare of other species ! Humanity seems so insatiably addicted to so many things, unable to break away from the destructive consumerist path we have built for ourselves. Instead of the World getting more just and united, it has become more fragmented than ever. Anyway, this is my 500th blog post and I'm pleased to say that some people round the globe do read and view my blog. (chart shows some of the countries on a particular week). I hope that in my own small way I have contributed a positive insight into our Natural world. Here in Scotland we don't have exotic species like some of the continents and countries that view my blog, they are however just as natural, wonderful and fascinating. We must care for all that inhabit our Planet, we can make it paradise or hell - the choice is ours.

Estuary Visitors

Four Goldeneye showed up in the river today, as well as the usual visitors at this time of year. The short cold snap brought them in along with more Mallards, all clamouring for grain ! Nevertheless Spring is on the way, and some Mallards are already mating and searching out nesting locations. The Goldeneye too were tilting their heads back which is also a mating display ritual . The Redshank and Turnstones were trying to unearth food as the tide receded.

Winter Woo

The Town has a large population of feral Pigeons, and quite a few have capitalised on my feeding tree ! The smaller birds are constantly dislodging seeds from the feeders and upwards of 30 pigeons clean up daily. For the past few weeks I have watched the antics of the male pigeons doing their utmost to impress the females,(short vid below). It may still be Winter, but wooing the pigeons is in full swing for some. I found a cracked pigeon egg the other day, so nesting has already started !

Penny Takes a Nap

Mid February and the Spring like weather continues...until Winter returns at the weekend ! The ducks are pairing off and some have already dispersed away from the estuary, but will probably return with any bad weather. Meanwhile the Swans are biding their time eating and resting well. They are in excellent condition enjoying a tasty diet of wheat grain, poultry pellets, carrots (short vid below)and Penny's favourite - fresh moist wholemeal rolls when available ! After such a feast she often drifts into a satisfying sleep.

More Pintail Pics

The Pintail is still Wintering here, with ample opportunity to get some more pics too. Reading the RSPB book on the Pintail it seems a pretty rare breeder in the UK and Ireland, with fewer than 50 breeding pairs ! It would be nice if this one had a mate locally and bred here. It's the first one I have ever seen and find it beautifully marked. It's probably a visitor from Iceland, Scandinavia or the Baltic states though.

Mild Weather

The fabulous winter weather continues, and locally looks like being the mildest winter for years...so far ! The Swans however are not fooled into thinking spring has arrived, so no question of nest building yet. The Pintail is getting well entrenched among the Mallards, and occasionally ventures onto the land to clear up the grain. The Goldeneye and remarkable Dipper are also on the go.

Cygnet Killed - UPDATE

UPDATE: After contact with SSE Restoration Manager in Inverness
today, I was promised that additional safety discs will be put on the power lines at Kingsteps, possibly insulators too. They will keep me informed.


It has come to my attention that a young swan was killed on Sunday after hitting the power lines at Kingsteps Car park. This is the same spot that our previous resident Cob was electrocuted and later died. It is tragic that a young swan is killed before having a chance too live at least a few years. I have contacted (SSE) Scottish and Southern Energy group again and asked for additional safety discs to be put on the power lines in question. After our previous resident cob was killed in 2007, I got SSE to put discs on the lines so the swans could see and avoid the power lines - clearly more measures are needed !




I do not know if it was one of our Nairn cygnets that was the victim.




Swans are beautiful fliers, but being so large need time to manoeuvre to avoid collisions. The pond at Kingsteps is surrounded by woodland and has only one flight approach which crosses the carpark and power lines. The height and distance from the pond are in the middle of the flight path and need highlighted dramatically.



Any area of water where Swans might land has to be looked at regarding the proximity of power lines, especially if they are within a 100 metres of the water.




The power companies do take the safety of wildlife into consideration and have a wildlife engineer who will act on lines in any dangerous locations. If you know of power lines that have caused deaths to birds, please report them to SSE engineers and keep their phone number for future reference. 0800 048 3515

Of Mice and Birds

In addition to feeding the Swans and ducks during each winter, I also put out feeding for the wild birds at various spots along the riverside. One of these spots is at the retaining wall at the road bridge, under some dense bushes. Every morning I have a following of regulars that descend on the mixture of crushed peanuts, bird seed, and bread crumbs. One of the new regulars is a mouse that comes out of the wall every morning to join the birds, it has a mate and probably a nest within the wall. It proves the value of keeping strategic patches of dense undergrowth for the protection and proliferation of the birds and other wildlife ! If you look carefully you will see it feasting at top centre and bottom left of the pics.

The slow thaw got the Swans inspecting the island nest site today, but it will be March before they start nest building again.

Icy Riverside

Though not as cold as last Winter it has still been pretty keen frost over the past few days. January has been really mild and I quite like the clean, cold bright days - beats wind and rain anytime ! We need the frost anyway to stop any runaway growth before the spring.The Swans were slipping and sliding all over the moat which was solid with glass ice, eventually they did manage to get back to the river. (Short video below ) The beautiful Pintail duck is happy among the Mallards and looks like staying for a while at least.

What Price Pruning ?

In spite of my email plea to the council, they were again out yesterday making a dogs dinner out of the shrubs and bushes that the small birds need. With the freezing temperatures the small birds need all the help they can get to survive the Winter. Although I emailed the man in charge of the clearances.

Dear Mr Fraser,

Further to my previous email regarding shrub clearance,
I understand you are the manager in charge of this department.

I note that your workmen have continued clearing the shrubs near the seating area at the harbour .
Several people have approached me, complaining about this being done to the detriment of the birds that they enjoy seeing there.

Could this not have waited another month or so, given the numerous small birds the shelter and habitat that they rely on ?

As a public service I am disappointed that you ignored my previous request and did not even respond to my email ?

If memory serves me right, I believe Nairn's Logo is "Nairn Naturally".

Promoting Nairn as a place to view the natural world can be lauded - actively destroying bird habitat at the wrong time of year is something I'm sure the council can avoid doing !

Could you please explain the reason for clearing this area right now rather than next month ?

Yours Sincerely J T

I only got one reply from Sandy Park as follows :

Joe,
John Fraser and his men have to get on with general maintenance at this time of year I know you are passionate about the river but John has to get on with the work if the work is not done now the birds would soon be thinking of nest sites.
Sandy

My Reply to this today was :

Dear Sandy,

Thanks for the response.
I can appreciate that park and ground maintenance has to be done sometime.

From local experience of this particular area, I know that many people sit at those benches and feed the sparrows and derive a great deal of pleasure from them. Hence the reason some have complained to me about their loss of habitat at this time.
The birds will not be nesting until March at the earliest, whereas Winter is still upon us and they need the cover now.

All I ask is a little bit of thought and consideration of the impact of cutting dense cover on the wildlife, and to do this particular task at a less harmful time for them.
The local wildlife is important to a great many locals, and they wish to see this preserved and enhanced wherever possible.
I am sure the council workmen have other things they could be doing instead.

Sincerely Joe.

Seriously, I am not nit picking over this issue , and find it ironic that I heard on the highland news this morning about lack of finances and manpower for filling in potholes etc ! YET they can manage to have 3 or 4 men decimating the shrubs and bushes over several days. I am no genius on local government management, but this is the sort of thing that gets the general population really annoyed and asking if things could be managed better ?

Meanwhile the cold weather is affecting all the wildlife along the river, and the poor sparrows that relied on those shrubs and bushes have had to move elsewhere now that the area is exposed to predators and the shelter is gone. Above some pics of the harbour Sparrow population and their bushes - no more cheerful chirping, now they have been removed by the heavy hand of local government !

Dazzling Ducks

This morning with the Sun behind me I had the chance to get a few good pics of the Pintail and Mallards. The clear cold weather gives them quite an appetite for the wheat grain, and the Pintail duck likes his share too ! With spring approaching, the Ducks are starting to get their truly dazzling colours and the Drakes are having domination fights to impress the ladies.

Council out of Sync

Our resident Swans are biding their time and enjoying relaxed days on the island and river. This week saw the return of one cygnet at the river mouth but flew off when approached by the parents. I notice that there are now 3 moorhens on the island, as well as the Pintail and mallard ducks. The Council have again shown that they are out of sync with the local wildlife, by cutting back all the dense growth beside the old gasworks site and around the harbour toilets . This dense growth was shelter and a food source for lots of small birds including the Robin which was pictured on this blog earlier. Why the hell they cut it now instead of the end of February or early March, shows lack of care and consideration for our local birdlife. It is still mid winter and the birds need the food and shelter ! It's time the parks dept got their pruning schedule for these sort of areas re-organised !