The Nature Of Nairn

The past few days has been glorious weather - long overdue. 

This gave me the opportunity for some close up shots and video of some of the river wildlife.

 The cygnets are almost 4 weeks old and cute as ever. 

The duck of the year had a cross word with Sue our swan when she tried to intimidate her ducklings.

 The goosander made it plain to the heron that her chicks were not on the menu either! 

My little Robin friend has been feeding youngsters all day, back and forth for crushed peanut pieces. 

With the setting sun on the river , it was hard to tear myself away from the nature of Nairn. 

Taking advantage of my privileged position with Slim and Sue, Short video below.  

Robin & Dunnock

 With Winter on the horizon, the smaller birds are busy feeding during the short days. Taking advantage of any sunshine and benefactor like myself with regular haunts. 

The Robin is the most friendly and has even taken food from my hand.  His plumage is superb and quite happy to pose close up. 

The Dunnock has been observing this, and decided to follow up on the tasty goodies on offer, dried mealworm, crushed peanuts, seeds, and wholemeal. 

Dunnock are cautious loners, and tend to clear up behind sparrows, often mistaken for one. 

This little one has grown in confidence and now follows the Robin on a regular basis. 

The 3 R's Robin, Redshanks, and Razorbill

 The Lower riverside has other birdlife around besides Swans and Ducks. 

This past week provided some nice natural scenes. The friendly Robin with red waistcoat, flock of Redshanks at the swans moat. 

The most unusual scene I spotted just beside the east side of the pier.

 A lone razorbill corralling a shoal of small fish, and having a feast ! Short video below. 

 

Early Winter ?

After a poor Summer all the signs look like an early winter as well.

This part of the world usually doesn't see much snow until after Christmas. 

Climate change has put paid to all the norms, now we can expect anything at any time !

Thankfully some things don't change, like the sound and beauty of a Robin, or the sight of snowy white Swans on a snowy day !  

Been a while since we had a hard winter.....got a feeling we wont have to wait much longer !

Ray of Sunshine

Finally the awful spell of windy weather has subsided. Today we have blue skies and slight frost, perfect winter weather that suits me.

Even the Robin enjoyed the sunshine rays.

Trust Members Outnumber Ducks !

After two and a half years The River Nairn Swans and Waterfowl Trust has now more members than ducks on the River Nairn. 

We now have 153 members to date, this is testament to the people of Nairn and the visitors who love the place. I have never had an advertising campaign to recruit new members, and most local people have seen me going about my daily routine of feeding and caring for the river birds over the past 10 years.

Ever since the discovery of my first Robins nest 60 years ago at the age of 10, while on a fishing trip to Aberfeldy with my father, I have always loved the natural world and all it's wonders. Even today I still get a buzz from seeing new life appear - whatever the species. 

It is great to know that there are so many like minded people in a world increasingly stressed out by technology, consumerism and greed, who appreciate the value of the Natural World.

Some youngsters asked me last week how I managed to get the birds eating out of my hand, I explained that kindness and offering food wins them over, making no sudden or threatening moves they will gradually trust you. With that I gave the two boys some bird seed and told them to hold out their hands flat, then passed a friendly pigeon onto them, I think those boys will now see birds and nature in a different light - hopefully for the rest of their lives ! 

Swans Eye View

Putting the camera down to the same level as the Swans for a different perspective.

One very friendly Robin close to the rivers edge can probably see the swans like this too.

This Week

Been a good week weather wise, and long may it continue ! 

Pigeon with the broken leg made a complete recovery, and today I bade her farewell and let her rejoin the town flock. It was a pleasure caring for her since she was so gentle and not a problem. A few days ago she was standing in her water bowl on top of the book case, so I gave her a bath in the sink. She thoroughly enjoyed the soaking , especially under her wings.

The 9 ducklings rescued prior to the big Bertha flood are almost fully grown after nearly 7 weeks, ( short clip below ) and will be returned to the river in 2 weeks time when they should be on the verge of flight. 

The other 8 hatched ducklings from the abandoned nest are growing, and the last two which I had to help out of the shells are finally starting to catch up with the stronger ones.

Nairn swans are also doing well and have frequent trips to the sea, but still come back up river for their vital supplementary feeding.

The autumn evening chill seems to herald the cheery twittering of the Robin, always enjoyable to hear them sing.

  

A Touch of Red

Winter beckons and the birds are preparing for the darkest month and hard times ahead, feeding is the primary concern of all the species now.

The familiar sight of Robin and Blackbird down by the riverside, where Robin waits for his turn at the table !

The red breasted mergansers are busy fishing, alongside all the other water birds. 

This has been a bountiful year so far, what will Winter be like ?

Trust Members Photos

George Berryman, one of our Trust members has sent in a few pics. The Brent geese are the ones often seen up near the Swimming baths feeding on the green rock weed.

 The lone Swan was taken today and it came into the river to be escorted away by our pair. I have to say it looks very like our previous pen, it would be sad if she has never got a new mate.

Nice shots of the Robin and Turnstones George.

Night Singer

A few nights ago I was astonished to hear a bird singing away, around one in the morning. I listened for a couple of minutes and was not mistaken, it was definitely a bird. As it happens the RSPB website came out yesterday with an explanation here. I must say, this is the first time I have ever heard a Robin in the middle of a winter's night. There is plenty of street lighting, and I do have a feisty Robin in the garden.

Loss of Habitat

We have many bird species on the lower River Nairn, we can boast the largest - the Swan, and Britain's smallest bird the Goldcrest, seen between the Merryton and main road bridge. Sadly this area has been stripped of natural habitat used for winter feeding and cover. I was led to believe the area was going to be "tidied up and have some fallen and broken trees removed, and the sewer overflow pipe extended into the river". The descriptive words used were "a light touch would be applied". 

The truth is that virtually all the bushes and wild saplings have been shredded in spite of my plea to River Community Council Chairman Tommy Hogg to spare this habitat for the small birds that depend on it for winter feeding and cover. It also allows passing dogs easy access to the riverside which roosts many ducks at this spot . Every yard of tidal wildlife habitat is precious, especially in an urban environment, people want to experience nature close by and they don't want to lose it.

 Even this shredded area was host to Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Blue tit, Robin, Chaffinch, as well as more common blackbirds etc, not to mention mice that live in the dead trees! I may wear glasses, but I can see perfectly well what's going on around me, do the River Community Councillors ?

Some before and after pics, and some of the species that we will see less of now !