We had a lovely walk with our local SOC on Saturday 26th April at Lochinch, Castle Kennedy. It looked as if it was going to be a washout in the morning, but by 2pm when we met up the sun was shining and it was quite warm. We managed to see a total of 49 species, 35 in the first hour.
I will try and list them all but may miss a few as this is from memory:
Pied wagtail, bluetit, great tit, willow tit, song thrush, robin, carrion crow, buzzard, peregrine, sparrowhawk, canada geese, greylag geese, cormorant, heron, gbb gull, lbb gull, herring gull, black headed gull, blackcap, willow warbler, chiffchaff, garden warbler, wood pidgeon, dunnock, pheasant, goldeneye duck, tufted duck, great crested grebe, mute swan, treecreeper, oystercatcher, fieldfare, great spotted woodpecker, jay, jackdaw, wren, goldcrest, blackbird, coal tit, chaffinch, goldfinch, greenfinch etc.

Also plenty of butterflies about and we finished off with a red squirrel on the feeders by the car.
All in all an excellent afternoons birding with great weather and good company.

On Sunday 27th April managed to get a photo of this warbler just outside the kitchen window:

Also on Sunday, we have been watching a pair of pied wagtails collecting nesting material but to our dismay noticed the birds taking it under the wheel arch of our Freelander. We looked inside to find a well made nest which must have been there when we went out Saturday! Despite removing the nest and building them a pile of stones with a turf roof they are attempting to build in the car again. We have nest boxes everywhere, dry stone walls, piles of stones, log piles and tree stumps, but they would rather build in our car.

Well its about time I posted again, I hadnt realised that it was nearly May and I hadnt added anything since last year. We have been very busy at Wildforms and now sell lots of plants including wild flowers and herbs. It keeps me very busy in the potting shed and greenhouse and out in the fresh air away from the computer. There have been highs and lows so far this year including a couple of days break at Dumfries Hospital having another minor operation on my nose. It caused a bit of disruption but at least I can now breath again.

Enough about me, more importantly lets get back to the wildlife. Lots of seals about around the Rhins coast this year, which are a pleasure to watch. Have seen deer, a red squirrel, loads of hares, stoats, voles & wood mice in and around the garden this year. A hare comes through the garden quite regularly and if we keep very still can come within a few feet.

The wood mice and voles regularly get caught in the humane traps in the sheds, its no wonder that there are so many birds of prey including owls about as there is so much prey.

The pond is full of life, it looked so bare and neglected when we moved in but we put in plenty of plants and pond snail. It is teamimg with newts of all sizes and there was plenty of frogspawn laid earlier in the year. It was fun listening to the frogs as they were so vocal. I havnt seen any toadspawn but there is usually plenty of toads about.

We have seen plenty of different birds this year including a male Hen Harrier.