ARDTORNISH GARDENS

More birds to be seen

in and around the garden

The garden is host to many species of bird. Some very common residents are blackbird, song thrush, robin, chaffinch, bullfinch, dunnock, wren, blue tit and great tit. In summer, various warblers are heard and sometimes seen throughout the garden. Buzzards and sparrowhawks are the most common avian predators here.

In the hills behind the garden, you may come across birds of open spaces. Golden eagles, ravens and hoodie crows search extensively for carrion. Hen harriers and merlin are rarer but present. Golden plover can be heard piping in spring and are often seen perched on stones or tussocks. Red-throated divers nest on the small hill lochs and commute daily to sea to feed - they fly high and fast and can easily be identified by their call which sounds like a fast-quacking hyperactive duck.

Walk along the side of Loch Aline to the Sound of Mull and there will be plenty to see. In winter there are wigeon, goldeneye, goosander, merganser, red, black and great-northern diver as well as cormorant and shag. Curlew, oystercatcher and redshank are the commonest waders and greenshank, looking very white-sided compared to the redshank, are often seen on the muddy intertidal zone at the head of the loch in winter.

Pictures are from left to right, top to bottom -

1. This bullfinch had eaten so many fruit buds in the kitchen garden it could hardly fly.
2. Robins are very common and some become extremely tame. Apparently those that migrate from the continent during winter are less friendly.
3. It is my (unfulfilled) ambition to get some decent eagle photos but the only time I get close I am (a) without my camera or (b) too slow to react. Without flapping a wing, eagles travel very fast and often quite high. This is an adult sea eagle.
4. Ravens are very common and their deep gutteral croak can be heard most days of the year. Their aerobatic displays in late winter are fascinating, particularly their back-flip at high speed.
5. Red-throated diver in winter. The remains of the characteristic red throat can just be seen. The upward-pointing bill distinguishes this species from the other divers.
6. Herons line the shore of Loch Aline and quite often will roost in trees. These birds are usually solitary but occasionally indulge in strange (to me) communal behaviour. I have watched a dozen or more spiralling upwards to a considerable height then gliding to a point on the shore, then walking apart before resuming fishing. One year, a similar number took to floating on the breeze just above the kitchen garden, every day around 5pm for a week. They knew what they were doing. The small bluish blob top left is our local kingfisher, somewhat of a rarity in these parts.

Photos and text by Ian Lamb.