Rambling Russells

Now that Autumn seems to be on its way (!) it has been noticed that some birds have reappeared in gardens after having disappeared during the summer - coal tits, blue tits, great tits and a wren have been spotted. Wagtail and nuthatch have also been observed. Two members have also watched a sparrowhawk in their gardens! Our speaker this month was Mark Pollitt who told us he had counted 14 Mistle thrushes in his own garden recently. What a sight that must have been! For those of you who are not sure of the difference - here are 2 illustrations and details  of the 2 thrushes. (courtesy of RSPB website) The Mistle Thrush is a pale, black-spotted thrush - large, aggressive and powerful. It stands boldly upright and bounds across the ground while in flight, it has long wings and its tail has whitish edges. It is most likely to be noticed perched high at the top of a tree, singing its fluty song or giving its rattling call in flight. The Song Thrush is smaller and browner ...

Friday 18th Sept We set off  from Annan in lovely sunshine. We were staying overnight in Taynuilt before moving on to Mallaig and the ferry to Skye. Reasonable traffic on the motorway and only occasional roadworks meant no great queues or problems. A pause at Caulders Garden Centre at Erskine bridge for coffee & lunch broke the journey neatly into 2 parts. Following the scenic roads around Loch Lomond and through Tyndrum to join the road to Oban was lovely in the sunshine. Even on these smaller roads the traffic wasn't too bad and we got to Taynuilt just in time for afternoon cups of tea! Saturday 19th Sept Setting off in more sunshine we travelled towards Fort William at a steady pace - there seemed to be more traffic going in the opposite direction! We made good time to the Fort, there turning off towards Mallaig. Many of the lochs we passed on the way were so still, hardly a ripple to be seen. With plenty of time to spare we stopped at Glenfinnan Monument for a cof...