A trip up to Scotland just before Christmas led to some very unexpected wildlife sightings …. which were very welcome. Just by sheer coincidence I was looking at some photos of a male Smew posted on X formally twitter a couple of days before we went – and Broadwood Loch in Cumbernauld was literally 5 minutes off the M80… So I kept my fingers crossed.
17th Dec: The journey up to Perth was ok until we got to Shap on the M6 – then the heavens opened with horizontal rain and strong winds; basically this weather followed us – or did we drive into it ?? We got to Cumbernauld and with the directions Chad written down we followed the road to the loch. Horizontal rain greeted me as I got out of the car, it was pouring down … no sign of the Smew…. another long scan … no sign. 20 minute had passed and I was getting soaked…. another scan and YESSSSSS!!! What a gorgeous duck !! I had seen one two years ago a white blob nearly half a mile away at Tophill Low East Yorkshire … so this bird was the first proper ‘White Nun’ I had seen in nearly 30 years .. just goes to show how scarce these little gems are!! So after seeing this apparition I raced back to the car to get my camera …and by the time I got back to the bank side it had disappeared … despite a frantic search I didn’t see it again!! Never mind …. just goes to show with wildlife you have to take advantage and react quickly!!
18th Dec: The Mrs and I had a visit to Loch of Lowes just outside Dunkeld today – what a magical two hours. Tipped off that Red Squirrels were quite common we headed up there mid-morning.To be honest I was a bit sceptical as the last time I looked for them here …I didn’t even get a sniff !! So, we parked up the car, walked down to the visitor centre and before we had even got there – which is about a slow 2 minute walk my lovely Mrs. spotted one running across the path!!! There were quite a few choice expletives from yours truly as this apparition ran across in front of us – mainly due to the fact that I hadn’t even got my camera out of its bag!!! I needn’t have worried as there was plenty of squirrel activity around the visitor centre and feeders. But what a brilliant session, so good to see these charming little animals in their own natural habitat. So if you are on holiday in that area ..it’s well worth a look …. and if you visit between April and mid August there is always the added bonus of breeding Ospreys around the loch.
24th December: We had a brilliant Christmas Eve treat … Nacreous clouds over Pickering. We had seen them the day before from the car as we drove into York… but on the 24th we had a stunning show of these clouds right across the south western sky as the Sun set. Nacreous clouds, look very similar to mother of pearl.The clouds develop in extremely cold air, usually below -75. and are normally associated with the Polar regions. However, in Northern England and Scotland we were very lucky to have them form in our skies. The beautiful colours that are generated in the clouds is the light been refracted from the ice crystals within the clouds. What an amazing sight!!!
