September 2010 started with a warm, summery feel with us continuing to enjoy seeing some of the remaining summer birds, but soon became autumnal, and ended with a taste of winter, with a few frosts and even a little snow on the higher tops as the first winter birds arrived.
Bird 'day-lists' dropped down into the 40's, but mammal 'day-lists' remained steady at 6-9.
Wildlife highlights included:
Early Sept gave us our last sightings of local speciality summer visitors such as Osprey, Black-Throated Diver & Red-Throated Diver, and we also got to see a Hobby - a rare bird this far north - hawking dragonflies, and a number of Lapland Buntings were noted in coastal areas.
Another rarity noted early in the month was a frustratingly short visit by a Black stork - seen by only a few, and sadly, not by myself!
September was one of our best months for Golden Eagle sightings, most birds were juveniles, presumably actively searching for their own territories after being driven away by their parents.
Our resident 'local specialities' such as Dipper, Crested Tit, Crossbill, Black Grouse, Red Grouse, Goldeneye etc continued to show well & delight my safari clients.
Later in the month, early winter visitors in the form of Greylag Geese & Whooper Swans were spotted in the area.
The Red Deer became noticeably more aggressive as the month progressed, with many of the stags 'roaring' & sharpening their antlers on trees & rocks in preparation for the forthcoming rut.
As mid-September is one of the quieter times safari-wise , I took the opportunity to have a trip down to the south of England to see my relatives & friends, and top up my 'year-tick' list with a few' southern specialities' such as Bearded Tit, Woodlark, Yellow Wagtail etc.
