Up with the lark

This morning was the Dawn Chorus walk through Shore wood organised by the National Park and SNH. After trying to book a place by phone without success I decided to go along anyway to appreciate the wildlife.  The alarm was set for just before 5.00 but after yesterday's rain I was quite prepared to stay in bed if the weather hadn't been good.  However, the sun was just rising and tinting the hills in the west pink and I could hear the birds already starting to sing - particularly some rather loud collar doves  - which encouraged me to get up and get going.

I did not regret it.  It was fresh but bright and the sun was just coming over the trees.  There were birds singing all around especially in the hedgerows.  The rooks in the rookery at the top of the pines were especially raucous drowning out the more melodious notes of smaller birds.   Several metres further on a thrush was singing its heart out high in an ash tree which has yet to come into leaf.

Carrying on through the woods I caught site of a roe deer buck by the water's edge.  He turned towards we me and we looked at each other for some time before I moved on .  I had only gone a couple of steps before I looked back but he had disappeared into the woods without a sound.  

The beauty of the loch took my breath away when I reached the view point.  There was a mist lingering over the surface of the water and a faint mist in the distance. But the air was so clear an cold and the light so delicate on the hills.

 

It really was quite chilly for a May morning although there hadn't been a frost.  The grasses however were covered with minute droplets of dew that gave a silvery sheen and sparkle in the sunlight.

On the return journey there was another deer drinking at the lochside.  This time it was a doe that looked as though she was heavily pregnant.  She moved forward in front of me, crossed the path and leapt the fence to join her partner in the field above the wood.

I was nearly back at the entrance to the walk before I met the official dawn chorus party - although by this time it was well after dawn.  I paused by the small beach where the water was crystal clear.  Earlier in the week the wind had stirred up the water and it had been quite mucky at the edge of the beach.  The loch level had subsided by today and deposited all the debris at high water level.  After this week's rain I was surprised the loch level had fallen at all.

The birds were still singing although we have noticed before that there is more birdsong in the hedgerows of the lane leading to the wood than in the wood itself.  The iPhone that I use to take these photos can also record and I was able to capture much of the sounds of the walk.  However, as yet I have not worked out how to get them from the computer onto the blog.  A technological challenge that will have to wait for another day.