It’s July 11 and we still have only had a light drizzle overnight.  It’s been incredible weather, but hot, especially for the natives. We saw this blackbird spreading itself out in the flower bed. Sunbathing or trying to get cool?

We put out a “bath” for the birds a few days ago and it is much appreciated, although in town it is mainly drawing sparrows, blackbirds and of course pigeons. Who can be a bit dominant:

The garden is a great place to get decent photos though. Here’s a rook posing proudly in his baggy trousers:

Friday we walked to Auchmithie up the coast, with the promise of  lunch at the “But ‘n’ Ben”.  Magnificent day and lovely to see the farmers leaving large borders of wild flowers for the butterflies and bees. We saw reed buntings dressed for the summer and after lunch we spotted puffins off the shore, but too far out to capture on film.

At the weekend we walked round Loch an Eilen and by Loch Garten. Coming back south we dropped in at the Osprey hides at Loch of he Lowes. The two chicks are nearly ready to fly! This link is to the live web cam. Here’s a still from the site. I could never get that close!

There is a super corner with bird tables at the Loch of the Lowes centre where you can see almost every local bird really close up.

Like, “Who are you looking at?”

The walk round Craigmill Den is a great spot for birds too and we saw chaffinches, long tailed tits and a reed warbler there last week.

Well, the Open Golf Championship is on for the next fortnight ,so no golf for me. Hopefully more time for walking and bird spotting!