i briefly saw an osprey flying around the largs road area near the muirhead reservoir late afternoon :)

Some HD video footage of a Tawny owl perched halfway up a tree along the Aird meadow trail 29/08/10.

Apart from captive owls, this is only the second time I have seen a wild owl , so , I was quite excited to be able to photograph the sleepy chap as well as take some video footage of him too:-)

                                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iK1FMklG9I&hd=1

Thanks Ian, glad you enjoyed the video. I'm hoping to get more still shots of him but he has not been around so much lately.

I dont normally post pics which are large crops but thought with others wanting to see the bird that i would post this on anyway. This was one of the birds successful fishing trips where it caught what looks like a perch--only going by the red fins on the fish so it could be something else.

Some fantastic views of osprey on the reserve today, starting at around 9.30am, a bird was fishing over the Aird Meadow, had three diving attempts but didn't manage to catch any breakfast, It was back again by 10.30 and then again at 11am, but didn't seem to have any luck with its catching today. Made a fantastic splash when diving into the water, very dramatic, lets hope for the same tomorrow morning.

We have ventured down to the reserve for an evening visit the last two nights and haven't been disappointed. The first night was because on my way back along the trails, I could hear the familiar sound of the swallow roost that sometimes happens on the reserve. Whilst trying to see that, we also saw an otter feeding in the Aird Meadow loch and then a barn owl flew across the water right towards us sitting in the Wilson hide, before landing in the trees right next to us. Amazing views. The same happened on the second night as well. There were about 200-250 swallows on both evenings, lets hope they build up to the 5000 we've had in the past!

Finally, one of our regular birdwatcher saw an arctic tern over the Barr Loch this morning, the first on the reserve since the 1970's and almost certainly under-recorded, but an excellent sighting and record for us at the reserve.

Paula

Hello im a first time poster here, after following some of the exploits on here for quite a while

i have decided to join in. Fantastic footage Grant of a very special bird a favourite of mine and

many other peoples  favourite too, i spent  last year watching a pair nesting but only rearing one chick

it was fantastic im not sure if squirrels were to blame taking young or eggs because on quite a few occasions i watched the adults chasing them from near the nest. Once again great footage thanks

It's been a good week for birds of prey sightings on the reserve. Starting last Thursday (19th Aug), an osprey was seen catching a fish on the Aird Meadow and snapped flying off with it by several photographers (Grant Glendinning has posted a photo on the community page, so check it out!). On Saturday evening, whilst foraging for brambles, we heard a male tawny owl calling on the reserve, couldn't hear the female responding though.

The sparrowhawk has continued to delight us, coming to the feeding station several times a day, sometimes only a few metres from the visitor centre - it has also continued to frustrate reserve manager Zul, who keeps either missing it or forgetting to bring his camera when it's sitting in front of the photography hide!

Yesterday we had a real treat, a juvenile marsh harrier flew over the Aird Meadow and then landed in the tall grass just behind the smallest pond, before flying off towards Castle Semple Loch. A great view of the bird and an unusual one for us here at the reserve.

We have also been regularly seeing buzzards flying over and around the conifer trees which can be seen from the visitor centre.

Other highlights have included kingfisher and dipper on the River Calder, great spotted woodpecker at the feeding station, and a number of moths, including local specialists such as Crescent and Oblique Carpet (both of which favour wetland vegetation)

Willow warbler (or Chiffchaff?) in front of photohide 22/08/10

Chaffinch in front of photohide  22/08/10

Goldfinch in front of photohide  22/08/10

Another Great tit shot taken today from the photohide 21/08/10

Peacock butterfly next to photohide, 19/08/10

Great tit on perch in front of photohide, 21/08/10

Osprey with fish after catching it in the Aird meadow loch, shot from photohide in front of visitor centre at 5.24pm 19/08/10

When I first spotted this in the distance I thought it was a Heron at first but its wing flapping  was quite rapid, I then noticed black marks on the wings then thought it was a Hen harrier but another photographer (Mark) identified it as an Osprey which  totally suprised me.

After getting a few (very distant) shots it headed south with the fish it had caught, so I decided to head to Rowbank resovoir and indeed sighted and photographed it again.

Just a very short clip this time of the young Sparrowhawk, taken on the 15th of August. He was perched on the logs at the side of the photohide for quite a while (after missing his prey)  before finally flying off.

                                                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiHIdHu6Hf0&hd=1

Sparrowhawk next to photo hide

Heron on the Aird meadow loch, shot from the 1st hide.

Great tit in front of photo hide

 Sparrowhawk  on stump in front of photohide

Thanks Mark.

He/she certainly did turn up again when I got a chance to get in the hide. He was everywhere, on the closest perch, on the rock and beside the hide as well which was excellent to photograph as he was lit by the Sun and against a dark background. I even managed more HD video as I got plenty still shots of him.

There was 4 of us in the hide and we all got the same chance to get decent shots as we swapped places with each other depending on where he was perched at the time. ( I even swapped lenses with Alistair for a short while)

Hope you get some shots of him/her next time you visit, Mark.

Grant.