Travelling north

Today was perhaps not classifiable as a non-wildlife day but as a limited wildlife day: The morning was spent by Brenda taking services and by me packing and clearing up, as, once Brenda was back from her morning’s work, we were heading up to Scotland for a bit of a holiday!

We set off just after 1pm, and of course we did see some birds during daylight hours, good roadside views of buzzards and kestrels for instance, but not much else. At other times of the year we might have seen more, or been tempted to stop for a walk somewhere, but of course with the light going soon after 5pm we’ve been mostly driving in the dark and are – as I write this – stopped on the edge of Perth, charging the car in a deserted retail park, with about 110 miles to go to our destination.

We were just commenting on the fact that since we’ve had the fully electric car (about 8 months now) we do get to see some slightly odd places at odd times of the day! Actually though, I quite like the enforced charging stops: In previous years I would often be tempted (probably inadvisedly) to keep going on a long drive with the thought of getting it done sooner. Having to take some regular breaks is actually relaxing – and undoubtedly safer!

Part of the coast at Cullen, which we’ll be visiting in the next few days (photo taken December 2022)


So for the next week or so I’m really looking forward to visiting (and writing about) some of my favourite places in north East Scotland.

No new species for February 12th:

TOTALS TO DATE:
Birds = 119
Moths = 3
Wildflowers = 15