Good news thread

The retired Pastor of our church has a lovely static caravan at Aboyne, west of Aberdeen. The site is on a fresh water loch where coarse fishing is allowed. We spent 2 weeks there a few years back and saw Ospreys several times.
 
From last weekend’s Tour of Slovenia: two cyclists from the same team together at the finishing line decided who got to win by playing rock, paper, scissors.


Note to non-cycling fans: the “loser” is reigning Tour de France champ Tadej Pagacar, who is so good this is about the only way anybody gets to beat him.
I watched that race on the telly box last week. Crazy stuff
 
went down to the sang adjacent to the training ground site last night - never seen so many kingfishers - the place was awash with them! the spot to go is just when you enter the sang, down the slope, then turn right just after the footbridge - there is a nice bench on the corner of the river - great spot for birdies
My wife really wants to see a kingfisher - any time of day best to see them?
 
My wife really wants to see a kingfisher - any time of day best to see them?

you can see them during the day, but they are quite shy so best when quiet. we were there approx 6-7pm. they fly in short bursts, in straight lines, a few feet above the water, stopping on quite low overhanging branches. sometimes you'll see one stay on a low branch for a bit, and do some fishing. they are very territorial, so will chase off & fight other kingfishers. never seen so many as the spot by the sang, can only assume maybe there was a loads of younguns flying around. good luck!
 
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you can see them during the day, but they are quite shy so best when quiet. we were there approx 6-7pm. they fly in short bursts, in straight lines, a few feet above the water, stopping on quite low overhanging branches. sometimes you'll see one stay on a low branch for a bit, and do some fishing. they are very territorial, so will chase off & fight other kingfishers. never seen so many as the spot by the sang, can only assume maybe there was a loads of younguns flying around. good luck!
Cheers Rob
 
My wife really wants to see a kingfisher - any time of day best to see them?
If you are based around Bournemouth then Throop Mill is a good place to see them. Either on the mill pond or the mill stream before or after the mill. A couple of yrs ago they were nesting in the bank about 10mtrs downstream of the mill building. We had one in the garden once, we're about 1.25 miles from the mill.
 
went down to the sang adjacent to the training ground site last night - never seen so many kingfishers - the place was awash with them! the spot to go is just when you enter the sang, down the slope, then turn right just after the footbridge - there is a nice bench on the corner of the river - great spot for birdies

Just got back from our holiday in Northumberland and read your post.

Next trip will be an evening down to the Sang.

Didn’t see a kingfisher while we were away, but we went on a 3 hour boat trip which took us close up to the rocks around the Farne Islands and finally going ashore for an hour on Inner Farne.

They have 80,000 puffins on those islands and we saw a good number up close, fascinating birds, walk a bit like a penguin.

We were told to wear hats as the terns on the island will attack your heads and that did happen, but not only did they attack people, they attacked the puffins.

While we watched a puffin came back with small eels it had caught, four ganged up on one puffin, trying to get the eels, but they were unlucky as the puffin hopped down his borrow out of their reach.

There were masses of these burrows that the puffins build and each puffin we were told have their own burrow that they come back to the same burrow the following year to breed. Never seen so many birds close up as we did on that trip.

I know you have links with the North East, so you may have seen this for yourself, but it was a very entertaining and interesting hour on the island.

We had planned this holiday four years or more ago but had to postpone it, but we finally made it and what a beautiful area and the people are so friendly and helpful and if you like quiet A roads etc that’s the place to be.
 
Just got back from our holiday in Northumberland and read your post.

Next trip will be an evening down to the Sang.

Didn’t see a kingfisher while we were away, but we went on a 3 hour boat trip which took us close up to the rocks around the Farne Islands and finally going ashore for an hour on Inner Farne.

They have 80,000 puffins on those islands and we saw a good number up close, fascinating birds, walk a bit like a penguin.

We were told to wear hats as the terns on the island will attack your heads and that did happen, but not only did they attack people, they attacked the puffins.

While we watched a puffin came back with small eels it had caught, as we watched, four ganged up on one puffin, trying to get the eels, but they were unlucky as the puffin hopped down his borrow out of their reach.

There were masses of these burrows that the puffins build and each puffin we were told have their own burrow that they come back to the same burrow the following year to breed. Never seen so many birds close up as we did on that trip.

I know you have links with the North East, so you may have seen this for yourself, but it was a very entertaining and interesting hour on the island.

We had planned this holiday four years or more ago but had to postpone it, but we finally made it and what a beautiful area and the people are so friendly and helpful and if you like quiet A roads etc that’s the place to be.

fantastic! yes, my partner bought me a trip out to the farne islands for my birthday several years ago. had same great experiences that u describe so well, but I was the only mug without a hat - spent most of my time fending off dive bombing birds! the puffins and cliff birds were amazing.
 
fantastic! yes, my partner bought me a trip out to the farne islands for my birthday several years ago. had same great experiences that u describe so well, but I was the only mug without a hat - spent most of my time fending off dive bombing birds! the puffins and cliff birds were amazing.

:grinning:
 
Kingfishers, Puffins all nice and pretty 'n all, but I saw 3 Stag Beetles yesterday. 1 dead male, 1 live female and 1 live male. They spend most of their live cycle looking like oversized Chafer bug larvae, feeding on damp rotten wood, have a kip, then "come out" as Britain's largest beetle, only for people to go "ugh, what's that?". Let's hear it for our biggest Beetle : )
 

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