wildlife
Bird Watching and Other Fantastic Wildlife in Perthsire Scotland
Heather Lodge has trees which are over 100 yrs old including a Wellintonia which can live upto 5000 years. These trees make it an ideal home for all types of wildlife especially birds and red squiriels. Blue Tits Blue tits frequently, especially in winter, tear open the foil tops of milk bottles, drinking the top layer of milk. Groups of these ever-restless and inquisitive birds have even been known to follow milkmen or wait for milk deliveries. Not that you get many milkmen in Blairgowrie.
Main predators include grey squirrels and great spotted woodpeckers. In the past, nesting blue tits have been taken over by tree sparrows. But this is hardly a threat nowadays following a dramatic decline in tree sparrow numbers in Perthshire and the rest of the UK.
Its colourful mix of blue, yellow, white and green make the blue tit one of the most attractive resident garden birds. Almost any garden with a peanut feeder will attract them and they readily breed in nestboxes. In winter they form flocks with other tit species. You will see loads of Blue Tits in our garden.
Green Finch Its twittering and wheezing song, and flash of yellow and green as it flies, make this finch aGreen Finch in Scotland truly colourful character. Nesting in a garden conifer, or feasting on black sunflower seeds, it is a popular garden visitor, able to take advantage of food in the Blairgowrie town and gardens at a time when intensive agriculture has deprived it of many weed seeds in the countryside. Although quite sociable, they may squabble among themselves or with other birds at the bird table. A bit like dinner time at any family home.
Green Finches breed in woodland edges, tall hedges, conifer plantations, orchards, churchyards, parka and gardens - anywhere with tall, fairly dense trees and plenty of seeds and insects. Parks and gardens with evergreen shrubs and a ready supply of birdtable food make them common in towns and villages.
Robin in Scotland Robins are one of our favourite birds (they're cheeky little charlies) - with its bright red breast it is familar throughout the year and especially at Christmas! Males and females look identical, and young birds have no red breast and are spotted with golden brown. Robins sing nearly all year round and despite their cute appearance, they are aggressively territorial and are quick to drive away intruders. They will sing at night next to street lights.
They love woodlands, parks and gardens with plenty of undergrowth. The mainly feed on worms, seeds, fruits and insects. Their songs are a sweet, high warbling; alarm call is a loud 'tic'. Luckily you can see these wee fellas all year round.
Pheasants - A large, long-tailed gamebird. Males have rich chestnut, golden-bPheasants in Scotlandrown and black markings on body and tail, with a dark green head and red face wattling. Females are mottled with paler brown and black. They were introduced to the UK long ago and more recent introductions have brought in a variety of races and breeds for sport shooting. They love woodland, copses, thickets, hedgrows and unfortunately roads. Many birds bred artificially and released for shooting purposes. This can cause problems on roads, and I have experienced 1st hand, it was a very costly experience for the bird and my car.
There's 1000's of Pheasants released in Perthshire every year.
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Blairgowrie Cottage
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Heather Lodge, Ericht Lodge, Ashgrove Road, Blairgowrie,
Perthshire Ph10 7BS
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