Birds that live near water

This year I've been spotting more and more birds on walks. Here are some of the ones that I've seen near to rivers or lochs.

The strange bird above is a grey heron. I saw that one in the loch at the university and it had a nest, but I seen others in the fields near the castle, and over by the pheasant woods. It is very big and has a long neck which it uses to get fish out of the water to eat.





These ducks are shelducks, and they were flying near the river that goes through my village. The RSPB say they aren't supposed to live near where I live, so maybe they were lost.



This is an osprey. Dad and I saw this one when we were coming out of the back of the Pheasant Woods near Tam Breck wood, and it was flying back in the evening. The one in the picture was a few miles north near the fishery, because ospreys swoop down and catch fish out of the water. The people at the fishery got angry with the osprey and made a repeater that made a loud noise to scare it away.

There is a famous osprey in Scotland called Lady who almost died a month ago. She is supposed to be 25 years old and the oldest osprey in the UK. She has her own webcam in her nest ! You definitely have to watch it.



This one was at the university and is a black-headed gull. It was easy to work out because it is a gull with a black head !



I saw these Canada geese in a loch near a cafe north of my village. I think they were a pair, a boy and a girl.



This coot was at the university loch. My dad watched a coot go under the water for 20 seconds at a time. They do that because they eat plants that grow on the bottom of lakes.



These mute swans were at the university too. I don't really like swans. When I was the cafe near my village, one swam across the pond and tried to attack me, and since then I don't like them. I have three swan skulls and some other swan bones and two swan furculas.



These are a male and female tufted duck at the university. The male is the black and white one.



I think these are herring gulls. They are actually juvenile black-headed gulls in winter plumage. (Thanks, person who left the comment below !) They were down by the university loch.



These last ones I don't know what they are. The only ducks with white chests that I can find are goldeneyes, but they don't look like them. Do you know what they are ? Tell me if you do. These are goosanders. (Thanks again !)

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