Cottage Diary - Aspenwood self catering luxury Holiday Cottage overlooking Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland.

A flutter of young bird life appears on the feeders under the bird platform here with varieties such as siskins, chaffinches,blue tits, great tits, coal tits, robins and blackbirds . I was amazed at the clever camouflage of this young elusive treecreeper on the tree trunk nearby. Note the curved needle like beak ideal for picking out tasty insects from the bark of the tree. The long stiff tail helps to anchor the bird as it tugs at some stubborn insect in the bark.
We put a new bird bath and more nut feeders and nut balls outside the lounge at Aspenwood attached to the fence, not only to attract the teeming bird life but also entice the red squirrels. We know they are about as guests have told us they have seen them run along the fencing and they have also been guilty of demolishing 2 lightweight nut feeders, now replaced with a more sturdy screw top variety. Hopefully I can capture them on film soon so watch this space.
One of our guests kindly emailed this photo of the male Great spotted woodpecker on the nuts at the bird table at Aspenwood. [Copyright Peter Townrow]