The midsummer month was a bit nasty, though. Despite being quite bright while I visited, the wind was straight off the ice—and there had been reports of snowfall up in the mountains! Despite this, finding a free parking spot near the city was a real boon. Hogganfield Loch is actually more correctly referred to as a lochan. That is to say, it is small. Little more than a very large pond, really. However, despite all the buildings around it, there are large swathes of wildflower meadowland surrounding the water itself. There's an excellent, paved path to circumnavigate the banks, with a couple of spots to mingle with the waterbirds. The round trip is exactly two kilometres/1.25 miles, so a decent walk for yours truly and her Rolls-later. One might happily refer to this place as Swan Lake, for there are a great many here, fed by the council on appropriate seeds. However, despite all the signage against it, many people turned up with whole loaves of bread to share with the friendly feathered ones. It is possible to hand-feed the swans here! A bird I generally know to be quite aggressive when up close is very human-adjusted here. I found myself a little torn about this. It is wonderful that so many young people and their parents were having a wonderful time with the wildfowl, but I do feel a hands-away policy, such as in other parks, might be better. Anyway, let the photos now do the talking. Apart from the swans, there were a variety of Gulls, Tufted Duck, Mallards, Greylag and Canada Geese, Coots and Moorhens. I did spot the Little Grebe, but far too distant to get a decent shot. You can just spot it if you biggify the third in this set of shots - top right corner. I must get back there during winter as it gets some fun visiting species...
I am having trouble with Blogger, as it doesn't seem to be taking the hyperlink feature. For a glance at what the waterlands have to offer, let me put the full link here.
https://www.sevenlochs.org/
All that's left is to remind you that next week is Final Friday Feature once again!
Looks like you took some photos of some lovely summer weather there. It looks like it's more sunny that cold.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fine place for a leg stretch and a spot of bird watching.
ReplyDeleteHappy Nature Friday!
we love the bird photos... the mama can learn their name in french that way... blogging is the best teacher...
ReplyDeleteThis place is lovely and calming; great for walks.
ReplyDeleteIt matters little, or not at all, that signs are posted cautioning against feeding wildlife. They are universally ignored across all nations and cultures, and at all times. Years ago, at a Toronto area park I visited once in a while, a woman routinely showed up with whole bags of stale doughnuts either given away by a local pastry shop or sold at reduced prices. This is what she fed to the waterfowl, despite any advice not to do so, and that in fact she was harming the ducks, geese and swans she professed to love and wished to help. An additional remark that I might add is that despite all municipalities having these regulations they are seemingly never enforced. Regulation
ReplyDeletewithout enforcement is useless.
The waterfowl are beautiful and I've always loved the Greylags with their pink feet!
ReplyDeleteyour weather is as crazy as it is all over the USA, every state has odd/weird weahter, some to hot some to cold some with snow, some burning with extreme heat... one things for sure, the weather you had was just right for perfect photos. they are all beautiful. I have never seen swans in the wild and even in Jungle gardens, there were only two... that is scary that they are feeding them bread.. humans just do what ever they want to no matter what the signs say
ReplyDeleteYam what lovely photos. That is a lot of fowl on the water.
ReplyDeleteOnce years ago a Physics Professor was joggin around the lake in his neighborhood...when all of a sudden a pair of swans started chasing him. He was obviously too close to their nest
Hugs Cecilia
Gorgeous captures of the birds and lochs!
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful nature views today. I don't think I have ever viewed a swan in the wild, but I know geese can be easily angered.
ReplyDeleteYou really are upping the distances - congratulations. Aren't the markings on those geese magnificent? I used to be a bit scared of swans until I lived amongst them - their hiss is definitely scarier than their 'bite'. They do learn to take food from your hand if given the chance. My favorite would however have to be the grebes; the coots are comedians, and the gulls are hooligans, but the grebes are just amazing birds and such careful parents of their young.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place for a stroll around the loch. There sure are a lot of swans there.
ReplyDeleteHello Yam,
ReplyDeleteI would enjoy this walk and the beautiful views of the loch. The swans, ducks, geese and I was able to spot the Little Grebe. There is a nice variety of birds to see. Beautiful photos and video. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a great weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.
It's so nice to have a place to see so many water birds. The Swan is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful photos, Stay well.
ReplyDelete