Reverse, backward.

 A pile of snow, cold and more cold, and more snow. Winter's back.

... but it does look rather lovely.

Got back last night from another London visit, more painting and decorating and helping elder daughter with her flat. I didn't take a "real" camera, just the TG4 so I failed to photograph the Fox that just kept doing its thing a few metres from us one afternoon, or the piles of Ring-necked Parakeets. I did find a Harlequin Ladybird in the flat though.

Harlequin Ladybird.

Got home via Dundee, a visit to younger daughter to say a rather brief hello. From the boat there seemed to be a bit of a northward movement of Razorbills with a 100 or so seen in flocks scurrying northwards. Nothing else of note in my hour watch to dusk as we left Aberdeen.

At home the next day, and out in the field. I tried to sneak up on this Hen Harrier, but she was off anyway, another distant shot.

Ringtail, Hen Harrier.

And nearby there was this crow. Given the chance I will usually photograph a Hoodie, and sometimes that results in a bit of a surprise. This bird looked very much like a pure Hoodie but it is actually a hybrid crow, you can see black feathers in the undertail coverts and streaking on the lower breast that is rather too strong.

Hybrid Carrion x Hooded Crow, it could also be a back cross to Hoodie of course.

The great majority of crows here are pure(ish) Hoodies. There's a small resident population of hybrids and perhaps one or two pure Carrion. In the spring there is a sizeable movement of crows northwards, it is well documented but hard to explain, other than some sort of dispersal movement after the winter. On North Ronaldsay it can be very obvious but even here in the West Mainland it can be observed. Suddenly, there will be more crows and in amongst them will be a few hybrids and one or two Carrion Crows. I'm reminded that a trip to the crow roost in Durkadale should be undertaken shortly.

Shortly before the crow and harrier moments I had a dramatic Otter encounter. Hanging around the end of the Hawthorn hedge counting The Shunan I was standing on the "bridge" over the tiny burn that runs alongside out track. The bridge is just a big pipe filled over the top to allow access by tractor to the fields. Suddenly, there was a large amount of splashing below me and looking down there was a huge dog Otter in panic mode heading for the cover of the pipe. Clearly he'd been heading down the burn and I'd not noticed him and he'd not noticed me until he was nearly upon me. There have been Otter tracks regularly on the track recently, before the snow and subsequently, I must sort out the camera trap and see if I can get some video.

Otter trail, out of the burn, up the track and off towards The Shunan.

This turned into a fairly eventful outing as Louise joined me shortly after these encounters and we headed over the fields and to the eastern boundary of the patch to inspect the Alder and check what had happened to the frog spawn. Heading back I noticed four geese on their way towards us and as they approached I realised two were quite small, much smaller than the other two. Bins first, not camera, the smaller ones were dark below with obvious black streaks and blobs on their bellies, wow! A patch tick, White-fronted Goose. Despite the Greenland sub-species regularly wintering about 15 minutes drive away never previously recorded here. They might have been two of those, but I suspect more likely, that they were the two "Russian" White-fronts reported from not so distant Loch of Boardhouse on Thursday.

White-fronted Geese, 2, with Greylags, 2. White-fronts are the top two. Possibly "Russian" sub-species albifrons.

The other new species for the year was Lesser Redpoll which was on the feeders and Louise reported had been present at least the day before my return.

Lesser Redpoll.

Numbers of Greenfinch continue to be low compared to the regular 50 or so we used to count at the feeders. Currently around 6 at a time are the maximum.

Greenfinch, male.

The farm have some sheep in the stubble and have been feeding them grain (I presume), the gulls like this very much and this has led to at least 35 Lesser Black-backs hanging around The Shunan and the fields plus about 40 Herring Gulls and good numbers of Common and Black headed Gulls. The sheep are fed from the quad bike which drops grain off down the field in a line.

Sheep and gulls.

Skylarks joining in, there were 15.