Pitlochry, 8th January 2017

The only birding done today was a pitstop at The Cuilic at Pitlochry as a slight detour en route to Ingrid's grandma's house in Aberfeldy. On this small lake, the smart but sleepy drake Ring-necked Duck bobbed around without concern.

adult ♂ Ring-necked Duck

Fair Isle

I had an awesome first visit to Fair Isle on Wednesday with two lifers, two new forms and a whole set of other quality birds.

Our mode of transport

 

Our first views of the famed isle

The male Cretzschmar's Bunting showed distantly in rough grass at Boini Mire on arrival

And just down the road was this dazzling male Caspian Stonechat

Red-breasted Flycatcher - my first spring sighting

Red-breasted Flycatcher

 

Short-toed Lark, left, with Skylark - an overdue lifer

Blue-headed Wagtail - my first non-flavissima

Possibly my first spring Wryneck

Recent stuff

Lots and lots to be getting on with so just a quick catch up on what I've been up to this month.

A trip to Scotland on 10th and 11th didn't go as well as planned, with a speeding ticket and no American Herring Gull in the Campbeltown area, although we did find the drake BLACK DUCK at Strontian.Other highlights from the trip included two Snow Geese, three Iceland Gulls and good numbers of Greenland White-fronted Geese.

Drake Black Duck at Strontian with female Mallard

Snow Geese with Greenland White-fronted Geese near Tayinloan

Greenland White-fronted Geese near Campbeltown - the skeins were a breathtaking sight and sound

Last Thursday saw me connect with my 400th British bird, the GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO which was discovered at Giltar Point near Tenby. I've especially wished to see one of these since I was about ten so I was delighted to catch up with one and it was such a spectacular-looking thing, a great one for 400.

Great Spotted Cuckoo at Giltar Point - number 400!

Just before the Scotland trip, the 9th provided some good birds near to home in Surrey with two summer-plumaged Black-necked Grebe on Mercers Lake, Holmethorpe Sand Pits and a Firecrest found by Paul Goodman in Banstead Woods, the species is surprisingly rare at CFBW and this was my second sighting there. The grebes were a fantastic addition to my local area list.

Black-necked Grebes on Mercers Lake, Holmethorpe Sand Pits

Firecrest in Banstead Woods, a cracking find by Paul Goodman

A drake Pintail was something of a surprise at the Ouse Estuary Project reserve at Newhaven today.

Drake Pintail at Newhaven today

Drake Pintail (second from right) at Newhaven today

To the Highlands...

Well it wasn't long before the first long distance twitch of 2014... This time an overnight drive with Dave from London and Bob from Bedfordshire proved a success when the AMERICAN COOT gave good views in the early morning light at Loch Flemington. A nearby LESSER SCAUP was distant but interesting to compare alongside both Greater Scaup and Tufted Duck while two Crested Tits showed well at Loch Garten near the beginning of the long drive home...

Mourning over a Dove

Well, my luck was sure to run out at some point. I went on an ill-fated trip to Rum with Pete Hayman and Dave Andrews on Monday/Tuesday where we spent most of our time staring into a dove-less (but very active in terms of birds) garden. We didn't even see any eagles to make up for it! Highlights shoveled from the despondency included my first-ever Minke Whale, Black Guillemot, Great Northern Diver, Red-breasted Mergansers, Eiders, Hooded Crows, Ravens etc. Thanks to Sean Morris and his family for so happily allowing us and more successful twitchers into their space, and for all the cake, of which I ate a lot to soak up my sorrows.

Cape May twitch

I returned last night from a fantastic twitch to Shetland with Pete Hayman, Dave Johnson and John Benham. I set off and picked people up early on Saturday morning before catching the ferry from Aberdeen to Lerwick in the evening. We faced something of a logistical problem with the boat arriving at 7.30am, leaving us only 45 minutes to get the hire car sorted and drive 30 miles to Toft and get on the roll-on ferry to Yell (followed by another to Unst). We did it, though, and fears of an epic dip were blown away when Mike Pennington greeted us with positive news on our arrival. In moments we were watching the CAPE MAY WARBLER flitting around the small sycamores in the garden of the ruined house and feeding on the ground briefly at one point.

After soaking the bird in through the scope and bins for a good hour-and-a-half, it went missing. We started checking other gardens as a bunch of birders off a charter arrived in a panic and we continued the search after lunch at the farmer's market, with John saving the day by relocating the warbler in the graveyard. Smiles all round! Mid-afternoon the slow return journey to southern England began as we drove back to get the ferry to Yell; bar the car not starting at this point (a problem we quickly resolved), everything ran smoothly. I realised that a change of route on the drive back would mean a chance of stopping off at St. Abb's Head and even though I was the only one who needed it, everybody else was keen and agreeable so that's what we did and Pete swiftly located the male SARDINIAN WARBLER which showed fairly well on and off but the habitat it was using made for challenging photography. It was a real blinder through the binoculars though and made for a top-class bonus for the trip. Thanks very much to Dave, Pete and John for the company as well as John Lees who teamed up with us in the hire car.

The Cape May Warbler showed brilliantly in one or two small sycamores in the ruined garden before becoming more difficult later on

The Sardinian afforded brilliant views through the bins but was trickier to photograph than the Cape May...

Harlequin

Just got back from another mega twitch to Scotland - this time with Gordon Kemp, Ashley Howe and Kevin Hale. I managed three lifers and there was a good selection of other birds. While waiting on Skye for the ferry to Lochmaddy we enjoyed a superb aerial display by a White-tailed Eagle and two Golden Eagles competing for the same airspace. Other birds from the quay and from the ferry included two Black Guillemots, three Great Northern Divers, a Red-throated Diver, three Rock Pipits and several Eiders and Shags but the sea was generally very quiet. Hooded Crows and Ravens were kicking about - still novelties for me.


 

White-tailed Eagle (left) and Golden Eagle, Uig

White-tailed Eagle (middle bird vertically) and Golden Eagles, Uig

White-tailed Eagle (far right) and Golden Eagles, Uig

White-tailed Eagle, Uig

The ferry wasn't a bad ride and served a decent enough breakfast - upon docking up we drove straight towards Balrandald RSPB - the hundreds of geese feeding by the side of the road were tempting to scan through but had to wait until we'd seen our main quarry! After crossing several fields and variously negotiating a series of fences we reached the beach where the bird had been seen that morning. No more than five minutes passed before the beautiful first-winter drake HARLEQUIN was picked up, and it was a fine duck indeed! It wasn't far offshore and a rocky protusion allowed closer views but you had to mind your step as it would have been just so easy to break an ankle... or your neck. The tide was beginning to slowly come in so we retreated and had further views from back on the beach, at which point the bird had landed itself on a rocky island. It tried to preen and rest but needed to go higher up as the waves kept sweeping it off its feet. We made the most of this rare and spectacular sight and also had views of a fine first-winter Glaucous Gull, 23 Purple Sandpipers and a Bar-tailed Godwit before walking back to the car. We located a flock of 150-200-ish finches which were a mix of Twites and Linnets. This attracted the attraction of a female Merlin which zipped through the flock in an attempt to pick one off but failed and flew low away.

Harlequin, Balrandald RSPB

Purple Sandpipers, Balranald RSPB

Our next target was the Richardson's Canada Goose. Lee Evans and his carload had left the Harlequin before us and had already pinpointed the said goose in with the Barnacle Geese so we parked up to scan the flock to our left and Kevin and Ash who were on the left side of the car clocked it straight away but the flock suddenly launched into the air just before Gordon and I could lay eyes on it - bugger! Eventually the flock re-settled, though more distantly and the RICHARDSON'S CANADA GOOSE evaded me no longer. A tiny goose, with a noticable white crescent just below the black of its neck. Just on the other side of the road, a female Ring-necked Duck and two Whooper Swans made for a couple of bonus species. A bit of a surprise (to say the least) was a drake Mandarin - apparently and very believably a Western Isles MEGA! Surely the closest this beautiful duck has perhaps ever been to its nearest competitor in terms of good looking wildfowl in/around Europe (the Harlequin)?

Richardson's Canada Goose

female Ring-necked Duck

There was one more star bird left to go so we found our way to Loch Paible where the very flighty pair of Snow Geese were located by Ash - three out of three hoped-for lifers for me so I was truly satisfied. A carload of other young birders including Olly Metcalf and Andrew Kinghorn had found a specimen first-winter 'Kumlien's' Gull near the Harlequin site so in hope of seeing this and getting a final look at the main bird we returned to the original site. This went pear-shaped when my faulty eyepiece seemed to no longer be attached to my scope and we spent half an hour or so zig-zagging across a field, wondering where the hell it had gone, only for Gordon to spot it resting in the dangling eye-piece cover. Doh! A bit of a waste of time but never mind. Light was fading so we sought accomodation, the local youth hostel being what we plumped for. After a good night's sleep we were off for the early ferry back to Skye (where I trip-ticked Fulmar and Gannet) and we were skillfully driven back home by Gordon. Thanks very much Gordon, Kevin and Ash for a very worthwhile and enjoyable twitch.

Snow Geese, Loch Paible

Scotland 2012

Sunday 1^st April

Ian and his son Robert picked me up at 4.00am and we started the gruelling journey up to the centre of Scotland, picking up Liam Langley from Manchester on the way. We arrived at our B&B at Skye of Curr mid afternoon and decided to have a walk around the local woods to see what we could find. We had limited success here (a pair of Goldeneyes on the river being the highlight) so drove over to Anagach Woods near Grantown-on-Spey, almost immediately picked up a Crested Tit as it called in the top of the pines near the car park! This was a lifer for all of us and they were lovely… it would have just been nice if it was a little lower and/or obliged us for just a minute longer! We heard a couple of crossbills going over but couldn’t do anything with them. Dusk encroached and that was a wrap for the first day… not a bad start considering the time we reached our lodgings. Nice dinner in the local bistro.

Crested Tit

Monday 2^nd April

A bit of a lie in after the long day before, and breakfast served with Siskins feeding inches away from the window (with little care for our presence). Loch of Strathbeg was at the forefront of our minds, all of us having a score to settle with Greater Yellowlegs, and we shot over there. A singing Corn Bunting afforded great views by the roadside on the way but, more importantly for me, a Hooded Crow wandered around in a field en-route, at bloody last!!! A nice site with a good range of habitats, and a reminder of wetland wilderness. Here we saw Tree Sparrows and Yellowhammers not far from the visitor centre. In fact, it was a bit daunting when we entered the Tower Pool Hide and were presented with an eye-full of water and wader-y edges. Our search produced four Ruff and a few Redshanks and there was no sign of our quarry for a little while until I picked up the GREATER YELLOWLEGS on a small muddy island, it flew, revealing its rump pattern and landed a little further away but it at least gave us prolonged views there.

Hooded Crow

Corn Bunting

Greater Yellowlegs

Having had our fill, we drove south to the Ythan Estuary. We pulled up by a river at Peterhead on the way there to scan through a promising-looking flock of gulls and I picked out a nice first-winter Iceland Gull. The estuary was quite an experience, with the drake KING EIDER showing, at one point, roughly 60 yards away while we where surrounded by the cooing of Eiders, the keericking of Sandwich Terns and the wailing of hundreds of Common and Grey Seals. A true taste of early spring in coastal Scotland. A couple of Red-breasted Mergansers were also cool to see.

drake King Eider

drake Eider

The drive back home had us all worrying… perhaps Liam more than anyone else. There were squeals of fright coming from my side as we climbed steep roads with snow culminating all around us. We made it though! We were wondering whether the conditions would frankly bugger the trip up though, and I was already thinking about coming up again in May.

Tuesday 3^rd April

male Siskin a few inches away from the dining room window

A mix of denial and desperation woke us all up at silly o’clock in the morning to look for lekking Black Grouse but one glance out of the window decided for us that it was simply not going to happen. We hung about for a while, not really knowing what to do, then went for a walk down to Dulnain Bridge which was an instant success with a Dipper performing in the snow. It was so bad, though, that my camera was actually focussing on the falling snowflakes rather than the bird! We walked back for breakfast (seeing a couple of confused looking rabbits sitting in the snow) after which the road had been driven on by a few four-by-fours and it meant we had access to go elsewhere. Cairngorm seemed the only place to go but the conditions were too poor to ascend for Ptarmigan. Nevertheless, we a few Red Grouse showed well and this filled an embarrassing gap in my list. They were great to watch and were really rather neat – the female looked really nice.

male Red Grouse

We weren’t sure whether the road to the Findhorn Valley would be open but we gave it a shot and parked up near the private estate. At first, things were quiet, with just a pair of Peregrines to keep us company but Liam soon picked up our first Golden Eagle as it soared at one end of the valley. It was so striking that Ian even dismissed it as a small plane and I agreed, it was only when it gave a couple of shallow flaps that we realised it was a raptor. We were given quite a show in the end by what was probably at least three birds, including two tasseling with each other and skimming over the scree slopes at. It was a bit surreal somehow, watching these huge, stiff and powerful shapes silently and confidently soar over the silent and frosty valley, with herds of Red Deer on the summits and a pair of Wheatears almost as silently flicking about nearby. A long way back so that was it for the day… not bad though! The drive back enlightened me to the true heights of bad misidentifications when Liam exclaimed ‘Oh look a large raptor!!! Sorry no it’s a house’.

first-winter Golden Eagle

Also we popped in a quick visit to Loch Garten, where we enjoyed displaying Red-breasted Mergansers, a single redhead Goosander and a few Goldeneyes.

Loch Garten

displaying drake Red-breasted Mergansers

Wednesday 4^th April

With rather limited time left we felt we had to try for the early morning grouse even in the bad conditions so we got up early again and drove around the bend to Loch Garten RSPB. Looking out of windows into the gloom at the Osprey centre, I wasn’t hopeful. It was pretty damn snowy and cold. With dozens of eyes peering out of the windows (numbers considerably boosted by a coach trip from the USA) and minutes passing I wasn’t getting any more optimistic. Then, the guide announced that there was a male Caper on the live camera screen and it was out in the area we were scanning! All eyes were glued to the windows in anticipation and then the call went out… PANIC then everyone including me had managed to see the beast of a male Capercaillie strutting its stuff out on the bog. It was a couple of hundred metres off but it was still impressive. I just wish one of the guides hadn’t announced to the world that my scope was on the bird before I managed to get a record shot!!! I couldn’t complain really, I was stunned we’d seen one when it looked like a hopeless situation and none had actually been seen on any of the previous three Caper watches so far this year.

the live screen at the Osprey Centre showing the male Capercaillie that I saw, just a few moments after connection (my scope being on the bird was announced to the world before I had a chance to take a record shot)

We didn’t for a second think we had a chance as it was well past dawn but we went to Tulloch Moor to fill the time before breakfast. To our utter astonishment there was a male Black Grouse presenting itself in a birch right in front of the viewing screen. Literally stunning! This bird flew off but could be heard gurgling and was replaced by another, even showier, male before we left. It was also here that I met ‘the other’ David Campbell… apparently the pagers get us mixed up.

male Black Grouse

Breakfast, then time spent looking at crossbills in nearby Curr Woods, a five minute walk from the digs and the best site we found by far. A couple of promising birds were seen, photographed and recorded. Finally, a walk back to Loch Garten, where an Osprey showed well briefly.

Osprey

Red Squirrel

Siskin

Thursday 5^th April

Early morning and more crossbill searching around the corner, again with a couple of good Scottish candidates recorded. Back for breakfast as yet more bloody ruddy snow fell outside… grrr! Thankfully it didn’t last too long and we were on the road to Bealach Na Ba where the ‘hairy drive’ described hysterically in a Scottish Highlands guidebook was disappointingly mundane. It was foggy when we got up there but we pressed on and after a couple of hundred yards disturbed a beautiful pair of Ptarmigans from by the path. They ran a little distance and perched up on a rock before flying around the corner. Amazing! Our luck seemed to be well in! The weather was tantalisingly changeable and a run of clear bursts allowed us to pin down two males which showed very well for a long time. Very satisfying – and we got away with not climbing Cairgorm which looked dead long. A Golden Plover was nice to hear there.

female Ptarmigan

pair of Ptarmigans

male Ptarmigan

Bealach Na Ba

left to right: me, Liam, Ian and Robert

Common Buzzard

Next, Kyle of Lochalsh. The road was closed. Ok, maybe our luck was out at last. Actually, it didn’t turn out too badly, as the road was due to open again at 4.10pm and we filled the spare hour with a light lunch at a nearby tea room that was clearly enjoying the nearby activity. Fuelled with scones, pancakes and other pleasantries we continued and parked up near the tourist information centre. A bit of scanning about and a handful of Black Guillemots gave themselves up on the water – yay, another of my top targets found! They were very smart but sadly a little distant. We enjoyed watching a pair of Ravens commuting between a nest site/larder and a discarded packet of chips and it was great to get further views of Hooded Crows plus seeing a few Guillemots and a couple of Rock Pipits. Back to the B&B.

Black Guillemots

Hooded Crow

opportunistic Ravens

Friday 6^th

An early morning walk around Curr Woods found us perhaps the most conclusive male Scottish Crossbill of the trip.  After breakfast we embarked on a spur-of-the-moment expedition to see the White-billed Diver at Portsoy. We found a small number of Great Northern Divers distantly, and one looked like it could have been the bird but we’d never have got a conclusive ID from the range that we were at. Notwithstanding the fact that we’d just experienced our first dip of the holiday, it was enjoyable with a good selection of seabirds including large numbers of Long-tailed Ducks and a single Black Guillemot as well as a handful of Fulmars, Gannets, Eiders and Common Scoters etc plus a Rock Pipit around the harbour.

male Scottish Crossbill

Finally we got in the car and Ian pointed it firmly south. A tiresomely long journey home was broken by a brief stop off at Glengavel Water, Clyde, where the drake BLUE-WINGED TEAL was successfully connected with, even though it was asleep and/or obscured most of the time! Still pretty smart and great to finally see one. Then home after a top class tip with eleven lifers!!! That’s the highest rate of ticks I’ve had in a week in probably a matter of years now, absolutely brilliant…! And we thought the weather would ruin everything, I still can’t believe how well we did.

Many thanks to Ian for all the driving, he has some resilience! Liam and Robert were lovely company and it was a great experience – thanks guys!