Weekend...

Yesterday (29th) myself and my friend Luke hiked up to the top of the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve near to Loch Maree. Good day out, weather was reasonable but wildlife was almost non-existant. At the reserve itself all that was seen was several meadow pipits and a robin in the Pine woods, pretty disappointing.

Half way up.

Top of the reserve.

View from the top.

Today (30th) I carried out a rather late WeBS survey. It was dry but extremely windy which didn't make things easy. As usual at Loch Achilty nothing much happening at all just 2 Mallard and plenty of flies and midges. At Loch Kinellan the windy conditions had got even worse and at first glance there didn't seem to be much on loch andi n the end just a handful of the usual suspects.

This time last year whilst completing the WeBS count also I came across a pair of Whinchat at the Western side of the loch and I was hoping they would return again this year. I made my way over to where I saw them last year but things weren't easy with the wind. I stuck it out for half an hour and then finally about 50m away a bird flew out of the rushes and onto a low fence post. It was a male Whinchat and he tried to sing before being blown off his perch and flew into the scrub where I wasn't able to pick it up again. Walking back in between the gusts of wind I picked up a song that I hadn't in quite a while. It was a Sedge Warbler perched on the side of a willow also trying to sing in the wind.

Kinellan Scrape was very busy with plenty of the usual suspects many of which had young in tow. On the path around the scrape the orchids have come through since my last visit adding a nice bit of colour.

Northern Marsh hybrid Orchid

Year List Additions:

119. Whinchat
120. Sedge Warbler

WeBS Survey (12/05/2013)...

It is that time of the month again when WeBS surveys need to be completed. A couple of updates first.

The male Blackcap has continued to visit the garden occassionally feeding mostly on the crumbs underneath the suet cake and fatball feeders.

On Friday (10/05) I had the chance to go for a walk around Haldon Forest Park near to Exeter in Devon. The weather wasn't great, overcast and very windy, so no butterflies seen. It wasn't very productive on the bird front either with very little seen at all which was quite disappointing, but it wasn't the sole purpose of the trip down so it's not too bad.

Today (12/05) it was time to complete my WeBS survey counts and it was a very welcome break from sitting in front of the computer working on coursework for half a day. My friend Luke came with me again and we started off at Loch Kinellan first. The usual species were on the Loch itself but there were some migrants present now that were not on my last visit. Plenty of Swallows flying over the loch and plenty of Willow Warblers were seen and heard. Buzzard and Red Kite were both seen over the adjacent farmland.

We then checked Kinellan Scrape which was absolutely buzzing with hirundines. So many Swallows over the water with a good number of Sand Martins also. There were also some of both species sitting on a nearby fenceline which allowed us good stationary views. Mute Swans were on their nest in the middle of pond and Mallards with ducklings were hiding out in the reedbeds. Also saw my first UK Chiffchaff of the year and a pair of Blackcap in the roadside hedges.

It was then on to Loch Achility where nothing was seen on the water but we did flush a pair of Common Sandpiper from the loch side as we drove around.

Once finished the WeBS we then decided to take a drive further up Strathconon with Red Kite, Buzzard, Mistle Thrush, Red-legged Partridge and plenty of Swallows seen as we made our way up to Loch Beannacharain. The weather also stayed dry which was a bonus. On the loch side was another Common Sandpiper and a Pied Wagtail. On the far side of the Loch was a Cormorant which I didn't expect to see up there. Then came the bird of the day. Luke heard a cuckoo calling just up the road and it was quickly located on a telephone wire 100 or so metres away. We made our way up the road then across the hillside tracking the bird as it moved around getting some great views but unfortunately always just too far away for a decent photo. I have heard cuckoo in various locations before but had never actually seen one. It was being mobbed my Meadow Pipits constantly and Willow Warbler was also heard at the top of the valley.

Very distant Cuckoo

Year List Additions:

107. Sand Martin

108. Chiffchaff

109. Common Sandpiper
110. Red-legged Partridge

111. Cuckoo (Lifer)

WeBS Count (12/02/13)...

A rather late WeBS count today but the weather was perfect, cold, sunny and calm. I usually do a circular route to the three sites that I visit ending with Loch Achilty but for some reason today I decided to do it in "reverse" order.  I arrived at Loch Achilty around 10.30. Surprising the loch was mostly covered by a thin layer of ice. The loch itself is quite large but fairly easy to survey from a couple points and there is usually not much worth shouting about. I made my first stop at the side of the loch and started scanning. 4 Goldeneye and 3 Mallard noted which is usually about as exciting as it gets but still the view was beautiful in the sun. Then to my left about 100m I heard a loud "plop" sound and as I looked around I caught a glimpse of something diving below the surface of the water. I waited with binoculars fixed on that point and it returned to the surface and to my surpise it was an Otter! Superb! This is the very first wild otter I have ever seen and on such a beautiful morning in such a great location with Buzzard calling overhead and a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming on one of the old Oak trees somewhere behind me. I watched the otter for a good couple of minutes before hurrying back to grab the camera. I could see the otter from the car and made my way back to the shore. But by the time I got there to my right I heard a scraping noise and saw an old man in a canoe pushing his way through the thin ice towards the otter. Of course the otter disappeared straight away and I never saw it again. Typical that on a Loch where 99 / 100 I never see anyone that someone in a canoe would be on the loch the one time I see an otter and heading to the exact same spot but such is life! I still saw it and I am very pleased. At Loch Kinellan and Kinellan there wasn't much to report apart from numbers of Tufted Ducks are building up.

WeBS Count 14/01/13...

Today was the day for WeBS count as I didn't have time at the weekend. Woke up to no snow with conditions a bit frosty as expected even though all the "severe" weather was forecast. We are unbelievably pathetic when it comes to weather in this country, especially winter weather, but that is another rant for another day.

Loch Kinellan first, quite a bit of snow on the ground up behind Strathpeffer. The loch was actually mostly frozen over with just a small area ice free which held 1 male Goldeneye, 5 Coot and 3 Tufted Duck. A small unfrozen pool at the edge of the main lake held 2 Grey Heron. Half way around the Loch and it looked very dark and grey over to the East and the snow hit me soon enough. Nice to get some proper snow.

Frozen Loch Kinellan with snow moving in.

Then came Kinellan Scrape. This was also mostly frozen apart from a small area in the middle. The scrape held 2 Mute Swan, 10 Wigeon and 27 Mallard. There was also Red Kite seen flying over.

Lastly Loch Achilty. Up at the far end of the Loch there were 3 Mallard and a small group of 4 Whooper Swan.

On the drive back from Loch Achilty it got really dark and the snow really started to come down hard. On the Contin to Maryburgh road it was so heavy it was almost a white out. Exciting! Year list is now up to 50 with following additions:

47. Mute Swan
48. Coot
49. Tufted Duck
50. Whooper Swan

Kinellan and Achilty

Yesterday's (05/07) weather felt like proper summer weather and I just had to get outside. A couple months ago I signed up to be part of the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) run by the BTO, RSPB, JNCC and WWT. I have been assigned 3 "starter" sites, 2 at Kinellan at the back of Strathpeffer (the loch and the scrape) and Loch Achilty on the otherside of  Contin. I wasn't able to carry out my surveys on the first date due to illness so I was keen to get it done this month.

I started by heading to Loch Kinellan. I had never actually been there before nevermind surveyed it so it was quite exciting. I heard and read that the loch was well known for it's breeding Slavonian Grebes so I was hopeful of another first. I arrived at the loch at parked besided the "Round House", the weather was scorching. I set off around the loch and straight away I could hear plenty Willow Warblers and House Sparrow and several Swallows and House Martin flying overhead.

I scanned the loch and the birds I could see were Coots and Tufted Ducks (surprisingly my first of the year).  There were plenty of Mallards and a pair of Mute Swan also. Then, right in the middle of the loch a Slavonian Grebe popped up and looked impressive in the sun, a lifer for me. I made my way round to the top of the loch and there was another Slav Grebe a lot closer this time and I managed to get a few record shots.

Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus)

At the top of the loch the road starts to move away from the water and uphill. I could hear a bird calling and it sounded agitated. A small brownish bird flew over the road and landed on one of the thistles in the marshy area. I looked through the bins and had a bit of a mind blank First thought was Wheatear but it wasn't the right habitat at all and I knew it wasn't. Then another bird started calling a lot closer this time. I turned around and a male Whinchat was sitting on a fence post a few metres away. Another lifer for me and within 30mins of me leaving the car. This one was definately unexpected. I was able to get a couple of photos before the bird crossed the road and perched on the marsh. I now realised the first bird had been a female.

Male Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)

I continued my walk around the loch not seeing anything of significance before sitting down on the otherside to do a proper count of what was on the loch for the webs count.

Loch Kinellan

View of Loch from hill on North Side

I then headed off to the second site at Kinellan scrape. The Kinellan scrape site consists of a large and a small pond surrounded by grassland and small pockets of broadleaves. I parked at the side of the road and walked to the edge of the larger pond first. Plenty of birds on the water including Tufted Duck, Mallards, Coot, Moorhen and a single Wigeon. I made my way around the mown path to the otherside and sat down to do a proper count and saw another 2 Slavonian Grebes. As I made my way around I noticed plenty of Cuckooflower and some impressive looking orchids. I thought they were Northern Marsh Orchids but when I got home and asked some people online they are apparently a hybrid between Northern Marsh Orchid and Common Spotted Orchid.

Northern Marsh hybrid Orchid - Dactylorhiza x venusta

My third and final site was Loch Achilty a couple miles up the road. The loch itself is quite large but is normally fairly quiet. The site lived up to expections as I made several stops around the loch and only counted 3 Mallard in total. On my way back round the loch I decided to stop at Achilty Oakwood. I hadn't been here before but I had heard it can be quite productive.

I parked the car and made my way up the steep track. Near to the start of the walk a bird flew over the path and landed fairly high up in a tree. At first glance I was thinking Song Thrush and had a couple seconds to take a picture before it flew off. Looking at the photo later on I was convinced it was not a Song Thrush and started to think Tree Pipit. I showed the photo to some other people and it was confirmed as a Tree Pipit, another lifer for me and the 3rd of the day!

Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)

I made my way further up hearing and seeing Willow Warblers and a family of Wrens. I did see a flower growing in the middle of the old forest road that was new to me. I took a couple pictures and I have been told it is a Heath Fragrant Orchid.

Heath Fragrant Orchid (Gymnadenia borealis)

Nothing much else of note was seen in terms of bird life and I made my way back down to the car. I did spot a butterfly (not seeing many this year at all) and it was a fritillary of some kind. I looked it up when I got home and apparently it is a Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary another new species for me.

Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene)

All in all a great day out which meant I got to see quite a few things I hadn't before and also contributed to an important survey, can't complain at that!