Grouse & Grebes...

The last week or so has still been fairly cold, with more snow and cold winds it's hard to see Spring really taking off any time soon although there is Spring activity out there that was in evidence today.

For the last couple weeks birding as been quiet due to end of the year coursework and not having a car for almost a month but I had had something arranged for the 10th of April which I didn't mention just incase things didn't work out, so what was it?

Well it was an early start this morning 4:45am because 3 of us were meeting up with Gareth Ventress an Environment Ranger for Forestry Commission Scotland 's North Highland Forest District who had kindly agreed to take us out to lekking sight for Black Grouse. The day before Gareth informed me that the weather forecast wasn't looking good but we would give it a try anyway and I am very glad we did! We all hopped into the FCS vehicle and made our way West through Garve and onto the site's location which I will not reveal for obvious reasons!

It was just getting light as we parked up and it was turning out to be a perfect morning weather wise, frosty, clear and sunny. The site is actually located on private land which was just a short walk through FCS land before it and we made our way to a small ridge to settle down and scan the favoured area. This lekking site is a traditional site and has been used for many years with numbers in double figures and with the weather we were all hopeful of seeing some Black Grouse.

We weren't disappointed! It was my girlfriend that found them first or rather heard them calling and it didn't take us long to locate them on the opposite side of the valley about 200m away. They were visible with binoculars but thankfully Gareth had brought a couple of pretty good scopes that gave us excellent views. When the sun came up from behind us the scene was lit up even more and we counted 11 males lekking and it was just fantastic to watch but we couldn't spot any greyhens. There wasn't as much action as could be but there was a few scuffles and the birds actually got spooked twice by something beyone the ridge but it didn't take long for them to return and whilst we waited for them we enjoy several Meadow Pipits carrying out their parachuting song flights. We were quite far away so photos were difficult but I did manage to get some on my phone through the scope, you can see what it is at least! Video HERE

Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix)  - 11 males at the lek.

Before we knew it we had been standing there for nearly 2 hours watching the grouse and talking about all things forestry.  Gareth gave us a lift back to Tescos in Dingwall and we thanked him before he headed back to work. As the weather was so nice we decided to do a slightly early WeBS count as we will be out of the country at the weekend.

At Loch Achilty there wasn't much on the water as usual, just 4 Mallard but the loch was extremely still and the view is always nice. Bit more exciting at Kinellan Scrape as 4 Slavonian Grebes were back on territory and paired up making a lot of noise and displaying. There was also a nice flock of Redwings in the adjacent field, can't remember seeing them that late in the year before but just a sign of the recent weather.

Other than that the usual suspects of Mute Swan, Coot, Teal, Wigeon and Mallard were all present. Nothing much of note at Loch Kinellan but there was however a group from the Aigas Field Centre all out with their big expensive lenses who were being led by a certain Mr. Laurie Campbell.

All in all a superb morning at the lek and great to see the Slavonian Grebes back again. I will now go in search for Spring, starting off with a drive to Northumberland where I am spending a couple days and then on to Poland and I will be back in two weeks with it, be patient!

Year List Additions:
94. Black Grouse (Lifer)
95. Slavonian Grebe

WeBS Survey + Strathconon (10/03/13)...

The weather today has been pretty changeable with clear sunny skies mixed with snow showers. One thing that did remain constant is the cold biting wind. Still plenty of Siskins visiting the garden and the Yellowhammer has been visiting daily since I first mentioned it on here.

But today was WeBS count day and I had a bit of company in the form of my Northern Irish friend Luke. First stop was Loch Kinellan with the usual suspects of Coot, Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Mallard and a single Heron.

On Kinellan Scrape there was also nothing much of interest with numbers of Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Mallard, Coot and Teal. On the way out of Strathpeffer I saw my first Kestrel of the year and had good views of a Red Kite.

Lastly was Loch Achilty, as usual there wasn't much to see apart from a couple Mallards. The conditions took a turn for the worse shortly after with the snow blowing in thick and fast. Visibility was so poor that we couldn't even see to the other side of the Loch.

We then decided to go exploring heading right up into the heart of Strathconon with hopes of maybe seeing a Golden Eagle. Conditions were on and off as we made our way up the Strath stopping and scanning. There were however plenty of Red Deer to be seen on the surrounding slopes.

Red Deer, Strathconon

We drove all the way up to where the public stops on the shores of Loch Beannacharain. It was now blizzard conditions and the snow was cutting into our faces so just time for a few photos and scans of the ridges before the weather really moved in.

Loch Beannacharain, Strathconon

Plenty of Buzzards around up and down the Strath as well as some Hooded Crows and another Kestrel but no signs of any Golden Eagle. We then decided to head back with a Goosander seen on the Conon River near to Marybank. We stopped off at the Tollie Red Kite centre to see if there were any still hanging around after feeding and to give Luke a better view of these birds than he has had in the past and we got lucky there were still 3 hanging around with 2 landing in a nearby tree and giving fantastic views in the sun. There was also a Great Spotted Woodpecker hanging around on one of the feeders. All in all a decent day with some very changeable weather!

Year List Additions:
86. Kestrel
87. Goosander

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.

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!