Summer...?

Two Swifts over the house at 8:00am this morning was a nice sight to see, my first of the year.

(Finally getting some summer like weather that looks set to continue for at least a week)

Glenmore....

A trip to the Cairngorms National Park today, more specifically Glenmore Forest Park in changeable weather (snow/hail showers and sunny warm periods) produced my first Crested Tit of the year. Other birds seen were Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Buzzard, plenty of Willow Warblers, a Greater Spotted Woodpecker heard and not a lot else really. Weather wasn't great for getting the camera out but I did manage to get a decent picture of a Willow Warbler in the Alt Mhor carpark at lunch. Probably the clearest view I have had of one.

Willow Warbler - Phylloscopus trochilus

Quick update..

Just a quick update whilst I take a short break from coursework. Heard my first Willow Warblers from my back doorstep in the middle of last week then a couple days I managed to spot one in the trees just outside my garden.

At the weekend I did a bit of bee friendly planting, replacing one the borders in the garden with a mix of British Wildflower seed. Not sure how successful they will be but fingers crossed. I obtained two free packets of seed from Friends of the Earth's Bee Cause website, in which they managed to hand out all 10,000 packets that were available. The good news is the Co-operative are now doing a similar thing for those who want some called Plan Bee.

Today (3rd) I was at Drummondreach Oak wood this morning for a college module. A really stunning woodland with plenty more Willow Warblers singing, 3 Swallows spotted on the way there at Alcaig and an Osprey was seen perched just offshore of the Urquhart Cemetery, my 6th Osprey in the space of two weeks, not bad considering I had only seen one before once at Loch Garten Osprey centre.

That's all from me back to work, such a shame that I have to miss all this lovely weather.

Small but it's a start.

Weekend away... Part.2

On Sunday (22nd) we decided to take a trip to the Falls of Shin which is located between Lairg and Bonar Bridge and is famous for it's falls and leaping salmon but also has a visitor centre and plenty of forest walks.

We took the long way round bypassing Lairg first with the intention of doing the full loop via Bonar Bridge on the way home. Upon arriving it was fairly quiet to start off. A quick toilet stop and then we headed down the steps to the falls. The river was in full flow and looked impressive as the sun came out. Grey Wagtails were seen again from the viewing platform and also a Dipper which landed not far from the platform with a beakful of invertebrates and then flew up into a clump of moss on the slippery rock which turned out to be it's nest!

Dipper at nest.

We then headed into Achany Wood just beside the visitor centre. The wood is very attractive with native Scots Pine and Birch with Larch and Douglas Fir scattered throughout. Plenty of Blue, Great, Coal Tit, Chaffinch were present as was a small group of Siskin and a Buzzard flew over. In a small clearing near the path two male Orange Tip butterflies were sunning themselves and returning to the car park a single Raven flew overhead and Pied Wagtails were foraging around the parked cars. To finish the visit we had a very tasty ice cream before heading on towards Bonar Bridge.

Achany Wood

 

Male Orange Tip

After Bonar Bridge the route took us through the small hamlet of Spinningdale. Driving along the road my girlfriend shouts for me to stop and pullover. I had no idea what was going til she directed me to a large Pine tree in a small group of trees in the middle of a field a couple hundred metres from the road. It was an Osprey nest with a pair of Osprey flying around it. I had seen an Osprey before but only at the Loch Garten Osprey centre two years ago. They gave fantastic views from the car and we watched for a few minutes before moving on as to not disturb them.

I couldn't believe my luck at seeing a pair of Ospreys and a nest as we carried on back to the A9. Not long after returning to the A9 my girlfriend spotted another nest with two more Ospreys but this time we couldn't stop but we still managed to see them both, literally 5 minutes after the last, fantastic. It is important to remember that these birds are a fully protected species and should never be disturbed (by law) and exact nesting locations never given out publicly.

As we neared the turn off for Dornoch I decided to instead carry on a little further North for the turn off to Loch Buidhe a site I had read about in Gordon Hamlett's book. We headed up the single track road into the surrounding hills for a few miles. On the way I spotted a Wheatear on a roadside patch of grass.

Female Wheatear

Heading up the road for a couple more miles and we finally came to Loch Buidhe. As well as the stunning views there was also a Common Sandpiper, my first of the year at loch side and Meadow Pipits along the fence line surrounding the forestry plantations.

Loch Buidhe

Common Sandpiper

As we turned round to head back down another Osprey flew over the loch, unbelievable, the only slight disappointment that it didn't crash down into the water to catch a fish! A Kestrel was also spotted on the way down and near the bottom of the valley I saw what I thought was a gull when on closer inspection it was a Fulmar, another first for the year and pulling over there was infact a small breeding colony on a natural inland cliff. Heading back round by the South shore of Loch Fleet the same lay by from the day before produced more Common Seals on the sandbanks. A great end to a great day.

Fulmar

Common Seals

On the final morning Monday (23rd) we had to vacate at 10am so we packed up and headed back to Dornoch for one last walk on the beach. Again plenty of larks and pipits in the dunes and Rooks, Jackdaws and Herring Gulls in the beachside car park. Around the golf course were groups of Linnet and Starling. We headed up the beach and I noticed a hirundine flying over the sand. At first I thought Swallow but it was actually a House Martin which turned out to be 1 of a group of 5, another year first. At that point it started pouring with rain so we headed back to the car but on the way I spotted a dead Puffin on the strand line that looked fairly fresh.

A quick coffee and a cake in Dornoch and we headed back down the A9 when my girlfriend spotted a Swallow flying over the road near to Tain, yet another first of the year and a nice end to the trip which takes me to over 100 species for the year.

Weekend away... Part.1

My girlfriend and I decided a couple weeks back to have a weekend away somewhere after the Northumberland trip didn't work out in the Easter holidays. We decided to rent a static caravan up at Embo, North of Dornoch near to Loch Fleet.

We checked in on Friday (20th) and got settled in. After dinner we took a stroll down to Embo pier and along the beach. Plenty of Herring and Common Gulls around plus my first Gannet of the year flying North past the pier. On the beach were quite a few Pied Wagtails and Skylarks in the dunes. Around the campsite on Friday evening and throughout the trip were plenty of House Sparrow, Starling, Jackdaws, Carrion Crows and some Black-headed Gulls aswell as Common and Herring.

On Saturday (21st) we decided to head up to Golspie and took a route around the South shore of Loch Fleet and passed the Mound on the way. From the lay by near to Skelbo Castle were 20 Sandwich Terns (first of the year) on the rocks as well as a single Turnstone. Out on the water were Red-Breasted Mergansers, Eiders, Goldeneye, and a couple hundred Pink-footed Geese out on one of the sandbanks. Around the shore were Curlew, Oystercatchers and Shelduck. Two Common Seal were also seen not far from the shore.

Sandwich Tern + Turnstone

A quick stop at the Mound showed nothing unusual with some impressive looking Great-Black Backed gulls but no Greenshank that I was hoping for. We then headed onto Golspie and the Big Burn Walk. Straight from the off just after exiting the car I spotted a pair of Grey Wagtails on the river, the best views I have had of this species.

Female Grey Wagtail.

Male with characteristic black bib.

There were plenty of woodland birds about, Great, Blue and Coal Tits, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird and Treecreeper. Up near the top of walk we came to the falls, very impressive and also my first Dipper of the year spotted just below it before flying off up stream. The sun was finally out and the woodland was beautiful aswell as the river. We carried on the circular walk heading up the hill. Up the top a Chiffchaff was heard and a bit of searching meant I could finally see my first Chiffchaff of the year.

Dipper

Later on the afternoon / early evening we decided to take a walk along Dornoch Beach out to the point and back along the dunes. The beach was fairly quiet, plenty of Herring and Common Gulls with a handful of Great Black-backs and the odd Oystercatcher. The dunes were more productive with plenty of Skylark singing and displaying and a Curlew seeing off some Carrion Crows. Meadow Pipits were also scattered around. The highlight of the walk however was a Wheatear sitting in a pine tree in the dunes.

Wheatear

In the carpark were a pair of Pied Wagtails and a small group of Linnets flitting about the Gorse bushes.

Female Pied Wagtail

Some views of the beach just down from the caravan are below. Look out for Part. 2 soon.

Upland Migrants...

The last couple of weeks have consisted of rain, rain and more rain and has resulted in a pretty miserable Easter break but today (typical on the last day) the weather really changed with sunny, cloudless skies and a slight breeze. Even though I have a mountain of coursework I just couldn't resist going out so I decided to head up to the Heights at the back of Dingwall again.

Just before leaving the Red Kites were flying really close in about the house again which they seem to be doing quite regularly for the last couple weeks. With my camera at hand as I was headed out I managed to get a couple pictures. The right wing looking a bit ragged with a couple primaries missing and a hole in the middle of the wing.

I headed up to the Heights. The water level in the burn was a lot lower this time and crossing was no problem. Before reaching the moorland I had already spotted plenty of Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and a couple of Curlew. I made my way up the slope past a small group of scattered Scots Pine. A bird caught my eye on the heather which then flew low along the ground and landed on an old tree stump. A closer looked revealed a male Wheatear and also a female, superb and my first proper migrants of the year. Unfortunately when I finally got close enough for a record shot they flew off just before I pulled the trigger

Can just see the male flying off to the right.

I spent the next hour or so heading further up, around and down the scattered woodland / moorland. A pair of Ravens gronking at the top of a dead pine was nice to see. Buzzard and Red Kite seen overhead and all of a sudden out of nowhere a small group of 5 noisey Lesser Redpolls landed in a nearby tree, my first of the year.

Knowing I had a lot of work waiting for me back home I forced myself to head back to the car. On my way down the hill a pair of Red-legged Partridge were crossing the road in front of me, a bird I hadn't seen before.

Birds Seen Today:
Curlew
Meadow Pipits
Lesser Redpoll x 5
Red Kite
Common Buzzard
Raven x 2
Common Gull x 6
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Skylarks
Chaffinch
Wheatear x 2
Red-legged Partridge x 2

Some various pictures from today:

 

Skylark

Layby 151...

Apologies for the cheesey title which sounds like a low rate horror movie but today I headed down Aviemore way with my girlfriend for the day. I had heard and read that Ring Ouzel (one of my most sought after species) is regularly seen from layby 151 on the A9 so I had to stop in for a look on my way South. We pulled over into the layby and scanned the scree slopes and the heather either side of the road. First sight was a pair of White Wagtails at the roadside but not Ring Ouzel. We stayed there for awhile and I managed to see some Mountain Hares still in their white coats and then two birds flew over the ridge. On closer inspection it was a pair of Peregrines! A life tick for me and a bird I just never managed to spot before. So no Ring Ouzel but still very pleased and we continued down to Aviemore.

I have lived in the Highlands for just over 23 years now yet I have never been up to the Cairngorm summit. So even though the weather wasn't great we decided to head up there for a bit of fun. We made our way up to the main car park where the weather was very changeable and the summit was shrouded in mist and cloud. I had read that Ring Ouzel, Wheatear and Snow Bunting were very possible from the viewing platform and was excited to get up there. We made our way up on the funicular railway, had a quick look at the exhibition then out onto the viewing platform. Wind chill was minus 6 degrees Celsius with heavy snow and visibility down to 30 metres.

"View" from the top.

The worst bit was there were definitely no birds about that could be seen, but it was still fun and we had a coffee in the Ptarmigan restaurant. After a couple hours spent up there we caught the funicular back down to the main car park.

Whilst scanning over the hillsides I spotted some movement about 100m away in the heather. I tried to keep my focus on it and lost it a couple times but it turned out to be an impressive looking male Red Grouse another life tick for me and my girlfriend managed to spot a female with him too.

Male Red Grouse

Not long after that a small herd of Reindeer came over the ridge and right into the car park which delighted many of the visitors, my girlfriend included.

Within the herd were what seemed to be two very pale (albino?) youngsters.

We then made our way down as it started chucking it down with rain with a couple more Red Grouse seen briefly from the road, and headed for home. A wet day but a good day