Happy New Year...

Well it's a new year again and it feels as good a time as any to revive this blog. It's been over 5 months since I have posted anything on here for various reasons which I won't go into. Since last August I have been outside a lot due to work but it's been a long time since I have gone out for the sole purpose of birdwatching and it has kind of taken a backseat in the last few months. I completed my degree this May (BSc Sustainable Forest Management with Forest Conservation if you are interested) and graduated in September at the ceremony in Inverness. Since the start of June I was working for Forestry Commission Scotland on a short-term 6 month contract which finished at the end of November and I am looking to open the next chapter now but what the future holds is uncertain at the moment, watch this space as they say.

Anyway, 2013, it was a pretty good year for birding (although it was really only 8 months). The year included two weeks in Poland near to Krakow and although I didn't see anywhere near as much as I had hoped I still managed some interesting birds.

My British list was only 129 which was down from 133 the previous year however, I did manage 10 entirely new species, a few which are Highland specialities that I feel a bit embarassed about not seeing since I have lived up here for over 25 years but better late than never! This included both eagle species which I actually ended up seeing both on several occassions throughout the year and my bogie bird in the form of a female Ring Ouzel. New species were:

• Barn Owl
• Black Grouse
• Capercaillie
• Common Redstart
• Cuckoo
• Golden Eagle
• Ring-billed Gull
• Ring Ouzel
• Snow Bunting
• White-tailed Eagle

As mentioned I had two weeks in Poland near to Krakow which was through college and birding time was limited however I did get to take a couple trips to Las Wolski forest which is a beautiful forest for many reasons and where I managed to see most of the interesting stuff. New species were:

• Black Redstart
• Collared Flycatcher
• Middle-spotted Woodpecker
• Pied Flycatcher
• White Stork
• Wood Warbler

So overall that's 16 new species which took the life list up to 172. There were quite a few species that I didn't see this year that I have in previous years many which were related to location but some through lack of effort on my part. Geographic contraints meant no birds such as Green Woodpecker and Nuthatch but also seabirds were lacking this year too and I didn't manage to see Puffin, Kittiwake, Razorbill etc. Also two "white-wingers" were missing last year those being Glaucous Gull and Iceland Gull and I didn't see any reported locally.

Just a quick overview really of last year, not going to to an in-depth one like I have previously. But it's been good to post again and hopefully I can find the motivation to get the blog going again and more importantly get some good birdwatching in soon. Posts still might be a bit few and far between for the next month or two however.

All the best for 2014 and let's see what this next year brings!

Male Common Redstart (Phoenicurus ochrurus) - Black Isle

Male Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) - Las Wolski

Update (17/05/2013)...

Just a quick update. Plenty of House Martin now present around Dingwall especially near to the Dingwall Business park. Took a short walk through a small area of Scots Pine woodland up at the heights but didn't see too much. A couple of Buzzards soaring over the hilltop and plenty Willow Warbler heard. There was also a female Stonechat sitting on the gorse near to where I parked the car.

Year List Additions:
111. House Martin

Quick update (8th Feb)...

Just a few bits and pieces to update over the last week. Last weekend I heard a Tawny Owl calling from across the road around 11pm. I have heard Tawny Owl once before from that direction. There is no large trees in the immediate area so it would have been interesting to see where it was calling from.

On Wednesday (06/02) I went out the backdoor into the garden to be met by a male Pheasant in the middle of the lawn feeding on some of the spilled seed. I think we were both as shocked as each other. I did try and get a picture but someone walked past the garden and scared it off and it flew across the road to the farmland.

Today (08/02) I took a walk up into the hills behind Dingwall (The Heights) with my sister's dog. Still plenty of snow up there even if there is none at home. A flock of roughly 100 Linnet were flying around not far from the road in the rough grazing area. Further up the dog flushed out 2 Red Grouse and the walk back 2 Raven overhead. Some great views up there when it was clear, especially of Ben Wyvis.

Year List Additions:
61. Pheasant
62. Linnet
63. Red Grouse
64. Raven

Ring-Billed Gull...

The weather the last couple days has been pretty horrendous with gale force winds and rain. The last week or so I have been trying to find the Ring-billed Gull again. This gull has apparently spent the last 8 or 9 winters in the Dingwall area frequenting the secondary school and boating pond near to Tescos. The gull usually goes unnoticed now with no regular reports on Rare Bird Alert and only occassional updates from a local birder on Highland and Moray bird forum. The last week has also seen some renewed interest with a few people visiting Dingwall and seeing the gull. I tried finding the gull around this time last year too with no luck. Several failed attempts at the school and the boating pond. I'm not keen on looking for the gull at the school as sitting in a car with binoculars and camera just feels a bit too dodgy for me! So I decided to focus on the boating pond where I had failed to find the bird twice already.

First a bit of information on why this bird is interesting to me if you are not familiar with the species. Not only would it be a new bird for me and the fact it is a gull species, the species does not naturally occur in Britain and is a scarce vagrant from North America with a handful of records of over-wintering birds each year. So really this would also be my first North American species albeit in the Britain (if you know what I mean).

So I headed to the boating pond in Dingwall this morning around noon, picking up a couple cheap loaves from Tescos on the way. The weather was on and off heavy showers and very windy and by the time I arrived it was chucking it down. I waited a few minutes for the rain to ease off and walked around to the pond. Not a gull in sight first of but after throwing some bread around they arrived quick enough. They are easily drawn in from the roofs of both the school over the road and Tesco. Within a couple minutes there must have been a hundred gulls flying around and I didn't think I had much chance in spotting the Ring-billed with the conditions, 100 gulls being blown around and the fact that I am no expert. After throwing some bread out and stepping back a bit they started to settle down, coming down to the ground to feed. Plenty of Black-head Gulls and Herring Gulls and I tried to keep a look out. Did this a couple times and most of the gulls seemed to get bored and flew back towards the school for more interesting pickings. It was then a gull obviously smaller than the Herring Gulls was flying overhead. It took awhile but it eventually came down to the ground to feed and there it was the Ring-billed Gull. It gave great views inbetween showers and came to within 10 metres. So I am very pleased and my second lifer for the year and a nice way to end January. Some pictures below.

Year List Additions:
60. Ring-Billed Gull (Lifer)

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

Dingwall Point 11/01/13 ....

Weather has been miserable the last week, still haven't really bothered to go out much. Today (11/01) it was frosty and sunny so nothing was going to stop me heading out somewhere. I decided to go to the point in Dingwall and combine with doing the BTO Winter Thrushes Survey. I walked all the way up the river to the railway line then all the way back in the other direction to the Conon river estuary. Plenty of birds around, 35 species in all. Highlights included a low flying Buzzard being mobbed roughly 10 metres away and a flock of c100 Twite in the Hawthorn edges of the agricultural fields. There were also large winter flocks of Buntings, Finches and Sparrows. On the survey front there was only handful of Blackbirds, no Fieldfare or Redwing at all even though there were still plenty of berries around and I had seen them here plenty times before. Not even a Song Thrush.

Still it was good to get out and managed to add some species to this year's list in no particular order:

Black-headed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Grey Heron
Greylag Goose
Pink-footed Goose
Wigeon
Teal
Mallard
Tree Sparrow
Curlew
Dunlin
Redshank
Cormorant
Lapwing
Reed Bunting
Yellowhammer
Tree Sparrow
Wren
Twite
Little Grebe
Goldeneye
Hooded Crow
Oystercatcher
Shelduck

Summer...

Well I have finally finished college, the work load got pretty intense towards the end but it's all done now and I can look forward to the Summer (if we ever get one) and planning for Finland at the end of August.

First of all an update on the situation in the garden. The Blue Tits that is wrote about HERE hung on for a couple weeks after and I saw adults coming and going but it was fairly irregular and finally I think they gave up as nextdoor's cat was too much for them. One morning I opened the curtains to the cat sat on top of the nextbox with it's paw in the hole. I would be lying if I said I didn't hate the damn things.

The small area of wildflower planting that I carried out a few weeks back is doing ok but again half of it is still looking pretty bare because the damn cat keeps shitting in it and digging it all up. Maybe I can persuade it somehow to go play nearer to the main road.

There have been plenty of young birds around and feeding in the garden including, Rooks, Starlings, Dunnocks, Robins, Blackbirds, Greenfinch, Sparrows, Great Tits and Chaffinch.

Young Starling

It's also nice to see up to 12 Swifts at a time over the house and Red Kites being mobbed by Common Gulls is a frequent sight now as they are protecting their chicks at the small breeding colony down near the Conon River.

With college finished for the year it was nice to have the time to go for a walk yesterday (18/06). The weather has been fairly miserable lately with the last couple weeks being very gloomy with lots of drizzle, definately nowhere near as much rain as parts of the South however.

I decided to take a walk down at Ferry Point and along the shoreline as it is a good couple months since I had been down there and as you can imagine quite a lot has changed. I decided to park at the small carpark as you come into Dingwall and walk down the path between two fields for a bit of a change.

As I walked down the path towards the shoreline I didn't really see much apart from plenty of Cow Parsley and a couple of Blue Tits. When I got to the bottom of the path there some clumps of Thrift or Sea Pink (Armeria maritima) at the top of the bank looking quite good in the sun.

Armeria maritima

I found a nice place to sit for a few minutes and scan out accross the water and the sandbanks as the tide was out. Quite a few Lapwings flying about and the usual Herring and Common Gulls. A large bird came flapping into view on the far side of the water. It landed whilst pushing a Herring Gull away from a fish that it had not long caught. It was an Osprey and it was now happily eating a free lunch but too far away for a picture. I made my way right along the top of the grass bank and I could hear plenty of Willow Warblers and spotted a few Greenfinch and Goldfinch in the Birch trees.

A bit further along there were 2 or 3 Sand Martins flying low over the water and back and forth to the steep bank where the earth has been eroded away and where they are nesting. I tried hard to get a decent picture but they were just too quick.

The best of a bad bunch.

Three swans then swam round the corner and into view, making their way towards the central sand bank. My first thought of course was Mute Swan but they didn't look right and a quick check through the bins revealed them to be 3 unseasonal Whooper Swans. One of them was was ringed with a metal ring on the left and a yellow darvic ring on the right but it was too far away to read it.

Whoopers

I carried on further round where the path heads away from the shore and round the back of small reed bed. Chaffinch, Song Thrush, Blackbird and Swallows were seen on the way with various Gulls and Carrion Crows. I walked behind the reed bed across a small bridge over a stream and round to the otherside. Whilst crossing the bridge which goes under and through some dense small trees I heard a bird calling loudly and repeatedly. As I looked around I managed to spot it, it was a Common Whitethroat and it was only a few feet away giving fantastic views. The call was very harsh and scolding and it jumped about from branch to branch calling continuously. It looked like a young bird to me.

Common Whitethroat.

There was also a family part of Wrens in the same tree giving good views but far too fast for a decent photo. I carried on further admiring the Bluebells and Lesser Stitchwort (can you tell I have been doing flower ID quite a lot recently?) and out into the open. I stopped for awhile to scan around and spotted a lone Oystercatcher. I noticed some pretty dark rain clouds in the distance so I decided to turn back. Just before I did I spotted a large bird coming towards me and I knew it was an Osprey. The bird flew right over my head and I managed to get a few record shots. One thing that surprised me was just how long the wings in relation to body size.

Osprey

Heading back round to the reed bed I could hear a Reed Bunting calling and after a couple minutes a male hopped out of the dense reeds to sit at the top of one giving great views but just out of range for my camera although I did try.

Male Reed Bunting

As I made my way back towards the turn back through the fields another scan of the firth produced a group of Canada Geese a first for the year and part of the group that regularly spend their summers around the Cromarty Firth whilst they go through their moult. I counted a total of 36 overall.

On the last stretch back to the car I noticed a small bird up ahead fly up and over into the ditch that runs alongside the path. When I got a little bit closer I could see it was a male Common Whitethroat with a beakful of insects but it flew off pretty quickly.

Overall it was a very nice walk and well spent could of hours. It was nice to see the changes since I last visited and some new arrivals in terms of birds. Let's just hope the decent weather continues for awhile at least.

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

The Heights...

This past week has been pretty wet and miserable which has resulted in little motivation to go out birding. The Blue Tits are almost keeping me entertained coming and going with nesting material. Had a bit of a surprise yesterday when I looked out of the window to see a huge Herring Gull sitting on the fence. Got some really good views of 2 Red Kites yesterday, both had blue wingtags on the left and white on the right but just couldn't get a long enough view to see the code on them.

Today it was looking not too bad weather-wise so I decided to head up to the Heights of Brae (known as just "The Heights" locally) up behind Dingwall to see if I could spot any Wheatears that had returned.

I stuck on my wellies and went through the first gate headed to what is usually a passable burn with stepping stones but unfortunately with all the rain lately the water was above the stepping stones so I couldn't get across to the moorland beyond to check for Wheatear. I looked around to see if I could get over at another point but I didn't see anything worth attempting. So I managed about a 500m walk and then it start chucking it down with rain. In my short time up there though I did manage to see my first Skylarks of the year (I have heard plenty just not seen any), Curlew, Carrion Crow, Raven, Common Gull, Red Kite, Buzzard, Chaffinch and my first Meadow Pipits of the year. I headed back to the car and made my way back down to Dingwall where I couldn't even go check the gulls at the fish factory because some bloody gypos have parked their caravans in the way!

Not the best outing but always nice to hear a Skylark and I will try again another day.

The Heights of Brae

Skylark during song flight.

Another week...

Fairly quiet week again in terms of birding, still bogged down with college work. I heard Skylarks singing on several occasions from the farmland across the road but not been able to spot any yet. I had a nice surprise on Friday morning when I woke up and opened the curtains to see 2 Yellowhammers feeding on some spilled seed in the garden. Before I had a chance to get the camera they had already legged it.

Birding outwith the garden has almost been non-existent but there was reports of 3 white-winged gulls at the local fish factory so I took some time on Saturday morning to go and check. The 1w-Glaucous was seen briefly before it flew off and the 2w-Iceland gull was sleeping on the apex of the fish factory roof and only stirred a couple times to stretch and have a look around. No third bird unfortunately but it was nice to get out for a bit.

In other news it was my birthday last week which meant I was able to purchase a book I have been wanting for awhile now, "Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America" by Helm, can't wait to get stuck into it and hopefully it will arrive tomorrow (Monday 26th).

Also at the end of this week I will attending a conference in Carrbridge on Upland Land uses but I will say more on that at a later date. Then I have just a day between that and when I leave for Northumberland! I am going down to Alnwick again to visit my Dad for 8 days with my girlfriend. It won't be a 100% birding trip but will be out and about so hopefully see some interesting things.

Have a good week everyone.

Sunday afternoon stroll...

Sunny, clear and cold today, just couldn't resist getting out for a few hours. In the morning there were up to 6 Siskin on the garden feeders and the Rook returned and this time I managed to get a few pictures. I just love Corvids, they are fascinating to watch and look at some of the colours on those feathers!

Rook - Corvus frugilegus

Look at those colours.

Purples, greens and blues.

Out of focus but I like how the nictitating membrane can be seen.

In the afternoon I took a stroll around Ferry Point in Dingwall and along the water's edge back towards the river mouth. Plenty of geese in the fields, Greylag and Pink-feet, they weren't close enough to examine to find anything else in there. Roughly 1000 on land with another 2000 out on the mud. Plenty of Redshank, Teal, Wigeon and gulls as usual. A buzzard was soaring above and small numbers of Goldeneye out on the water. Large mobile flock of Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Tree Sparrow in the hedgerows along the path. A total of 3 Song Thrush were seen during the walk, seeing them all the time now.

Chaffinch

Geese

Lots of geese.

Pink-footed geese flying over.

Reed Bunting

Tree Sparrow

Yellowhammer

More Yellowhammer

A quick check at the fish factory showed the Iceland Gull was back but no sign of the Glaucous this time. The Iceland flew off before I could try to get some photos although the Hybrid crows were back again and being nosey as usual. Another Song Thrush was seen on the grass next to the factory.

Hybrid Crow

Iceland re-visited...

A few weeks ago I had spotted an Iceland Gull at the local fish factory in Dingwall (see post here). When I saw it in the morning the light was poor and I had thought it had a dark iris thus making it a 1st-winter bird. At the time it didn't really matter too much to me, I was just glad I had the chance to see one of these birds locally during this "white winger" invasion. I saw the same bird later that day and managed to get some better pictures. A quick look at the pictures later on showed a pale iris but I didn't bother to confirm the age.

Recently I went back to the pictures and it was bugging me that I wasn't certain on the age of the bird. After some reading and asking around it's now clear that the bird is a 2nd-winter with the pale iris confirming this. Gulls - I am getting more and more into them, that a good or a bad thing?

Photo from the morning in poor light which led me to think
 it was a 1st-winter bird due to "dark" iris.

The following pictures show a clear 2nd-winter Iceland gull.

Leap year birding...

Today started quite early at 5.00am when I was woken up by a bird singing very loudly outside. I got up to check it out and it was a Song Thrush sitting in the tree just outside the garden singing his heart out. I never heard bird song so loud and clear before. I spent a good 40 minutes standing in the dark with the window open listening. It was also quite worrying because it was only my first of the year.

Later on the afternoon I headed out for a couple hours. First stop was Ferry point in Dingwall. It was about an hour before high tide and there were plenty of birds about. Good numbers of Redshank with Dunlin mixed in and c30 Oystercatcher. Plenty of Wigeon with some Teal. Lot's of Common, Black-headed and Herring gulls. I headed along the path beside the old canal and there were the usual treecreepers flitting about from trunk to trunk on the broadleaves lining the footpath. Further round were a couple of Curlew, 16 Shelduck and 2 Mute Swans out on the open water. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere a few thousand geese descended on the bay. So many it was hard to count but I estimate 500 Greylag and 2000 Pink-footed. It was quite a spectacle. I tried for almost an hour to find some White-fronted or Bean Geese but they were either absent or I just didn't pick them up. I did see a Greylag with a red neck collar but it was too far away to read it. On the way back to the car I managed by second Song Thrush of the day (and year).

Pink-foots and Greylags

Treecreeper

Teal

Wigeon

Second stop was the Dingwall business park to check up on the "white-winger" situation. I located the 1st-winter Glaucous but there was no sign of the Iceland gull unfortunately. A couple of interesting crows came close.

Carrion / Hooded hybrid? Comments welcome.

Last stop of the day was Recastle over on the South side of the Black Isle. Plenty of Mallard and Teal in the bay aswell as a pair of Shelduck. Large group of Common and Herring gulls on the water. But the highlight was a group of 6 Pintails including 3 impressive looking drakes. A new species for me and a nice end to the afternoon. Unfortunately I was losing light and they were too far away for any decent pictures. Just as i was leaving 4 Whooper Swans flew over the bay headed towards Beauly.