White-tailed Eagle Ringing...

Again it's been awhile since I posted on here. Just a combination of never having the time to update things or not having the time to actually go birding. Now the dog is getting bigger and stronger and slightly more controlled when I take him out I have a chance to keep one eye on what's actually around too.

A couple miles down the river is the River Carron. It's a fairly easy going route with a good track so it's perfect for walking the dog and a bonus is that it's actually a very nice stretch of river. Over the last couple weeks I have been seeing Common Sandpiper down there making a lot of noise standing on the rocks at the river's edge or feeding from the track itself (part of the route is the old course of the river). Managed to get a couple of shots of them.

Also saw my first Swifts of the year just last week when I was through in Conon Bridge back flying over the house and screaming down the street. Nice to see as there really isn't any out here in this area at all.

My highlight of the month though or possibly the whole year or even the biggest bird highlight for me ever happened this week. One of the perks of working for Forestry Commission Scotland over here is that you get invited along to observe this year's White-tailed Eagle chicks being ringed. I went out with the lovely Dr. Alison MacLennan (RSPB), Justin Grant and Lewis Pate to observe them ringing chicks at an undisclosed location on Skye on FCS land. Also in attendance were Sarah Stephenson (local RSPB education officer) with three lucky primary school kids from Portree and a guy filming a documentary on the wildlife of Skye! So it was quite an interesting crowd.

Upon reaching the estimated area which had been recorded by Sarah who is also the WTE surveyor we first had to find which tree this pair were nesting in. After a couple minutes the female was flying over head giving fantastic views before she moved off and we located the nest tree. It was a big hairy Sitka Spruce which was going to make lowering whatever was in the nest to the ground a bit tricky.

Lewis and Justin scaling the tree.

But after a couple hours the single chick was lowered down safely and we could all have a look. I don't know who was more excited, me or the school kids. Everyone kept quiet as the camera man got some footage of the kids standing next to the bird and then Justin and Lewis starting to measure, ring and weigh the chick.

The chick is thought to be a female from the measurements taken and was a healthy weight with a nice full crop. The primary school kids named her Rio (is there a World Cup on?) and all 3 of them were in awe of the chick (as was I). I couldn't get over the size of the feet, massive!

Justin preparing the equipment.

Biometrics...

Ringing the chick.

The bird was only the ground maybe 15 minutes and after the final weight was taken was lifted back up into the nest just as the female was back to put in an appearance. So all in all a successful morning and a great experience for me, I do love my job sometimes.

Otter (17/05/14)....

Took the dog down to the shore at North Strome for a walk this morning and not only did I see an otter not 20 metres from the shore, I also had my camera and managed to get some dodgy record shots!

Not much else to report, migrants still moving into area according to Skye Birds site but I haven't seen anything new myself lately (not much time dedicated to birding lately) but I did see a Common Sandpiper fly from the shore of Loch a'Chroisg across the road on the way to Kinlochewe.

Also out doing a bit of White-tailed Eagle monitoring on Thursday with one adult seen on Raasay and two adults plus a chick in the nest in North Skye.

Year List Addition:
71. Common Sandpiper.

Marten and Gropper...

Had a great view of a Pine Marten on Tuesday morning. Driving past Achnashellach forest (seems to be quite a productive area for wildlife will have to explore more) and I had to slow down as it ambled across the road in front of me, paused for a second and jumped into the trees on the other side. My first proper clear view of a Pine Marten in the wild.

Things got even better that same evening. I stepped out into the front garden to let the pup out and heard my first ever Grasshopper Warbler reeling from the scrub literally on the other side of the road from the garden. I've heard it several times throughout the week since, an amazing noise for a bird to make, but haven't managed to catch a glimpse yet!

More updates (27/04/14)....

I know, more updates! Blog has been quite boring of late it's turned into more a personal record for myself. Things are very busy at the moment with work and a new puppy so birding has taken a backfoot and it's only really what I see when I am out working.

Loads of Sand Martins now back at the Achnashellach colony. Quite a strange experience to drive through them as they are flying so close to the road, I'm surprised there aren't some dead on the road.

Weather here has felt like Summer for the last week and Spring has really taken off, with the migrants flooding in according to the Skye Birds website (great resource - check it out www.skye-birds.com/reports).

Hearing the Cuckoo daily and finally caught a glimpse of it as it sat on top of a tree across the road. Hearing them all over the place through work also.

Although they have been back a week or so I saw my first Wheatear of the year just a couple days ago East of Lochcarron.

Tree Pipits are also back as I spotted one in display flight at Achnashellach.

Lochcarron and the surrounding area now full of Swallows too.

Pair of Osprey's also spotted back on the nesting platform near to the Grudie powerstation to the West of Garve.

Driving through Contin and then Conon Bridge I saw a Red Kite in both locations which is quite surprising considering recent events.


Year List Additions:
68. Wheatear
69. Osprey
70. Tree Pipit
71. Skylark

More migrants (20/04)...

Absolutely stunning day again today in Lochcarron and the surrounding area. Feeling very like Summer as I spotted my first Swallow and heard my first Cuckoo of the year this evening from the house.

Year List Additions:
66. Swallow

Nice surprise (19/04/14)....

A Barn Owl flew over the road tonight at about the height of the house which I wasn't expecting!

Year List Additions:
65. Barn Owl

Willow Warblers....

...have now arrived in Lochcarron and the surrounding area over the last couple days.

Year List Additions:
64. Willow Warbler

Sand Martin (11/04)...

First Sand Martins of the year seen at Achnashellach. Spotted 3 this morning.

Year List Additions:
61. Sand Martin

West Update (07/04/14)...

Been a few weeks since I posted here. Things are busy here with the new job and house so not much time at the moment. Some updates:

Black Grouse spotted in road side trees near to Achnasheen several times now with the highest count being 5. A good sign that they are spreading West again and there is plenty of good habitat along the Garve / Achnasheen / Lochcarron corridor with all the new planting schemes.

Lapwings displaying in fields near Achnasheen also.

First Chiffchaff heard from office last Friday (4th) with first heard from the house this morning (7th).

Pair of Golden Eagles seen regularly over the last few weeks as they occupy one of the Glens which I am currently working in from time to time.

Great view of a White-tailed Eagle today at Slattadale as it flew down from a large roadside Scots Pine over the van and down the hillside.

Had two excellent sightings of otters in the last couple weeks both within 100 feet.

Meadow Pipits displaying everywhere just now.

Ticked off a Munro just East of the house called Maol Chean Dearg - plenty of signs of Ptarmigan in the top 300m (poo / feathers / resting places).

Many tree species now flushing - eyes fixed on Larch spp. wherever I go at the moment for early signs of Phytopthora ramorum.

Dunnock singing in garden every morning just now with a Song Thrush joining it just across the road.

Pair of Siskins visiting the garden regularly.

No Sand Martins spotted at the small colony at Achnashellach yet but I'm sure they are on their way.

Spotted signs of what looks like Red Squirrel (stripped cones) near to Achmore last week which would be first confirmed evidence of Reds in the local area - some say the culprit is Wood Mouse, the debate continues.

Very disappointing news about Red Kites and Buzzards from back home in Conon Bridge area, I hope someone comes forward with information soon.

No Ospreys back near to Garve yet but watch this space.

Temperatures a lot milder but still very wet this week.

Spring / Summer is on its way.

WTE Monitoring (27/02/14)....

So far the new job is going well, I'm enjoying it and the guys (there are no woman at my office) I work with are a good bunch. There have been days that have been enjoyable and days that have been a bit of a slog, especially with the weather we've had recently. But today was one of the days where I absolutely love my new job.

Today's task was to check out various sites where White-tailed Eagle have previously nested on FC ground and monitor and record any activity. Of course we were headed to Skye and the morning started off quite well with a couple of Fieldfares spotted at the road side. Nearer to the first location (of which I will be divulging none I'm afraid), and there were plenty of Hoodies about and a few Ravens. We were roughly half a mile from the nesting location headed to a vantage point on higher ground. After a brief shower of hailstones we found a spot to settle down and look across the glen. After about 15 mins I spotted the first WTE coming in off the sea and landing in almost the exact spot where there was a nest last year, success. It was visible through bins but even better through the scope but soon hopped out of site and we didn't see it again. Whilst we waited awhile for a second look a flock of about 20 Crossbills landed in the trees about us giving great views.

Another location was checked afterwards but no signs there so we headed off to the third site. By now the sun was out and it was a pretty nice day. Again we parked up about half a mile from the nest site but it wasn't long before I spotted the 2nd WTE of the day flying up and over the hill to the right of us which was then followed by another which appeared to be a sub-adult going by the white tail which still had a black band along the bottom edge. I did manage to get a couple distant photos.

White-tailed Eagle

Both eagles didn't hang around long and they were off over the hill and out of sight but we decided to have some lunch and hope that they came back again. They didn't unfortunately but whilst finishing my lunch something caught my eye coming over the hill to the left. It was headed our way and once it came a bit closer it turned out to be a Golden Eagle this time. Again it appeared to be a 1st-winter / sub-adult type bird going by the white tail with the black band and the obvious white patches on the wings. We watched it as it was first mobbed by two Ravens, then two Hoodies and finally a Buzzard had a pop. By then the eagle was a bit pissed off and turned and flipped 180 degrees to have a pop back at the Buzzard above it. Did get a photo again but again it's not the best.

Golden Eagle

Year List Additions:
53. Fieldfare
54. White-tailed Eagle

Quick update (20/02/14)....

Weather has been pretty miserable all week here but a small flock of Common Crossbills spotted at Glen Udalain brightened up the afternoon yesterday.

Year List Additions:
51. Common Crossbill

Loch Reraig (WeBS) (16/02/14)....

The weather was bright, sunny and still which was slightly different to the weather throughout the week that ranged from heavy snow and blizzards to gale force winds and torrential rain so I took the break in the weather to head out.

I decided to head out to an area known as Loch Reraig which is only about 5 miles West of here which looked like an interesting walk but also to scope out a potential new Wetland Bird Survey that I may take on!

The walk started at Leacanashie up through mixed broadleaves and shortly after up through mixed conifers up the top of the hill which afforded some awesome views of a snow capped Applecross peninsula and then down to the Reraig burn, around the edge of Loch Reraig and back around the coast passing through Ardaneaskan and back to the start with good views over to Plockton to the South. Just a short loop walk of about 5 miles or so.

Loch Reraig is a small sea loch and the tide was out by the time I reached it. Quite a few birds about and already looking more interesting than previous WeBS areas (although they did have their own appeal). I spent awhile there watching and counting and ended up with the following:

Goosander x 10
Oystercatcher x 6
Curlew x 3
Mallard x 2
Greylag Goose x 2
Common Gull x 1
Herring Gull x 3
Great Black-backed Gull x 1
Grey Heron x 2
Hooded Crow x 4

It is an interesting little bay and sea loch, a manageable size and fairly close to home so it looks like a good candidate. Unfortunately there is so many areas out here that never get surveyed so you can almost choose your own which is a very different situation, understandably, from back over on the East.

Some other species to add to the year list were a Woodcock that I flushed in the forest at the top of the hill, Siskin of which a large group was hanging around gardens at Ardaneaskan as well as a lone Mistle Thrush and several Shag that were spotted off shore. That takes me to 50 for the year at mid February. Not bad but not great either!

Well worth the walk and it stayed dry the whole time so I can't really complain!

Year List Additions:
46. Greylag Goose
47. Woodcock
48. Siskin
49. Mistle Thrush
50. Shag

Golden Eagle (13/02/14)...

Working up near Glen Brittle, Skye this afternoon produced my first sighting of Golden Eagles this year, a pair spotted flying over the Glen at the base of the Coullins covered in snow!

Year List Additions:
45. Golden Eagle

Lochcarron...

Well I have re-located to Lochcarron in the West Highlands due to work and have now been here for just over two weeks. For anyone who knows me knows I have managed to gain a permanent job with Forestry Commission Scotland based at the Achmore Outstation near to Plockton.

As I mentioned before the birding and wildlife possibilities here are almost overwhelming nevermind the landscapes so I am very pleased as I absolutely love the West coast so it is a bit of a dream to now be based here.

Haven't had much time to do much exploring yet as it's been pretty hectic but I have been able to see a bit of the area and visited Loch Kishorn a couple of times and the Applecross peninsula so there is a few year list additions.

So hopefully when things settle down there will hopefully be some interesting stuff to report soon.

Year List Additions:
30. Hooded Crow
31. Raven
32. Jackdaw
33. Little Grebe
34. Oystercatcher
35. Teal
36. Mallard
37. Goosander
38. Goldeneye
39. Whooper Swan
40. Cormorant
41. Redshank
42. Great Black-backed Gull
43. Great Northern Diver
44. Eider

The Five Sisters of Kintail (07/02/14)

 

 

Black Grouse (17/01/14)...

Had to drive out Lochcarron way today and on the way back around 16.30ish I saw two Black Grouse sitting up in some Birch at the side of the road feeding, not too far from Achnasheen. Very unexpected sighting and a bit brief, couldn't afford to stop and enjoy but still nice to see them. A not so interesting Pheasant seen at roadside near to Garve also.

Year List Additions:

28. Black Grouse
29. Pheasant

Elgol / Loch Coruisk, Skye.

A bit late in making a post about this but last weekend (26/07) my friend Luke and I decided to head over to Skye for the weekend to do some exploring and wild camping.

We headed across after work on the Friday evening arriving at around 8.30pm. The plan for the weekend was to get to Loch Coruisk but as it was late we decided to camp on the shores of Loch Slapin and get an early start the next day. The weather on Friday evening was good, fairly mild with a bit of a breeze to keep the midges off. There were some noisy Oystercatchers nearby and a handful of Gannets out on the sea loch. Plenty of sheep too.

Camping on the shore of Loch Slapin.

Woke up on the Saturday morning to the sound of a large flock of sheep moving through aswell as calling Oystercatchers, Common Sandpipers, Curlew and Ringed Plovers. I managed to get a couple of photos of the Ringed Plovers from the campsite where the midges were pretty bad as it was very still and foggy.

Adult Ringed Plover

Juvenile Ringed Plover

After some bacon and a cup of tea seasoned with midges for breakfast we made our way on down to Elgol and it didn't take long for the weather to improve, by now it was a warm and sunny morning. The original plan was to hike to Loch Coruisk and back but we decided to get the early boat into Loch Coruisk then make our way back to Elgol over the next day and a half.

The boat trip over allowed us to see some stunning landscape views and we also passed a small colony of Common Seals enjoy the sun.

The drop off point.

A pair of vocal Ravens welcomed as at the start of Loch Coruisk allowing great views down to 50 metres as they perched on the surrounding rocks. We headed up to the other end of the Loch seeing Common Gulls, Meadow Pipits and Wheatears on the way. At the top of the Loch we stopped for a cup of tea and after about 20mins a Golden Eagle came soaring over the mountain top giving great views through the binoculars. Unfortunately I was a little slow in getting the camera on it.

Loch Coruisk

Heavily cropped Golden Eagle.

We spent the rest of the day hiking back towards Elgol, taking our time whilst appreciating the views and the wildlife. Plenty more Meadow Pipits and Wheatear seen throughout the day as well as loads of butterflies and day flying moths, I just wish I was better at my butterfly ID. Butterflies are getting rarer each year it seems so it was nice just knowing that they were there.

Magpie Moth (Abraxas grossulariata)

We continued on round to Camasunary, a impressive wide open bay where at this point it was full sunshine and 20+ degrees celcius. A short shower of rain brought out the midges again in big numbers but it soon went back to sun and we continued on our way.

Camasunary

Towards the evening and after some pretty hard going kilometres with the sun and full packs on we found a sheltered bay to camp again with fantastic views of the Cuillin Hills in the background. Whilst setting up camp I could hear more Ravens and Luke spotted a Kestrel hovering nearby. A young Wheatear also kept coming and going near to our chosen spot. There were still Gannets out at sea and Oystercatchers on the shore as well as plenty Rock Pipits.

Campsite No.2

On the Sunday morning we woke up to drizzley conditions but we only had a couple kilometres left back to Elgol. We arrived back in Elgol around early lunch time. There is a small burn / river running down into Elgol and I spotted a family of Grey Wagtails, my first of the year actually. We spent the rest of the day having a drive up to Portree and back before heading on home late afternoon.

All in all a fantastic weekend, good weather, plenty of wildlife and some truely awesome landscapes.

Year List Additions:
125. Grey Wagtail

P.S. there is one person who I know used to read this blog, they will know who they are, I hope they are still reading it from time to time.

A busy weekend (Part.1)...

Last week was tough at work with temperatures above 20c all week and I was hoping that the good weather would remain as I had a couple of things lined up for the weekend past.

On Saturday (13th) it was off to Kinlochewe near to Beinn Eighe NNR again for a day of free upland bird training run by the BTO. The weather stayed good and myself and my friend Luke headed to the village hall where the event was to take place. Overall there was about 20+ people which turned out to be a good mix of birders, people with some interest, hillwalkers and representatives from outdoor activity companies.

The morning starting with introductions from Ben Darvill and Anne Cotton from BTO Scotland then Ben gave an introduction to the day ahead and some background to the BTO. We were then provided with some general techniques for bird identification before having a short coffee break. After the break we got stuck into some upland bird ID which took the form of a presentation and group work. It was then time for a half hour lunch and then it was off out for the afternoon.

Once everyone was ready we headed up into one of the valleys near to Beinn Eighe on foot to put some of the stuff we had taught into practice. For the first part of the walk there seemed to be not much around in terms of upland birds apart from numerous Meadow Pipits when all of a sudden a shout went up for "RING OUZEL". I caught sight of the bird off to the right which then flew up and over the group to the other side of the track before we lost it in the bracken. The bird was very brown and everyone was in a agreement that it was a female. A first for me and bit of a bogie bird that I hadn't had much luck seeing in the last 3 years. We carried on further when another shout went up for "GOLDEN EAGLE" and in fact there were 2, soaring high above one of the ridges but they gave good views through the binoculars and they really were unmistakable due to the sheer size. There day was turning out to be superb as this was another first for me even after 25 years in the Highlands. But it was to get even better. An employee from SNH had come out with the group and she pointed out an eyrie belonging to the eagle pair about 300m away high on top of one of the crags. This thing was huge, easily 10 foot across and when someone got a scope on it there was in fact a juvenile bird perched out on the edge. 3 Golden eagles with 10 minutes when before I hadn't seen one ever. Further up the track we enjoyed the rare Azure Hawker dragonfliess near to the stream, another first for me. The group was split into two smaller groups and Luke and I were catching up to the lead group as they had stopped after hearing what they thought was the call of a Peregrine and were trying to locate it. Turns out it was 2 Merlin and they burst out of nowhere and we spent a good 10 mins enjoying an aerial chase between the two of them as they almost grappled in the air. More knowledgeable people in the group agreed that they were 2 young birds.

We then made our way back to the village hall in Kinlochewe where Ben and Anne talked about Birdtrack recording and gave more information about the What's Up? project which is encouraging people to record more of their bird sightings in upland areas where data is currently lacking. There was also some more details on the mountain transect survey which is a more formal approach to recording above 750m. So please click the link and get involved if you can, especially if you enjoy hillwalking.

So in all in all the day turned out to be very beneficial in the morning, some superb birding in the afternoon and best of all it was all free. Thank you very much to BTO Scotland, Ben and Anne for putting on the day.

Year List Additions:
122. Ring Ouzel (Lifer)
123. Golden Eagle (Mega-lifer)
124. Merlin

Gairloch area (19/03/13)...

Yesterday was my birthday and my girlfriend and I had planned a day trip to the Gairloch area to try and spot my first ever eagle believe it or not. The weather at home however was pretty horrendous with heavy snow and blizzard like conditions. The forecase for Gairloch was completely different being sunny and clear. So we decided to give it a go. Driving up through Contin then on to Garve the conditions were pretty horrible, most of the road was covered with snow falling towards us making driving not the easiest. After Garve we turned off for Gairloch and conditions weren't changing. But by the time we got to the Queen's View car park, where we stopped to scan for eagles, above the East end of Loch Maree the weather was really starting to clear up and the snow was easing off.

We didn't spot any eagles but plenty of red deer on the slopes then we headed on down to road past the main Ben Eighe visitor centre to the Coille na Glas Leitre carpark where the woodland walk starts through the Pine wood in the National Nature Reserve. I was hoping for Scottish Crossbill but not only did I not see at Scotbills we didn't see anything at all not even a Great Tit, the woods appeared empty. The sun was out fully now though and the views across Loch Maree to the peaks on the otherside really were stunning.

I am surprised I didn't start to get a sore neck as I was constantly scanning the sky and ridges for a glimpse of my first eagle but I wasn't having any luck. We stopped at a couple more car parks along the shores of Loch Maree but still no signs although there was plenty of buzzards around. The scenery was so stunning we couldn't take our eyes of it, no matter where you were there was something impressive to see. We moved on passing on through Gairloch itself and up to Gruinard Bay where I was told would be my best chance of seeing a eagle.

After what seemed miles upon miles of of winding coastal roads and more stunning scenery we came to a rather normal looking layby which is actually the best place to scan across Gruinard Bay, it's beach 3 rather large and obvious fields on the point of land sticking out on the other side. We pulled up and I starting scanning, my girlfriend was too. There didn't seem to be anything on the beach so I worked the fields. I could see the odd gull, a few hooded crows and a couple of ravens but nothing eagle shaped. I set my binoculars on the dashboard when all of a sudden my girlfriend starting shouting "look! look! what's that!?". I looked up to see a group of about 30 Barnacle Geese flying up into the air as a massive shape flew low over the fields. I had just enough time to get my binoculars on it and see the gigantic wings and bright white tail in the sun, I had seen my first ever wild eagle, a White-tailed Eagle! But it quickly crossed the fields and went over and down the otherside of the headland.

Gruinard Bay

We had a look at the map and even though the main road went off in the opposite direction, a few miles further on my girlfriend noticed a small single track road that curved around the otherside of the headland towards the area the eagle seemed to fly. I knew it could be a long shot because by the time we would get there the eagle could have covered miles.

We drove over to the other side of the headland which gave superb views of Little Loch Broom and the surrounding hills. We crawled along the road scanning when all of a sudden it flew up from behind the houses and trees on the hill side. Although it was huge it was easily lost against the backdrop of vast water and hills in the sunlight. We thought we lost but further up the road we saw it again and watched it soaring and being harrassed by some gulls and crows for a good few minutes. Then it was gone. We stayed in the same place for half an hour but never saw it again with a distant buzzard setting alarm bells ringing for a few seconds. I did try and get some distant photos but you will just have to believe me!

Look across Little Loch Broom

Very distant White-Tailed Eagle

We then headed back round to the previous layby for another check, no eagle but it did produce my first Gannets of the year plus a distant lone Great Northern Diver.

Great Northern Diver.

We followed pretty much the same route back home with a short stop at the Queen's view car park again for a quick scan and to look at the view in the fading light. All in all a fantastic day.

Year List Additions:

89. White-Tailed Eagle (Lifer)

90. Gannet

91. Great Northern Diver