March birding

After being out of the UK for most of February, winter birding was mostly over by the time March started. March is one of those odd months that can be different every year depending on the weather. This year it was almost a pre-spring with a few early spring migrants coming through but the dry conditions meant most of the early arrivals went straight through.

Beam Valley

It was a fairly quiet month here although I did manage to get my first Kingfisher and Pheasant this year. Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were plentiful by the end of March but no Willow Warbler so far.

Blackthorn blossom

Dagenham Chase

I made a conscious effort to visit here fairly regularly with 13 visits logged this month. I was hoping for some waders but apart from the odd Green Sandpiper, nothing else was seen. I did manage to catch up with Tawny Owl on its day roost thanks to Vince. The first summer visitors were Sand Martin and Blackcap on 22nd, followed by Willow Warbler on 28th. By the end of the month most of the overwintering ducks and gulls had migrated.

Greylag Goose

Kestrel

Shoveler

Wigeon

King George V Reservoir

I only made one trip this month, on the 14th, but it was a very productive one. The highlights were a drake Garganey, my first summer visitor of the year and not one I typically see first, and a drake Smew to make an unlikely duo. I also saw my first Barnacle Goose of the year along with both species of over-wintering divers, two Black-necked Grebes, Peregrine, Raven and finally caught up with one of the Black Redstarts. The sunny weather brought out the raptors and several Red Kites and Buzzards soared over the reservoir.

Barnacle Goose

Red Kite

Smew

Rainham Marshes

I only managed four visits in March as it's been very quiet here but it's now picking up. The standout bird was the Green-winged Teal that has taken up residence here since March 22nd. This American version of our Teal has a chequered history, being counted as a race of Teal, then a separate species and currently the two main world listing organisations cannot agree!

Green-winged Teal (note the vertical white stripe compared to the horizontal one on the regular Teal on the left).

The day I first saw the GW Teal (23rd) ended up being a really good day as there was a Spoonbill on the reserve and a Common Scoter in Aveley Bay. There weren't many different summer visitors seen in March but I did get an early Little Ringed Plover on 21st.

Little Ringed Plover

Scotland

I managed a short break towards the end of the month. I went up on the train to Edinburgh with John & Janet, staying in an apartment just off the Royal Mile for three days. On the first afternoon we had a short walk in Holyrood Park - it was a lot bigger than I expected and very hilly.

On our first full day we took the train to Musselburgh then walked along the river Esk down to the sea and then along the coast and back over by the lagoons. It was good to catch up with a lot of seaduck that I rarely seen down in the south now with Eider, Long-tailed Duck and Velvet Scoter all being close inshore. On one of the lagoons I managed to refind an elusive Jack Snipe.

Goldeneye

Velvet Scoter

Oystercatcher

The following day we took a cab to Gullane Point. We spent a fair bit of time looking for the White-winged Scoter that was wintering here. I was expecting it to be with Velvet Scoters but there was only a large flock of Common Scoter in view. Eventually, John picked it up flying in and we had reasonable views of it but it was still too far for a photo. We walked along the coast to Aberlady Bay, although it was very difficult trying to find the proper path  as we ended up in dead end coves or on the golf course a couple of times.

Bullfinch

Reed Bunting on the golf course

Toad

We did manage to find a single Purple Sandpiper and a Whimbrel which was either over-wintering or a very early migrant. Once we arrived at Aberlady we got the bus back to Edinburgh. On our last day we did another walk in Holyrood Park, going in the opposite direction this time. On the way back we ran into a flock of Bullfinches in a housing estate - it's good to know that they're still plentiful up here as they've disappeared from most sites in London now.

Bullfinch

Scotland 2023 Part 2

 Tuesday May 16^th

After a decent night’s sleep, we met up for breakfast at 7.30. Departure was an hour later and our first stop was to check a local loch for Red-necked Phalarope which arrived yesterday. It was raining a lot and we couldn’t find them so after a good search we left Benbecula and headed up to the top end of North Uist for the sea-watching site at Aird an Runair. 

There had already been reports of skuas passing here this morning. Fortunately it had now stopped raining and there was a moderate NW wind, perfect conditions for skuas. We walked out to the point and while we waited there were a few summer-plumaged Purple Sandpipers feeding in front of us to watch.

Purple Sandpiper

A couple of Arctic Skuas flew past then I picked up a trio coming in from the south. Once they’d come close enough, it was obvious they were Long-tailed Skuas. We had some more Arctics fly past, several of which took a shortcut and flew across the land behind us. Out in the bay was a Common Loon and two Harbour Porpoise.

As we drove back, we paused briefly to see the Dotterel again then stopped by the Corncrake site for a late coffee break. The Corncrake was still showing well, at one point climbing up a small rock and posing on the top before walking out in the open to the end of the field.

Corncrake

We drove to a site for lunch where we could scan for raptors. 

We didn’t have long to wait with several male Hen Harriers in the area, then a distant Golden Eagle and White-tailed Eagle flew over the ridge. 

White-tailed Eagle

We had a couple more White-tails and more Hen Harriers. After lunch we found a pair of Twite and then returned to the loch for another try at the phalarope.

This time we were in luck as the female had been found before we arrived resting on a grassy island. Eventually it woke up and went for a little swim, showing off its full breeding plumage, something I’ve not seen in this country before.

Red-necked Phalarope

As we drove away an adult White-tailed Eagle flew in in attack mode, scattering everything and a Greylag Goose just managed to avoid capture. We’d seen quite a few Short-eared Owls during the day and finished with one hunting across the road from the hotel as we were having dinner. 

Wednesday May 17^th

I saw the Short-eared Owl hunting again, this time from my bedroom window. After breakfast we packed up the vans and headed to our first stop: a nearby loch for Black-throated Diver. They were distant at first but had a fly around and ended up coming very close. At one point a calling Red-throated Diver flew over and they went up to chase it away.

Black-throated Diver

It was soon time to head to the ferry terminal and leave the Outer Hebrides behind. 

Ferry arriving at North Uist

It was much windier on the return crossing but the sea was fortunately still pretty calm. There wasn’t much seen from the ferry, mainly four species of auk and a couple of Manx Shearwaters. 

Approaching Skye

Typically it rained for most of the journey across Skye and as we had a long journey back to Nethy Bridge we didn’t stop much. We were held up a while due to a bad accident between a coach and a large truck and arrived back at Mountview at 6.30pm.

After dinner we went for a dusk stroll over to the golf course.

Thursday 18^th May

No pre-breakfast birding this morning; we left at the usual time of 8.30. First stop was at a Black Grouse lek where we were hoping for a lingering bird but they had all left the site. We moved on to a feeding station where a Red Squirrel had learned the trick of lifting the lid and extracting the seeds within.

Red Squirrel

We stopped at the usual haunt of Old Spey Bridge where we saw Dipper, Goosander and Goldeneye.

View from Old Spey Bridge

It was then just a short hop to the Abernethy Forest where we walked the Two Lochs Trail loop. We had good, albeit brief, views of Crested Tit and a pair of Common Crossbill. We also heard a couple of Common Redstart singing.

Lunch was taken at a site for Slavonian Grebe; most of us saw it but not everyone so we went to another site where even fewer people managed to see one. Our final stop was in Aviemore at Craigellachie Woods which I’d not been to before. We tracked down two singing Pied Flycatchers and a Wood Warbler before ending the day with coffee and cake.

Pied Flycatcher

Friday 19^th May

We had an early start, leaving the hotel at 6AM. We stopped by the roadside twice and saw Black Grouse at both spots but carried on and made a longer stop at a third site where 15 males were lekking. We were just close enough to hear their bubbling calls as we ate our packed breakfast. 

Black Grouse

We drove to Glenshiel where the plan was to scan for Ptarmigan from the car park and then to go up if we didn’t see any. Fortunately James found one straightaway which stayed in the same places for ages, thereby sparing us the climb up (or the chair-lift).

There's a Ptarmigan up there!

Our next stop was just along the road where there was a nesting pair of Ring Ouzel; we watched the male collect food before flying over to its nest. 

Ring Ouzel

We made several more stops along the drive through the highlands, regularly looking for raptors. During the day we saw four Short-eared Owls including a displaying pair, the male rising to great heights before swooping down. We also saw both eagles, Osprey and a Merlin.

Glenshiel

Up in the Highlands

We pulled into a carpark where a family party of Common Crossbills were feeding.

Female Common Crossbill

We voted to return to a Slavonian Grebe site as not everyone had seen them the previous day. We had a bit of wait after an initial sighting then one swam the whole length of the loch allowing everyone to get good views. We finished by trying for a Garden Warbler but apart from one brief snatch of song it remained quiet and unseen.

Avielochan

After dinner John and I went up to the golf course to look for Woodcock. As we neared the clubhouse we heard an unusual call and found a couple of Tawny Owlets. Just before dusk a Woodcock made its first of three passes before we called it a night.

Saturday 20th May

As we had an early breakfast there wasn’t time for any birding. We were driven to Aviemore station in time for the 08.32 down to London. It was a fairly quiet train journey but we did manage to see a Cuckoo along the way.

Scotland 2023 Part 1

Friday/Saturday May 12^th/13^th

For this year's Scottish adventure I booked the Highlands and Corncrake trip with Heatherlea with John & Janet for a week. We should have travelled up on the midday train on Saturday but thanks to the rail unions wanting to scupper people going to the Eurovision final by going on strike we had to come up with a late Plan B. This involved an overnight coach from Victoria on Friday evening which arrived into Glasgow at 6AM. In the end it wasn’t too bad a trip. We had four hours to wait for a Scot Rail train (they’ve already agreed their pay settlement) so found a McDonalds for a leisurely breakfast before wandering over to the rail station where we boarded the 10.07 train to Aviemore.

We’d booked a taxi on arrival which then took us to the Mountview hotel in Nethybridge. Having been inactive for so long we decided on a walk along the river. 

River at Nethybridge

It proved a good choice as we found a singing Pied Flycatcher and had best ever views of a Dipper.

Dipper

We wandered back to the hotel for a rest before meeting everyone else in the bar before dinner. John and I had a post-dinner stroll over the golf course and added a few new trip birds including two Yellowhammer and a Curlew. 

Sunday May 14^th

The three of us met for a pre-breakfast stroll up the road, getting a Cuckoo in addition to most of the birds seen yesterday evening. After a multi-course breakfast, we were ready to begin the day’s proper birding. The schedule had been moved around so we headed up to Lossiemouth where the Grey-headed Lapwing turned up yesterday. Unfortunately it had moved on during the night so we spent the rest of the day birding various sites in the area, on the coast and just inland. It rained virtually all day, albeit mostly lightly so it didn’t hamper us too much.

Highlights during the day included Grey Partridge, Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting as well as Eider, several Common Loons in full breeding attire and a Marsh Harrier which was my first one in Scotland.

Yellowhammer at a feeding station

Non-avian highlights were the group of Bottle-nosed Dolphins which were very close to the shore and put on a real show, constantly leaping out of the sea.

Bottle-nosed Dolphin

We met in the bar for the bird log before dinner and retired early to bed as we had an extremely early start the next day. 

Monday May 15^th

Assembly time outside the hotel was just after 4am and we loaded up our overnight bags and left promptly at 04.15 for our drive to Skye. We made the odd roadside stop, once for a particularly smart Black Grouse. 

Black Grouse

Some of us also saw Red Kite and Osprey while others caught up on their beauty sleep. We arrived at Uig Ferry Terminal just after 8am and our guides checked us in for the ferry. We then had time for a packed breakfast before driving onto the ferry. We decanted our vans and went up to the uppermost deck ready for a two-hour seawatch.

Departing Uig on Skye

Just after departure our first birds were two Black Guillemot, these were soon followed by the other three breeding auks which streamed past the ship regularly during the first half hour. It then quietened down and we saw very little else apart from one Bonxie as we approached North Uist. 

Approaching North Uist

We boarded the vans and were soon on our way although the destination kept changing. Along the way we briefly saw a Short-eared Owl. Eventually we settled on going to look for the Dotterel but just as we approached the area we saw another group of birders on the corner who informed us they were watching an obliging Corncrake. We decided this was too good an opportunity to miss and a minute later we were watching said bird. It showed very well on and off for ages, calling continuously to its rival which was at the other end of this marshy spot.

Corncrake

Eventually we left it and moved on up the road to the Dotterel field. It took a few anxious minutes to find it but I picked it up near an abandoned car. We had good scope views as it came closer, picking up food in the typical plover fashion.

Dotterel

We stopped for another view of the Corncrake then drove a short distance to a loch where there was a sleeping Garganey. We carried on to the RSPB visitor centre and ate our picnic lunch before carrying on to explore the area further. Afternoon highlights included White-tailed Eagle and Whooper Swan. We tried a seawatch for passage skuas but didn’t see any so headed south over to Benbecula and checked into our hotel. While having dinner we saw a male Hen Harrier hunting across the road. 

Scotland: Highlands & Wester Ross

This was a week-long birding trip with Heatherlea: Highlands & Wester Ross from July 16th-23rd, 2022. We were based in Heatherlea's own hotel 'Mount View' in Nethy Bridge for most of the week with a two night stay at Gairloch on the West Coast.

I travelled up on the midday train from Kings Cross to Aviemore with my friends John and Janet. For some inexplicable reason we all had to decant trains at York and board another train that had just arrived from the north while our train went back to London. We kept a bird list but it was slow going and we were relieved to arrive just 15 minutes late. Heatherlea picked us up, along with several other fellow passengers and we made our way to Nethybridge. After a quick check in we had dinner and discussed plans for the next day's birding.

On Sunday we had a day birding locally, firstly in Abernethy Forest to look for Crossbills and Crested Tit. We had good views of the first but only heard the latter. There were quite a lot of Ringlets on the wing including several lacking the golden circles that give them their name.

Common Crossbill

'Plain' Ringlet

We stopped at a private loch to see a fine Slavonian Grebe then drove around a private estate hoping to see Capercaillie which we didn't. We stopped for a distant Dipper at Old Spey Bridge and saw several butterflies including Northern Brown Argus before ending the day at Lochindorb seeing Black-throated Divers and plenty of Red Grouse.

Spey river with resident Dipper

Old Spey Bridge

Northern Brown Argus

Lochindorb

Red Grouse

On Monday we left straight after breakfast for our West Coast expedition, picking up Red Kite along the way. During our three day visit we explored many bays along the coast and various moorland stops, seeing three species of diver, White-tailed Eagle, Black Guillemot, Otter and a Hooded Crow on the roof of our hotel.

Otter

Hooded Crow

Red-throated Diver

Our hotel at Gairloch

A roadside stop in western Scotland

Waterfall

We walked up a hill looking for Ptarmigan but didn’t see any, however we did get brief views of Azure Hawker, a rare and very localised dragonfly and a new one for me. We were always on the lookout for wildlife and also saw several Magpie Moths and even visited a public convenience just to look for moths!

Walking up the hill

Scanning for Ptarmigan

View from the top

Northern Marsh Orchid

Magpie Moth

Dotted Carpet

On the middle day we had a boat trip out towards Skye, actually a RHIB which was fast as well as surprisingly comfortable. This was the highlight of the trip for most people (probably everyone), starting with close up Storm Petrels and even a couple of Leach's Petrels, a pod of acrobatic Common Dolphins and a Minke Whale that spent about 20 minutes checking us out, circling the boat and even swimming just underneath us. At one point it surfaced so close to us that you could even see its blow, which you don’t normally see on these small whales. We also saw a flock of Manx Shearwaters as well as Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills.

Common Dolphins

Minke Whale

Back at Nethybridge we had a Dipper the following morning before breakfast from the main bridge in the village before spending another day in the Highlands, this time seeing several Crested Tits and several Northern Spinach moths before stopping to visit a pair of breeding Ospreys.

Dipper at Nethybridge

Osprey nest

Northern Spinach moth

We then spent the rest of the afternoon in the Lower Findhorn Valley which was full of raptors including two Golden Eagles, a distant White-tailed Eagle, Osprey and Peregrine. There were plenty of insects including Emerald Damselfly and more butterflies and moths.

Emerald Damselfly

After dinner we had an evening visit to see a Short-eared Owl on the moors.

Our last day's birding was spent on the East Coast, primarily at Troup Head which hosts Scotland's only mainland gannetry along with plenty of other breeding seabirds. Bird flu was in evidence with many Gannet corpses littering the cliffs. The coastal walk was good for butterflies, especially Dark Green Fritillary.

Troup Head seabird colony

Troup Head Gannetry

Fulmar coming in to land

Dark Green Fritillary

We also visited a few other sites for waders and other seabirds before making our way back to Mount View for our last night and then the return train journey back to London.