I've been neglecting my blog lately, but a free Sunday afternoon has finally given me a chance to update it. June has been a barren month bird watching wise, only one addition to my year list with a common guillemot flying past the ferry as we neared Newhaven last weekend.
Friday 22nd - Thursday 26th May - Scotland (67 species - 152 for year)
However, the undoubted birding highlight recently was a trip to the Cairngorms in Scotland with my walking group. Although the main aim of the weekend was primarily walking, there was lots of opportunities to include some great birding, and I managed to add another twelve species to my year list.
Friday
Thursday was mainly a travelling day, but a stop at the renowned Inshriach Tea Rooms provided the first wildlife highlight. This is primarily a garden centre, but it has a great café and you sit facing out onto an impressive array of bird feeders. Coal tits and a great spotted woodpecker provided the birding highlights, but the star of the show finally made an appearance with this lovely red squirrel:
Saturday
Saturday was to be our main walking day with the plan being to start from the Cairngorm Ski Centre and see how far we got. Little did we realise, that this meant an ascent of Ben Macdhui, Scotland's second highest mountain.
As we set off from the car park, I soon picked up my first year tick with a close red grouse, that quickly flew away. Ad we climbed towards the corries and the plateau, I picked up a distant ptarmigan. However, any disappointment at the distant view was swept away with a succession of close up encounters of a bird that had previously proven difficult for me to see.
As we struck out for the summit, the going became rockier and there were several large snow fields to cross. The views from the summit were spectacular, and an added bonus were the large numbers of snow buntings flitting around the summit cairn.
As we descended, I caught sight of three low flying dotterel , a life tick for me. It got even better as we crossed the plateau and a pair flew in front of us and settled a short distance away. A great day.
Sunday
After the heights of the previous day, it was a more relaxed day today and a chance to explore the Caledonian pine forest around Loch Garten. Down by the loch, a spotted flycatcher was feeding and a redstart briefly alighted in a nearby tree. A flock of siskins noisily passed overhead, and as we pressed deeper into the woods a crested tit could be heard calling. Just before the car park, a goldcrest came down to head height to give great views.
Monday
Monday was spent in possibly one of my favourite places in the UK - the Findhorn Valley. There's always a frisson of excitement as you enter the valley and head up the dead end road. At our first stop, a common tern was fishing along the river, but a small group of visiting birdwatchers drew our attention to a lovely fishing dipper.
Towards the end of the valley we took a stroll up a hillside spotting a mountain hare and startling some feral goats.
Lunch was spent at the car park at the end of the valley where a very kindly guide from Aigas was able to point out a very distant golden eagle to us. We then headed over the spectacular Farr Road to drop into Loch Ruthen. The slavonian grebes were very distant compared to when we holidayed just up the road from here in 2013. A cuckoo could also be heard calling.
Tuesday
Our final day was a travel day, but we dropped into Loch Insh on the way back, where we were lucky to get good views of the pair of nesting osprey. This is a much better view of them, than you get at Loch Garten.
En route back to Edinburgh airport, there was still time for one final year tick with hooded crow in a field near Loch Leven.
I took Friday off work to have a long weekend at my parents in Sussex. That gave me the chance to catch up on a number of local birding sights.
Friday 8th May - Pulborough Brooks RSPB (52 species - 136 for year)
Although the car park was full, I was the first birder onto the reserve and pretty much had it to myself for the first hour.
Heading down the zigzags, I very quickly picked up a number of summer migrants - willow, chiffchaff, blackcap & whitethroat and my first garden warbler of the year. Moving onto Fattengates courtyard, I caught a brief song of my main target species (more later). Two bullfinches landed in a nearby bush,
Jupp View was quiet, After much searching, I finally found a ringed plover. There were lots of shelduck and a couple of little egrets. From Nettleys Hide, a sedge warbler was singing and an Egyptian goose was a site tick.
As I climbed the hill, I heard a lesser whitethroat sing from deep within the brambles. The Hanger produced a linnet with more warblers. Three distant buzzards were spotted.
At Little Hanger, a sudden burst of song meant, I'd found the nightingales. Two more birds were singing along Adder Alley, including one which sat nicely atop a bush.
The pool in front of Winpenny Hide had a late pair of pintail, whilst a kestrel hovered over the distant hills.
A great spotted woodpecker was on the feeders in the café area.
Saturday 9th May - Seaford Head (10 species - 138 for year)
I had intended to do a sea watch but when I got down to Seaford, it was blowing an absolute gale and before long pouring with rain. I grabbed a spot with a couple of the regulars on the benches half way up the cliff. They were soon calling out skuas, but I was struggling so much to hold my tripod still, I failed to spot any of them. I did manage to see a few gannets and a small group of common scoter flew past. The only other highlight was some sandwich terns.
Saturday 9th May - Bough Beech Reservoir (39 species - 138 for year)
With the weather on the coast so bad, I decided to head inland. As I hadn't been to Bough Beech this year, I decided to drop in here. Run by the Kent Wildlife Trust, I've seen some good birds here over the years - GWE, GND, bearded tit & rather bizarrely a pelican.
I picked up a few spring birds including a singing garden warbler with the willow warblers, blackcaps, chiffchaffs & whitethroats. I also had a nightingale singing from deep within the undergrowth.
A little egret fed next to two shelduck in the far bank and some common terns were fishing close in on both the reservoir and the pool.
Other highlights were a close buzzard, a stock dove, a single lapwing and swifts, swallows & a house martin.
Well worth the detour
Sunday 10th May - Old Lodge Nature Reserve (29 species - 140 for year)
This is probably my Sussex local patch, as I pay it a visit on every trip I make down there. At this time of year, it has some very special birds.
As I got out the car, a number of willow warblers were calling along with chiffchaff. From the top path, I spotted a distant great spotted woodpecker and a cuckoo was heard calling (I would hear at least two birds, maybe three throughout the morning).
At the ponds, I found a tree pipit perched on the wires. In the valley, I had a whitethroat and a long tailed tit on the gorse. On Pippingford was another whitethroat.
A pair of woodlark were performing a courtship routine on the telegraph wires on the long straight, as nine fallow deer ran across in front of me. A loudly singing bird soon caught my attention and as I headed downhill back towards the valley, I found my main target for the day perched atop a pine - a beautiful male redstart.
I then had my bizarre moment of the day, as literally hundreds of racing pigeons flew over my head. They must have been released from a nearby car park. It spooked the local raptors two - with a kestrel and at least two buzzards suddenly appearing.
As I moved through the gorse back up to the top path, I finally found a pair of stonechats, and whilst I was chatting to a birder on the top path, I caught a glimpse of a female redstart flying into a gorse bush.
Just before the car park, I saw another birder photographing two birds close by on the ground. I crept up alongside him to find two stunning woodlark a great end to a good morning.
Always a pleasure to visit this lovely spot.
Sunday 3rd May (62 species - 134 for year)
A weekend to myself meant I got to go on two birding trips. As I needed to be back for lunchtime to catch Chelsea winning the title, I stayed closer to home & ventured to Otmoor.
The weather was OK when I left, but around High Wycombe the heavens opened and didn't improve for the rest of the journey. My first couple of hours' birding was in steady sometimes heavy rain, but there was lots about, so it didn't matter too much.
Whilst I was putting my boots on, I heard a cuckoo. A wander down the Roman Road didn't deliver the hoped for grasshopper warbler, but two nice close male bullfinches were nice compensation. Lots of singing birds in the hedgerows.
Arriving at Greenaways, I did a quick scan in the hope that the cranes that recently arrived in the area might be showing, No such joy. However, there were two marsh harriers over the back and a hobby dashed through.
The rain was heavy now, so I dived into the hide, where things were very quiet. Venturing out again I had an abortive search of Big Otmoor for the garganey that had been reported the previous day. Swallows & swifts were overhead and more cuckoos were calling.
On the walk down to the first screen, I soon came across a loudly singing lesser whitethroat. Not much else to report on the walk down to the second screen - two cettis warbler and a pair of red legged partridges. Lots of very showy sedge warblers too.
At the first screen on the return was an incredibly tame muntjac. It fed just twenty feet away from me (bad mobile phone shot below)
I stopped to listen again and try and see better the lesser whitethroat. However, almost immediately I was onto the star bird of the day - a whirring grasshopper warbler. Result!
On the walk back to the car, no less than five hobbies were hawking over the reedbeds.
Saturday 2nd May (66 species - 132 for year)
Looking back through my notes, I see it's been four years since I was last at this cracking reserve. After a very fruitful day yesterday with no less than eleven year ticks, it hopefully won't be as long before I am back there again.
I arrived just after 8am, so had an hour and a half before the reserve opened, so I went for a walk along the river wall. Whitethroats were immediately obvious with nearly every bush seeming to have one perched on top. I soon added my first year tick with a singing sedge warbler. My second shortly followed with a very showy wheatear on some waste ground, that was soon joined by a second bird.
The reserve was now open, so after a quick cuppa & a caramel shortbread, I ventured forth. My next year tick wasn't far away, as I heard a calling cuckoo which soon became visible flying into a distant tree.
The woodland around the old cordite stores held a good selection of migrants - blackcap, a very confiding chiffchaff, more whitethroat and as I made my way back into the reedbeds an incredible number of cettis warblers, including several birds that showed themselves. There were a good number of reed warblers too.
At the first hide, I caught a glimpse of two marsh harriers, which I would get much closer views of later. Along the boardwalk, I soon heard a close pinging in the reeds and a striking male bearded tit showed itself at the top of a reed. Over the water were a number of swallows and my first swifts of the year.
There were plenty of birders scanning the Target Pools, as a pectoral sandpiper had been present since midweek. Sadly, it wasn't playing ball today, so another twitching dip for me. From the hide, I saw four summer plumage black tailed godwits. The marsh harriers were much closer here and a buzzard was a site tick.
I decided to move to a nearby viewpoint, and my luck picked up - 3 ringed plover, then a little ringed plover before a hobby passed close by.
The walk back to the visitor centre was largely uneventful. The sun then popped out and I sat on a bench near the visitor centre to see what would come to me, Five whimbrel flew up from the scrape, and a careful scan revealed four more. The high tide on the river was pushing in waders with another little ringed plover and several redshank also spotted.
I was then alerted by another visiting birder (Oliver Timms) to the presence of several greenshank on Aveley Flashes. A quick walk around soon had us watching three of these elegant waders with two oystercatchers bringing the wader total up to eight species. Two raptors then sped across the water towards us, one with prey in its talons. They were too large for hobbies and as they came overhead, we could see they were a pair of peregrine falcons.
A most enjoyable day!
Sunday 19th April (60 species - 121 for year)
Last weekend, I made my second trip of the year to Tring Reservoirs. Unlike my first fogbound visit, it was lovely to see some sunshine, even if the temperatures when I arrived were a little above freezing.
I started off by heading around to the jetty. It quickly became apparent, there were huge numbers of hirundines feeding above the lake, mostly sand martins but with a few swallows and house martins among them. The trees behind the jetty were alive to birdsong - chiffchaff, blackcap and my first willow warblers of the year. As I headed back around towards the car park, a beautiful male yellow wagtail landed on the bank just in front of me and a little further around, I found a second bird.
The hide itself was quiet. The water levels seem quite high at present. In the woods behind the hide were several singing blackcaps.
Heading up to the dry canal (which is now not so dry in places), I found a couple of singing whitethroats. A manure covered field did not yield the hoped for wheatears, but there were several yellowhammers and a song thrush in compensation.
Heading along the canal towards Tringford, the grasshopper warbler that had been heard earlier that morning was sadly silent, but heading across the field, I spotted a fine mistle thrush.
Tringford was quiet, but Startops held large number of common terns and another yellow wagtail. A closer inspection of the bales revealed both a redshank and a common sandpiper.
Marsworth held more terns plus a calling cettis warbler.
Back at Wilstone, an oystercatcher was the only new bird of note.
I then decided to head up to Inchcombe Hole near Ivinghoe Beacon, where large numbers of ring ouzels have been sighted recently. The Hole itself was heavily disturbed by walkers, so I headed over to the back where I spotted a group of birders intently scanning a far field. Sure enough, there were up to ten ring ouzels - mostly male - to be found. Heading back to the car, a buzzard flew low overhead.
A great end to a good day!
Sunday 12th April (24 species - 112 for year)
It was a breezy day today, but some beautiful sunshine. In need of getting some miles in my legs in preparation for attempt to climb Ben Nevis in May, we headed out to the Berkshire Downs and the Ridgeway. It was a good chance to get some farmland birds and perhaps one or two migrant year ticks.
As we climbed the hill away from the car park, a singing blackcap soon got my attention. As we reached the top of the hill, a number of displaying red kites and buzzards soon appeared.
As the scenery got more spectacular, a sudden alarm call revealed two red legged partridge scurrying away from us.
just before our planned lunch spot at Bury Down, my second year tick put in an appearance, a beautiful male yellowhammer, which I almost trod on during the return journey.
The raptor count went up as a kestrel passed overhead, with another seen much closer shortly later. Just before the end, the buzzards and red kites provided more great close up views and a pair of red partridge were in the field by the car.
Wednesday 22nd March (30 species - 110 for year)
My first visit this year to one of my favourite bird watching spots - Old Lodge Nature Reserve on Ashdown Forest. No matter what time of the year you visit, there's usually something good to see.
Thank goodness the wind had dropped today, but it was still rather chilly,
The top path was fairly quiet until two birds popped up on top of a small tree - woodlarks. As I headed down the hill past the paddocks, a nuthatch called loudly from the top of a nearby tree and a jay was by the pond. in the valley, a couple of overflying fieldfare reminded me that winter wasn't quite over yet.
Scanning the nearby fields revealed at least four soaring buzzards and one of the local ravens passed cronking overhead.
The back path was quiet save for some calling treecreepers and another buzzard to two. Lots of coal tits were calling from the pines on the long straight. Great spotted woodpeckers were drumming and calling, as were green wooodpeckers.
I then took a side path and came across a lovely mixed feeding flock - several goldcrests, blue tits, goldfinches, reed buntings, chaffinches, robins and wrens. A good way to finish.
