STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0140 : Oh, What A Night! (10/4/15)

0140 : Oh, What A Night! (10/4/15)

Once again I had the opportunity to have an evening outing around the local area with my birding buddy, Nat. Having finished work for the week at 4pm I headed for home as quickly as I could to get organised for getting picked up around 1730. With the sun shining and mild temperatures things looked quite promising.

Osprey with Pike

I was out the door a bit early, but as expected Nat was already waiting for me nearby. Between home and the car I got the list for the evening started with a House Sparrow perched on a bush and a flyover Feral Pigeon. A Lesser Black Backed Gull was perched on a lamp post. Carrion Crow was seen as we drove along Clepington Road. While waiting at the Kingsway/Forfar Road junction, I spotted a Sparrowhawk above the Morgan Academy playing fields. This used to be a favourite haunt of Kestrels when I was still at primary school. Rather a long time ago.

Starling was added as we passed Mill O'Mains. Further on we turned off the A90 to take the back roads to our planned destination for at least part of the evening - Loch of Kinnordy, near Kirriemuir. A few Pheasants, Woodpigeons, Rooks, Pied Wagtails and Common Gulls were seen, but rather surprisingly no Buzzards.

We arrived at the Loch around 1800, spotting a Blue Tit in the trees by the car park before we headed into the Gullery hide. It was a lovely evening and very mild, bordering on warm. Sometimes even when conditions are like this the hide can get quite cold but this turned out to not be one of these evenings.

There were a few other folk in the hide but there was plenty of space, so we positioned ourselves near the right hand end. An initial scan of the Loch picked up Mute Swan, Oystercatchers, Gadwall, Mallards, Coot, and Greylags. A few Snipe wandered around on the bogbean islands, although they could be tricky to pick out at times. There was however no sign of a Jack Snipe which had been reported the previous day. Nor was there any sign of a Garganey pair also seen on the Thursday.

There was however a Little Ringed Plover showing rather well on the islands. I pointed the bird out to Nat, for who it was a new species. It was also a year-tick for me. The first, but not the last of the evening. An Osprey appeared over the Loch, and not as far away as most of the views had been last April and May. The bird was ringed with a white ring coded LN.

A couple of unsuccessful attempts at fishing were made but it was a case of third time lucky with a small-ish Pike being caught which was taken to a wooden pole at the back of the reserve to be eaten. While watching the bird above the water I picked up a very distant Sparrowhawk through the binoculars somewhere over the estate to the north.

Lapwings had zipped and swirled around as the Osprey circled and hovered above, and further away towards the eastern end Teal and Tufted Ducks could be seen. A couple of Redshanks were found among the other waders, picking through the vegetation, surprisingly unobtrusively. A Whooper Swan was discovered over towards the reeds at the rear of the reserve. A Moorhen swam between islands and there was plenty of noisy activity coming from the Rooks at their nests in the rookery near the Swamp Hide.

A Grey Heron flew by, the heavy wingbeats giving an impression of Osprey again, at first glance. Over the reeds across the far side, beyond the islands a male Marsh Harrier appeared, almost floating just above the reeds before dropping down out of sight again. Another year-tick for me. I didn't have too long to wait for yet another when we spotted a large group of Sand Martins over the water to the east, milling around like a cloud of oversized midgies.

A female Shoveler splashed down on the water in front of the hide. As is often the case here, there was always something going on and this kept us occupied. I had a quick look around in the trees outside for a few minutes, adding Blackbird, Wren and Blue Tit. Black Headed Gulls showed up a few minutes after I had sat down again inside the hide. The female Marsh Harrier put in an appearance, and at one point both male and female were on the wing above the reeds. Great to see.

We had been hearing Water Rails sharming calls from various parts of the reedbeds all night, sometimes quiet and distant, other times rather close by and relatively loud. I watched for movement among the reeds and thought I had found one when I saw some movement among the reeds. Unfortunately this turned out just to be another Wren. We didn't have to wait too long though for one of these elusive birds to show wandering out from the edge of the reeds. Nat spotted movement down below the hide and I managed to catch a glimpse as a second bird flew the short distance into the reeds.

Pied Wagtails had started to appear on the bogbean and we were joined by Gus Guthrie in the hide. We chatted about what we had seen and recent birds we had both seen. The sun had set and the light was starting to go, although the clear skies meant that it was still possible to watch a lot of activity going on. The Water Rails to our right appeared again and I even managed to shoot a small video clip, despite the poor light levels, using the Nikon P900.

A couple of animals splashing around on the water got our collective attentions next and these turned out to be a pair of Otters, possibly youngsters playing around, before they disappeared into the reeds. Although it is always good to see these animals given their historically fairly recent persecution in Scotland, the thought that the Marsh Harriers may attempt to breed among the same reedbeds as the Otters had vanished into doesn't bode too well for success.

Another potential hazard for the breeding success or otherwise of these rare raptors on the reserve, where they have bred successfully a few years ago, put in an appearance next. Two more wakes appeared on the water, and Gus picked out the cause using his scope. The activity on the water here was much less frenetic, far more relaxed, though purposeful. A pair of Beavers, my first sighting ever of these large mammals. Despite the use of Gus's scope, I can't say it was a great view, but it was still a first for me. Gus found a third Beaver a little further behind the initial pair. The danger to any attempt at nesting by the Harriers comes in the potential for a rise in water levels if the Beavers succeed in creating a dam to control the water levels.

There was a large movement of Jackdaws heading to roost with groups flying low across the loch and there was steady movement of Pied Wagtails in the direction of their roost in the reeds to the left of the hide. We had another view of the Water Rails a few minutes after Gus had left to head home, though with the light now being fairly minimal we decided to call it a night and head back down the road after what was a really successful and enjoyable evening. We had managed to see 36 species of birds, with 4 of these (in bold) being new for my year-list.

Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Common Gull, Coot, Gadwall, Grey Heron, Greylag, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Ringed Plover, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shoveler, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tufted Duck, Water Rail, Whooper Swan, Woodpigeon, Wren.