STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0144 : Time For Beds (19/4/15)

0144 : Time For Beds (19/4/15)

Facebook, and social media in general, can be handy for keeping in touch with friends and family and also for keeping up with news from those folk too. It was through facebook that I found out that my birding pal, Steph's car had started to do a passable impression of a tractor. As we were planning on heading into the glens for some birding and photography, using the car as a hide of sorts, this wasn't particularly good news. When Steph turned up to pick me up on the Sunday morning, the apparent hole in the exhaust had also turned into a rather worrying rattling noise too. If we were going birding the car wasn't going to be much use as a mobile hide.

As I have no real idea with cars and the glens aren't always particularly great for mobile phone reception, if one requires the assistance of someone who does know a bit about cars and how to fix them, we decided a change of plan was probably a good idea. I had intended to head for the Tay reedbeds the following day in the hope of seeing Grasshopper Warbler and maybe Bearded Tits, but it made sense for us to drive to Errol and spend the rest of the day on foot. It just meant I would need a new plan for the following day, which wasn't a problem.

Grasshopper Warbler

As I waited for Steph to arrive I began birding, picking up a number of species - Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls sailing over, a pair of Blue Tits which appeared to have a nest site close by, flyover Carrion Crows and chirruping House Sparrows. Blackbird and Feral Pigeons were seen as we chatted in the car discussing the best plan for the day. Woodpigeons were seen on the Kingsway and Starlings were watched from the car while Steph popped into the petrol station shop by Invergowie.

Rooks and Jackdaws were in the fields as we drove in towards Errol. A few Swallows whizzed over as we parked outside the shops in the 'centre' of the village. A Jackdaw perched on a chimney opposite and a Goldfinch stared down at us from an overhead wire. A Chaffinch sang from a garden as we wandered slowly down Gas Brae. An unusual sight was a Woodpigeon perched on the top of a roof alongside a Collared Dove.

Where before there was an overgrown fenced-off area which was a great place to see Whitethroats there was now a small community garden. A lot tidier but possibly less welcoming for the local wildlife. We did however manage to see a few species here with a pair of Yellowhammers probably being the highlight. A male Blackbird and a pair of Blue Tits as well as a flyover Meadow Pipit kept us occupied for a few minutes. It was rather chilly and I was glad that I had put on an extra layer before we had headed out.

On the track ahead of us were a handful of Jackdaws with more of the species and a number of Rooks among the scrubby vegetation. A Dunnock sang from a small bush, and the first Skylark we had seen began its climb into the sky, singing loudly. A Buzzard was chased off by Rooks. We wandered down past the house by the trees and out into the open space beyond bordered by the reedbeds. It had been tidied up and appeared to be used as a motorcycle track from time to time. Not ideal but it hadn't deterred the warblers with Chiffchaff and Blackcap both heard almost immediately from either side of us. As I had yet to see Blackcap this year, it was the priority.

It didn't take long to find this particular Blackcap singing from a bush and Steph set up to try and photograph it while I wandered off to explore. A pair of Linnets landed in the small tree near the pipe down through the reeds. I walked out along the pipe for a few minutes but it was very quiet so I turned around and headed back to scan out over the reeds. From a particular point, it is possible to see a good distance to the east out over the tops of the reeds and it was from here that I spotted first one, then a pair, then finally two pairs of Marsh Harriers gliding round with Dundee and the Tay railbridge in the background.

I called to Steph, but she didn't hear me, so I walked over to give her a heads-up on the harriers. As we walked back, a call burst from the reeds relatively close by. A reeling Grasshopper Warbler! Never an easy bird to find, and even harder to see, but when they are recently arrived they can sometimes show reasonably well. Fingers were crossed as we hurried to where the sound was bursting from. (Grasshopper Warblers are so named because they sound like Grasshoppers and their 'song' is known as 'reeling').

We spotted movement among the reed stems and raised our cameras in anticipation as the bird moved around among the reeds stopping to give short bursts of 'song' from time to time. Eventually we managed a few photos with only a few stems breaking up the Grasshopper Warbler's outline. Mission accomplished and with relative ease. Thankfully. We decided to walk along through the woods to the Port Allen pools. A Wren sang loudly from the undergrowth and a Song Thrush did likewise from the branches of a mature deciduous tree above us.

Wandering through the trees we were inundated with calls and songs of birds - Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Chaffinches, Wrens, Blue TIts, Great Tits and others. However, not all were easy to see. A Great Tit showed relatively well, as we searched for a calling Chiffchaff which we eventually did manage to see. A pair of Long Tailed Tits passed through the trees above us, calling to each other as they went. We stopped to scan across the large expanse of the reedbeds from an opening in the trees but there was little to see.

We wandered down to the corner of the first large pool, and using binoculars added a few more species to the list for the day - Mallards, Mute Swans, Tufted Ducks, Goldeneye, Wigeon, Great Crested Grebes, Little Grebes and Coots. A Grey Heron flew out from below the trees as we walked slowly along the raised banking between the pool and the reeds. Steph stopped to photograph something and I wandered on ahead.

A call came from the reeds - a 'ping' and a Bearded Tit flew low along the tops of the reeds. I called to Steph as the bird dropped back into the reeds. A few seconds later a second bird zoomed up and along the tops and dropped back on. Unfortunately, Steph missed seeing the bird, and I failed to get a photo as the autofocus chose to focus on the reed-tops.

We wandered on to the small bridge down from the houses at Port Allen to have something to eat. Swallows and Sand Martins were whizzing around above the trees catching flies. Once we'd had a bit of food we wandered along to the west to see if there was anything on the other pool.A Lapwing overflew. A Willow Warbler sang from the top of a tree. We decided to head back to Errol but taking our time.

A slight detour along to the end of the channel added a decent amount of Shelduck and some Teal. A large skein of Pink Footed Geese overflew. We spent a bit of time watching birds flying in and out of the vegetation by the bridge. A Blackcap, some House Sparrows, a Dunnock, Blue Tits, Chaffinch and even a rather early Sedge Warbler. Wandering through the trees we watched Blackcaps and Reed Buntings flitting through the trees. Stopping at another opening, I spotted a pair of House Martins over the field. From the main viewpoint out over the reeds we watched a male Marsh Harrier with a single yellow wing tag fly down the edge of the reedbeds.

Further on through the trees, we ran into a Treecreeper feeding on surprisingly small trees, as well as a few Coal Tits, Long Tailed Tits and a Robin. We decided to have a quick check to see if we could see the Grasshopper Warbler again, but it wasn't nearly as showy second time around with just brief glimpses among the reeds. As we watched a Marsh Harrier appeared high overhead and circled up and away to the north over the trees.

We walked back up Gas Brae, a few Yellowhammers, Jackdaws and Woodpigeons being all we saw until we reched the village again where we were greeted by House Sparrows and another Woodpgeon. With the car sounding like a tractor we took the back roads to Invergowrie, adding Pheasant and Black Headed Gull to the day list on the way.

A surprisingly productive day, despite the change of location, with a nice mix of species among the 53 seen (4 new for year in bold).

Bearded Tit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Coot, Dunnock, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Grasshopper Warbler, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Shelduck, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.