During our outing the day before to Fife Ness, Nat had suggested a possibility, weather permitting, of an evening visit to Loch of Kinnordy. With a General Election vote to be cast on the way home from work it would mean either a more rushed turnaround or a later pick-up but I was up for getting out birding if the opportunity was there. With the evenings period of usable light lengthening by a few minutes each day, we agreed on a later pick-up if Nat decided that the weather was suitable for the trip. She would send me a text message if it was on.
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| Starlings |
At lunchtime, the text came through. We were heading for Kinnordy that evening. On the way round the corner to meet Nat I started the list off with a trio of regulars - Carrion Crow, Herring Gull and Starling. Surprisingly these were the only species seen on the way out of Dundee. Things did improve slightly on the back road to Glamis and on to Kinnordy with birds in some of the roadside fields - Pheasants, Mallards (which always look odd stood in a field), Oystercatcher, Grey Partridge and Lesser Black Backed Gulls. Buzzard, Rook and Swallow plus a pair of Mute Swans on a large pool in the middle of a field rounded off the en-route list.
On reaching the reserve we added a few species from the car park - Chaffinch, Coal Tit and Great Tit in the trees and a flyover Lapwing. Once into the hide the binoculars were put to good use and the list grew a bit more. Black Headed Gulls at their nests on the bog-bean islands, a few Moorhens among them, Sand Martins low over the water with Swallows, a few pairs of Teal could be seen without much effort.
A little more effort added Grey Heron, Tufted Duck and a drake Wigeon which chose to feed a few feet in front of the hide allowing much better views than usual for what can be a rather wary species. A Wood Sandpiper had been found earlier in the day but there was no sign of it on any of the islands. A small two-tone wader flew in and landed. Unfortunately it was only a Common Sandpiper. An Osprey flew over but kept going rather than indulge in a spot of fishing. A few Pied Wagtails flitted around and a Redshank landed on the bog-bean.
A drake Shoveler edged into the water from within the longer vegetation on one of the smaller islands. Nat spotted a Snipe feeding along the edge of the loch not too far beyond where the Wigeon was feeding. A pair of Shelducks had appeared on the water off to the east. Scanning round a while later I noticed a bit of white had appeared in the owl box on the 'lone pine' across the far side of the loch. The Barn Owl was at home, and awake. I tested the reach of the P900 by taking a few photos of the box and these clearly showed the bird's face, finally giving me a 'usable' Barn Owl photo.
Not too long after two small waders landed off to our left on a narrow strip of bog-bean. The glare from the sun made it difficult to be certain of what they were so photos were taken before one of the birds took flight. The white rump on this bird confirmed that it was indeed the
Wood Sandpiper, at last, and the earlier photos showed the spangled back and wings relatively well. A nice year-tick for me. An Osprey flew in for a fishing attempt but despite hovering a few times it decided against diving and flew off to land in the trees at the far side.
We had a brief wander along to the swamp hide but the low sun made viewing rather tricky though we did add Greylag Goose there and Willow Warbler and Blackbird along the track on the way there. A Roe Deer buck sprung out from the vegetation and ran into the reeds as we reached the boardwalk on our way back. Once back in the gullery hide we spotted the male Marsh Harrier low above the reeds before it dropped out of sight again. The female appeared too and landed in the same area as the male had.
We were joined in the hide by Gus Guthrie and we chatted about various things including where we might have a chance of seeing Tawny Owls. Gus gave us directions to some of the 'better' possibilities in the area that were on our way home so we could try for one. A few Roe Deer could be seen across the far side of the reserve. As the light began to fade, Gus headed for home, leaving Nat and I to see if anything else would put in an appearance before we too headed home. A few bats, most likely Pipistrelles though apparently there are also Daubenton's Bats at Kinnordy, swung out over the water in front of the hide and I attempted to take photos and video of them. Not easy.
We called it a night at around quarter to ten and took a slow drive down the road hoping that we might see an owl on the way. Unfortunately we managed to miss the turn for the road that Gus had suggested but rather than turn around I suggested we might as well just continue our normal route. We saw a few bats flitting around, and nearing Glamis a larger round winged shape flew across the road from one wooded area and towards another.
Tawny Owl, my second year-tick of the evening.
38 species seen (2 new for the year, in bold) - Barn Owl, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Sandpiper, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Partridge, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Snipe, Starling, Swallow,
Tawny Owl, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Willow Warbler,
Wood Sandpiper, Woodpigeon.
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| Black Headed Gull |
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| Barn Owl |
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| Wigeon |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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Wood Sandpiper
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Pipistrelle Bat |
