STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0164 : Midweek Meanderings (20/5/15)

0164 : Midweek Meanderings (20/5/15)

I recently dropped my working hours to 30 per week (over 4 days rather than 5)to benefit my health and overall well-being, so with now having every Wednesday free I am able to get another day of birding in. My birding buddy Nat is also usually free on a Wednesday so we are trying to get out and about if possible and bump up Nat's life-list in the process, having already seen a wide variety of birds on our days out so far this year. With Nat having not yet seen a Redstart we decided to try for one in the Angus glens.

Stonechat

Heading out just before 8am, the local House Sparrows and Herring Gulls welcomed me into the daylight, with Starling and a lone Swift added before I reached Nat's car. While discussing the plan for the day we added Feral Pigeon. Some of the Angus glens are better than others for particular species, while some other birds can be found in most, if not all, of them. We were off to try one that I had managed to see Redstart in before, though it wasn't one I visited very often.

On the road up we added Carrion Crow first of all, followed by Pheasant, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Blackbird and Swallow. As we turned down the main glen road we added a few more species on the first stretch - Woodpigeon, Chaffinch and then both Mistle and Song Thrush in the same field. We found a place to stop and have a walk along the road to see what we could find.

I had seen Spotted Flycatcher at this point before and sure enough the first bird we found was a Spotted Flycatcher flying up from a fence, catching insects and returning back to the fence. As we approached however it flew up into a large tree. A calling Chiffchaff gave its position away and was added to the list. Willow Warbler and Siskin were next in what was turning out to be a rather productive small section of the glen. Blue Tits flashed around among the greenery on the next tree along. I spotted another bird fly into a tree slightly further down the slope. It turned out to be a nice male Bullfinch.

A Tree Pipit sang and gave a short display flight from yet another tree, though clear views were tricky to get through the tangle of branches. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was the next addition. I could hear a bird singing as we wandered back, and was sure it was a Redstart but it proved rather tricky to find high in the trees. Eventually I found a spot on the road from where I could see it. Unfortunately it moved again before Nat could get onto it. I succeeded in finding it once again but it was not settling for any longer than a second or two and Nat only managed to see the bird in flight as it flew into the main plantation area on the opposite side of the road.

We headed on further into the glen where a Linnet was a slight surprise. Long Tailed Tits were working their way through the trees, contact calls ringing out. We had another walk watching Spotted Flycatchers catching insects on the wing from a variety of perches. Lesser Redpolls flew over trilling as they went. Jackdaws were in another field. The first Meadow Pipit of the day perched on a fence watching us. A Robin was discovered in a small bush.

Another bird we were hoping to find was Whinchat and I had seen a pair in this particular part of the glen before. I could hear a bird singing that I didn't recognise and I figured it was likely to be Whinchat so I searched around the area of hillside where the sound was coming from. After about 5 minutes I picked out the bird quite distantly, perched atop a small conifer. I managed to somehow describe the correct tree and to direct Nat onto the bird.

We wandered uphill a bit adding a Wren picking around in a fallen conifer, as well as a House Martin skimming the treetops for insects. A Great Tit flitted around while above it Willow Warbler and Spotted Flycatchers made short airborne forays for unseen targets. A Pied Wagtail was seen on a stone in the burn, and after a bit of searching the Grey Wagtail I could hear calling was also found.

We headed on up the glen a bit further to an area where Red Grouse and Black Grouse can usually be found, though sometimes rather distant. Lapwings and Oystercatchers were in the field on one side of the road, while a Snipe made a short display flight before dropping back into the heather on the hillside. A Curlew landed further up the hill. Scanning through the heather I found a Red Grouse male stood on a slight rise, surveying all in front of him. A male Black Grouse flew low before dropping into the heather and disappearing from our sight.

Having seen the two hoped for species we pushed on further down the glen to the end of the road. We grabbed a quick bite to eat before wandering up a track for a bit. Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Mistle Thrush and Starlings were the main species seen. Arriving back at the car, we watched a Grey Heron flying down the glen. At a fork in the road on our way back, we decided to take the alternative route from the one we had been on earlier. We stopped to search for Redstart again but drew a blank.

Further on, I almost missed a Cuckoo perched on overhead wires behind a cottage. Nat stopped the car and we craned back over our shoulders to confirm that it was indeed a Cuckoo, before it flew off and we moved on again. We stopped at another place where I had seen Redstart in the past, and sure enough we could hear a bird singing when we got out of the car. A few Pheasants in a field nearby ran off down the hill, and a Mistle Thrush flew into the trees. No matter where we stood along the road we could not pick out the Redstart among the trees. It seemed to move at various times but we never even saw the movement taking the bird from tree to tree. We did see a Great Spotted Woodpecker below the trees though. Eventually we had to give up and move on.

We decided on a quick visit to another glen to see if we could add anything else to our list for the day. Mallard was a surprising addition as a pair overflew. A little further on a Sparrowhawk flew over the raod and across the glen with a bit of harassment from a Carrion Crow as it went. A Stonechat by the side of the road was another nice surprise. A Kestrel was next and on reaching the end of the road we watched a few Sand Martins whizzing around.

We had a walk back along the road a bit for hopefully better views of the Stonechat. A squabble between 3 Ravens resulted in a high speed chase over us involving 2 of the 3 birds. We could hear a few Red Grouse but couldn't see them. A Meadow Pipit popped up on the fence but a little further on, so had the Stonechat male. We approached slowly and the bird moved into a small roadside tree where it gave us very close views and was joined by the slightly shyer female. We took a few photos and headed back to the car.

With a bit of time left before Nat had to be home, we decided to pop into Loch of Kinnordy for half an hour or so just to round off the list. A Red Legged Partridge was seen on our way out of the glen. Black Headed Gulls were on the bogbean islands at the Loch when we arrived, with Shelduck near the hide, and Coot, Mallard, Shoveler and Tufted Ducks dotted around on the water. A few Moorhens picked around on the islands. A few distant Reed Buntings were visible in the reeds across the far side of the loch. A Common Gull flew by and we had brief flight views of the male Marsh Harrier before it was time to head for home.

61 species seen in what was once again a good day out with Nat, though the hoped for Redstart for her life-list didn't give good enough views to go on the list proper. If at first you don't succeed.....

Species seen - Black Grouse, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cuckoo, Curlew, Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Grouse, Red Legged Partridge, Redstart, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Tree Pipit, Tufted Duck, Whinchat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.