STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0173 : Inland Expedition (17/6/15)

0173 : Inland Expedition (17/6/15)

Another Wednesday and another welcome day off from work, and with it another day out birding with Nat. With little new of real interest around we pondered on the available options before deciding on an inland foray visiting some glens and lochs and seeing how the time available went and where we eventually ended up. Basically a day with only a very rough plan. Sometimes these sorts of days are among the best, and as things turned out this one was to be no exception.

Short Eared Owl

A trio of regular local birds began the list - House Sparrow, Starling and Lesser Black Backed Gull, all seen as I headed to the car to meet Nat. Once we were on our way we added Carrion Crow and Feral Pigeon, quickly followed by Woodpigeon as we headed out of Dundee. Passing through a small town en route we added Collared Dove, House Martin and Swift in quick succession, with Rook seen once we were back out in the countryside. Two more country road specialities were next, Buzzard and Pheasant. As we neared our first 'area', I mentioned having previously seen Whitethroat on this stretch of road and sure enough, up it popped on a gorse bush by the roadside.

Swallows swooped low over the road as we drove further on, at a slow pace. A largish bird flew out from the trees by the roadside. The proportions seemed wrong with a large and long, heavy-looking tail and a small head and pointed wings. A Cuckoo. Meadow Pipits began to appear on the roadside fences, and we watched a Kestrel hovering above a field a little down the road. A Snipe on top of an electricity pole was a welcome sight, and a second bird was perched on the next pole along. Neither bird was concerned by the car stopping to photograph them atop their lofty perches. We found a place to pull in and stop to watch some roadside conifers. We could hear birds calling and singing from within but seeing them was a bit trickier though we did eventually manage to see both Chaffinch and Mistle Thrush with some flyover Jackdaws adding to the mix.

Blackbird and Linnet were next, a single bird and a pair. Ahead of us we spotted a large pale-looking bird hunting low above the scrubby vegetation off the road. This was the bird we hoped to see here. A Short Eared Owl and we were rewarded with some close views of not one, but two, of these large silent hunters. Common Gulls and Curlews also put in appearances, though much further from the road. While watching one of the owls, it flew past a male Black Grouse that we hadn't noticed. A nice bonus bird. We could hear Skylarks singing but it took a lot of effort to finally see the tiny speck in the sky ascending higher and higher. Lapwings rounded off the list for this area and we pushed on to our second planned stop.

This was an area where a piece of rather open woodland on a steep hillside came down to meet the road. My one previous visit here had been quite productive, so I was keen to see what it could produce at this most productive of times of the year for upland areas, birdwise. On the way there we added Mallards, in a field, and Oystercatchers, which are more expected in roadside fields than the ducks. At our destination, we pulled in off the road to be welcomed by a Tree Pipit cascading down to land in the top of a tree just behind the car. A nice way to start. The high-pitched repetitive calling of a Common Sandpiper found a young bird running around among the sheep, and a party of Long Tailed Tits foraged through the trees as we explored a little. An overflying Lesser Redpoll was spotted when I heard the trilling call.

Nat picked out a Spotted Flycatcher flitting out from a tree near where we were stood and we were allowed rather close views before the bird flitted up to a higher perch. From the cliffs high above, the deep calls of a Raven echoed and we were able to watch a single bird for some time as it perched and wandered around along the cliff edge. It took flight and dived at a small-ish raptor as I was filming a video clip. From the clip we managed to decide that the bird in question wasn't the hoped for Merlin but merely another Kestrel. Still it was interesting to see. From the largest British passerine to the smallest with the next addition to the list being a Goldcrest pulling at the sheep's wool tufts caught on the rough tree bark.

We crossed the road and checked out the burn flowing by. We could hear, but not see, a wagtail. We did however get better views of the displaying Lesser Redpoll and found a Great Tit nest in a hole in a tree. Siskin was our final addition here before we moved on again. We decided against the long walk to the hide at Loch of Lintrathen, our next potential stop, instead choosing a quick look from the roadside hide further round. Great Crested Grebe, Swallows and a pair of Mute Swans were all there was to see here so we quickly pushed on again, deciding that a visit to Backwater Reservoir, and a spot of lunch, was a good plan.

We stopped by the dam, watching Meadow Pipits and a Wren while having something to eat before heading further up past the reservoir. We were looking for Cuckoos on the wires and maybe a Black Grouse or two among the trees. Nat spotted a Whinchat on a fence and a Pied Wagtail by the roadside before we saw our first Cuckoo here. Unfortunately, the light was in the 'wrong' place but I did manage a short video clip of the bird swaying around on the wires. A roadside Song Thrush and another Cuckoo or two, plus better views, and video, of the Whinchat rounded off the Backwater batch of birds and we headed for Loch of Kinnordy to see what we could add there.

As we reached the end of the reserve, we spotted a large brown bird low over the boggy ground just beyond the fence. The way the wings were held identified it not as the more typical Buzzard, but the female Marsh Harrier. Unfortunately as we were on a bend we couldn't stop, and the bird moved on away from us. Still, a great way to start our visit. Tufted Ducks were seen as we headed for the car park after our Harrier sighting. Once into the Gullery hide, we worked our way through the birds we could see, some of which we had already seen, but adding Sand Martin, Reed Bunting and Redshank, as well as Herring Gull and Shoveler. Grey Heron was added before we decided to visit the other hides.

Blackcap was added between the hides and Black Headed Gull was seen across th far side of the loch. Nat spotted a Coot near the reeds, and as a large raft of Greylags swam out into the open, I picked out a pair of Gadwall beyond them. An Osprey carrying a freshly caught Perch was a nice bonus but the best was yet to come. The female Marsh Harrier appeared off to our right but flew along towards us, a bit higher than if she was hunting. As she did so, she called, and the male bird appeared from somewhere, with food in his talons. Both birds headed for the back of the reserve where we were treated to our second food pass in just a few days. The light was better but the resultant photos weren't quite as sharp as I'd hoped. They did however show enough to identify the prey item as a duckling.

We headed back along the boardwalk stopping to try and find a singing Sedge warbler, which we duly did, and also finally managing to add Willow Warbler, a species we had heard but not seen at a few other locations earlier. A recently fledged Blue Tit showed really well. Black Headed Gull, and further Osprey and Marsh Harrier views were had before we moved on again, without even a hint of any white facial feathers of the resident Barn Owl(s?) appearing at the hole of the owl box on the 'lone pine'. We decided that Montreathmont Forest would give us the chance of a few species we hadn't yet seen, including both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Jay, so off we went.

Lesser Redpoll gave us good views in the pines as we walked along the track towards the ADBC hide tucked away in a small deciduous area of the largely coniferous forest. Once in place in the hide, the bird began to appear, Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits and a pair (later a trio) of Pheasants. Yellowhammers, two males at least and a female, showed well enough for me to photograph and be able to read most of the digits on a metal leg ring, which turned out to have been ringed the previous year by Chris McGuigan at the site (confirmed by Chris later). Coal Tit, Great Spotted Woodpeckers (at least 3, possibly more), and Jays (at least 3 different birds, but possibly as many as 6) were all added soon after, and we had great views of the Jays especially, allowing me some really good video clips.

In addition to the above, both Robin and Dunnock were added below the feeders. Rather surprisingly neither had been seen previously at any of the visited sites, so both were equally as welcome as the Jays in their own way. We wandered further up the track and had good views of a male Linnet perched atop a small tree. Heading back down the track, hoping for a Green Woodpecker (we had heard a few 'yaffling' but as usual they had remained unseen) we picked up a few Chiffchaffs, but had no luck with Crossbills, which continue to elude me this year. Although it was now after 7pm, the light was still good, so we decided on one last stop on our way home, settling on the hide at Balgavies Loch. One of the Ospreys was perched atop the tree next to the nest site tree, and a head could just be seen in the nest.

Greylags, Grey Heron, Mallard and Tufted Duck could all be seen out on, or around, the Loch, while Swifts, Swallows and Sand Martins circled round at various heights. A Buzzard was mobbed by a swooping Carrion Crow in a tall tree off to our left. A Coot fed a youngster among the water lillies, and after much scanning, I eventually succeeded in finding us a Moorhen for our list. This gave us our nice round total of 70 for the day, though it turned out I had managed to miss a couple of species and the real figure was 72, so we headed for home after another great day's birding.

The 72 species seen - Black Grouse, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dunnock, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Short Eared Owl, Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Pipit, Tufted Duck, Whinchat, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.