STONEFACTION BIRDING: 0226 : Sunday Surprises (25/10/15)

0226 : Sunday Surprises (25/10/15)

Nat was free for another day out birding on Sunday so we arranged to head out again. Having 'done' the Angus coast the previous day and with Nat having 'done' the Fife coast during the week we decided that we would head inland for a change of scenery and birds. With the clocks having gone back overnight we decided to head out at 0900. We would start around Alyth and work or way eastwards.

Crossbill

0900 and I was out the door to meet Nat, and off we went. Although the day started quite bright and sunny, it soon clouded over and remained rather gloomy the rest of the day. There were a few species of birds around as things were quiet at that time of a Sunday morning with hardly anyone around. Starling, Blackbird, House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon and Woodpigeon were all on the list before we left Dundee. A Mistle Thrush was seen from the Kingsway near Camperdown Park. A Buzzard was perched on a hay bale in a stubble field near Meigle. A male Pheasant was in another field a bit further on.

We passed through Alyth and out the other side. There was a different feel to the countryside, with a mixture of woodland, farmland and moor apparent. There also seemed to be fewer birds around. A Kestrel was perched on a roadside telegraph pole. A short distance further on, Nat spotted 3 Red Legged Partridges by the side of the road but they scurried off through the fence when we stopped to take photos. We stopped at the entrance track to a farm to turn the car around and while we did so, I spotted some birds in the tops of a stand of conifers. Could they be Crossbills? I got out of the car for a look. First bird I saw was a Chaffinch. The second wasn't. The birds were mostly Crossbills, at least 14 of them were seen in flight, when they moved on after giving us decent views, including seeing one bird actually carrying a cone almost as long as itself by its beak.

As we watched the flock in the trees a Meadow Pipit overflew. Doubling back on ourselves, Nat spotted a male Stonechat on a roadside fence. A second male was seen nearby too. As we drove past a small wooded area I spotted a Jay flying low across a small relatively open area and landing on a low branch just above the ground. A field with cattle in also had a number of Common Gulls roosting in it. A few Jackdaws chased each other across the road. A bird on a wire turned out to be a Fieldfare, with a Mistle Thrush on a different wire on the same stretch of road. A trio of Pheasants and a pair of Red Legged Partridges were also seen close by.

A number of Rooks by the roadside and a Robin on a fencepost were next on the list with Magpies in a sheep field following them onto the list for the day. Two drake Mallards together on a small burn were seen before we stopped at an area we had decent luck at earlier in the year. It was much quieter however, with a few Siskins and a Goldcrest all that were seen here. We headed next to Backwater Reservoir which can either be very good or very dead, rarely is there a middle ground. Despite a few Cormorants near the dam and a pair of Ravens flying down the glen, there were almost no birds to be seen until we reached the top end car park.

Even from here there was little to be seen, though a small group of Canada Geese on the water were a surprise. A Little Grebe dived nearby. Just as we were about to leave a pair of Crossbills overflew into the trees. At Kirkton of GlenIsla, a large mixed flock of Siskin and Lesser Redpolls flew around. We headed next to Loch of Lintrathen to walk to the raised hide. A Pied Wagtail was on the road near where we parked the car. A single Pink Footed Goose called loudly as it circled above the trees as we headed along the track to reach the hide.

There were a number of birds out on the Loch, mostly Canada Geese with a single Greylag amongst them. Coots and Wigeon were the next most numerous and there were also a few Tufted Ducks around. Two Grey Herons were along the far shoreline perched on low branches a foot or two above the water. Nat found a small group of Pochard among the ducks as I searched for Goldeneye, one of which I eventually found rather distantly. A flock of Long Tailed Tits and a few Blue and Great Tits fed in the branches below the hide windows just as we were about to leave. There was not much else to see at the other hide but another Little Grebe added to the species seen at the site.

We headed for Loch of Kinnordy next, hoping to add a few extra species and maybe be lucky enough to see the Bittern. We weren't the only ones hoping that the Bittern would show up, with Jimmy Mair, the birder we had met in Aberdeen while watching the Red Footed Falcon in September already in the hide, having apparently been there since before 0800. Kinnordy regular, Gus Guthrie was also in. There is a running joke that Gus keeps the Bittern in his van, and we once again joked about this. Needless to say, it looked like the bird had decided it wasn't going to show. This is usually what happens when I look for the Bittern. I've seen it once in about 5 years of looking, earlier this year.

There were other bird around though, thankfully. A flock of Lapwings roosted out on one of the bogbean islands. Mallards, Mute Swans, Moorhen and Greylags were on the water. There were also a few Wigeon and Teal dotted around. Tufted Ducks and a few Goldeneye were seen towards the eastern end of the Loch. A family group of 4 Shoveler flew in, and a Goosander flew past at speed heading west. There were plenty of Snipe among the bogbean on the islands, with more than 10 to be seen at one time, more than once. There were also a few Gadwall to be found. Gus had to head off and a short while later, Jimmy admitted that it wasn't going to be his day and headed off on his long journey home.

We decided to check the feeders and to see if there was anything different to be seen from the other hides. The light hadn't been great throughout the day, and as the afternoon wore on, it had got worse. Even with the ISO pushed up and the shutter speed dropped down, it was a real struggle to get usable shots of the birds in the trees between the hides. We could hear Redwings but it took a while before we eventually managed to see them. Before then though, we did chance upon a small group of Bullfinches by the side of the path which gave us reasonable views despite the gloom. Coal Tit, Dunnock and Goldfinch were seen around the feeders, as well as Red Squirrel..

From the east hide we had a better view of the Barn Owl box and could see the bird's white feathered face showing at the entrance hole. We had better views of the Goldeneye and Tufted Ducks from here. We could hear at least two Wrens but we failed to see them among the reeds in front of the hide. With the light levels dropping we headed back towards the gullery hide. A small group of Roe Deer crashed off through the trees when they realised we were nearby. The Bullfinches were once again seen by the path. We decided against trying the swamp hide, instead deciding to spend another short while in the gullery hide.

Starlings had started to gather and we watched, and listened to, the murmuration of around 300-400 birds swirling around above the Loch. Something caused the Lapwings and the Rooks to take flight and the air was filled with 100s of birds in 3 groups. Despite the gloom it was great to see. Two Buzzards were harassed by the Rooks and a large flock of Jackdaws arrived to also swarm around above the Loch. I predicted that we might have a visit by a Sparrowhawk and minutes later I spied one speeding low across the Loch towards us. It landed in the trees just to the right of the hide. There was still no sign of any Bittern, so we too gave up and headed for home. Somehow we had managed to see a total of 58 species with some decent birds among them, like the Crossbills, Bullfinches, Stonechats, Raven and Pochard.

Species seen - Barn Owl, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Crossbill, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Redpoll, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Pochard, Raven, Red Legged Partridge, Redwing, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shoveler, Siskin, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon.