I hadn't been very long back at home on Sunday evening when my mobile phone rang. This is quite unusual anyway - with text messages and Facebook messenger being the usual means of contact used these days. It was Jacqui. She had mentioned that she was going out on Monday with Willie and Anne Irvine to see some birds but that they hadn't yet decided where. In conversation with Anne, Jacqui had mentioned the Hoopoe at Crainlarich that because of changes to the Birdguides website I couldn't originally discover where it had even been seen, though with a 'region' showing as Forth it couldn't be too far away. I subscribed to Rare Bird Alert's app due to frustration with Birdguides (still ongoing as of Wednesday - changes implemented on Thursday last week, but still no fix!) and discovered it was just north of Crianlarich. Roughly 2 hours away. Unexpectedly, Willie had agreed to try for it, so with a cracking weather forecast for Monday, it was hoping for a Hoopoe time.
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| Red Kite |
With pick-up arranged for around 0910 at City Quay I headed out just after 0845 into warm sunshine. Swifts screamed high overhead and a Lesser Black Backed Gull unusually went on the list before Herring Gull, which was added a few minutes later after Feral Pigeon. Blackbird, Woodpigeon and Carrion Crow were all added before I reached City Quay, seconds before Willie, Anne & Jacqui arrived. Off we went westwards full of hope that in a few hours we would have had nice views and maybe managed to get a few photos of a Hoopoe in the sunshine.
Heading towards Perth we added Swallow, Oystercatcher, Grey Heron and a couple of Buzzards to the list. Continuing west of Perth we were able to put a few more onto the list with Jackdaw, Rook, Wren, House Martin and Starling all seen. We kept a look-out for Red Kites as we neared Comrie but it looked like we were going to draw a blank before Willie spotted a tractor ploughing a field and said there was a good chance of one following the tractor. Seconds later, a red Kite showed really well gliding along near the car, though with traffic behind us we were unable to stop for photos. Mallards were seen at Loch Earn but it was otherwise very quiet.
Having studied Google Earth, and especially Streetview, the previous evening I knew exactly what we were looking for in terms of where the entrance to the farm where the Hoopoe had been seen was, and we found it without difficulty. Willie had a chat to someone at the farm to make sure we were ok to park the car where we were. He also found out that the bird hadn't been seen since Sunday afternoon once the weather had cleared up a bit. Undeterred we had a wander round looking for places the bird might be. There were Pied Wagtails, Swallows, House Martins, House Sparrows and Swifts to be seen before we even started exploring but no sign of any Hoopoe.
There were two crows in a field which one of the pair appeared to be a Hooded Crow - a year-tick for me. Unfortunately, a walk later proved that this bird was in fact a youngster being fed by a Carrion Crow and when it flew the views showed it to be at best a hybrid. As we explored around about the farm area I spotted a small walled graveyard with a couple of trees in the centre on the hillside. Movement of a bird flying onto the wall at the top of the cemetery caught my attention and I moved to get a better view. It turned out to be a juvenile Whinchat. As I wandered closer I added a young spotted Flycatcher and a couple of Meadow Pipits (at least one possibly being a young Tree Pipit though the bill base being yellow suggested Meadow, though pink legs and a short rear claw point towards Tree). A male Chaffinch also showed well here.
There were plenty of birds flying around with Tree Pipit, Goldfinch, Siskin and Lesser Redpoll all heard first then seen. Still no Hoopoe though. I wandered back down the track and managed to find a skulking Willow Warbler, as well as another young Whinchat and had better views of the frustratingly 'not Hooded' crows. Willie set up his scope by the car and did manage to find a pair of
Hooded Crows high up on the hill near a pair of Ravens which flew over us shortly after. A Robin, Song Thrush and a Kestrel put in appearances but we eventually gave up on Hoopoe after we had something to eat and decided to head back through Perthshire.
We had decent views of Hooded Crows from the car near Loch Tay and a detour up and over the hills into Glen Quaich proved to be incredibly frustrating with no birds seen at all, until we neared the bottom of the hill on the other side where a Meadow Pipit or two finally put in an appearance. A stop by the burn a little further on added Lapwing, Linnet, Yellowhammer and 3 Sparrowhawks. We moved on a bit further stopping to photograph a Red Kite circling near the road by a field where a tractor was busy. A van stopped and Willie blethered away to the driver as we took photos of a Brown Hare in the field. A party of Pheasants were nearby. Black Headed and Common Gulls were also seen here. The original Red Kite disappeared behind trees and a short while later seemed to reappear. However, this was a second bird with a full forked tail unlike the rather untidy tail of the original bird.
There were no grouse, either red or black seen, though we did stop briefly near Loch Freuchie where I spotted Great Crested Grebe (1 adult & a youngster) on the water. Further along we found a large group of Canada Geese in a field with another large group on the water near the far "corner". Greylags were seen in a sheep field a bit further on also and Curlews were seen on the other side of the road. The glen itself was just slightly too busy with walkers and cars to deliver on its usual quality and quantity. Sand Martin was seen as we headed back onto the main road at Amulree. To avoid traffic in Perth, Jacqui suggested a stop at Loch of the Lowes on our way back home. We diverted to see the Fallow Deer at the Hilton hotel in Dunkeld first.
There were 3 Ospreys around the nest at Loch of the Lowes and an adult landed briefly on the nest, giving us a total of 4. At the feeders were a few Pheasants and Mallards as well as a Red Squirrel but it was quiet. Great Crested Grebes, Tufted Ducks and Mallards were the only birds seen out on the Loch. We moved on again after about 20 minutes, Mute Swan was seen on one of the Lochs on the road towards Blairgowrie and a Collared Dove was seen on a roadside house. Another Grey Heron was seen at the Isla near Coupar Angus but there were no further additions before Willie dropped me off in Dundee.
A really good day out, with a year-tick (in bold) among the 50 species seen, even if it wasn't the lifer hoped for. Photo opportunities were minimal though if I'd chosen to spend a few more minutes around the small graveyard I probably could have added some nice shots.
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| Whinchat |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Whinchat |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Carrion Crow & Hooded Crow hybrid |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Hooded Crow hybrid |
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| Whinchat |
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| Red Admiral |
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| Raven |
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| Whinchat |
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| Red Kite |
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| Brown Hare |
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| Brown Hare |
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| Buzzard |
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| Canada Goose |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Fallow Deer |
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| Osprey |
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| Tufted Duck |
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| Osprey |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Curlew, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull,
Hooded Crow, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Kite, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Siskin, Song Thrush, Siskin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Pipit, Tufted Duck, Whinchat, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
