I was still feeling rather under the weather on Sunday and couldn't muster much enthusiasm to get out and about but I didn't want to be stuck indoors all day. Jacqui messaged me to say she was thinking about heading to Loch of Kinnordy for a few hours in the afternoon and did I want to come with her? Although there hadn't been too much to see on Wednesday, it would certainly be better than sitting at home feeling a bit sorry for myself, so I arranged to meet her around 1330 and we would head up to the RSPB reserve just outside Kirriemuir to see what we could find.
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| Coal Tit |
There wasn't too much around when I headed out at about 1320 to walk along to where I'd arranged to meet Jacqui, but I eventually managed to see a House Sparrow then a Feral Pigeon. A Magpie was next and finally Herring Gull. There were a few more added on our way up the road with Woodpigeon, Rook, Starling, Collared Dove, Kestrel, Pheasant and an unexpected Jay seen. Jackdaw was added in Glamis and a Buzzard just outside.
The car park was quiet when we arrived so we headed into the Gullery hide. Out on teh bogbean islands were a number of Lapwings. On the water were a mix of Mallards, Mute Swans and Teal. A Grey Heron was spotted crouched in the reeds at the rear of the Loch and a small group of Tufted Ducks were along towards the eastern end. A pair of Cormorants were in their usual spots at the dead tree. A Shoveler in eclipse plumage swam out from one of the islands, and a large flock of Golden Plover circled round above the Loch before continuing west.
The trees and bushes out to the right of the hide proved to be rather productive with plenty of birds feeding - a Treecreeper and a Coal Tit showed very well but there were also Blue Tits, Bullfinches, Chaffinch and Wren. Jacqui also saw a Robin which I missed. A Greylag was on one of the islands for a few minutes before swimming off again. After much hunting a Snipe was eventually found though views weren't great. A young Moorhen put in a brief appearance swimming across from island to island. Jacqui spotted a Coot with a group of Mallards half hidden by reeds. I also managed to see a Jay fly along the back of the Loch and a Hare in the stubble field. The wires up the edge of the field held a flock of Linnets and a few Mistle Thrushes. A small group of five Snipe flew off beyond the pines. A Common Gull flew past before we decided to try the Swamp hide.
I managed to see a Robin at the end of the path, and there was a Bank Vole in one of the peanut squirrel feeders. A Great Tit and a small group of Bullfinches were seen near the final boardwalk section at the hide. Out in front we added Wigeon and Gadwall to the list, though there were also more Greylags and Shoveler on the water too. A few Goldcrests were in the bushes as we headed back along the path on our way to the East hide. A pair of Siskins overflew. Near the East hide I could hear Long Tailed Tits and stopped. Seconds later the tree top above us was filled with double figures of the hyper-active little birds.
There wasn't anything to be added from the East hide so we headed back to the Gullery hide managing to add a noisy flock of Tree Sparrows near the feeders. I spotted a very distant Sparrowhawk to the north of the Loch and a Pied Wagtail was eventually spotted having heard it calling a few times before I eventually saw it in flight. With nothing much else likely we decided to head for home, via Forfar Loch. Song Thrush and Black Headed Gull were added here along with Little Grebe and Lesser Black Backed Gull. A walk along to the sailing club spit proved unproductive though we did add a Blackbird on the way and another Sparrowhawk was circling up to the south of the Loch.
We walked down to the end of the Loch behind the old Leisure Centre buildings and scanned to see if we could reach more than fifty species for the day. Jacqui found a young Great Crested Grebe still with striping on its head and I found a couple of unexpected Goldeneye taking our total to exactly fifty. As I walked along the road after Jacqui dropped me off I added a Grey Wagtail to the list and Jacqui also managed a Grey too, hers being a Partridge as she headed for home in Fife.
All in all a worthwhile afternoon, with some decent photos to show for our afternoon, and fifty three species without too much effort.
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| Golden Plover |
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| Golden Plover |
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| Coal Tit |
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| Treecreeper |
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| Treecreeper |
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| Rook |
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| Lapwing & Snipe |
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| Buzzard |
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| Linnet & Mistle Thrush |
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| Mute Swan |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Golden Plover, Goldeneye, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shoveler, Snipe, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren.
