Day 3 of my Birder's Blast began with a little snow falling outside and with heavy rain forecast for a large part of the day over most of the surrounding area prospects didn't look entirely promising for many further additions to my year-list or the trip-list. However, no matter how much precipitation was on the cards we were going looking for more birds regardless.
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| Eider |
Jackdaws overflying and a House Sparrow in the ivy outside my window got the list for the day started and over breakfast I added Robin, Pheasant, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch and Siskin around the feeders. Our original likely destination had been the Black Isle but as the heavy rain was forecast for all day there we were headed instead for the Moray Firth coast around Findhorn Bay and Lossiemouth areas. We attempted to find a small flock of Snow Buntings and some Bramblings that had been in the stubble fields near the village, but a Kestrel perched on a fence-post between fields made that fruitless, although a Greenfinch in a tree was at least broadly similar to our target species. A Roe Deer was seen and a few Herring Gulls drifted over.
Crossing the Broomhill bridge we added a Dipper and a Little Grebe to the list before a skein of Greylags passed over. We routed over Dava Moor again though this time we did manage to see a Red Grouse or two. A couple of folk managed to see a Jay. Chaffinch and Mistle Thrush were also seen as we headed on. We stopped at a large forest for a walk, with Crossbills hoped for. Howevere with snow falling the reality was a single Coal Tit was all we had to show for our walk except for probable Badger and Pine Marten tracks. As Sue and I wandered ahead of the main group on our way back to the mini-bus we heard a burst of unfamiliar song from a tree across the road. It had to be a Crossbill, but we failed to see it, and checking Crossbill song on my phone it was very similar.
A trio of probable, but unconfirmed, Bullfinches overflew as we boarded the mini-bus after a food break before heading for the coast. A small group of Goldfinches and a Lesser Redpoll were seen flying around a small scrubby field and a few Yellowhammers were perched on wires. We arrived at Findhorn Bay in rain and a cold wind made scanning the saltmarsh not much fun. There were numerous Pink Footed Geese around as well as Pintails on the saltmarsh itself. In addition we added Lapwing, Shelduck, Teal, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Carrion Crow, Curlew, Wigeon and some distant Dunlin. A lone
Merlin provided a bit of excitement by chasing a smaller bird around before returning to its perch and then minutes later flying off northwards.
Fieldfares and Skylarks were seen in fields along with many more geese before we headed into the trees at Roseisle for lunch and a view over the bay. Something made my lunch taste funny so I decided not to continue eating it, and settled for a Nakd fruit bar instead. The continuous wind and rain made birding difficult and not a whole lot of fun. Great Black Backed Gull, Velvet and Common Scoters, Long Tailed Duck and a Red Throated Diver that I missed were all that we manaed before moving on again.
Rooks and Starlings in the fields were added to the slowly growing list before a Brown Hare was spotted and a couple of Grey Partridges only seen by a couple of folk on one side of the bus. A flock of Linnets were seen flying around nervously in yet another field on the way to Burghead harbour. A Feral Pigeon was getting rather soaked stood on the sea wall and nearby a flock of Turnstones huddled up accompanied by a single Purple Sandpiper gave us good views. Out on the water were a number of Eiders, a Shag, a Cormorant and a pair of Red Breasted Mergansers. More Eiders and a Long Tailed Duck were sheltering in the harbour.
A stop round at the Maltings area of the shore was another bit of wet weather birding. A hybrid Hooded x Carrion Crow was seen on the grass alongside a few Oystercatchers. Sea-watching produced distant Kittiwake, Gannet and Fulmar, as well as closer Guillemot and Shag and a fly-by from a female Goldeneye. Next we headed for the area around RAF Lossiemouth to look through the gull flocks at one of the area's pig farms. This turned out to be rather productive with Black Headed, Common, Herring and Great Black Backed Gulls all seen. Also my first
Lesser Black Backed Gull and a young Iceland Gull were added. A stop by the river gave us further Wigeon, Teal, Mallard and a single Redshank.
We headed next to Elgin to try and search for Waxwings which had been seen the previous day. This turned out to be another fruitless endeavour with a few Blackbirds, Starlings and corvids all we had to show for the hunt. With everyone rather wet and a bit subdued we headed back to Nethy Bridge for our evening meal. More Pheasants, which in contrast to Monday, had been seen almost everywhere were added as was a small group of Red Legged Partridges and as we neared the village our first Buzzard of the day rounded off the list.
Despite the weather we still managed a respectable total of 61 species, including a couple of year-ticks for me (in bold) to finish off our 3 days worth of guided birding. A total of somewhere between 85 and 95 or so was seen by everyone and despite missing out on a few species this was balanced out by some more unusual birds like the two American ducks.
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| Kestrel |
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| Chaffinch |
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| Pink Footed Geese & Merlin |
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| Merlin |
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| Merlin |
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| Turnstone & Purple Sandpiper |
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| Turnstone & Purple Sandpiper |
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| Eider |
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| Long Tailed Duck |
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| Long Tailed Duck |
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| Eider |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Cormorant |
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| Carrion Crow & Carrion Crow x Hooded Crow hybrid |
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| Carrion Crow x Hooded Crow hybrid |
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| Iceland Gull, Great Black Backed Gull & Herring Gull |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Scoter, Cormorant, Curlew, Dipper, Dunlin, Eider, Fieldfare, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Iceland Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing,
Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Grebe, Long Tailed Duck, Mallard, Meadow Pipit,
Merlin, Mistle Thrush, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Pintail, Purple Sandpiper, Red Grouse, Red Breasted Merganser, Red Legged Partridge, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shag, Shelduck, Siskin, Skylark, Starling, Teal, Turnstone, Velvet Scoter, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Mammals seen - Brown Hare, Roe Deer
