The west coast is somewhere I rarely manage to get to, so most years I miss out on Black Guillemot and Hooded Crow to name just two species that are much harder to see in the east than they are through in the west. However, Jacqui fancied a trip westwards and also wanted to help me push on towards breaking my record for species seen in a year as I'd faltered during the rather quiet spell of June and the first half of July. We made plans to try for the Mandarin ducks at Loch Lomond then try for Black Guillemot and Hooded Crow around the outer Clyde. An 0530 departure was scheduled to avoid the traffic and to give us a good chance to make the most of the day.
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| Black Guillemot |
I was up and organised as bright and breezy as I could manage for a birding trip that involves getting up before the sun in Summer. Having been up the previous morning at 0530, I was a little jaded but still raring to go. I headed out at 0525 to walk the short distance to meet Jacqui. Despite the early start I immediately found 4 species to start the list - Herring Gull, Starling, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon. We headed for the Kingsway picking up Carrion Crow, House Sparrow and Lesser Black Backed Gull. On the road to Perth we added Rook and Roe Deer. Beyond Perth we added Buzzard and Jackdaw.
Turning off the main road at Stirling to take the road past Gargunnock towards Balloch I spotted a Magpie on a fencepost. Swallow was our only other addition along this stretch before we arrived in Balloch. A walk by the river to the spot where we found Mandarins early last year gave us Grey Heron, Mallard, Moorhen and Black Headed Gulls. Unfortunately, there were no Mandarin ducks to be found. I had suspected that might be the case, with the birds likely to be moulting into eclipse plumage and keeping a low profile. We walked along to look out over the Loch. A Lesser Redpoll overflew us calling as it went.
Mute Swans were seen out on the water. On the walk back having drawn a blank we were able to add a juvenile Robin, a flyover Cormorant and a Goldfinch. A Swift was seen over the trees to the north and we stopped to watch Blue Tits and a Wren in among the trees. A Blackcap was heard but not seen. Once back at the car we discussed where to go next, settling on a visit to Glen Fruin which Jacqui remembered from her childhood days. Unfortunately, this proved to be a disappointment with very few birds seen. Kestrel, Chaffinch, Mistle Thrush, Lesser Redpoll and Willow Warbler were all we had to show for travelling the length of the glen.
House Martins were seen sweeping around as we headed down to the road running up the Gare Loch. We were hoping to find a Black Guillemot either on the water or around one of the Royal Navy jetties. A quick stop at one of these a few miles on and Jacqui had got us
Black Guillemot - a single bird lying atop a concrete pillar holding up a jetty. A distant view through a fence but a year-tick for me. Given the nature of the site we didn't linger and headed on up the Loch to Garelochhead. Surprisingly, Jacqui spotted a few Gannets fishing around the top end of the sea loch. Curlew and Oystercatcher were seen a little down the shoreline while Herring Gulls and a rather dark juvenile Common Gull roosted on an old jetty.
Hooded Crow was our next target bird though I was also hoping to get better views and photos/videos of Black Guillemot too. With this in mind after a spot of checking the distance and a bit of discussion we decided to head for Oban instead of our original plan of searching around the Clyde towns. We headed out of the village towards Crianlarich. A mile or so on and Jacqui spotted a
Hooded Crow flying into a tree by the road. I missed it. Jacqui turned the car round and talked me onto the bird as we passed it again. I now had 2 year-ticks but no photos of either. We could have headed for home at this point but decided to continue on to Oban to try for better opportunities at both species.
The weather was rather driech as we headed for the coast. Another Hooded Crow was seen as we passed a field but otherwise birds were few and far between. We arrived in Oban before 1100 and parked on the waterfront. A look out over the bay gave us no Black Guillemots, so we wandered along the road towards the ferry terminal in the hope of finding some. Out on the water I found a female Eider and eventually a pair of Black Guillemots, though they were rather distant. I suggested catching a ferry somewhere for a few hours but the weather looked rather misty out over the water so even if we'd done so, it was unlikely we would've seen much.
At the far end of the ferry terminal we were asked by a member of staff if we were going on the ferry to Mull. Jacqui said no, we were birders looking for Black Guillemots. Just at that I found 3 birds well out in the bay and took a few photos. We then got a tip from the staff member as to where to find the birds, further on along the shoreline, where they nested in the seawall. So off we went back to the car to drive to the recommended site. As we arrived we were surprised to see a group of tourists crouching around something on the pavement by the side of the road. We were even more surprised to find that it was Black Guillemots just a few feet away from the people, totally unfazed by the attention.
We crossed the road and spent the next few minutes having brilliant close views of around 15 of the birds, mostly vociferous youngsters. At times the birds were too close for my 200-500mm lens, and I resorted to filming them on my phone. It was "silly grin" birding, just unbelievable how tame the birds were. Although they weren't bothered by us, we decided not to linger too long and headed off to search for a photographable Hooded Crow instead. I suggested we try along the shore where the birds might be picking around among the seaweed, as Carrion Crows do on the east coast. As we'd seen almost no corvids anywhere else this seemed a decent plan.
Heading back north along the road Jacqui pulled into a garden centre car park where it was possible to scan along the beach. I spotted a distant Hooded Crow near a small flock of Curlews and Oystercatchers but then realised there were 2 more much closer. These were a youngster and an adult bird and I was able to get photos and video of the birds interacting. We were also able to add Common Terns, Sandwich Tens and Meadow Pipit from here. A little further on we turned down a promising looking road only to find it gated and marked as private. A flock of birds out on the water turned out to be Canada Geese. Heading back past Connel Bridge we stopped to see if we could add anything else. A single Common Seal and a Pied Wagtail were seen before we were back on the road and it wasn't yet noon.
There weren't many sites worth a look on the way back towards Dundee so I suggested visiting one of the glens around Comrie where I reckoned we'd be able to add Red Kite and maybe a few typical glen birds. The dreich overcast of the west had given way to hot sunshine as we headed back eastwards. Before we even reached Comrie we had our first Red Kite of the day as one drifted over the roadside fields. Arriving at the junction for the glen we turned down the road and drove slowly along till we found a good place to stop and scan. The road was busier than expected and as Jacqui's legs were beginning to feel the strain of having spent most of the previous 5 or 6 hours driving we decided not to head any further up the glen. We watched a few Ravens pass overhead, including a spot of aerobatics from one as it flipped over onto its back above us.
Red Kites and Buzzards glided around and a Siskin flew over calling. A Whitethroat was heard but wasn't seen. A Meadow Pipit among the bracken gave good views. As we drove back down the short section of glen we had brief views of a male Whinchat on a fence and a little further on a female Stonechat. The journey back to Dundee didn't yield any further species and neither of us was particularly tired despite our rather early start. We'd managed amazing views of Black Guilemots and reasonable ones of Hooded Crows, so it was mission accomplished despite the lack of Mandarin Ducks.
We finished on the rather low total of 47 species of bird, including 2 year ticks (in bold) and a couple of mammals though it was far from a disappointment. Hopefully we will head west again later in the year for another shot at Mandarin and maybe a chance of a Hen Harrier at Lochwinnoch or something equally good. Ring Necked Parakeet in Gasgow and potentially Ring Billed Gull at Strathclyde Loch would be possible additions to squeeze into any trip.
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Cormorant |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Herring Gull & Common Gull |
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| Gannet |
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| Herring Gull & Common Gull |
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| Gannet |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Black Guillemot |
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Hooded Crow |
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| Raven |
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| Raven |
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| Raven |
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| Buzzard |
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| Raven |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Red Kite |
Species seen -
Black Guillemot, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Eider, Gannet, Goldfinch, Grey Heron, Herring Gull,
Hooded Crow, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Kite, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sandwich Tern, Siskin, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Whinchat, Willow Warbler Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals seen - Common Seal, Roe Deer.
