Pied Flycatcher has eluded me so far this Spring. This failure is possibly owing to later than usual arrivals or maybe the species is declining around Pitlochry where I tend to search for them at this time of year. Either way, I still needed the bird for my year-list. I wasn't the only one. A follower of mine on Twitter, Roy Williamson, from Lothian, also wanted to see them. As did Susan. Arrangements were finalised on Friday for an attempt to get the species, starting at Killiecrankie on Saturday morning.
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| Wood Warbler |
Susan was picking me up at 0830 so I headed out to meet her at around 0815. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and the forecast was for rather warm weather, even hotter inland than at the coast. There was plenty activity with a Carrion Crow chasing a Jackdaw, a Woodpigeon on a lamp post, a local House Sparrow, a Herring Gull gliding over, a singing Dunnock and some high flying, screaming Swifts. Lesser Black Backed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Starling and Blackbird were added as I neared our rendezvous point. Not a bad way to start things off.
Once underway though, birds were harder to see, though a Grey Heron flew over near Longforgan and an Oystercatcher was in a field near Perth. A Black Headed Gull was seen over the Tay north of Dunkeld. A Swallow swept past us a little further on, and a small flock of Common Gulls were in a field. Rook was added as we neared Pitlochry. We met up with Roy in the car park at Killiecrankie and once introductions were made we discussed the rough plan I'd made for maximising our chances of seeing the hoped for Pied Flycatchers.
There was plenty happening at the feeders with Coal Tit, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Blue Tit and Great Tit all vying for places around the nuts. A Red Squirrel was spotted in the trees further down the slope. A male Bullfinch flew over the road. Crossing the bridge we could hear Wood Warbler singing and we eventually managed to find it, and had really good, close views as it sung loudly and flitted from perch to perch with the occasional spot of fly-catching. As we were watching it, I heard a Pied Flycatcher singing and we searched for it with no luck. However, it eventually moved closer and Susan and Roy both managed to see where it was in the tree tops and I finally managed to find a gap in the foliage that allowed me to get
Pied Flycatcher onto my 2018 list.
Another Wood Warbler was seen, and a Treecreeper was added, but there was no sign of any Nuthatches. We decided on a walk along the river to Garry Bridge and back just to see what we could find, having been successful with our main target species relatively quickly. A Buzzard was seen circling above the trees and an unidentified corvid latterly began mobbing it. A few butterflies were seen down by the river - a few Orange Tips and a few Small Whites. A Grey Wagtail was catching flies out on the pebbles. There wasn't a huge amount of activity along the river, with Dippers noticeably absent entirely.
A pair of Red Breasted Mergansers were a surprise. Less of a surprise were the 2, possibly 3, Common Sandpipers we added on the walk back. With not much happening bird-wise, we ended up paying more attention to some of the more interesting looking plants and flowers which Susan was able to identify for us. As we arrived back below the railway viaduct a butterfly flitted past us. It looked relatively dark on the underwing but I couldn't see enough colours to ID it confidently. Thankfully it chose to land on the viaduct wall where we discovered it was a most unexpected Comma. Just like the Nuthatches, maybe another species spreading further north up the centre of the country.
After a spot of lunch at the car park we decided to head for Loch of the Lowes for another walk. Roy needed Tree Pipit for his year-list and Susan had seen the species along the path back to Dunkeld from the reserve. At the car park we were distracted by insects - Green Veined White butterflies and a Common Blue Damselfly in particular. Along the path by the Loch we added a Willow Warbler and a Large Red Damselfly. From the screen we were able to see a few more species on the Loch - Mallard, Mute Swan and Great Crested Grebe, as well as Black Headed Gulls.
We crossed the road and walked up the hill, stopping for a few Long Tailed Tits. As we watched them, Susan found another Pied Flycatcher in the same tree. Further on up the hill we heard a singing Tree Pipit but it was hidden in the foliage of the trees. We waited in the hope we'd see some movement and eventually we were rewarded with a song flight. When we turned round we found another pipit on the wires behind us. This turned out to be another Tree Pipit and a pair of Meaddow Pipits were also seen perched on the wires slightly further on.
I wondered aloud if it would be possible to see the Osprey nest across the far side of the Loch given our elevated position up beyond the golf course. After a litle bit of scanning I was able to say "yes", finding the tell-tale white head of an Osprey atop a large pile of sticks in a tree top. A Yellowhammer perched on the wires and a pair of Goldfinches flew past. Another Buzzard was spotted above the hill as we headed back along the path. A Chiffchaff that we'd heard singing on our way up, but failed to find, was now showing well in the top of the tree we'd scanned through earlier.
A Lesser Redpoll was added as we neared the car park perched in a tree top. This one proved tricky for Roy and Susan to get onto until it flew off and they saw it go. With the time now after 1500, we called it a day and headed for our respective homes. Susan and I detoured into the Dunkeld Hydro hotel grounds to try and see the local Fallow Deers, managing to get just 3 in their usual field. This was a mammal year-tick for me, and added to the Pied Flycatcher, Common Blue Damselfly and Comma butterfly all of which were new for me.
A successful day out with 42 species of bird seen including the 1 bird year-tick, (in bold), not to mention the botany lesson for both Roy and myself from Susan which meant I could tick off a few more species of plant in my "marked up" flowers book. At some point I may have to try and start an actual "pan-species" list, though I'm sure there would still be less than 1000 species of all sorts on it.
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| Pied Flycatcher |
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| Pied Flycatcher |
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| Wood Warbler |
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| Wood Warbler |
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| Wood Warbler |
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| Wood Warbler |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Red Breasted Merganser |
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| Comma |
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| Common Blue Damselfly |
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| Large Red Damselfly |
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| Tree Pipit |
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| Tree Pipit |
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| Osprey |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Meadow Pipit |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Fallow Deer |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher,
Pied Flycatcher, Red Breasted Merganser, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tree Pipit, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Wood Warbler, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer.
Butterfly species seen - Comma, Green Veined White, Orange Tip, Small White.
Dragonfly species seen - Common Blue Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly.
Mammals seen - Fallow Deer, Red Squirrel.
