The original intention for this Wednesday's outing with Paul was for us to head north to Aberdeenshire to the Ythan Estuary and Loch of Strathbeg. However after some extra thought we decided instead to save that for another week, and instead try to pick up a few more year-ticks for Paul to make up for what he'd missed through being offshore working for most of May's prime migration time. As some of his wanted birds were raptors the Angus glens weren't likely to deliver, so we chose to head west to Perthshire and some of the glens there where persecution of raptors still happens but apparently to a lesser degree than it does in Angus (or is perhaps discovered less?). It would still take a bit of luck to get any of these birds but good soaring conditions were forecast.
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| Whinchat |
I headed out at 0825 for a dental appointment before being picked up from Paul. The walk to the dentist's gave me a few species to start my list - Starlings, Magpie, Feral Pigeon, Goldfinch and Herring Gull within a short distance of home. A Collared Dove landed around a metre away from me as I walked down Dens Road, adding a Woodpigeon and a Dunnock a little further on. Lesser Black Backed Gull and House Sparrow were seen as I walked down Trades Lane. Just over 30 minnutes later we were on our way westwards towards Perth.
The car journey provided a few new species for the day's list as we headed for Perth with Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Blackbird and Buzzard seen. Heading out from Perth towards our first glen we added some more new birds with Mistle Thrush, House Martin, Mallard, Common and Black Headed Gulls, Oystercatcher, Swift, Swallow and Pied Wagtail. Eventually we found the right road into our first glen, which I'd only previously visited once around 8 or 9 years ago and didn't have much memory of, so it was going to be guesswork on where would be good places to stop and scan from.
A Song Thrush flew ahead of the car as we drove along the single track road. Orange Tip butterflies flitted along the roadside. A brief stop gave us Chaffinch, Rook and some Small White butterflies. Our first Pheasant was soon followed by a few others in a short distance. Another stop gave us a singing Blackcap male and a flyover Raven. Our next stop was down to the sudden appearance of a large dragonfly in front of the windscreen before it flew along the outside of the car on Paul's side. My first ever Golden Ringed Dragonfly. Unfortunately it chose not to settle, zipping past a few times as I hoped for a photo. A Cuckoo gave us close views as it flew past.
Our next stop had a much wider view and produced Siskins, Meadow Pipit, a flyover Grey Heron and a single Greylag Goose high overhead. A Whitethroat was added from the car as we drove further on and a surprise Jay flew up into a tree before flying off, in an area some distance from the most likely Jay habitat. We stopped for lunch near the head of the glen and added Lesser Redpolls flying around, and a Kestrel over the hillside to the north of us. A pair of Buzzards hunted along the same area though further down the slope. Oystercatcher and Pied Wagtail were also seen, while a singing Goldcrest proved elusive. Coal Tit and Willow Warbler were added before we set off back down the glen.
On our way back along the road a pair of birds perched on a rock gave Paul his second year-tick of the day, Whinchats with apparent young somewhere close, given their beakfuls of insect food. We moved on quickly to allow the birds in to feed their youngsters. A Wheatear was spotted by Paul a little further on. We headed out of the glen by a different route and on towards ou second planned glen for the day. We still had a few target species to try for though it was a surprise that we'd failed to see any Spotted Flycatchers so far.
At our fiirst stop in our second glen we spotted a few small orange butterflies flitting around among the heather. They wouldn't settle which meant identification was rather tricky with my guess being Small Copper. One eventually did land but some distance away. I chose to take a photo from where I was which provided the ID - my first Small Heath butterfly of the year. The orange upperwings are rarely seen as the wings are (almost) always held closed but I'd managed a poor photo of the upperwing as well as the more recognisable underwing pattern. A few Siskins flew over from a nearby conifer plantation.
Our next stop gave us distant views of some soaring raptors. There were a couple of apparently larger birds and a few clearly smaller Buzzards. One of the larger raptors was identified from my photos - a White Tailed Eagle. The other bird might have been a Golden Eagle, but it could also have been a young White Tailed Eagle, so I've left it as unknown. A family group of Red Grouse crossed the road a little further on.Paul spotted a Red Kite, another of his targets, much closer than the other birds and we watched it for a minute as it flew along the hillside opposite before being distracted once more by more distant fliers.
I then spotted a bird perched on a rock on the skyline. I naturally assumed it was most likely the Red Kite, but the legs were too long. Photos suggested that they were also too long for Buzzard but the concensus on BirdForum was that it was only a Buzzard. Unfortunately none of the flight shots I managed are clear enough to settle it one way or another, though a couple of them suggest grey feathering rather than brown on the upperwings. Our first mammals of the day were added at our next stop - a number of Rabbits in a field. A male Kestrel flew over, and we had 4 Red Kites together flying along the hillside opposite. Lapwing, Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher were all seen on the burn next to the road.
A small flock of Canada Geese were in the corner of a field as we drove on towards a Loch where we added Wigeon, Great Crested Grebe and a flock of Greylags. A trio of goslings had us scratching our heads until we managed better views. A Curlew flew past before we headed on again. More Canada Geese were seen further on. A few cars with birders/photographers sat behind them were parked by the roadside looking north but I had an idea what they were hoping to see and rather than stop and potentially cause disturbance to the bird's routine I said we should continue on out of the glen. As we did so, a bird lifted from a dip ahead us and at first flew away from us, before swinging back towards the car, flying along the verge before swinging away across the fields. A Short Eared Owl, another for Paul's year-list (I got mine at Ruddon's Point). One quickly grabbed photo was more than enough record of the brief encounter.
As the time was now around 1700 and we still hadn't seen Spotted Flycatcher, I suggested we try Loch of the Lowes where I've seen the species once before as we would be passing Dunkeld on our way back towards Dundee. Here we added Blue Tit and Great Tit near the car park. Out on the Loch we were able to add Mute Swans, though there were also Mallards and Great Crested Grebes on the water. We had close views of one of the Ospreys as it circled in front of the hide. A short while later it flew back to the nest with a fish it had caught while we weren't watching from the distant end of the Loch. Rather surprisingly, I spotted, and photographed, some distant Damselflies hunting over the Loch, the blue of their bodies catching my eye as I scanned through binoculars.
A Fallow Deer waded into the water near the nest, but despite some searching there was no sign of the hoped for Mandarin drake that has been lingering at the Loch. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen on the peanut feeders at the visitor centre, as Mallards and a female Pheasant foraged underneath. Coal Tits and Chaffinches vied for places on the feeders before we wandered back to the car. We decided to head back towards Blairgowrie and then onto Dundee, rather than down the A9 and the A90. A Red Legged Partridge running along the side of the road almost got run over near Butterstone.
At Blairgowrie, Paul suggested a quick look at the Ericht for Dipper and Grey Wagtail. It didn't take us long to get both. A young Grey Wagtail was perched on a rock across the far side with an adult flying in to feed it from time to time. More scanning found a second youngster nearby too, and a Dipper flew upriver as we watched the wagtails. A Wren vanished into the vegetation by the riverbank before flying out across the path and into vegetation on the other side. Incessant high-pitched calls suggested a nest in a large tree but despite looking I couldn't see any obvious birds, or any movement above us. Paul spotted a Treecreeper searching for food on a tree a little further on which then flew to the tree I had been scanning for movement.
Once the Treecreeper moved on to another tree, I checked again. I'd missed a trio of very young Treecreepers huddled together among the moss on the treetrunk around 10 feet up where they were partially hidden by a few small leafy branches. A Buzzard drifted over and a Silver Ground Carpet moth was seen before we wandered back to the car to head for home. Nothing new was added on the way back to Dundee though we did see a few more birds along the way.
Another good day out in the sunshine, though the heat shimmer did make for tricky viewing conditions at times, especially with the soaring raptors in our second glen. The lack of Spotted Flycatchers was a surprise but Paul did end up with 4 new year-ticks. I managed 62 species of bird. My only lifer was the Golden Ringed Dragonfly but it was one that I'd been hoping for. Small Heath butterfly was also new for the year.
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| Rook |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Cuckoo |
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| Kestrel |
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| Whinchat |
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| Wheatear |
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| Raven |
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| Small Heath |
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| Small Heath |
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| Buzzard |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Red Grouse |
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| White Tailed Eagle |
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| White Tailed Eagle & unidentified raptor (top) |
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| Buzzard (?) |
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| Red Kite |
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| Kestrel |
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| Black Headed Gull & juvenile Greylag Goose |
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| Short Eared Owl |
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| Fallow Deer |
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| Fallow Deer |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Osprey |
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| Osprey |
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| Grey Wagtail |
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| Treecreeper |
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| Treecreeper |
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| Treecreeper |
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| Silver Ground Carpet |
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| Treecreeper |
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| Treecreeper |
Species seen - Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dipper, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Grouse, Red Kite, Red Legged Partridge, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Short Eared Owl, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Treecreeper, Wheatear, Whinchat, White Tailed Eagle, Whitethroat, Wigeon, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterfly species seen - Orange Tip, Small Heath, Small White.
Dragonfly species seen - Blue Tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Golden Ringed Dragonfly.
Mammals seen - Fallow Deer, Rabbit.
