On the way back from twitching the Chough at Turnberry earlier in March with Ian, the possibility of twitching the long-staying Loch Feorlin Pied Billed Grebe was discussed and a provisional date of the 30th of March was decided upn. As the date got closer it appeared that the weather might interfere with the plan but as the date drew closer still the forecast improved and plans were firmed up. I would meet Ian in Perth at 0715 and we'd head west for the Grebe from there. If time then allowed we'd continue on to Strontian to try and see the long-staying Black Duck there. It was also likely I would be able to add Black Guillemot and Hooded Crow to my year-list. I worked out that it might be almost 2100 before I got home - a long day but potentially a very good day out.
Black Duck
It was just before 0625 when I headed out to catch the train to Perth. Herring Gull, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon got the list up and running. Blackbird, Blue Tit and Goldfinch were added on Dens Road as was an unexpected flyover Meadow Pipit. A small flock of 7 Oystercatchers called loudly as they circled round by the Wellgate Centre where I assume they will be attempting to nest this Spring on the flat roof. I caught the train on time and sat on the south side so I could check out the Nature Park and Tay during the short journey.
Mallards, a large flock of Pink Footed Geese in a field next to the railway line, a small group of Roe Deer, a few pairs of Mute Swans and some Black Headed Gulls were noted from the train. Once I met Ian we added Lesser Black Backed Gulls on the way to get fuel. On the way back out through St Catherine's Retail Park we chanced upon 4 Sand Martins hawking for insects over a small burn I didn't even know existed. These were a welcome year-tick for us both and rather unexpected given the location in the centre of Perth. Magpie, Starling, Rook and House Sparrow were noted as we headed westwards out of the city.
Not unexpectedly there wasn't too much to be seen on our way through Perthshire though we did manage a few more species - Pheasants, Common Gulls, Pied Wagtail and Buzzard. A pair of Red Kites were seen between Comrie and St Fillans. Chaffinch, Goldeneye and Canada Geese were seen as we passed Loch Earn. A Raven flew over as we headed higher towards Tyndrum and a brief break at the Green Welly Stop. Collared Dove and Song Thrush were noted there. A small flock of Whooper Swans were on the small lochan just west of Tyndrum. Mistle Thrush was seen as we headed for Inveraray perched right at the top of a tree.
At Inveraray we stopped for a minute or so to check offshore for Black Guillemot and found a pair swimming close in. A pair of Pink Footed Geese flew over as we watched the auks. A Cormorant was also noted before we set off again. A Hooded Crow was spotted by Ian perched on a lamp post giving me another year-tick and there were a number of Eider noted on the water. We found the track up to the farm from where it was possible to walk the mile or so to Loch Feorlin. A Robin was seen at the car park and Meadow Pipits were abundant with display flights all around. A Skylark rose skywards although it did require a bit of searching to see it high in the sky.
The track was rather muddy with puddles and Sheep everywhere. We stopped to scan the Loch and found a bird that we were certain was the Pied Billed Grebe though photos only showed the back of the head, though the stocky shape was in itself enough to confirm the ID. However when we reached the ruined buildings that overlook the Loch the bird had vanished. A Stonechat showed nearby, a small flock of Whooper Swans were on the water as was a single Goldeneye and a pair of Canada Geese. There were brief glimpses of a small grebe among the reedy edges that might have been Little or Pied Billed. A Curlew flew by and a Raven flew over.
We were hoping for a better view of the Grebe but as time went on it began to seem a forlorn hope. We heard the bird call a couple of times from the reeds but could see no sign of it. We decided to give it until 1145 before heading back to the car. With a few minutes left on the countdown Ian spotted the bird through his scope, stationary out on the water. This allowed me to get photos and a video clip before we set off back to the car. A Peacock butterfly was a surprise sighting on the way. A brief shower of rain passed through and Grey Wagtail was seen at a small burn. We headed back to Inveraray and initially missed the turn which did mean we saw a few Grey Herons and Curlews on the beach.
A Grey Heron and a pair of Greylag Geese were seen on a roadside pool as we headed north through Glen Aray. Roadworks near Connel Bridge meant a detour and the sat-nav took us through Glen Orchy which held a single pair of Mallards and apparently no other birds, or any other visible wildlife. It was rather scenic though. Glencoe was similarly devoid of birds though a Hooded Crow was seen in Glencoe village. There didn't appear to be anything in the water as we headed through North Ballachulish until I spotted a black and white bird. A quick look through the binoculars from the moving car convinced me it was a Great Northern Diver, so Ian turned the car around and we found a spot to check my ID call. I was right - another year-tick for Ian.
We reached Strontian around 1500, having seen a few Hooded Crows and Eider on the way from the short ferry crossing as well as a couple of Mallards near the village. A Pied Wagtail pair were chasing each other around the car park before we set off to check the river mouth for the Black Duck. A pair of Buzzards circled briefly overhead before disappearing westwards. A Redshank and a pair of Greenshanks were seen along with a few Mallards. A Siskin flew over followed soon after by a pair of Crossbills which sounded slightly more 'clipped' than the Commons in Angus. Ian found a Ringed Plover and there was a small gull roost containing Black Headed, Common and a Lesser Black Backed.
The Black Duck had been seen the previous day and I had asked on Twitter where those who had seen it had found it. The reply said between the bridges near the fire station. We wandered upriver carefully scanning the river as we went but only found a Mallard pair near the top bridge. A Grey Heron and Chaffinch also put in appearances. A Hooded Crow landed in a tree by the lower bridge as we discussed our options having drawn a blank. We decided to try the western side of the river mouth and wandered down to the shore. A pair of Mallard flew out from a small trickle of water. The gull roost had by now moved so we were headed down to the mouth to check 'round the corner' before giving up.
As we were scanning, I heard a "quack" from behind us and turned to see 2 ducks flying out from the gardens behind us and towards the river. The first was a Mallard drake and the second was unmistakeably the Black Duck! I rattled off a few photos - none of which were particularly in focus but showed enough to confirm we had seen the bird and once again just as we were about to call it quits. We left a note under the windscreen wipers of a car for a couple from Leeds I'd talked to who were also looking for the Black Duck, to let them know which way the bird had gone and at what time, so hopefully they also managed to see it.
As it was by now around 1630 and we had a long drive back to Perth ahead of us we quickly got organised and headed back to the ferry noting Common Seals and a few Great Black Backed Gulls on the way. The light was rather nice as we passed through Glencoe where a couple of Feral Goats were seen by the roadside. A few miles on we saw a small herd of Red Deer among the heather. A few Buzzards were noted on the drive back towards Loch Earn and a possible Sparrowhawk. Two Red Kites were seen between St Fillans and Comrie as was a small herd of Roe Deer. Ian dropped me off in Perth around 1920 and I made it home roughly an hour and 25 minutes later, rather tired but happy.
Pied Billed Grebe video
A really enjoyable day out with 5 year-ticks (in bold) and 2 lifers among the longer than expected list of 54 species seen. The 1 butterfly species seen was a surprise, though the 4 mammal sepecies noted a little less so. What was very noticeable was the dearth of wildlife away from 'civilisation' with miles and miles travelled without any birds seen. Here on the east coast we are used to Woodpigeons and corvids and gulls anytime we are going from A to B, but even the crows on the west coast were on their own.
Black Guillemot
Pink Footed Goose
Black Guillemot
Meadow Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Whooper Swan
Stonechat
Canada Goose
Raven
Raven
Whooper Swan & Goldeneye
Pied Billed Grebe
Pied Billed Grebe
Pied Billed Grebe
Great Northern Diver
Great Northern Diver
Buzzard
Buzzard
Common Gull, Black Headed Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull
Greylag Goose
Redshank & Greenshank
Greenshank
Black Headed Gull & Common Gull
Common Gull
Hooded Crow
Hooded Crow
Ringed Plover
Mallard
Black Duck
Black Duck
Black Duck
Black Duck
Hooded Crow
Hooded Crow
Hooded Crow
Species seen - Black Duck, Black Guillemot, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Cormorant, Crossbill, Curlew, Eider, Goldeneye, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Northern Diver, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Hooded Crow, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pied Billed Grebe, Pink Footed Goose, Raven, Red Kite, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Stonechat, Whooper Swan, Woodpigeon.
Butterfly seen - Peacock.
Mammals seen - Common Seal, Feral Goat, Red Deer, Roe Deer.
Roy had messaged me last week about having a trip through this way on Wednesday for a day out around Angus to try and get some early Spring migrants and a few other local specialities. One of these was the Spotted Redshank at Riverside Nature Park. The Little Gulls at Monikie and Puffins at Auchmithie were another couple. There was also a chance of adding Sand Martin, Chiffchaff (for me), Osprey and Marsh Harrier. Our original plan was for Roy to pick me up at 0915 before we headed to Riverside, however as it was a "low" high tide and Roy would be arriving over 2 hours after high tide I suggested I meet him at the park to save time, and hopefully increase the chances of him seeing the bird (slightly).
Red Kite
I headed out at just after 0730 to catch a bus into town and then another out to the Nature Park. Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Robin and the local Long Tailed Tits were seen before the bus arrived. Carrion Crow and Blackbird were noted from the first bus and a Lesser Black Backed Gull was seen from the second. A singing Dunnock caught my attention when I got off the latter bus and a Song Thrush flew off as I headed down to the railway underpass. After crossing the road I heard a Chiffchaff calling from the trees by the railway line and contemplated going back for a proper look as it would be a year-tick. However, I was confident that we would likely encounter a few more elsewhere on our travels later in the day, so headed into the park instead.
A Magpie hopped around on the grass but flew up into a tree to join another one below the phone mast. A Blue Tit was in another tree nearby. An Oystercatcher flew out of the park and across the road. A Wren popped up to sing above a patch of Brambles and a Pied Wagtail scurried around on the grass. A Rabbit spotted me and disappeared into cover. A Starling flew over as I headed further into the park. A Great Tit showed near the slope up into the top half of the park and a Chaffinch pair were in the bushes near the Lochan. Unlike Saturday there was no wader roost but still a few Teal and Moorhens to be seen. A Skylark ascended into the air from the hill and a Reed Bunting sang from the top of the bushes a little further on.
As I continued on towards the bay, a male Kestrel flew over and hovered above the slope of the hill. A Linnet perched on a fence around halfway along the path to the hide. A Yellowhammer showed a bit more openly before I reached the hide. A few Black Headed Gulls were flying around and a few Shelduck could be seen on the water. There were a couple of flocks of roosting Redshanks by the burn but both groups flew out onto the mud which allowed me to find the hoped for Spotted Redshank among them. In addition there were 2 Dunlin and a few Black Tailed Godwits. The local Mute Swan pair were in the burn and a few Common Gulls landed by the water's edge. There were some sleeping Mallard by the burn and the Greylags were still around.
Unfortunately for Roy the Redshank roost dispersed bit by bit as the tide receded and the Spotted Redshank vanished while I searched in vain for a singing Chiffchaff in the trees behind the hide. Roy arrived slightly earlier than planned but later than required. We spent around 40 minutes searching through the flocks spread out across the bay but drew a blank on Roy's hoped for year-tick (again). A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over towards Invergowrie. A Stock Dove pair flew by and some distant Cormorants were added to the list along with a small group of Curlew which arrived from the direction of the airport as we headed back to the car park to drive to our next stop at Monikie.
Rooks were the only addition en route there. I suggested checking the Denfind Pond from outside the park having seen Little Gulls there before with Jacqui. Within a few seconds we spotted a few, and soon picked out more among the Black Headed Gulls and Coots. In total there was a maximum of 9 at one point before they all dispersed to the Island Pond. A Little Grebe and a Long Tailed Tit were noted along with a few Tufted Ducks before we set off for our next planned stop at Auchmithie. We decided to detour to Carnoustie for a quick look for the Ring Necked Parakeet. This proved unsuccessful so we headed onwards to Auchmithie adding Jackdaw and Buzzard on the way.
We parked at the northern end of the village and looked over the wall and down onto the sea. Things were very quiet and a few Eiders were all we could see except some Herring Gulls and Fulmars flying around the cliffs. A few distant Kittiwakes were also seen before I found a couple of Razorbill on the water to the south and then a flock of at least 40 Guillemots flew out over the water from the cliffs in that area. Just as we were considering giving up I scanned again the area of water we had checked first and found a bird that looked good for Puffin. Once I relocated it with the camera we had our confirmation, and our year-tick. We then found another 4, then another pair before we moved on.
House Sparrows were busy in the village as we passed through. Our next stop was to be Balgavies Loch where there was a slim chance the Ospreys would be back. I had seen a drake Shoveler there last week, a species Roy was hoping to add. A male Bullfinch was seen in the trees as we drove into the car park and a singing Chiffchaff was music to my ears though the first bird I saw when looking for it was a Chaffinch female. A little further towards the hide and I managed a brief view of the bird before it flew off again. The hide was quite busy but we were able to squeeze in next to Alex Shepherd. A possible Scaup drake turned out to be a hybrid - though it appeared more Scaup x Tufted than the more usual Pochard x Tufted hybrids that are often seen in Angus.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker visited the feeders and we also noted Coal Tit. A Grey Heron flew over the Loch. We had a very brief view of a bird landing on the spit behind the feeders. In the split second sighting I had the impression of a wader's actions but there was no sign of any bird, even when a Moorhen wandered right over the area where the bird had landed. A few minutes after everyone else had left, a bird popped into the open near where the bird had landed earlier. This one was a wader - but a quite unexpected one given the nature of the terrain around the Loch - a Snipe. We had good views for a few minutes before we decided to continue on to Murton for a quick look there.
A trio of Roe Deer were in the bushes to the left of the car park hide and along with a Lapwing we added the Green Sandpiper to the list for the day before moving down to the next hide. A Siskin displayed over the tepee and a trio of Lesser Redpolls flew over. Wigeon were numerous and a couple of Pheasants were seen before we again headed back to the car to continue onto Loch of Kinnordy. The car park was almost full when we arrived and the Gullery Hide in particular was rather busy. A single Pink Footed Goose flew in with a small party of Greylags and there were some distant Whooper Swans across the Loch. A pair of Shoveler gave Roy another year-tick. The Marsh Harrier failed to show for us so we wandered along to check the other hides.
A male Bullfinch gave us good views as it tucked into catkins near the Swamp Hide. There was some action around the feeders but no sign of the Bramblings which have been seen here. There was no sign of any Tree Sparrows either. Another pair of Bullfinches were in the trees nearby. Before we decided to pack up and head homewards we had distant views of a Red Kite from the East Hide. This was our third of the species for the day as a pair had been seen earlier elsewhere and we had enjoyed good close views of 1 of the 2, with the other in the same area but slightly further away from where we stopped to watch the bird casually drifting along into the wind.
A pretty good day out with 70 species seen, including 2 year-ticks for me (in bold), and at least 5 or 6 for Roy. The species we missed out on were not ones we are unlikely to see as the weeks progress so we were not unduly worried with having failed to see them. Spring is only just beginning, after all.
Reed Bunting
Kestrel
Yellowhammer
Dunnock
Lesser Black Backed Gull & Black Headed Gull
Common Gull, Redshank & Black Tailed Godwit
Redshank & Spotted Redshank
Dunlin
Redshank, Spotted Redshank & Common Gull
Redshank & Teal
Little Gull
Little Gull & Black Headed Gull
Long Tailed Tit
Little Gull
Little Gull & Black Headed Gull
Black Headed Gull & Little Gull
Black Headed Gull & Little Gull
Black Headed Gull & Little Gull
Guillemot
Shag
Puffin
Puffin
Hybrid duck (Pochard x Tufted?)
Snipe
Snipe
Shelduck
Roe Deer
Roe Deer
Green Sandpiper & Lapwing
Green Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Black Headed Gull & Common Gull
Siskin
Green Sandpiper
Blue Tit
Black Headed Gull & Pink Footed Goose
Shoveler
Greylag Goose
Bullfinch
Buzzard
Teal & Carrion Crow
Siskin
Bullfinch
Red Kite
Herring Gull & Lesser Black Backed Gull (& Teal)
Whooper Swan
Red Kite
Red Kite
Red Kite
Red Kite
Red Kite
Species seen -Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Gull, Coot, Cormorant, Dunlin, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Goldeneye, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Green Sandpiper, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Kittiwake, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Linnet, Little Grebe, Little Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Puffin, Razorbill, Red Kite, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Shag, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Skylark, Snipe, Song Thrush, Spotted Redshank, Starling, Stock Dove, Teal, Tufted Duck, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
