0685 : West Again (26/6/19)

The weather forecast for this week's mid-week outing with Paul was hot and sunny almost everywhere. Not my favourite conditions it has to be said but sure beats cold, wet and windy. Unfortunately, there were not many prospective targets close to home and any trip further afield needed to be able to offer a chance at a few species rather than traveling long distances in the hope of seeing just 1 species. I gave possible Paul some targets and we decided to head west to Oban to try and see Hooded Crow and Black Guillemot - both birds I saw earlier in the year but which paul still needs for his attempt to see 200 species in a year (despite being offshore for half of it).

An early start for me at 0645 to catch the 0705 bus to Cupar to meet Paul provided a few birds to kick-start the day's list - Jackdaw, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow and Herring Gull. Further down the road I spotted Blue Tit, Blackbird, Woodpigeon and Goldfinch. From the bus I added Swift while still at the bus station. Reflections in the windows of the bus limited what I was able to note on the journey through Fife though Oystercatcher, Buzzard, Skylark, House Sparrow, Swallow and Starling were all added to the list.

Once underway from Cupar, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull, House Martin, Collared Dove and Rook were seen. Pied Wagtail and Great Black Backed Gull were joined on the list by Robin, Song Thrush, Willow Warbler, Reed Bunting, Common Gull and Common Sandpiper during a short stop following a bit of a detour. Grey Wagtail, Raven, Chaffinch and Lesser Redpoll were spotted too and an unidentified macro moth, a Mother Shipton moth and a few Green Veined White butterflies added some variety to the list. A pair of Red Kites, a Kestrel and a high-flying Osprey passing over helped round off a productive detour.

We continued on westwards with Mallard seen at Loch Earn but little else. A stop at the Green Welly Stop in Tyndrum proved to be good timing as I spotted a Hooded Crow fly into a tree behind the car park as we parked. A quick check produced a second, and possibly third nearby. A male Siskin flew over. House Martin, House Sparrow and Pied Wagtail were also observed around the car park. By now the temperature was over 20 degrees. As usual the drive to Oban was relatively bird-free compared to a similar route on the east side of the country. A few Canada Geese were seen lounging along the shoreline as we neared Connel Bridge.

We found a car park in Oban not too far from where Jacqui and I had such great views of Black Guillemot last year and headed down to the path along the water. As we crossed the road I spotted a couple of Black Guillemots flying in towards the sea wall. In total there were at least 10 birds around with some on the water below us, others in the holes in the wall and others coming and going. We were able to sit and watch the birds as they went about their business. We were then joined by a small group of photographers so we decided to explore a little further on. A Hooded Crow was seen flying into trees by the road and Paul spotted another perched atop a house opposite. A few Eiders and some Herring Gulls were seen further along to the west and at least 1 other Black Guillemot could be seen even further along the road. A Rock Pipit showed well on the rocks below us.

We wandered back to find a couple of Black Guillemots perched below the railings. Passers-by were ignored by the birds as they sat in the sun. I decided to get some footage of the birds on my iphone. A third bird flew in and soon wandered towards me, giving me very close views before wandering right up to me, stopping below my phone briefly before flying off again. Brilliant views would be an understatement. It was now around 1325. We headed back to the car park and as we were leaving Paul spotted another Hooded Crow which actually flew up into the open back of a parked 4x4 briefly before landing back on the grass. Obviously its not only the Black Guillemots in Oban that are fearless.

Having passed through Glen Orchy with Ian earlier in the year, I suggested to Paul taking the slight detour which would only add around 6 extra miles to the journey to see if there were any birds there (Mallard was our only sighting  earlier in the year there). As it turned out we heard more species than we saw - Wood Warbler, Tree Pipit, Cuckoo, Willow Warbler and Common Sandpiper were all heard-only. Meadow Pipit and Sand Martin were seen. However the main highlights were insects with a few Golden Ringed Dragonflies, a few Large Red Damselflies, a couple of unidentified butterflies (possibly a Ringlet and a Fritillary) and a probable Brilliant Emerald Dragonfly - a new species for me. In addition there were lots of Chimney Sweeper moths along the roadside. What looked to be a rather chunky looking Lacewing was seen too.

The journey back to Cupar gave us a few more Hooded Crows, a few Buzzards, Swifts, Swallows, Woodpigeons, Jackdaws, Rooks and gulls but nothing new for the day. The bus direct to Dundee around 1740 no longer runs meaning a stop in Guardbridge where an Osprey was seen circling up to the south of the bridge. As I neared home around 12 hours after I left I spotted a number of butterflies around a tree - mostly Painted Ladies but also a few Red Admirals. There seems to be a very large influx of these migratory butterflies this year and I have rarely seen as many butterflies of any species in one place in Dundee before. A nice way to round off a pretty good day out.

In total 43 species of bird were seen with both our target species seen without any real difficulty. Unusually we failed to see any mammals whatsoever. 3 species of Dragonfly/Damselfly, 3 of moth (1 still unidentified) and 3 of butterfly added some welcome variety to the day's list. Despite not spending a huge amount of time in the sun my face ended up a bit sunburnt though thankfully the air conditioning in Paul's car kept us both from over-heating and from getting too tired.

Meadow Pipit

Common Sandpiper

Orchid sp.

Mother Shipton moth

Micro-moth sp.

Raven

Common Gull

Red Kite

Kestrel

Osprey

Hooded Crow

Hooded Crow

Siskin

Pied Wagtail

House Sparrow

House Martin

House Martin

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Rock Pipit

Rock Pipit

Hooded Crow

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Black Guillemot

Chimney Sweeper moth

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

Large Red Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly

Hoverfly sp.

Hoverfly sp.

Brilliant Emerald Dragonfly (?)

Brilliant Emerald Dragonfly

Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Eider, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Wagtail, Herring Gull, Hooded Crow, House Martin, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Lesser Redpoll, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Red Kite, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Rook, Sand Martin, Siskin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon.

Butterfly species seen  - Green Veined White, Painted Lady, Red Admiral.

Dragonfly species seen - Brilliant Emerald Dragonfly(?), Golden Ringed Dragonfly, Large Red Damselfly.

Moth species seen - Chimeny Sweeper, Mother Shipton.