On our way back from Motherwell on Saturday Ian mentioned that he was planning on attempting to see the Mealy Redpolls and Coue's Arctic Redpoll at Hopes Reservoir south of Edinburgh on Sunday. He asked if I fancied it. Of course I did, and once I checked the bus (train replacement) times for Sunday morning and found they were running at 0800 again I said "Yes" and day 2 of our weekend twiching was a goer. As I had only 4 hours of sleep on Saturday night I was a bit tired but still managed to get up and out in time.
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| Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
Herring Gull, Blackbird and a Pied Wagtail were seen before I reached the railway station. A skein of Pink Footed Geese were spotted climbing out from the Tay near Inchture and as the bus neared Perth I added Black Headed Gull and Feral Pigeon to the list for the day. A Cormorant flew over as we headed out of Perth city centre southbound. There wasn't too much else to see on the road to Edinburgh though more geese and a few Magpies were noted. A flock of Lapwings flew over near Fala. Carrion Crow, Tree Sparrow and Jackdaw were next onto the list as we negotiated the maze of narrow roads on our way to the reservoir tucked away in the hills.
There was a bit of a walk to the reservoir from the small but roomy car park and a few birds were seen on the way. A male Bullfinch flew out from a bush when I went to investigate the noises coming from within which appeared to be Blue Tits but I didn't see them. My first Red Grouse of the year flew over and landed on the hillside. A Raven and a Buzzard tangled over the hills to the south. Another birder was ahead of us on the track though we kept stopping to check on any birds we saw or heard. A Dipper was heard singing in the wee burn but we were unable to see it. A Woodpigeon flew over. I heard Redpolls calling and we turned to see a flock of 50-100 birds fly past us, followed seconds later by another flock of a similar size with brown and grey birds visible in the group.
They landed in the trees ahead of us and we found them along with a few Bullfinches among the tangle of branches. Most of them appeared to be Lesser Redpolls though there were certainly a few obviously greyer Mealy Redpolls among them. The birds chose to move on again though thankfully up the hill towards the Dam. We caught up with them near another few birders coming the other way along the track above the dam. The flock was rather flighty and unsettled so views were fairly unsatisfactory. There was an obvious mix of plumages among them but nothing yelling 'snowball!' like the expected Arctic Redpoll should. There were a few Goldfinches in the flock too.
The flock headed back downhill to the trees but I decided to stay on the hillside to see if the birds would come back up. Ian headed downhill to try for better views. I managed to add Mallards across the reservoir, a Cormorant on the water and a Great Black Backed Gull which flew past twice as well as another Buzzard hunting along the ridge line opposite, a few more Red Grouse and a pair of Ravens. I eventually headed down towards Ian when it appeared the birds weren't coming back. Needless to say, they flew past me heading back the way I'd just came and in a much larger flock than previously. Back up the hill we went.
We eventually found the flock feeding on the hillside much further along towards the top end of the reservoir than before and tucked ourselves in by a tree on the track to watch. There were fleeting glimpses of a bird that looked like it might be the Coue's Arctic Redpoll and flight photos showing the pure white rump when checked later at home gave me my first lifer of the year. At the time however, I wasn't 100% sure we had our bird but as the flock headed further into the trees we decided to head back to the car. Blue Tit, Great Tit, Bullfinches and Treecreeper (another year-tick) were added in the trees. A Kestrel flew over as we wandered along the track, and a flock of Rooks and Jackdaws were spotted further towards the car park. We bumped into Carolyn Hargest who was heading in to try and see the Coue's and let her know where we'd seen the birds.
As we neared the gate a flock of birds burst out of the trees across the small burn. Redpolls again. They settled momentarily in a tree alongside the Kestrel which had landed in the same tree, before rushing along to the next tree. There was some to-ing and fro-ing with just enough time to get onto a bird or two before they'd move again. It was quite frustrating. Eventually they settled for a little longer and this time we spotted a good contender for Coue's Arctic Redpoll and I even managed a few photos which confirmed it. There seems to be some suspicion there may actually be two of the birds - 1 frequenting this area, the other more often up by the dam. Unfortunately my photos are inconclusive on that front.
It was now almost 1330 and after a quick check of travelling times to Coldstream we decided to attempt to see the lingering double act of Crane and Great White Egret down there. Although it was around an hour's travel time we knew that there was still plenty daylight available, so off we went. Chaffinches on the way up the hill from the car park, a few Pheasants, a flock of Common Gulls, Grey Heron by a burn and a female Sparrowhawk perched on a roadside hedge were all seen on the way south. Arriving in Coldstream we quickly found the same small car park we'd used last time round and headed out for a look across The Heugh. There was no obvious sign of the birds in the field though there were Whooper and Mute Swans across the far side.
We knew the birds had been seen near the weir on the river and I remembered seeing the weir on our last visit so we headed in that direction. A Grey Heron flew low over the field and up through the trees behind us. A pair of Mistle Thrushes were feeding in the ploughed field. We headed up onto the raised banking at the river and across the river on the English side stood the Great White Egret tucked in below the river bank trees. In front of it wandered the Crane. It isn't too often you get 2 different rarities side by side (though we'd also had Mealy and Arctic Redpoll together earlier) so it was good to see both birds so easily. A few Mallards swam around beside them. Heading back to the car a Fieldfare showed really well in below the trees and scolded at us a few times. Starling was the only addition on the way back to Perth though a flock of Pink Footed Geese were seen in a roadside field not too far from Coldstream.
A really good, and successful, day out once again with all 4 target species seen as well as a couple of bonus birds (year-ticks in bold) among the 41 species seen. Coue's Arctic Redpoll was a lifer for me, my first of hopefully many in 2019. Unfortunately I didn't get any video of either the Mealy or Arctic Redpolls though it was tricky enough getting photos at times.
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| Red Grouse |
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| Buzzard & Raven |
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| Buzzard & Raven |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Redpoll flock |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Lesser & Mealy Redpoll |
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| Lesser & Mealy Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Great Black Backed Gull |
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| Buzzard |
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| Raven |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy Redpoll |
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| Mealy Redpoll |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy, Lesser & Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Mealy, Lesser & Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy Redpoll |
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| Lesser & Mealy Redpoll |
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| Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy, Lesser & Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Mealy, Lesser & Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Mealy, Lesser & Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Lesser & Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Lesser & Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Mealy, Lesser & Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Red Grouse |
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| Kestrel |
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| Mealy Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Mealy & Lesser Redpoll |
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| Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Coue's Arctic Redpoll |
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| Buzzard |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| Jackdaw |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Mallard, Great White Egret & Crane |
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| Mallard, Great White Egret & Crane |
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| Mallard, Great White Egret & Crane |
Species seen -
(Coue's) Arctic Redpoll, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Cormorant,
Crane, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit,
Great White Egret, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Redpoll, Magpie, Mallard,
Mealy Redpoll, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Raven,
Red Grouse, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Tree Sparrow,
Treecreeper, Whooper Swan, Woodpigeon.
