This Wednesday wasn't just another mid-week outing. It was also the beginning of what would hopefully be 5 days of birding due to me being off work on holiday for the rest of the week. With a bit of luck I would maybe add a few more year-ticks to my lengthening year-list. I had a list of a few places I would hopefully try to get to and one of these was Loch of Kinnordy. As a Wood Sandpiper had been found there on Tuesday (by Doug Milne) I would have to hope that it would stick around into Thursday. To increase my chances of seeing it, I decided to catch the earliest bus I could, which would mean getting out of bed around 0500.
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| Common Gull & Marsh Harrier |
With the bus due around 0640, I headed out about 0625. Starling, Blackbird, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, a singing Dunnock, Feral Pigeon, Jackdaw and Blue Tit were seen on the walk down to the bus stop. Carrion Crow was noted as I waited for the bus sto arrive. I didn't add too many spoecies from the bus though Rook, Buzzard, Pheasant, Oystercatcher and Mallard joined the others on the list. Brown Hare and Rabbit were also noted from the bus. There was no sign of the Dippers by the bridge and things didn't seem as busy as I'd expected them to be.
The walk out to the reserve did produce Yellowhammer, Song Thrush, Common Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull and Siskin. I made a quick detour round towards the Lily Pond where Sand Martins and Swallows could be seen flying low over the water. A Black Headed Gull flew over and the first Greylag Geese of the day landed on the main Loch. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was spotted atop a tall conifer where its loud call alerted me to look for the source. Mute Swan was seen out on the Loch before I headed into the East Hide.
Lapwing was spotted from the hide but a small head appearing above the vegetation on one of the distant bogbean islands had me thinking it might be the Wood Sandpiper so I hurried along to the Gullery Hide for a better look. Great Tit, Chaffinch and Wren were next onto the list on the way. There was 1 person in the hide already and I asked him if there was any sign of the Wood Sandpiper. He replied that he hadn't seen it. I had a quick look around noting Coot, Shoveler and Redshank along with a few more Lapwing. A minute or so later I spotted movement among the bogbean and after a quick photo to check the ID for sure, I had found the hoped for
Wood Sandpiper.
Reed Bunting and Willow Warbler were spotted before I went for a walk along to the East Hide to check the gulls there, in the hope of seeing an Iceland Gull that had been seen on Monday around the Loch. The loud squeal of a Water Rail stopped me in my tracks at the boardwalk and having decided that the bird sounded very close I scanned along the edge of the reeds and was able to make out the long red beak of the Water Rail before it disappeared further into cover again. I had no luck with finding anything unusual among the gulls, though I did hear a singing Sedge Warbler but couldn't see it among the reeds, so I wandered back to the Gullery Hide.
Teal, Moorhen and a Grey Heron were added before the male Marsh Harrier was on the receiving end of some harassment from the local gulls as he hunted over the reedbed. Things were relatively quiet however and I debated going elsewhere for the rest of the day. Both Marsh Harriers were seen in flight but oddly there was no sign of any Ospreys. Doug Milne came in and we chatted for a while. He had found the Wood Sandpiper the day before but wasn't completely confident of the ID, nor was the other person in the hide with him, though he did think it was probably a Wood Sandpiper. Along came a local club member who picked out the bird among the bogbean and took the credit for finding the bird.
We had another wander along to the East Hide where the Marsh Harrier gave us a flypast and a Buzzard cruised over. A House Martin was added before 11 Pink Footed Geese dropped in. Another was seen hauled out on the bank by a Mute Swan and a sleeping drake Wigeon. A trio of Mallards and a drake Shoveler were in the vegetation out in front of the hide, the Mallards dabbling noisily while feeding. A pair of Shelduck put in appearance towards the rear of the Loch and a pair of Gadwall swam out onto the Loch. Back at the Gullery Hide the Wood Sandpiper showed again before I decided to head back to the bus stop and back down to Dundee. A Robin and Long Tailed Tits were seen on the walk back to Kirriemuir. Although I again debated going elsewhere, I headed for home when I arrived back in Dundee.
Even though Sedge Warbler eluded me and there were no surprise arrivals it was good to pick up a year-tick (in bold) among the 47 species seen. The light could have been better and it was rather chilly compared to the temperatures of a few days before but it was still an enjoyable enough day out.
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| Buzzard |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Herring Gull, Common Gull, Black Headed Gull & Buzzard |
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| Black Headed Gull & Grey Heron |
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| Greylag Goose |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier & Reed Bunting |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Teal |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier & Common Gull |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Wood Sandpiper & Redshank |
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| Wood Sandpiper & Redshank |
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| Shoveler |
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| Shoveler |
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| Shoveler & Teal |
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| Pink Footed Goose & Black Headed Gull |
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| Shoveler |
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| Pink Footed Goose |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Greylag Goose & Wood Sandpiper |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Wood Sandpiper |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
Species seen - Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Coot, Dunnock, Gadwall, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Martin, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Shoveler, Siskin, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Teal, Water Rail, Wigeon, Willow Warbler,
Wood Sandpiper, Woodpigeon, Wren, Yellowhammer.
Mammals seen - Brown Hare, Rabbit.
