The journey north on a beautiful Spring day produced a Jay over the A9 just north of Perth. An unscheduled stop caused by a coach crash further up the A9 held us up for about an hour but provided some singing Redpolls in the conifers above the road.
After a coffee & cake stop in Newtonmore we arrived at the B&B near Nethy Bridge around 3pm. After more tea we headed out for a walk in the woods just west of Boat of Garten. Crested Tit had been reported here a few days ago but none were present today. I got a good look at 2 male Scottish Crossbills out of a party of perhaps 5 or 6 Crossbils. The head and bill shape and size was particularly arresting, the upper mandible in particular being significantly curved with a real "conk" on it. I had never seen Crossbills in Speyside before other than flyovers but I was as confident as one can be that I was looking at Scottish Crossbill. Bird number 388 for Britain !
The woods also held small parties of Siskin along with both Coal Tit and Goldcrest.
I was up at 5pm (myself) on the 17th and headed for Tulloch Moor. It was still almost dark when I arrived at the screen that the RSPB have erected to allow birders to see the Blackcock lek without disturbing the birds. Through the murk, on what was quite a windy dawn. I saw flashes of white in the distance. Either they were displaying Blackcock or could they perhaps be rabbits? As the light improved, I was able to confirm the former. Some record shots of the birds:
At least 3 males were on show on and off for just over an hour & I watched them in the company of only 3 other people.
I headed round to the Osprey Centre for about 6:45 am and the chap at the booth showed me a male Caper on the video camera that was also likely to be showing from the hide. I quickly paid my £1 and headed in that direction. I met another 10 or so birders coming in the other direction. They had obviously seen all they needed to see and this was promising in terms of making the hide less busy. I have been up here before and people have been standing 3 deep making it difficult to see anything !
The hide was still reasonably busy but right away there was a female Caper on show on the top of a fairly close dead tree:
There were also 2 male Capers present, one of which displayed frequently. The following record shot was obtained:
A Buzzard and 2 Ospreys were other birds of note. One of the Ospreys:
After our full English in the B&B I dropped Patricia & the Girls in Aviemore for a couple of hours whilst I went birding. One of the bigger lochans on the north east side of Aviemore failed to come up with any Slav Grebes although there were at least 4 Little Grebe, 6 Wigeon and C8 Goldeneye present.
By the time I got to Garten Woods, the wind was starting to pick up and despite a slow walk through the woodland I failed to connect with Crested Tit or indeed much else. I haven't always seen Cresties here but I am sure that the really hard winter will have taken its toll and has made it more difficult.
In the afternoon we headed up the A9 and did the Findhorn Valley. By the time we reached the head of the valley the wind was very strong and not at all condusive for Golden Eagle and not surprisingly we drew a blank. An Osprey was seen from the car together with a Buzzard and a few Lapwing, Curlew and Oystercatcher. A Common Gull helped Rachel eat her sandwich !
Sunday the 18th dawned dull and wet with frequent snow showers, the temperature at 6am was only 1.5 degrees. I was tempted to stay in bed but instead headed round to the woods west of Boat of Garten. By 6:30 am the snow was falling quite steadily and the chances of Crested Tit looked slim. I saw 2 or 3 small parties of Crossbill in flight. I detected differences in the flight calls of different birds. Some sounded much hoarser than others. I therefore assume, based on call, that I am seeing 2 species of Crossbill in these woods ?
There was little else in the woods. A Great Spoted Woodpecker could be heard drumming distantly and a Raven flew over calling.
I scanned the pools on the other side of the road and noted 20 Wigeon, 8 Teal, 1 Greenshank and 1 Redshank.
It had been a very enjoyable weekend !
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