31 May 10 Loch Ardinning

A fine warm day with light to moderate winds. Now that we are approaching June, heat haze is a significant factor.

Redpoll were frequently heard in and around the birch woods surrounding the loch. The loch itself held a single Tufted Duck. Willow Warblers were frequentlly heard & seen and several Tree Pipit were present.

The site is often good for Whinchat and today at least 4 were seen. Unfortunately, the haze severely inhibited photography:

A Cuckoo called frequently and on one occasion came close enough for a record shot. In this one, it is being mobbed by a small passerine, probably a Meadow Pipit:

Other birds of interest included 2 Buzzards and both Curlew & Lapwing. 2 or 3 Siskin were heard and Meadow Pipits were commonly seen, often carrying food:

 

29 June 10 Cathkin

A cloudy but mostly dry morning with light winds. Temperature below average for the time of year.

The Braes held a good scattering of singing Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler. Both Linnet and Redpoll were also seen.

The Big Wood provided both singing Blackcap and Chiffchaff. It was also encouraging to find a Spotted Flycatcher, a scarce species these days. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew from the Big Wood towards the car park.

Peregrine over Garden

I was having my lunch in the garden when I heard the alarm calls of several gulls overhead. I was expecting to see a squabble between two gulls, but instead it was a Peregrine they were seeing off.

15 May 10 Frampton Marsh, Lincolnshire

An Oriental Pratincole turned up in Lincolnshire on 9th May 10 (last Sunday) and not expecting it to stay very long I did not give much thought to actually seeing it. However, as the days passed it was still being reported and by the time Friday came it was still present and so I decided to travel the 300 miles on the Friday evening to twitch it.

I left Glasgow at 10 pm and by 4 am ish I crossed the Nottinghamshire border into Lincolnshire. Almost immediately a Barn Owl flew across the road and pretty soon a Little Owl (only my second ever) was on top of a tree at the side of the A17. Further along the road a second Barn Owl was seen hunting along the side of a field.

By 5am I was at Frampton. It was an absolutely glorious Spring morning. There were already about a dozen birders on site and soon it became apparent that the bird was on show from close to the East Hide. Never coming close I'm afraid this was about the best I could do:

In the afternoon the bird flew constantly around the main pool, in loose association with 3 Little Gulls, hawking insects. In flight it looked curiously blunt ended, something that is not apparent from its posture on the ground. The upper wings always apppeared dark. The was no obvious white trailing edge to the secondaries and the reddish underwing could be seen.

Frampton Marsh was positively alive with birds. Hedges and ditches all contained either Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting or Reed Warbler. There were at least 4 singing Corn Buntings present:

The scrapes were full of waders. There were lots of Dunlin and several Lapwing and Redshank. There were 3 summer plumaged Curlew Sandpipers and 1 Knot with the Dunlin. There were lots of Ringed Plover and several pairs of Little Ringed Plover. This being a particularly obliging individual:

Other waders on the scrapes of interest included a Whimbrel, several Ruff, Black Tailed Godwit and breeding Avocet:

At least a hundred Dark Bellied Brent Geese still remained, most of whom were seen in flight over the Wash. Other wildfowl included small numbers of Shoveler, Gadwall and Pintail. The Wash also held a large flock of Grey Plover.

A drake Garganey was present on the pool adjacient to the visitors centre. This pool also had several shingle islands with breeding Common Tern:

After a breakfast roll at the local Little Chef I returned to the reserve and spent some time in the 360 degrees hide. There were at least 2 Yellow Wagtail present:

and Skylark:

 

There was no sign of the reported Temminck's Stint but a Marsh Harrier went over early afternoon. 

It had been an absolutely fantastic day !!

09 May 10 Turnberry

With Patricia & Rachel away for the weekend at a cheerleading competition in Newcastle and Louise at horseriding for the day, an opportunity arose for some birding !

I dropped Louise at 10:20 and by 11:20 I was at Turnberry. Another nice day with little or no wind, bright with the sea flat calm.

Several Sedge Warbler were singing from scrub at the golf course edge and 3 Grasshopper Warblers were singing, including this one from an exposed perch:

This part of the Ayshire coast can be good for divers and there were 4 Great Northern present today, all fairly distant. There was also 2-3 Black Throated Divers, including a cracking summer plumaged individual close in to the shore.

There were several rafts of auks on the sea. Most were Razorbills but there were also several Black Guillemot and the occasional Common Guillemot. Manx Shearwater frequently passed offshore and there was also small numbers of Gannets and Sandwich Terns.

C15 Sanderling scurried around on the tideline and there were small numbers of Ringed Plover.

From Turnberry Point there were 2 or 3 Common Dolphins and on the rocks below the point C7 Purple Sandpipers and 2 or 3 Turnstone.

Just to round off what had been a superb day, there were 3 Whimbrels on the beach with at least another one calling. A female Wheatear also showed well :

In the Garden

I am always puzzled why I get more birds in the garden in the Spring and Autumn than I get in deep midwinter. All that snow & freezing weather in December & January and relatively few birds yet now in May I am filling the feeders daily ! With Greenfinches almost constantly and regular Bullfinch:

There are also the occasional Goldfinch and from time to time Siskin:

08 May 10 Barons Haugh

A fine bright morning with a cool Northerly wind.

The walk over the hill from the car park produced Garden Warbler, Blackcap and Whitethroat. The Haugh was very quite, with only a few Teal and Gadwall of interest. A Mute Swan was on a nest to the right of the causeway hide.

Sedge Warblers were singing from all areas of the reserve:

There was at least a further 2 Garden Warblers singing in the scrub between the Phoenix and Centenary hides. Also in this area, a Whitethroat was seen along with several Willow Warblers. A Sparrowhawk was circling over the Ross Estate. At least 2 Buzzards were in the sky, often being mobbed by Crows.

20 + Sand Martin were over their nesting areas along the river bank and at least 2 Swifts were also present. There was no sign of any Spotted Flycatchers along the Chestnut walk, but it might still be a bit early for them ?

01 May 10 Inversnaid

Between Aberfoyle and Inversnaid, 2 Goldeneye were present on one of the lochs. I previously thought that breeding was confined to Speyside, but this looked good for breeding much further south !

It was dry but dull just East of Inversnaid when I stopped at the side of the roadside overlooking the moor at 7:30am. The sky was threatening and within 1/2 an hour it was raining quite steadily and it remained much like that for the remainder of the morning. It was cold for the time of year with a light to moderate Northerly wind.

A Grasshopper Warbler was reeling fairly close to the road and despite my best efforts to see it, it remained hidden during the time I was there. The strange almost demonic calls of Black Grouse were also coming from the moor and at least 4 Blackcock were lecking fairly close to the road. This lot were showing a whole lot closer than the ones I had seen in Speyside a fortnight previously. A single Greyhen was also seen in flight. A record shot of one of the males:

A distant Cuckoo could be heard calling as well as Wheatears and several Common Sandpipers. A Hooded/Carrion Crow was at the side of the road..

With no sign of the rain ceasing, I made my way along to the Inversnaid car park. A Blackcap was singing close to the toilet block. The expected oak wood specialties with the exception of Redstart were all seen from the RSPB trail. Several Wood Warbers were "trilling" and at least 2 were seen well. Tree Pipits were frequently seen and several were performing their parachute display flight. The simple call of Pied Flycatcher was frequently heard and both males and females were seen well. One of the males at one of the many nest boxes that have been provided:

It is not always Pied Flycatchers that use the nestboxes:

The rain continued to fall, so I descended back towards the loch where a Dipper was seen catching a small fish. 2 Goosander were on the loch and 2 more Common Sandpiper were seen. Great Spotted Woodpecker could be heard drumming.

I moved round to the upland trail and despite the rain there was still much to see and hear. Many Wheatears were on the moor, some of which performed song flights. A Cuckoo called frequently, but despite scanning I could not locate the bird(s). My first House Martins of the year fed low over the rough grassland accompanied by a few Swallows. Black Grouse could again be heard from the moor and a single male was seen fairly well.