Twitching Garganeys

It has been nearly 2 weeks since I first started to dip Garganeys this Spring. First it was the ones at Lochwinnoch on the Barr Loch and last week the ones at Leighton Moss. The former have been appearing quite regularly on the pager ever since.

I had some spare time this morning so I decided to try for the Barr Loch ones again. Absolutely no sign...........again ! Indeed there was very little in the way of wildfowl at all. 2 Great Crested Grebe, a Goosander and a few Mallard and that was about it. Plenty of Sedge Warblers chattering away as well as a singing Grasshopper Warbler.

On getting home the pager proudly announced that there were 2 Garganeys at guess where ?..................... No, not Lochwinnoch that would have been cruel, but at Baron's Haugh. "Showing well in front of the Marsh Hide". I wonder just how close ? Whatever, it will no doubt be into the sun by the afternoon anyway. Indeed, it was :



Garganeys - Distant & into the Sun.






























Now that I've seen them, I'll probably see lots. If that's the case you won't find me complaining.

Leighton Moss

There are certain places that are always on my itinerary in the Spring and Leighton Moss is one of them. I often try to combine it with other sites in the North of England like Haweswater or Marshside but this tends to lead to individual sites being rushed and too much time spent in the car at the expense of birding. Today was different !

Iain was at mine for 5:30 am and after the obligatory caffeine fix at Killington Lake we had crossed over the Cumbrian border into North Lancashire by 8:30 am. I am always taken by this part of Lancashire, the rolling countryside with its lanes and hedges are very attractive. It is not densely populated yet it is close enough to main centres to make it 'not too remote' for a city boy like me.

The morning, although warm was hazy and this persuaded us to do the main reserve rather than going down to the Allen Pools where the visibility might be compromised. Obviously, the more ruthless approach would have been to examine the tide tables and let them dictate when it was best to do the Pools. I am however, never that organised, but as luck would have it, it proved to be the correct decision.

The reedbed on both sides of the causeway was positively alive with both Reed & Sedge Warbler. It does take my ear a few seconds to get in tune with the rhythm of the two songs. They are not particularly alike, but if you haven't heard them for 9 months, a momentary pause just to get them sorted in your head is necessary.

On reaching the Public Hide our ears were accosted by the screams of the Black Headed Gull colony.

'Chocolate' Headed Gull

We soon saw our first Marsh Harrier of the day, much earlier than I had expected. I had anticipated perhaps by late morning once the thermals had started to rise. This bird was a female and was in the process of collecting nest material. Indeed we saw both male and female Marsh Harriers very well throughout the morning.

Other notables included Pochard, Gadwall and Great Crested Grebe. A couple of Great Black Backed Gulls were also present.

Mr Menace

A male Pheasant was on the path that goes up towards the campsite and looked resplendent in the morning sun. Keen to take a photograph I was soon set up in the hope of capturing it before it disappeared into the undergrowth. Instead, it walked towards us and led us through the gate towards the path that leads to the Lower Hide. It was just too close to digiscope. Finally however, it cooperated and moved far enough away to allow me to take this:

Phwoar ....... Wot a Stunner !

The walk down towards the Lower hide allowed us to contrast and compare many of the different Warbler songs including Willow, Chiffchaff and many Blackcaps. Reed & Sedge continued to be heard from the reedbed.

The Lower Hide provided us with more stunning views of Marsh Harrier along with Great Crested Grebes and a single 1st Summer male Goldeneye. On leaving the hide I located a Marsh Tit and indeed we saw several of these birds as we walked through the woodland towards the road. A Green Woodpecker called distantly and I thought I heard a Swift but dismissed it on the grounds that it was 'far too early'. It was far from 'too early' because we soon connected with c8 Swifts over the main pool as we reached the road.

We were soon round at the Visitors Centre and a check of the feeding station produced  a good view of a Nuthatch along with yet another Marsh Tit. The Nuthatch came twice to the same feeder in quick succession. Thinking that I was in with a decent chance of a shot I quickly set up and waited. Five minutes soon became ten and with no further sign I gave up.

A quick look at the Reserve sightings board confirmed that a Med Gull was in with the Black Headed Gulls from Lillian's Hide and that the Garganey remained from Grizedale. The latter was obviously an opportuinity for me to dip Garganey twice in a week !

Iain 'The Gull Guru' soon found one of the Meds. However, before I had time to even blink, one of them promptly flew off leaving its 'other half' to defend its territory amongst the throng of Black Headed Gulls.

Adult Med Gull......... check the eye liner !

It was soon time to 'dip the Garganey' and indeed we did. No amount of scanning and praying would prize even the merest hint of a flash of white supercilium from behind whichever bank he was giggling from. To confound matters, the 'expected' Bearded Tits and Bitterns were neither heard nor seen and we had to content ourselves with a 'showy' Sedge Warbler. The Tim Jackson hide was looking straight into the sun and as such we soon decided that the Allen Pools via the shop would be a better bet.

My fat balls have been proving very popular with the birds of late. I am of course referring to feeding my feathered friends in the garden. The other interpretation is certainly not very likely, certainly not of late and if it did happen it would have been some 3 stones ago. There is a good shop at Leighton Moss that stocks a good range of bird food. I normally buy the fat balls in packets of 4 and they go in no time. Today, however, on the production of a tenner I am the proud owner of whole box of 50. The birds will be pleased !

The Allen Pools can sometimes be a hit or a miss, particularly if you don't consult tide tables. However, on arrival, the number of cars in the car park indicated a degree of promise that things might be good. The sound of nearby Redshanks also added to the impression. On the way down to the hide my first Whitethroat of the Summer showed well and we could hear a Lesser Whitethroat "rattling" from further along the bank.

The Pools were indeed good, with a good number of Avocets and a smartly dressed Spotshank and a large flock of Black Tailed Godwits.

Avocet

And another..................................

You Guessed It

Not an Avocet

On leaving the Allen Hide we soon connected with the Lesser Whitethroat. A nice view as it moved through a hawthorn showing its mask as it went.

The Eric Morecambe Hide gave us a bonus in the form of 11 Whimbrel, calling as they flew over as well as some Wigeon, Shelduck, Gadwall etc.

Shelduck

Gadwall Pair

Avocets had been particularly evident from the Allen Hide with many calling their characteristic 'Cluut'. The ones from this hide could barely be heard over my rumbling tum that was in dire need of some feeding. The thought of my 104th yoghurt of the week or indeed my remaining jaffa cakes were unlikely to 'hit the spot', and so a diversion into darkest Carnforth to find a Chip Shop was required. My 'legendary navigational skills' quickly found one such establishment and after refuelling we quickly found our way to Warton Crags.

We soon found a Peregrine, which had apparently recently lost its 4 eggs............... stolen by the Ravens, that also had a nest on the Crag.

Peregrine - looking for revenge on a Raven

All in all it had been a teriffic day spent almost in its entirety at one location. I felt that we had done the site full justice, kept car time to a minimum and of course saw lots of birds.

I Can Now Officially Announce that it is Summer !!

It is definitely Summer now that the warblers have arrived. Chiffchaff is always nice of course, but it is usually March and always weeks ahead of everything else. It is not until a warm day in mid April when there is a sudden rush of warblers that you suddenly realise that Summer is here.

My domestic chores start early at the weekend and my usual hash, as the wife calls it, of hanging out washing at 7:30 am was accompanied by a male Blackcap belting out its tune from the railway embankment. Keeping rhythm on the bass was a Chiffchaff probably telling him that he was here first.

The 2nd day of Scot Cheer was at the SECC but not until 12:30 pm. After dropping 'The Bug', my next chore was some shopping, since that could wait until late afternoon, a quick dart through the Clyde Tunnel saw me at Lochwinnoch for about 1:15 pm. I enquired about access on to the Barr Loch and in particular where the reported Garganey might be at. I was directed to a cycle path about 1/4 of a mile away and a 15 minute walk towards some woodland and down to "where the old hide used to be". Whatever, happened to that hide ? I always thought it was good. It all of a sudden disappeared and as far as I knew access blocked off.

The cycle path is an old railway line and as such is lined with fine mature trees and hawthorns. On such a nice warm afternoon it is bound to be full of Willow Warblers and indeed it was.

Willow Warbler - the Sound of Summer

After clambering down a step embankment, the path led down to the edge of the Barr Loch and through a small reed bed where Sedge Warblers were churring & chirping from. On the Loch, the 1st winter Smew remained but despite searching and walking right out to the end I could not locate the Garganey. I assumed it had gone. Always disconcerting when you get home and on the pager appears "2 Garganey, 1 male Barr Loch 3pm". Must be going blind !!!.

Anyway, whilst searching for the elusive Garganey, a Grasshopper Warbler was reeling away from the rough ground at the back of the Loch. Sometimes, they sit out quite the thing, but on this occasion like the Garganey it did not show.

Drake Black Scoter

With the school holidays still in progress and Patricia back at work, it was my turn to take Friday off work to 'watch the dustbin lids'. Leave happened to coincide with news breaking of a drake Black Scoter in Northumberland on the Thursday afternoon. I was unable to go on the Friday because I had to take Rachel into town to look for a prom dress for her primary school finale. They didn't have proms in my day, you just left, you didn't even need a limousine. We walked all over the town and went into every shop, sometimes twice and came home with..................... nothing ! What a waste of time, we could have been in Northumberland enjoying the Scoter. In truth I was not particularly bothered, I was quite confident that the bird would be there in the morning.

By 7:30 am the pager had indeed confirmed that the Scoter was still present. I dropped Rachel at her Scot Cheer competition at the SECC for 8:30 am. Since the competition lasts for about 12 hours there was plenty of time for me and Louise to do Northumberland.

By 11am we were in Bamburgh and suprisingly for me found the site no problem at all. Just like the directions said "follow the Wynding north from Bamburgh to the car park at the end". From a Scotsman's point of view, the added bonus was that the car park was FREE, which isn't always the case in Northumberland. A few Swallows, I had already seen one in East Lothian from the A1 on the way down and Sand Martins were flitting up the coast and the Farnes looked an absolute picture if a tad hazy in the distance.

A long line of Scoter was present. However, the direction of pointing telescopes of the other assembled twitchers gave significant clue as to where to look and I am on the bird very quickly. It is surprisingly, obvious even at a distance, the orange knob on the bill reminds me of my bathtime rubber duck. I get Louise on the bird, well it is surely daft to come all that way and not take a peek, even if you are not in the least interested, and even if you are momentarily distracted from "Me and You at Six" on the ipod.

Extreme Right Hand Bird

Part of a raft of Common Scoter

This represents, the 2nd record for England and despite it being a Saturday there are relatively few people present. Ofcourse, there was a drake on and off in Wales for several years in a row not all that long ago so certainly 'southern twitchers' will have seen this already presumably.

We stroll off down the beach in the direction of Bamburgh Castle and I scan Inner Farne in the hope of Puffins, but it is too hazy to pick any out. A few Fulmars are notable. Bamburgh Castle sits majestically on the shoreline so like all tourists I take a photo:

Super Woman in Northumberland- Ipod at the ready

Back at the car park, the Scoter continues to be on show but the added bonus is 2 Puffins, Guillemot and a brief Harbour Porpoise.

After our fill of Scoter we devour a 99 and head off towards Beadnell. A Blackcap, being one of the earliest migrants is singing but I am still missing Willow Warbler that I have seen reported. I have usually seen or heard these by mid April surely. The wooden tern shack is still closed, presumably because there are no terns yet. Well at least no Arctic or Little. There are however, lots of Sandwich Tern "keeracking" up and down the shore. At the point we see a group of waders on the rocks including c3 Purple Sandpiper, Turnstone and Grey Plover.

Grey Plover - still in winter plumage

Time to get arty with the waves !

More Wave Action

A while back, I stumbled upon a birding blog covering this area...... called "Newton Stringer" from memory. The author I seemed to remember talking about a "coastal pond" that I am assuming is where I saw a Garganey reported from yesterday. So me & Louise started to look for this mythical pond. I don't think we found it, we did find some tidal creeks with lots of Curlew and Shelduck on them and on the Links we did find Wheatear:

Wheatear

It was now about 3:30 and my very unappetising sandwiches had not been touched............... nor were they likely to be with several good quality fish & chip outlets in Seahouses. We were indeed getting a little peckish and so it was a fish supper to finish via the Eiders in Seahouses Harbour:

Confiding Drake Eider in Seahouses Harbour

4 Grouse in the Highlands

With the weather forecast looking good for the weekend I had an opportunity to do the Spey Valley. This is an area I positively love particularly at this time of year. Everything is so fresh and the tourist season has hardly got going and so it is still quiet.

I normally set my alarm for 2am and drive north in time for the 'Caper Watch' at Loch Garten. This time I set off on the Friday evening about 8pm and bed down for the night, in the car, parked in Garten Wood. I spent a less than comfortable night, not helped by forgetting my pillow. By 5am I can see its is beginning to get light and on opening the car door I hear a couple of Tawny Owls hooting.

My first port of call is Tulloch Moor for the Black Cock Grouse lek. I am the only one there surprisingly ! I had rather hoped that man & wife I had met last year would be there,with their Campervan, that offered me a cup of tea, the man not the campervan. They were not & I had to do without. Despite fretting over tea, or the lack of  it I still see at least 3 displaying male Blackcock.............No sorry, lets call them Grouse before someone gets completely the wrong idea here. The view is through a screen that the RSPB have put up to stop nasty people like myself from disturbing the birds, so the view is quite distant and frankly a bit disappointing. Even at ISO 4 million I can't take a shot. However, it is worth it just for the sound, lots of shrieking & hissing akin to banshees. You can see where witches covens perhaps came from many moons ago!

By 6:15am I am round at the Caper Watch. A displaying male can be seen on camera, but you can't count that for your year list ? As usual there is a reasonable crowd, all very protective of their window positions. If your late, you are very much in the cheap seats, if there were any, you have to stand. After very little sleep that's difficult. A woman ventures away from 'her' window, her scope goes with her ! I'm in on a flash, centre of the hide right at the window. There is nothing to see ofcourse, if you discount 2 Ospreys and 3 Roe Deer. Thinking I am set for the morning, I am rudely interupted by this ignorant so and so that barges in front of me. I do hear the words excuse me, but before I can move I am effectively pushed aside. Glances are exchanged, and he knows I am annoyed. I have seen some bad behaviour at various twitches in my time but for sheer audacity, this takes the biscuit. Fortunately, he moves quite soon before I hit him with my tripod.

Eventually, someone finds a Caper and I get a reasonable scope view of a big black shape in a treee about 100 yards away. On the basis that this is as good as it is going to get, I leave. On the track down to the car park I see and hear 2 or 3 Crossbill sp. A couple of Red Squirrels also show well on the feeders:

Red Squirrel

Loch Garten is a picture in the early morning light. If I was a decent photographer I would have taken a shot ! A female Goldeneye is present along with a pair of Wigeon and 2 Grey Lag Goose. It is probably too early for Common Sandpiper so I don't spend very long searching.

Last Spring I spent about 3 hours in Garten Wood trying to connect with Crested Tit and failed miserably. The weather conditions are infinitely better this morning, but nonetheless I am still expecting a long search. The combined effect of 2 severe Winters in a row has surely taken its toll ? I wander in the direction of the loch, seeing more Goldeneyes and instantly see and hear Crested Tits. That is how it goes sometimes ! Several more Crossbill sp are also heard.

A brief stop at the River Spey at Boat of Garten fails to find Dipper, but a pair of Goldeneye are present:

Goldeneyes on The Spey

Last year the woods just West of Boat of Garten were good for Scottish Crossbill. I eagerly head to the spot where I had seen them last year. I am soon rewarded by the sound of Crossbill. Despite not seeing them closely, the call is much deeper than the birds I have heard recently in Northumberland and indeed the one that flew over the garden a couple of weeks ago. I think this is Scottish Crossbill I am hearing ?

Despite not getting good views of the Crossbills, a further 2 Crested Tits show briefly. Again, I had tramped round here twice last year and failed to see Cresties ! Several Siskin & Redpolls are in evidence as well as lots of Treecreeper. A Raven is heard as it flies somewhere overhead. Back at the car park the area around the pools produce a Hooded Crow.

After a poor 'all day breakfast' including chips..........who serves chips at breakfast I ask you, in a cafe in Aviemore, I head up the A9 to the Findhorn Valley that is reputedly good for birds of prey including Golden Eagle and possibly Sea Eagle. It's also apparently full of Goshawks, Merlins & Hen Harriers. You can't miss them apparently Well I'm sure I can. After about 8 miles you come to the road end and what looks like definite Eagle country. Buzzard after Buzzard after Buzzard. 3 Kestrels, 1 ,possibly 2 Peregrine.

 I decide to climb up the hillside a bit cos that call sounds very Wheatear like ! Indeed 2 Wheatears right on cue. Another bird is calling that sounds suspiciously like Ring Ouzel. Despite much scanning I cannot locate it and it goes quite again. I start to scan seriously for Golden Eagle & all these Goshawks etc. After, not long, my eyes are getting heavier and heavier. It's warm & the bracken is dry.........the inevitable, I fall asleep. After about 40 minuites I wake up. 40 winks has taken the edge off my tierdness. I look up................ Golden Eagle?..................Goshawk?..............Hen Harrier?.................no this:



Ring Ouzel........I heard right ! 




























I follow a sheep track back down off the hillside, taking care not to fall and break my neck or worse still my telescope. I spend the next hour scanning for Golden Eagle etc and by about 5 o'clock I have had enough. Time to find myself a bed & breakfast me thinks. The idea for tomorrow is to do the Lochindorb area, so it makes sense to head for Grantown on Spey. After driving round Grantown, I find a suitable looking B&B and I meet a very welcoming landlady who appears genuinely thankful for my custom. For £ 38 a night the room looks more than acceptable, so I take it. The main part of the town is just up the hill and I quickly find the Ben Mhor Hotel and sink a pint of Stella. The bar food looks quite enticing & Swansea and Norwich are on Sky Sports 1 and it looks like an interesting game, so I stay. End of Day 1 and my head hits the pilow by 8pm. What an exciting life I do lead.

Sunday morning dawns and the weather looks cracking again. The plan is Lochindorb followed up by the Cairngorns. Breakfast is good and I pay my £ 38 and head off by 9:30 am. Lochindorb is quickly reached and with the car windows open and only going at 15 miles per hour I quickly score my 3rd Grouse of the weekend:

Red Grouse

I can see you

Ofcourse it was good to see Osprey yesterday at Loch Garten, but let's be honest, it is a bit boring just seeing them about 100 yards away sat in a tree. What is much better is seeing them close up fishing over a loch. Indeed several years ago in North America I saw 'many' like this. I was reminded of just that occasion this morning with one fishing over Lochindorb. At one stage was right over the car, and I don't mean high over the car, I mean just above the car. Now that's what I call seeing an Osprey, absolutely superb !

Other then Red Grouse & Osprey Lochindorb was a bit quiet. It probably deserved more time but I was keen to get to Cairngorn. By about 11:30 am I had reached the funicular railway that takes visitors to the plateau. The problem with this is that once you get to the top they don't let you out of the station. This is quite simply to stop loads of people trampling what is a very fragile landscape and ofcourse rightly so. So in order to see Ptarmigan I headed off on foot. Original plan was to follow the track right up to the plateau and take it from there. However, I quickly got distracted andwandered off in another direction along a path that although not as obvious as the main one was still well capable of being followed. That was until I encountered my first snow field. In my light training shoe excuse for walking boots, carrying a tripod, camera etc, this was not ideal. I could hear my heart thumping. I'm sure a few years ago I would have skipped up here but my level of fitness these days is not what it should be.

Now I've never found Ptarmigan plentiful on any of the Scottish mountains I have been on, not that I've been on very many. Indeed on several occasions I have drawn a complete blank. I was in habitat that looked good and indeed I found droppings that I reckoned belonged to the birds. But all the scanning in the world was yielding nothing. By 2pm I had seen virtually nothing aside from a Wheatear and started to think about heading back down again. Oh but which way to go ? I saw some walkers on what looked like a good path further down the hillside. It didn't look too steep, so I went for it. It was steep enough to warrant my full attention & I certainly was not scanning for Ptarmigan. All of a sudden I heard a call and a male Ptarmigan was literally at my feet, the female crouched close by. I stopped and at first I thought they were going to stay put. However, the moment I went to put my tripod down & reach for the camera they were off. Nonethless, it was a terrific view albeit it only lasted for about 20 seconds.

Cairngorn Mountains...... Spot the Ptarmigan, it's hard believe me !

Loch Morlich in the distance

So I have achieved 4 Grouse in a weekend and have seen the majority of the species I had come to see. All in all it has been a very enjoyable weekend. Roll on the next one !

London Calling

Spent a thoroughly enjoyable weekend down in London with Patricia & the girls. As well as doing the usual sort of sight seeing kinds of things like the London Eye & Buckingham Palace we took in the Lion King at the Lyceum in Covent Garden. I am not hugely into musicals but I have to say that this was terrific.

On the Saturday afternoon, the plan was to do shopping in Oxford St. Noticing that Regent's Park was just the next stop on the tube I arranged to let the girls go shopping & I would catch up with them later on.

Despite not having binoculars, Ring Necked Parakeet was fairly easily seen and heard. In addition there is a large boating lake with various types of wildfowl including:



Drake Wood Duck

 

Drake Red Crested Pochard