May 31 2014
The other couple that were in our group of birders at Grantown-on-Spey mentioned to us that they had just seen a King Eider on the Ythan Estuary at Newburgh the day before they arrived in Grantown. We had been to the Ythan Estuary before but not to this part of it so we were very curious to see what it was like and also to try our luck at the King Eider if it was still there.
May 30 2014
When we booked our three-day guided birding tour with John Poyner we reserved an additional day at the hotel so that we could re-visit some of our favourite places on our own and spend as much time at each location as possible. This involved us returning to Avie Lochan, the Findhorn Valley (Strathdearn), Lochindorb and Loch Allan. This was so that we could see the Salvonian Grebes again and perhaps catch some Eagles at Strathdearn. The remaining places were on the list so we could see divers again and we were not disappointed in any of these hopes.
May 29 2014
We started our last day of guided birding with yet another attempt to see Crested Tits. After that we were to go off to the Moray coast to visit all the small bays and harbours up there including Spey Bay, Lossiemouth, Burghead and Roseisle. We were to finish all this off with a quick visit to Loch Allen to see if we could catch the Red-throated Divers again.
May 28 2014
For our second day of guided birding John decided that we would do some birding around the forest near Loch Garten and then see what the weather was going to be like later in the morning with a view to a possible trip on the funicular railway up Cairngorm. In the afternoon a drive up to the Black Isle was probable. With all this surely we would be getting some great birds and probably some lifers.
May 27 2014
We met for breakfast and the decision based on the weather was that we would spend our first day in the area that surrounds Grantown-on-Spey, an area that includes forest, rivers, glens and grouse moors. We loaded up the minibus and headed off first for Lochindorb. En route we crossed the moors and saw several Red Grouse including a pair of adults with several young that struggled comically to run through the heather. In the more open fields there were very large numbers of nesting Common Gulls (they are indeed “common” here) and Oystercatchers. Curlew flew over and little flocks of Lapwing rose up as we drove along. As we drove past woodland we saw Red Squirrels and Rabbits.
May 26 2014
We left Loch of the Lowes and headed off for Grantown on Spey. As we drove up there we saw a Hooded Crow and lots of House Martins – seemingly at every house we came across, suddenly there were Martins. There were also plenty of Swallows. At RSPB Loch Garten we had a more heartening Osprey experience.
May 26 2014
We started our holiday to Scotland by driving up to Kippen, north of Stirling, where we stayed overnight. The next day we drove from Kippen to the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s reserve at Loch of the Lowes near Dunkeld arriving there around 11.30 am.
May 20 2014
After our morning at Goyt Valley with the birding group our small select group of “lunchers” stopped off for some lunch at the Cat and Fiddle – it only had one beer on pump and one in bottle. The pump beer was a blonde beer called Brazilian ! The bottled beer was £3 a half and was rubbish. The food was poor. In short it was a mistake going there for lunch. It wasn’t a total waste of our time, however, as we managed to get a life tick there.
May 20 2014
We had been to Macclesfield Forest, which is quite close by, two weeks previously and not seen a great deal. This visit to the area was an entirely different kettle of fish. We parked up at the second car park near the southern end of Errwood Reservoir and crossed the road to the reservoir side. As we walked along the road we stopped at a bird box. one of the modern concrete kind, and we watched a pair of Pied Flycatchers coming and going. We were so taken with this display that it took us a while to notice an even more splendid birding sight at our very feet.
May 13 2014
The birding group visit to RSPB Conwy was a little lacking in spectacle, unless you are into Sedge Warblers in which case this was thest place in the world to be. The entire site seemed to be full of Sedge Warblers flying up into the air and parachuting down, then singing long and loud and doing the same thing over again. At first it was just a joy to look and listen but as we walked around the paths it became ridiculous with them pospping out from everywhere. Continue reading