Scotland Trip Day 5 : Avie Lochan, Strathdearn, Lochindorb, Loch Allan : 30th May 2014

Scotland Trip Day 5 : Avie Lochan, Strathdearn, Lochindorb, Loch Allan : 30th May 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.

Avie Lochan [mapref 24]

Free of the rigours of early starts we had a little bit of a lie in so we did not get on the road until about 9.30am. We headed off for Avie Lochan again and this time we were first in the hide so got the best positions. Once again there were Swifts, Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins in the air. On the lochan itself we only managed to see three Slavonian Grebes but we had long views of them. In the bushes around the hide there were Willow Warblers, Blackbirds and Siskins ! Lapwing flapped around and there were a variety of Gulls. A Common Sandpiper flew in and there were a few Oystercatcher. As we sat in the hide an elderly couple who were staying at the hotel came in and then a single young man. The eagle-eyed gillie spotted the activity and came to the hide to check us out. We were the only people that actually had permits so we felt pretty smug as he gently scolded the others and told them of the absolute need for permits to keep the number of visitors to the hide controlled.

Findhorn Valley / Strathdearn [mapref 13]

Although we had not booked John for this day, we knew that the hotel had him out at end of the road at Findhorn Valley in case any hotel members wanted to go down there. He would tell them what might be seen and generally advise and inform them on the local area. We had done this on our first day with John as a guide but it was a glorious day and we were still hoping to get a Golden Eagle.

As it happens we also met up with a friend of ours from our birding group in Manchester so the three of us spent the rest of the day together. The day was so warm and sunny that even the Red Deer, who were partly in moult so a bit itchy, came down to the river in a herd and cooled down in the water splashing themselves to keep cool and rubbing against rocks to relieve their itching. It made for a very singular highland sight. Again Swifts and House MArtins were busying themselves low down but higher up were Raven, Kestrel and Buzzard. We did not manage to see a Golden Eagle but we did get a fantastic show from a White-tailed Eagle turning upside down in the air over and over again presenting its talons to a group of Raven, Buzzard and Crows that was mobbing it. We had plenty of chance to get this display in our scopes and it was just like you see in wildlife films.

On the hills there were also Mountain Goats and on the rivers edge a Common Sandpiper bobbed along and Oystercatchers loafed. Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail were around as well. After a couple of hours we gave up on looking for Golden Eagles but we were well pleased with the White-tailed Eagle display we had seen earlier.

 Lochindorb [mapref 29]

Nest we drove to Lochindorb to try to get a look at the Black-throated Diver we had seen earlier in the week. As we drove up the loch we scanned the water and on closer examination a black blob turned out to be the Diver we were looking for. It was rather more distant than before but it was still clearly a Black – rather than Red – throated Diver. As we were watching it a Kestrel hove into view and we followed it along the loch until it landed in a crevice in Lochindorb Castle where it was, no doubt, nesting.

As we looked over in the direction of the castle we spotted a Swan ans, remembering a conversation we had heard the previous evening at the hotel, we gave it closer scrutiny and it turned out to be a Whooper Swan which was either injured so that it could not complete its migration or it was a bit lost and thought it was in Iceland ! As we stood watching this – apparently well – bird we heard a Cuckoo; one of many we have heard this year both in Scotland and in England. Apart from a couple of Eider this it for the south end of the loch so we drove up to the north end where we parked up.

A couple of days earlier we had seen a Short-eared Owl and an Osprey here. Today there was no owl but there was an Osprey – and what an Osprey. The bird appeared as if out of nowhere and circled over the water just a hundred yards from us and looking immense. It suddenly plunged into the water but emerged without a fish. It rose again and circled a few more times before diving again and almost completely submerging itself before lifting out of the water with a wriggling fish hanging from a talon. We watched as it flew around in circles until it had rearranged the fish to its head was pointing forward and away it flew until eventually it disappeared over a hill – perhaps off to Loch Garten ? This was by far the best view we have ever had on an Osprey, close up and wild – amazing and not to be forgotten.

It was unlikely that the spectacles of a White-tailed Eagle fending off attackers and an Osprey fishing mere yards in front of us could be excelled for excitement and interest but there was at least one more surprise left for us at Loch Allan

Loch Allan

At Loch Allan we saw the two Red-throated Divers that we had seen previously but the light was so strong that we could only occasionally make out the fantastic colouring of the birds but what they lacked in definition they made up for in behavior as we parked the car at the side of the road and from inside the car we watched as an apparent washing and preening session turned into a form of Olympic Formation Swimming, To our astonishment the splashing turned into a display involving both birds rolling onto their backs and effectively doing the back stroke. Not only was this an extraordinary sight but when they then did so at a fantastic speed the whole thing took on an almost cartoon-like quality. They repeated this several times and once even turned head over tail instead of rolling onto their backs. Each bird tried to match the other for effect and the whole thing was mesmerising. I have never seen such behavior shown on wildlife films and when I mentioned it to John Poyner later he had never heard of it either !

Craigellachie Nature Trail, Aviemore

The afternoon was wearing on so we headed off for home. We did, however, make one last stop at the Craigellachie Nature Trail, Aviemore. We parked at St Aiden’s Church just off the main road at Aviemore and walked onto the trail. Our target bird here was Peregrine Falcon. On the side of a crag there is a nest with a camera trained on it. We did not see the bird on the nest but from time to time it appeared in the sky above it flying around. We also spotted, as it were, a couple of Spotted Flycatchers in the woods – they were using some nest boxes but it wasn’t clear if they were actually nesting in them as they were open fronted. Thee were also Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits. The Long-tailed Tits actually became our 100th bird species sighted whilst based at Grantown-on-Spey

We felt as if we had had a pretty full day and we decided that we should get back to the hotel and get cleaned up before dinner. But the birding was not over yet as we had booked on a walk after dinner to try to see Woodcock roding.

Caravan Park, Grantown-on-Spey

After dinner a small group of us took a walk down the road towards the co-op where we turned down the road at the side and strolled down to the Caravan Park. We stood there for about an hour watching Rabbits and Song thrushes running round the field. Some curious ponies that looked like miniature dray horses (perhaps Gypsy Cobs ?) took a look at us and the gnats were similarly interested. We did not really get the display we were hoping for but we did get two brief glimpses of Woodcock. To be honest, I doubt if I would have been able to id them myself but John did and that was good enough to call another Grantown tick.

It had been a fantastic birding day and because we were largely on our own we took it at a pace that suited us. The only disappointment had been that when we returned from the Woodcock Walk the hotel bar was closed so we had to go upstairs to our room for a drink and a final tally of our ticks during our four days based at Grantown-on-Spey, now standing at 101 species..

Bird Sightings : Avie Lochan

Bird Sightings : Strathdeearn / Findhorn Valley

Bird Sightings : Lochindorb

Bird Sightings : Loch Allan

Bird Sightings : Craigellachie Nature Trail, Aviemore

Bird Sightings : Grantown-on-Spey Caravan Park

Route for 30th May 2014