Oct 09 2013

Highland Birding Holiday Day 2 : 9th October 2013

Highland Birding Holiday Day 2 : 9th October 2013

 

Our second day was characterised by high winds and some heavy showers. John had Scheduled us to to drive up to the Black Isle  and we started off by taking the A95 south-west out of Grantown-on-Spey and then turning on to the A938 – the “Carr Road” before returning to the A9 just past Carrbridge again and then up to the coast. As we passed the fields each side of the “Carr Road” we had good views of a mixed flock of Redwing and Mistle thrush as well as Starlings. At one point we saw one of these flocks scatter and suddenly flying fast and low a Merlin swooped. It went round the back of us and came around in front of us again taking another swoop at the mixed flock of thrushes. As we drove we also saw Buzzards and Red Grouse and small skeins of Greylag Geese and Whooper Swans. Continue reading

Oct 08 2013

Highland Birding Holiday Day 1 : 8th October 2013

Highland Birding Holiday Day 1 : 8th October 2013

Crested Tit, Grantown-on-Spey

Crested Tit, Grantown-on-Spey

We arrived at the Grant Arms Hotel early afternoon on Monday the 7th October and we were pleased to find that our room was already prepared for us so we could check in early. We were pleased that we had been given quite a nice room on the first floor and, although it didn’t have much of a view, it was quite spacious and very comfortable. We got all out luggage in and sorted out and after that we took a walk around Grantown-on-Spey to get the lay of the land. In truth there aren’t a lot of attractions in the town with just the one pub and a couple of closed hotels but there is a post office, small supermarkets and a newsagents and bakers etc. so they do have all the essentials and we expected that we wouldn’t be going out much after dinner at the end of long birding days.

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Oct 06 2013

Loch of Strathbeg and Rattray Head : 6th October 2013

Loch of Strathbeg RSPB and Rattray Head : 6th October 2013

Our trip to the north of Scotland started off with a visit to family in New Deer and on one of these days we all took a family walk out to RSPB Loch of Strathbeg. It was a nice day and we started off at the visitor centre. The first thing we noticed was a pair of Swallows which seemed quite late in the year – perhaps they were migrating from further north ? From the hide we could see a few wading birds, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew and Redshank as well as some Mute and Whooper Swans. As we were leaving this hide a chap mentioned to us that he had just been to Rattray Head, just a few miles away, and he said that a Firecrest had been showing well in the lighthouse keeper’s garden but since we were with family we decided to continue with our visit to Loch of Strathbeg and see if we had time to go there after we had finished our walk.

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Oct 04 2013

Montrose Basin : 4th October 2013

Montrose Basin : 4th October 2013

Our annual visit to the family in Scotland saw us drop in on Montrose Basin Nature Reserve, a site we usually stop at for a break from driving and also because it can be really good for birds. Unfortunately we got there at high tide rather than a couple of hours before it so the shore birds had already moved on a bit. On the water we did get views of a number of Eider and off to the right hand side of the bay (from the reception hide) there were large numbers of Lapwing and Oystercatchers roosting on the shoreline. There were also large numbers of Cormorants and Herons. Continue reading

Sep 30 2013

Summary September 2013

Summary September 2013

Garden

September continued in a largely pleasant way and there were even a few balmy days towards the end of the month. The Goldfinches have returned in good numbers and there are quite a few Tits around and a Dunnock is spotted occasionally. Still no Robin, though, and Blackbirds are still only occasionally. The weather has been good and there is probably a lot of food still available out in the woods and fields. Certainly there is a great abundance of berries this year. On the cat front we have bought another deterring device so we can arrange some crossfire. It remains to be seen if this is more efficient. We are due to lose our neighbour’s cat, however, as they more out for a while and rent their house to non cat owners !!!! Continue reading

Sep 26 2013

Visit to Burton Mere Wetlands and Inner Marsh Farm 26th September 2013

Visit to Burton Mere Wetlands and Inner Marsh Farm 26th September 2013

After a bit of a disappointing visit to Pennington Flash with the birding group a couple of days before we thought it would be good to try Burton Mere Wetland. We had good weather and at the reception hide there were some Curlew Sandpipers showing well and on the edge of the pool nearest the hide. Someone pointed out a Common Gull amongst a mass of Black-headed Gulls and there were some Snipe and Black-tailed Godwits. Continue reading

Sep 24 2013

Birding Group Visit to Pennington Flash 24th September 2013

Birding Group Visit to Pennington Flash 24th September 2013

This was the first day of the new birding group term and it was to the oft-visited Pennington Flash. There had been recent sightings of a Lesser Scap, sometimes on the water visible from the car park but, more usually, off Ramsdale Ruck and visible from the Ramsdale Hide. We got to the car park a bit early so I had a good chance to scan the main body of water but, apart from some Pochard, there was nothing particularly interesting around. Continue reading

Sep 12 2013

Visit to Woolston Eyes Nature Reserve : 12th September 2013

Visit to Woolston Eyes Nature Reserve : 12th September 2013

I had read on a sightings web site that someone had recorded a “? juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpiper” which would have been a bit of a mega rarity but I was a bit sceptical about it and, as it happened, we ran into a chap who had been at Woolston Eyes a few days before and he said that the bird actually turned out to be a Ruff ! This made me feel much better about not turning up for it but we still fancied a visit to Woolston Eyes on what turned out to be a hot day. Continue reading

Sep 10 2013

Brief Visit to Mere Sands Woods : 10th September 2013

Brief Visit to Mere Sands Woods : 10th September 2013

We left WWT Martin Mere for a pub lunch and after that we dropped over to Mere Sands Woods but there wasn’t anything much around and the water levels were extremely low with hardly any from the hide at the back of the reception area. Be that as it may we had a good walk round the site and it ended up being very warm and a bit of postprandial exercise. Continue reading

Sep 10 2013

Visit to WWT Martin Mere : 10th September 2013

Visit to WWT Martin Mere : 10th September 2013

Recent reports of the sighting of a Little Stint took us up to WWT Martin Mere to see if we could locate the bird. Unfortunately we didn’t see it but we did have a couple of nice sightings staring at the Ron Barker hide where we saw a small number of Curlew Sandpiper. Continue reading