Sunday 26 July 2015

Another Walk along the Canal near Kinver

We set off on Wednesday for a walk from Stourton to Kinver and a bit beyond with the promise of a nice sandwich at the Vine for lunch. The weather was ideal not too sunny although as you might expect in July the birdlife wasn't that abundant and the undergrowth from the canal towpath prevented any clear views of the river. We paused at the usual Goldcrest spots but nothing today!

The only regulars in the normal spots were the Moorhens and Mallards, but we did get good views of a Green Woodpecker whilst having coffee on the only bench between our car and Kinver.

A nice sighting was this Grey Wagtail that showed very well at Hyde Cottage:

Whilst having lunch at the Vine (and a very fine 'real' ham and mustard sandwich was had) we had fleeting views of a Sparrowhawk and a Buzzard but that was it. The most unusual bird of the day was the domestic Guineafowl in one of the gardens about a mile further on from Kinver! (Doesn't count of course)

Otherwise it was only regular garden birds about until we saw a Blackcap on the way back to the car,

So another great walk with a few decent sightings.


Leasowes Park

After doing some shopping at B&Q the other day we called in at Leasowes Park on Mucklow Hill, something we haven't done for a long time, we had forgotten how lovely the place is. We just went for a short walk without bins but I did have my camera.

There wasn't much about. although we were surprised to see this Moorhen still on the nest, must be a second brood:
Apart from this Buzzard,
there was only the expected birds around, Magpie, Crow and Woodpigeon in the trees and Mallard, Moorhern, Coot, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Mute Swan down on the pond. There were small birds flitting around but without the bins nothing came close enough to identify for certain. A lovely walk none the less.

Saturday 18 July 2015

Isle of Skye and a bit of the Mainland (The Tour Part 3)

We had a good crossing from Tarbert to Uig on the Isle of Skye, spotting some distant Dolphin on the way as well as plenty of sea birds, including our first and probably last Puffins of the year, this distant shot is just to remind us that we did see some!
Once on Skye we headed south to our hotel on the Sleat peninsula. The weather turned quite nasty whilst driving down, so we took the opportunity to put our feet up for the afternoon and listen to the pouring rain. We had a lie in as well the next day, as the weather was still foul. We did eventually venture out and spent a few hours down at Kylerhea where the Forestry Commision have an Otter Hide and the RSPB have just this year set up a hide as well. We spent a good couple of hours in the RSPB hide where a very friendly RSPB chap and another couple kept us entertained whilst we waited for a White-tailed eagle that allegedly shows up regularly just before high tide to make the most of the Mackerel that get swept into the channel between Skye and the mainland. They usually come when the spot the Gulls congregating and fishing. Of course the Gulls came fished and went away but the Eagle didn't show! This was the view from the RSPB hide.
Once the tide had turned we took the 15 minute walk in the mizzle to the Otter hide. This ovelooks a stretch of shingle and rocky beach where some 4 years ago we saw our first Otter. In fact the weather was identically awful then too, but that was October! Anyway at least the Otter didn't disappoint us!

 We also actually managed a few new bird species for the trip  adding Bullfinch, Goldcrest and Tree Pipit to our haul from the Outer Hebrides.
After Kylerhea we explored the Sleat peninsula and by late afternoon the weather turned glorious, so much so we stopped for an ice cream at Armadale. So back to the Hotel.
The next day we packed up as our next two nights were at a B&B in Staffin on the north of Skye. However we had booked that day to go out with a wildlife guide, the start point of which was in Portree a good stretch on our way to Staffin.

All in all it was frustrating day that initially got off to an excellent start. Our guide took us (and the other 6 members of the group) to a little bay at Camastianavaig where he knew a family of Otters lived. There we saw a female Otter with two youngsters and then a fourth Otter, another female, as well. For once I just watched as with the bins and scope we had good views but it would probably have been too much even for my 500mm lens!

We then searched for Eagles and had distant sightings of both Golden and White-tailed, but not close enough to photograph. After this we headed to the sea Loch Ainort where a small pod of Pilot Whales had been spending some time:
That was brilliant a first for us and everyone else in the group.

The rest of the day whilst very good was focused on Eagles and Otters, we would have liked a bit more time spent on other bird and wild life. Luckily I spotted some Dipper as we were driving alongside a small river, I managed to get our guide to stop and got a couple of pictures:

The other highlight of the day happened when we stopped to look for Eagles again (no luck!) but just after we get back into the minibus there was some commotion in front of us in a field. A Hooded Crow was trying to catch a Weasel! The Weasel was ferocious in defending himself even when another Hooded Crow joined in! We were all so enthralled by what was happening I forgot to get the camera (even though I was holding it!) Happily the Weasel made good his escape.

We arrived back in Portree about 5ish and zoomed off to our next bed in Staffin.

Another mixed weather day four our last full day on the islands, so very much an explore day to see as much of the north and west of the island as we could, hopefully picking up some wildlife on the way. We started with a walk to 'Coral' Beach at Claigan a good 4 mile round trip in mainly decent weather apart from hunkering down on  the beach for a 15 minute downpour!
We enjoyed watching a Seal having a mad half hour splashing about and throwing kelp around
Mustn't leave out the less 'exciting' birds, this Herring Gull posed nicely in the daises
with the Ringed Plover just behind.
As I said the weather was mixed, this just highlights it...
So that is Skye done apart from the drive south on the next morning to cross the bridge back to the mainland. (For those of a more ornithological bent I have put a list of our Skye sightings at the end of the post._

On our way off Skye we passed the Loch with the Pilot Whales, so we stopped for one last look:
So over the bridge and time for a coffee stop and admire the view:
Then carry on to Edinburgh to stay with our fabulous Daughter and be joined by our equally fabulous Son! With a short stop on the way to visit our favourite Ospreys!

Apart from having a brilliant time in Edinburgh with Jen & Mike we also managed a trip out to RSPB Loch Leven:


Loch Leven is a lovely reserve with some well located hides and screens and was Tufted Duck central on the day we visited!

So that about wraps it up apart from a climb up Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh,
 Queens Garden Party at Holyrood,

and a walk along the Water of Leith that added a Grey Wagtail to our list for the trip!

Skye bird list:
Arctic Tern  ("Sterna paradisaea")
Blackbird  ("Turdus merula")
Black-headed Gull  ("Chroicocephalus ridibundus")
Bullfinch  ("Pyrrhula pyrrhula")
Buzzard  ("Buteo buteo")
Carrion Crow  ("Corvus corone")
Chaffinch  ("Fringilla coelebs")
Common Sandpiper  ("Actitis hypoleucos")
Cormorant  ("Phalacrocorax carbo")
Curlew  ("Numenius arquata")
Dipper  ("Cinclus cinclus")
Fulmar  ("Fulmarus glacialis")
Goldcrest  ("Regulus regulus")
Golden Eagle  ("Aquila chrysaetos")
Goldfinch  ("Carduelis carduelis")
Great Black-backed Gull  ("Larus marinus")
Great Tit  ("Parus major")
Grey Heron  ("Ardea cinerea")
Greylag Goose  ("Anser anser")
Herring Gull  ("Larus argentatus")
Hooded Crow  ("Corvus cornix")
House Martin  ("Delichon urbicum")
House Sparrow  ("Passer domesticus")
Lapwing  ("Vanellus vanellus")
Mallard  ("Anas platyrhynchos")
Meadow Pipit  ("Anthus pratensis")
Oystercatcher  ("Haematopus ostralegus")
Pied Wagtail  ("Motacilla alba")
Raven  ("Corvus corax")
Razorbill  ("Alca torda")
Red-breasted Merganser  ("Mergus serrator")
Red-throated Diver  ("Gavia stellata")
Ringed Plover  ("Charadrius hiaticula")
Robin  ("Erithacus rubecula")
Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon  ("Columba livia")
Rock Pipit  ("Anthus petrosus")
Rook  ("Corvus frugilegus")
Sand Martin  ("Riparia riparia")
Shag  ("Phalacrocorax aristotelis")
Shelduck  ("Tadorna tadorna")
Siskin  ("Carduelis spinus")
Skylark  ("Alauda arvensis")
Song Thrush  ("Turdus philomelos")
Starling  ("Sturnus vulgaris")
Stonechat  ("Saxicola torquatus")
Swallow  ("Hirundo rustica")
Tree Pipit  ("Anthus trivialis")
Wheatear  ("Oenanthe oenanthe")
Whimbrel  ("Numenius phaeopus")
White-tailed Eagle  ("Haliaeetus albicilla")

Loch Leven bird list:
Blackbird  ("Turdus merula")
Black-headed Gull  ("Chroicocephalus ridibundus")
Blue Tit  ("Cyanistes caeruleus")
Buzzard  ("Buteo buteo")
Carrion Crow  ("Corvus corone")
Chaffinch  ("Fringilla coelebs")
Common Gull  ("Larus canus")
Coot  ("Fulica atra")
Curlew  ("Numenius arquata")
Gadwall  ("Anas strepera")
Great Crested Grebe  ("Podiceps cristatus")
Great Spotted Woodpecker  ("Dendrocopos major")
Great Tit  ("Parus major")
Greenfinch  ("Chloris chloris")
Grey Heron  ("Ardea cinerea")
Herring Gull  ("Larus argentatus")
Jackdaw  ("Corvus monedula")
Lapwing  ("Vanellus vanellus")
Lesser Black-backed Gull  ("Larus fuscus")
Little Grebe  ("Tachybaptus ruficollis")
Magpie  ("Pica pica")
Mallard  ("Anas platyrhynchos")
Moorhen  ("Gallinula chloropus")
Mute Swan  ("Cygnus olor")
Peregrine  ("Falco peregrinus")
Pied Wagtail  ("Motacilla alba")
Pochard  ("Aythya ferina")
Reed Bunting  ("Emberiza schoeniclus")
Sedge Warbler  ("Acrocephalus schoenobaenus")
Shoveler  ("Anas clypeata")
Skylark  ("Alauda arvensis")
Swallow  ("Hirundo rustica")
Teal  ("Anas crecca")
Tree Sparrow  ("Passer montanus")
Tufted Duck  ("Aythya fuligula")
Woodpigeon  ("Columba palumbus")
Wren  ("Troglodytes troglodytes")

Friday 17 July 2015

A Tour of the Outer Hebrides Part2 - North Uist, Harris and Lewis

So part 2 starts with a bit of spare time after checking out of our hotel before catching our ferry to Harris, so we started first to have a little look around Lochmaddy,
The view from the harbour,
 This Red-throated diver came in caught a fish and departed:

We explored a bit of the north coast again, coming across this Red-breasted Merganser and chicks:
While searching for Eagles we found another Short-eared Owl hunting and were lucky enough to see it pounce on an unsuspecting rodent. It sat for a while with it in its talons
 before heading off to eat away from our prying eyes (and camera!)
We finally headed off North Uist across the causeway to Berensay and the ferry terminal for Harris, but we were still a little early so we explored Berensay a little and found a nice spot where a wildlife tour group were watching something in the water, this turned out to be a an Otter, way to far for a photo, but the tour guide let us use his scope, which was rather nice of him. I reciprocated by finding this:
 and pointing it out to his group, a young White-tailed Eagle (Sea Eagle), brilliant!

So finally we caught the ferry and headed off to Harris. The crossing proved very interesting the best coming from an Arctic Skua chasing an Arctic Tern, this kept us enthralled for a good few minutes before the Tern managed to make its escape.
 The scenery wasn't bad either
 Large numbers of Gannets were about some coming fairly close to the Ferry
 while the main group were fishing some distance away.
 Lots of other fishing was going on too, with Arctic Terns about and groups of Shag on the water.
We arrived on Harris in the sunshine and once away from the Ferry Terminal were blown away by the scenery, North Uist and Benbecula had been brilliant, but Harris is spectacular, we were running out of superlatives! I just wish the photos did it justice.





So back to birds! Although we saw plenty on Harris decent photo opportunities were few, the best being another Red-throated Diver.
After 2 nights at Tarbert on Harris we drive north to Lewis for two nights near Stornoway, on the way up there was plenty of time to explore a bit and we found these two Whoopers Swans on one of the small lochs:
Again plenty of great scenery was seen although since we left Harris, Lewis seemed a tad dull by comparison. We started our full day on Lewis with a visit to the Butt of Lewis and a nice walk around the headland where there were plenty of Fulmars,

 Shag,
 Great coastline,
 Rabbit,
 Black Guillemot,
 Seals,
 Gannets,
 and Kittiwake.
We moved onto a nearby Nature Reserve with a hide at Loch Stiapabhat where Tina saw a Corncrake but I missed it, although as usual with Corncrake it called incessantly! The reserve was a lovely spot and plenty other birds were seen, but of course Coffee was had there too! Luckily for us we met a nice chap in the hide who tipped us off to a nearby Lesser Canada Goose that was spending time with a couple of Whoopers. I have to admit if he hadn't told us I wouldn't have know it wasn't a bog standard (Greater) Canada Goose.

From here we carried on to find a small RSPB reserve, Loch na Muilne. The weather was turning iffy when we got there and nearly didn't explore but we were so glad we did, we hadn't go far when we came across a number of Red-necked Phalarope hiding in the vegetation of the Loch. We couldn't get very close but we had great views through the scope and bins and I did manage a few distant snaps when they emerged:


There were also plenty of Redshank around:
So with the weather deteriorating we headed back to Stornoway, where we had seen our first real new species of the trip the day before in very bad light three Black-throated Divers, so we checked to see if they were still around and if a better photo opportunity presented itself, there were only two about this time, but the light was a bit better;


So that was Lewis, off to Skye next for four nights, but that's the end of the Outer Hebrides.

A full list of the birds seen on the Islands:
Arctic Skua  ("Stercorarius parasiticus")
Arctic Tern  ("Sterna paradisaea")
Bar-tailed Godwit  ("Limosa lapponica")
Black Guillemot  ("Cepphus grylle")
Blackbird  ("Turdus merula")
Black-headed Gull  ("Chroicocephalus ridibundus")
Black-throated Diver  ("Gavia arctica")
Buzzard  ("Buteo buteo")
Canada Goose (parvipes)  ("Branta canadensis parvipes")
Chaffinch  ("Fringilla coelebs")
Collared Dove  ("Streptopelia decaocto")
Common Gull  ("Larus canus")
Common Sandpiper  ("Actitis hypoleucos")
Cormorant  ("Phalacrocorax carbo")
Corncrake  ("Crex crex")
Curlew  ("Numenius arquata")
Dunlin  ("Calidris alpina")
Eider  ("Somateria mollissima")
Fulmar  ("Fulmarus glacialis")
Gannet  ("Morus bassanus")
Golden Eagle  ("Aquila chrysaetos")
Golden Plover  ("Pluvialis apricaria")
Great Black-backed Gull  ("Larus marinus")
Great Skua  ("Stercorarius skua")
Greenfinch  ("Chloris chloris")
Grey Heron  ("Ardea cinerea")
Greylag Goose  ("Anser anser")
Guillemot  ("Uria aalge")
Hen Harrier  ("Circus cyaneus")
Herring Gull  ("Larus argentatus")
Hooded Crow  ("Corvus cornix")
House Sparrow  ("Passer domesticus")
Kestrel  ("Falco tinnunculus")
Kittiwake  ("Rissa tridactyla")
Lapwing  ("Vanellus vanellus")
Lesser Black-backed Gull  ("Larus fuscus")
Little Grebe  ("Tachybaptus ruficollis")
Little Stint  ("Calidris minuta")
Mallard  ("Anas platyrhynchos")
Meadow Pipit  ("Anthus pratensis")
Mute Swan  ("Cygnus olor")
Oystercatcher  ("Haematopus ostralegus")
Pied Wagtail  ("Motacilla alba")
Puffin  ("Fratercula arctica")
Raven  ("Corvus corax")
Razorbill  ("Alca torda")
Red-breasted Merganser  ("Mergus serrator")
Red-necked Phalarope  ("Phalaropus lobatus")
Redshank  ("Tringa totanus")
Red-throated Diver  ("Gavia stellata")
Ringed Plover  ("Charadrius hiaticula")
Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon  ("Columba livia")
Rock Pipit  ("Anthus petrosus")
Sand Martin  ("Riparia riparia")
Sanderling  ("Calidris alba")
Shag  ("Phalacrocorax aristotelis")
Shelduck  ("Tadorna tadorna")
Short-eared Owl  ("Asio flammeus")
Skylark  ("Alauda arvensis")
Snipe  ("Gallinago gallinago")
Song Thrush  ("Turdus philomelos")
Starling  ("Sturnus vulgaris")
Stonechat  ("Saxicola torquatus")
Swallow  ("Hirundo rustica")
Teal  ("Anas crecca")
Tufted Duck  ("Aythya fuligula")
Turnstone  ("Arenaria interpres")
Wheatear  ("Oenanthe oenanthe")
White-tailed Eagle  ("Haliaeetus albicilla")
Whooper Swan  ("Cygnus cygnus")
Wigeon  ("Anas penelope")
Woodpigeon  ("Columba palumbus")
Wren  ("Troglodytes troglodytes")