On to the Highlands

After spending Christmas and the New Year in Edinburgh we left for four nights in the Highlands/Cairngorms. We usually have a week up here later in the month or early February, but as we have book a week in Norfolk in February, we decided to tag a few days on while we were up in Scotland. Finding somewhere to stay was difficult believe it or not, with a few of our usual place closed for a post new year break and not opening again until the 6th.

So we found ourselves in Tomintoul in the Richmond Arms which we stayed in two years ago, we hoped that the promised refurbishments that were allegedly under way then would have been done, but it was just the same, with the same notices up in the rooms saying bear with us. So this is definitely the last time we will stay there, three strikes and your out! (We stayed back in 2014 as well)

Anyway Tomintoul is not a bad base for getting to various places, however we now had to cram in to 3 days what we would normally do in a week! So day one we went over to Loch Garten for Crested Tits and then down to RSPB Insh Marshes.
So at Garten were weren't disappointed:
A couple of Red Squirrel,

 Coal Tits in abundance,

 Crested Tits came in and out,

 plus a confiding Great Spotted Woodpecker.

 We also saw Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch and Treecreeper.

It's a fantastic place in the winter, although as it was still school holidays a few more people were about than usual. At least being a gloomy day we didn't get the inconsiderate photographers that cursed trhe place last year when we came, but on the flip side it made photography for me difficult.

We then drove down to and through Aviemore, via the small loch in the Boat of Garten village where only Mallard and a solitary male Goldeneye were seen.

One time driving through Aviemore we stumbled across Waxwing near the Ambulance Station, but not this time, so we carried on to Insh Marshes. The highlight being 13 Whooper Swans.

Apart from some distant Roe Deer and a Buzzard, we didn't add much to the list for the day. Having said that we had a lovely time in the lookout over the reserve, the big windows are great giving a fantastic overall view and it was great to be out the weather. The feeders just outside were always busy, nothing out of the ordinary, with the hoped for Siskins not showing, never mind.

Day two we drove the opposite direction for a bit of a walk at Loch Muick, the drive there took us over The Lecht were we normally see Snow Buntings, but the was driech as the say in Scotland and there was no sign, all we got initially was a solitary Red Grouse, you can see how the weather was from this:

Further in with the weather improving a little we came across a large gaggle of Red-legged Partridge, that were very skittish, but just got a quick photo before this one disappeared through a fence:

There were a ton of Pheasant around here too and a marauding Buzzard keeping them all on their toes.

At Loch Muick the weather wasn't too bad, so we went for a shorter walk than usual. We usually spend the day and do a long walk, but we wanted to fit a drive to Glenshee and a visit to Braemar in as well, so we cut it short. The feeders by the vsitor centre only produced Coal Tit, Chaffinch and a solitary Greenfinch, however the river did get us our first Dippers for 2020. No decent photos though.

The only other thing of note were the Red Deer:

From here as I said we drove up to Glenshee in the hope of Snow Buntings, but again with murky drizzly weather up the top nothing was seen, at least we made use of the facilities at the ski centre.

We stopped on the way back down and scanned the hillsides for Mountain Hare we were much luckier with this, although distant, they were clearly visible against the snowless slopes. We were also rewarded with another Dipper on the river. The day was finished witha drive along the Old Military Road into Braemar where we admired the Christmas lights  and again made use of the facilities.

Day 3 took us upto the Moray Firth starting at Lossiemouth, which we explored as we had never done this before, it was all worthwhile when offshore we saw our favourite ducks, a small group of Long-tailed, even managed a photo!

Tina and I were delighted, never got to see one last year. The estuary was then explored and a short walk was in order, seeing a Goosander flying through,

 lots of Gulls,

 Black-tailed Godwit,

and more Gulls,

also about were Redshank, Dunlin, Curlew, Teal, Oystercatcher, Little Grebe and loads of Wigeon. This is definitely a place that we will be returning to. Next stop Burghead..
This time a much closer view of Long-tailed ducks, a pair were in the harbour entrance:

Very pleased!

We late lunched on the other side of Burghead town, overlooking the sea, where a pair of Goldeneye, some Eider were seen and strangely a Grey Heron that seemed to fly in from out at sea. Some more coastal exploring was done around Burghead Bay and Findhorn, but the tide was way out and without a scope it was impossible to tell what was out there.

So that concludes our sojourn up to Scotland. Giving us a start of 56 species for 2020.

Lets see what Norfolk brings in a few weeks time, we are staying in Wells so hopefully the Rough-legged Buzzard will stay put and the elusive Snow Buntings will remain at Holkham.

Winterwatch Our Way! Part One

It has been a while since I have posted anything, not because we haven't been out and about, but because we have been so busy, I just haven't had time, but here we go......

By shear coincidence we chose to be up in Scotland staying in Braemar the same week as Winterwatch were holed up just a couple of miles down the road on the Glen Mar Estate, so it was interesting to 'compare notes' on a day by day basis when watching the programme in the evenings tucked up in our lovely rented cottage in Braemar.

I think the only things we didn't see that they showed were Pine Marten and Ptarmigan although that wasn't for lack of trying on our part.

We toured a fair way over the week  venturing north to Burghead, west to Aviemore and east to Loch Kinnordy as well as staying local and exploring the Mar Estate, Muir of Dinnet and Glenshee.

So we started with a walk on the Mar Lodge Estate heading out from the Linn of Dee car park, wildlife was non-exisitant on a dull day, the highlight being a Stoat that raced across the path in front of us with what looked like a mouse or vole in its mouth. The views were great though:

We finished with a drive up Glenshee for Mountain Hares and were rewarded with numerous but distant sightings:

The next day saw us head up to Moray and Burghead via the Lecht. It was a miserable and murky start to the day but as we started climbing up the mountains we saw a large bird perched on a fence post that was then 'attacked' by some crows, a Golden Eagle, I have to apologise for the photographs it was difficult to get focus in the murk!

A tremendous start to the day followed by some Red Grouse:

Once we were over the Lecht, and after stopping for a single Snow Bunting at a freezing Ski Centre, and heading north the weather improved and we arrived in Burghead in glorious sunshine, although the wind was fierce. We had hoped for some Long-tail Duck in the harbour, we had seenthem there before a couple of years ago, but no such luck this time, instead they were braving the rough seas a little way offshore:

along with the Eider:

The harbour side did produce some Turnstone and Redshank though:

A couple of Seals were hanging around among the boats:

Before leaving Burghead we drove around to the north coast and were luck to find some Red-breasted Merganser, and a small group of four Velvet Scoter, we had good views through the scope, but the distance was too much for the camera.
From Burghead we headed out to Findhorn stopping at the public hide on the bay, but apart from Crows there was nothing to report. I'd say not our lucky day, but we had seen an Eagle so musn't complain. We decided then to head over to Lossiemouth, as we got there the weather turned very nasty so we stayed in the car overlooking the sea. Here we had a real bonus if you like your heavy metal birds which I do of course. A couple of Typhoons came in and gave us a bit of a show:

Luckily they arrived just before the rain came lashing down.

We planned from here to try and find the hide at Loch Spynie, I had done some reserarch before hand and with the aid of 'following my nose' we found it. The rain was still coming down pretty hard, but Jimmy and me went for a recce and we find the hide was only a 5 minute walk from the car so I reported back leaving Jimmy in the hide and went and brought the kit and the girls!

As we walked down to the hide the rain stopped, hurrah! Followed by two Roe Deer running through the trees and across the path. A good omen!

As always when you go somewhere new first impressions can be there's nothing here, but once settled in and coffee poured we started finding plenty. This is the view front and right of the hide:

 There are feeders to the right on the shore line and woodland edge, the Long-tailed Tits were the most of the time, that is until a Sparrowhawk cane hurtling through the trees, that was pretty awesome. All the 'little uns' escaped though.

 Mute Swan passing through:

 Great Spotted Woodpecker in for an easy meal:

 Goldeneye

A very profitable day. As we had a long drive back to Braemar we headed out well before dark as the roads can be a bit dodgy going over the Cairngorms.

Part Two to follow very shortly.

Another Scotland Trip - Part 1 - Osprey, Loch Ruthven and Findhorn Valley

Well I have finally sorted out some photos and am ready to put up a report of our recent trip to Scotland that we did at the end of April. We stayed in a great apartment overlooking the harbour at Burghead on the Moray Coast.

This was a great location for exploring and for some bird watching. Eider were resident just outside the harbour making frequent visits into the harbour, Common Scoter, Gannets and Oystercatcher were seen from our balcony, so a good place to be.

But lets start at the beginning, we travelled up via Edinburgh stopping overnight at our daughters, then heading north over the Forth Bridge. We planned a stop to meet up with Jo & Jimmy to do some Osprey watching, I'm not going to say where this is, it's probably a widely known secret but best not to publish it. The pair of Ospreys duly obliged and we spent a pleasant hour here whilst we had lunch:

In addition to the Osprey we were treated to good views of a pair of Goldeneye:

as well as Blackcap, Dunnock, Willow Warbler, Robin, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Blackbird, Black-head Gull, Crow and Robin. So a good start to the week, with the Osprey adding to our year list.

We carried on to Burghead and a well earned pint!

Day 2 saw us heading a fair distance to Loch Ruthven, the objective being to see Slavonian Grebe in summer colours. We had been in February and saw a single Slavonian in winter plumage, this time we were treated to a pair in full colours nest building within good view of the hide:

There were also 2 pairs of Little Grebe, one of the pairs was also nest building:

On the walk back to the car we had good views of Meadow Pipit:

and Willow Warbler who wouldn't stay still long enough for a photo, never mind.
From Ruthven we headed into Findhorn Valley across the moorland where we saw our first of many Wheatear and our only Red Grouse of the week.

The target for Findhorn was Golden Eagle, none obliged though, speaking to other birders, they had made brief appearances earlier but they didn't show in the time we spent there. From the end of the road we walked the track into the valley for a couple of miles following the river, where we saw, Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, Oystercatcher, Common Sandpiper, Common Gull, Swallow, House Martin, a Peregrine, Newt, Mountain Hare and our first Dipper of the year:

A great walk, but sadly the Dipper never came close enough or stayed still long enough for a photo.

We headed back to BUrghead via Loch Flemington, just in case the American Coot was still about, but no sign. So endeth day 2 and part 1.