Showing posts with label slavonian grebe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slavonian grebe. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
A day of Rares-Pine Bunting, Eastern Black Redstart and Pacific Diver
After 2 days and 6 hours we finally connected with the Dunnington Pine Bunting. Then had great views of the Skinningrove Eastern Black Redstart. We finished the day at east Chevington to see the Pacific Diver where we also saw Scaup and Slavonian Grebe.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Scotland
Hard work and long birding days paid off this year in Scotland. The weather was mixed some nice sunny warmish days interspersed with Arctic like conditions. We saw the Pied billed grebe at Leighton Moss on the way north. Black throated diver seen that evening at a local loch.
Caperwatch was very disappointing and we were there for 3 early mornings but only had one brief glimpse of a male Capercaillie
Our first full day was spent going up the east coast. We connected with the long staying male Harlequin duck in Aberdeen and whilst there also saw a Long tailed tit building a nest. We then travelled to the Ythan estuary. What a fantastic place this is with thousands of Eider and a single male King Eider. Also seen were Long tailed duck, Arctic tern, Sandwich tern, Common tern and Little tern. We finished the day at Portsoy and saw Great northern divers and a single White billed diver plus a Black guillemot.
The next day the weather was poor. We bagged 2 Crested tits at Loch Garten had a poor trip up Findhorn valley with a possible but unconfirmed large raptor probably a Golden eagle plus good views of Peregrine. We went to base of Cairngorm where the only notable sighting was 2 Ring ouzel. We finished off with 2 Slavonian grebe at a local fishing lodge.
Our last day proved more fruitful and the weather was better too. We had good views of 1-2 Scottish Crossbill in Abernethy Forest and went to the top of Cairngorm where we had superb views of a pair of Ptarmigan. We finished off with good view of Goshawk at Dunkeld on the way back
Caperwatch was very disappointing and we were there for 3 early mornings but only had one brief glimpse of a male Capercaillie
Our first full day was spent going up the east coast. We connected with the long staying male Harlequin duck in Aberdeen and whilst there also saw a Long tailed tit building a nest. We then travelled to the Ythan estuary. What a fantastic place this is with thousands of Eider and a single male King Eider. Also seen were Long tailed duck, Arctic tern, Sandwich tern, Common tern and Little tern. We finished the day at Portsoy and saw Great northern divers and a single White billed diver plus a Black guillemot.
The next day the weather was poor. We bagged 2 Crested tits at Loch Garten had a poor trip up Findhorn valley with a possible but unconfirmed large raptor probably a Golden eagle plus good views of Peregrine. We went to base of Cairngorm where the only notable sighting was 2 Ring ouzel. We finished off with 2 Slavonian grebe at a local fishing lodge.
Our last day proved more fruitful and the weather was better too. We had good views of 1-2 Scottish Crossbill in Abernethy Forest and went to the top of Cairngorm where we had superb views of a pair of Ptarmigan. We finished off with good view of Goshawk at Dunkeld on the way back
Friday, April 20, 2012
Spectacular Scotland
Me and Dave headed up to Nethybridge for 4 dyas last Friday for a birding trip focusing on the Scottish specialities. We saw the drake Blue-winged Teal at Gilmourton Pools on the way up. First full day saw a fail at the Caper watch at Loch Garten but at least we got good views of the Osprey. In poor wintry weather conditions we still managed to see some Ptarmigan on the boulder fields to the right of the Cairngorm funicular railway. We also saw several Crested Tits in Abernethy Forest.
The following day we had success at the Caper watch and got good distant views of a male Capercaillie. We then headed to the coast to see the long staying drake King Eider at Ythan estuary. There were also hundreds of Common Eiders, many Goosanders and several Long-tailed Ducks some in summer plumage. We then went over to Loch Strathbeg and saw a drake Green-winged Teal but failed to pick up the long staying Greater Yellowlegs. We also saw a stoat chasing rabbits.
The next day had us looking around Abernethy Forest for crossbills and crested tits but despite better weather we had a frustrating morning and saw nothing of interest. In the afternoon we headed up the Findhorn valley and saw at least 2 Golden Eagles but they were distant views. In the valley we also sa a Raven, several Kestrels and a Peregrine. There were loads of Common Buzzards soaring around and some smart looking summer plumage Common Gulls. We also saw a couple of Red Kites.We then went onto Loch Ruthven to see the summer plumage Slavonian Grebes. We finished back at Loch garten where we finally saw some Crossbill (probably Common but might have been Scottish!!) feeding at the top of the trees in the car park. Dave also saw a male Sparrowhawk come out of nowhere and take a chaffinch. We also saw a Roe Deer and heard several of then" barking" in the forest.
Our final day had us meeting up with Dave Slater from Birding Ecosse for a trip over to the west in search of Sea Eagle. We were not to be disappointed! Shortly after arriving at Shieldaig we witnessed an adult White-tailed Sea Eagle being mobbed by Hooded Crows ( Dave's ultimate birding fantasy!!) and gulls. It was a truly spectacular sight and the highlight of our trip. There were also several Black Guillemots in the bay and Rock Doves on the island.We also spotted a sea otter.
We then went onto Gruinard Bay where there were numerous Great Northern Divers in mixed plumage, many Red-throated Divers in summer plumage and 5 Slavonian Grebes. We also saw 2 stunning summer plumage Black throated divers in a small lochan on the way.
In total we saw over 90 species, bagged all the Scottish specialities except Scottish crossbill which appears to me to be impossible to tick without sonogram proof and enjoyed the incredible scenery, flora and fauna that northern scotland has to offer.
Finally a big thankyou to Dave Slater of Birding Ecosse for an incredible last day's guided birding and for Trish at Balciuin for looking after us and feeding us a great Scottish breakfast!
The following day we had success at the Caper watch and got good distant views of a male Capercaillie. We then headed to the coast to see the long staying drake King Eider at Ythan estuary. There were also hundreds of Common Eiders, many Goosanders and several Long-tailed Ducks some in summer plumage. We then went over to Loch Strathbeg and saw a drake Green-winged Teal but failed to pick up the long staying Greater Yellowlegs. We also saw a stoat chasing rabbits.
The next day had us looking around Abernethy Forest for crossbills and crested tits but despite better weather we had a frustrating morning and saw nothing of interest. In the afternoon we headed up the Findhorn valley and saw at least 2 Golden Eagles but they were distant views. In the valley we also sa a Raven, several Kestrels and a Peregrine. There were loads of Common Buzzards soaring around and some smart looking summer plumage Common Gulls. We also saw a couple of Red Kites.We then went onto Loch Ruthven to see the summer plumage Slavonian Grebes. We finished back at Loch garten where we finally saw some Crossbill (probably Common but might have been Scottish!!) feeding at the top of the trees in the car park. Dave also saw a male Sparrowhawk come out of nowhere and take a chaffinch. We also saw a Roe Deer and heard several of then" barking" in the forest.
Our final day had us meeting up with Dave Slater from Birding Ecosse for a trip over to the west in search of Sea Eagle. We were not to be disappointed! Shortly after arriving at Shieldaig we witnessed an adult White-tailed Sea Eagle being mobbed by Hooded Crows ( Dave's ultimate birding fantasy!!) and gulls. It was a truly spectacular sight and the highlight of our trip. There were also several Black Guillemots in the bay and Rock Doves on the island.We also spotted a sea otter.
We then went onto Gruinard Bay where there were numerous Great Northern Divers in mixed plumage, many Red-throated Divers in summer plumage and 5 Slavonian Grebes. We also saw 2 stunning summer plumage Black throated divers in a small lochan on the way.
In total we saw over 90 species, bagged all the Scottish specialities except Scottish crossbill which appears to me to be impossible to tick without sonogram proof and enjoyed the incredible scenery, flora and fauna that northern scotland has to offer.
Finally a big thankyou to Dave Slater of Birding Ecosse for an incredible last day's guided birding and for Trish at Balciuin for looking after us and feeding us a great Scottish breakfast!
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