The Beast

On Sunday 26th March the Aberdeen and District RSPB group organised an field trip to Glen Tanar.  I was told that there hadn't been so many people on one of these trips for ages.  There were over forty of us and a Pomeranian dog.  Here are just a few of them assembling at the bridge by the visitor centre.

As you can see the weather was glorious perhaps that is why so many came on the trip.  Or it could have been the prospect of seeing some special birds.

Glen Tanar is a sporting estate but one with a reputation for conservation.  It is in the Cairngorms Nation Park.  It has ancient Caledonian pine forests and various conservation protection statuses  such a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' (SSSI) have been granted to many parts of the estate.  It is known to harbour the rare, endangered but elusive Capercaillie or Caper for short, also known as 'The Beast'.  Golden Eagles nest on the mountains, Ospreys inhabit the estate in the summer, Goshawks and Green Woodpeckers are residents as are three UK species of Crossbill, Common, Scottish (the UK's only endemic bird) and Parrot. The field trip leader was Tony.  Tony's job is sourcing timber for a local sawmill and knows the forest of Deeside like the back of his hand and knows his birds so it was stacking up to be a great day.

That's Tony on the right of this group

The route we were going to take was one of the waymarked walks of about five miles following the Waters of Tanar and relatively flat.  The route would take us through the old pine forests.

The first two bird we saw were not that special, a Chaffinch and a Pied Wagtail, but this was before we got to the woods.  The next birds were clearly a mere taster of what was to come, Siskin and Goldcrest, birds that thrive in the conifers.  On the river we saw a Grey Wagtail but that was about as good as it got.

Grey Wagtail

Every now and then some one would shout that they had heard a Crossbill but none were seen.  At a View Point someone saw what they thought might have been a Merlin but this was never confirmed by further sightings. Towards the end there was a shout for a Raven flying over.  I took a photo, it was a Rook.

Rook

There was a none birding highlight.  Lots and lots of Common Toads moving to spawning grounds, some were alone others in in an embrace of two, three and even four Toads.

One Toad

Two Toads

Lots of Toads, we think four

Now about 'The Beast' or Capercaillie.  At the furthest point from the visitor centre out path took a right turn and over a bridge.  Straight on would have continued thought the forest and out onto the moorland and eventually to Glen Esk.  The path had a sign which basically said 'don't go down here you will disturb Capercallie -  a schedule 1 listed bird'.  Tony was talking about the general conservation efforts being made on  behalf of Capercaillie and explaining why they shouldn't be disturbed and that forty plus people and a dog going into the birds territory was not a good idea when a bloke on a mountain bike came down that path with a frightened look on his face. 'Don't go there.  A Caper nearly knock me off my bike' he shouted as he sped past.  The sign, it seemed was a not just about the welfare of the bird but about the safety of pedestrians and cyclist.  Tony then showed us a photo he had recently taken of a Caper attacking a colleague while they were going about the forestry business.  From then on any Capercaillie was referred to as 'The Beast'.  They are big birds and have a beak that can be likened to tin shears. Some also have a reputation for being 'Rogue' and attacking anything that comes into their territory.  Straight on would have led us into a Rogues territory.

For the rest of the walk through the pine forest emotions were rather mixed.  On one hand it would have been great to see a Caper, on the other there was the fear of being attacked by one.

Given the distinct lack of birds - no one could remember a field trip with so few birds - we got back to the visitor centre earlier than expected.  Four of us Me, Trevor, Alex and Gordon decided to retrace our steps to see if there would be more birding luck in a smaller group.  Key target was a Crossbill, if a Caper came our way that would be a bonus.

We did have a debate about who was the slowest of us four and therefore who any Rogue Caper would catch up with first.  Or which of us would stand their ground to get that  close up photo that would go viral on the net and be the envy of all.  The discussion was academic.  We did not see a Capercallie although we did find evidence of there existence through droppings on the footpath.

We also found our Crossbill.  Trevor heard it and then spotted it high up in the pine canopy.

Crossbill taken with a 400mm zoom lens

Crossbill - cropped image

Finally thanks to Alex who drove me there and back.  Its my turn to drive next time

Total on list 134