You Should Have Been Here Yesterday

The weather in the Highlands was marvellous today.  Blue sky, white fluffy clouds and temperatures well into the 20's.  OK not the record temperatures they got in Englandshire but very acceptable.  It was even hotter in Alexs' car.  For some weeks the engine has been overheating and the only way to keep it cool is to have the cabin heater full on.  The only way to stay just about comfortable was to have the windows fully open as well.  Hopefully some time soon Skoda will deliver the spare part that is needed.

Lochindorb Castle

We had chosen to go to Lochindorb for two reasons.  The first was to get a Quail ticked for our 200 target.  This was a longshot.  When I was there three years ago I had heard Quail.  There had been no reports of Quail there this year.  We did not hear a Quail.  The second reason was to get photos of a Black-throated Diver.  This was not a bird that was new to our year last but our sightings had been of birds in winter plumage which is drab in comparison to its elegant summer feathering.

At our first and second stop along the edge of the Loch the only indication that they were present was a poster.

We also had an eye witness account from someone doing a bird tour for two Americans.  He told us that 'Yesterday they were just here and close to the Loch shore'  If I had a pound for every time I had heard 'You should have been here yesterday/last week/ an hour ago....' I would be able to afford all manner of expensive optical and photo equipment even after I had deducted a pound for every time I had said the same thing.

On our next stop we found the Divers. There were two of them and they were on the far side of the Loch.  But I a got a photo, but it wasn't as good as the one I would have taken if I had 'been here yesterday.'

Black-throated Diver

I dd get photos of some of the other birds that were around.....

Lapwing Chick

Red Grouse and Chick

Redshank

Common Sandpiper

....and a Toad

I was quite surprised by the number of people driving round the Loch searching for the Divers.  The Divers had disappeared by the time some of them arrived.  At the same time a van load of kayakers arrived and we saw someone getting fishing tackle out of the car.  Its possible that with that sort of disturbance the late bird watchers might not get to see the  Divers and may only go away with 'you should have been here an hour ago' ringing in their ears.

We headed home via Aviemore and Craigellachie Woods NNR which lie to the west of the village just the other side of the A9 Perth to Inverness road. 

It is mainly a birch wood and is the summer home of many warblers, flycatchers and other species.  Alex, who is on 198 birds for the year wanted photos of Pied Flycatcher and Redstart.  I wanted Redstart for my year list.

Once our brains had filtered out the A9 traffic noise it became clear that the wood was full of birds because we could hear the chip, cheep, chirrup of birds coming from all directions.  Occasionally we could identify the sounds - a Great Tit, a Willow Warbler, Wren, Chaffinch and so on.  Even less frequently we managed to see a bird but none were are target species.and sightings were mostly fleeting as they were high in the leafy canopy and highly mobile.

Total on list 192