19th August Trip to Dinnet and the back of Glen Tannar

One of a few not very succssful trips was a day at Dinnet with Alex.  The aim was to find a Redstart for my list and a Green Woodpecker for Alex to move from his 'heard' listing to a 'seen' listing and of course to get photographs.

We Started at the Vat o' Burn carpark and crossed the road into the Muir of Dinnet NNR.  This is where Alex had seen Redstart last year.  Of course this year the most exotic bird was a Robin.

Robin

We went to parts of the birch woodland that I did not know existed.  There is a long boardwalk over marshy ground that held lots of Dragonflys

Black Darter

The other insect that was abundant was a Scotch Argus butterfly.  I had never seen one before and for some reason I thought they lived on heather moorland and were rather scarce.  Actually they live in damp woodland and are common at least locally.  This one was on heather so I was partialy right!

Scotch Argus

 From Dinnet we went just a little way to the South Deeside Road to walk a farm track that basiclly led round the back of the Glen Tannar estate.  Here the target was Green Woodpecker, Tawny Owl and Garden Warbler. What we saw was Crossbill and Buzzard.  Now, you know and I know that Crossbills live in conifers and eat the seeds out of the cones.  So it came as something of a surprise to see two of them flying from one willow tree to another.

Crossbill

Crossbill

We also know that there are three types of Crossbill that live in Scotland, Common, Scottish and Parrot.  It takes something of an expert to tell the three apart.  What you need, to be certain is a DNA testing kit and sound recording equipment that will produce a sonogram, a sort of chart showing the sound frequencies of the birds call.  Alex and I only had our cameras but we are told that these are Common Crossbills.  Our hunt for Scottish and Parrot Crossbills has to continue.

And we saw a Buzzard....

Buzzard

Buzzard

.... and took some other photos as well

A large derilict looking barn with new bails

Very Old Potato Harvester

Old Gate New Fence

  I've put these up because somehow they typify the Scottish Highlands countryside.  These were all in the same place and I could have taken more of the same, the lorry that clearly no longer fit for the road, the pile of large bits of wood, the rusty old stock feeding thing.  You get the idea.  When I first moved up here I was all for something being done to tidy up the countryside and get rid of all the debris and scrap that is lying around.  That was fifteen years or so ago.  Now my attitude has changed.  I don't want the old barn and steadings converted and 'gentryfied', I want to see old farm machinery, yes and rusty old cars, and I want to see old wooden gates.  Along with the mountains and the moorland, the (highland) cattle running with calves and herds of sheep these things from the past, often no longer useful are what makes Scotland, well Scotland and unique.  And they are good for wildlife.  See the lichens on the gate.  How many mice and voles live in the field with the uncut grass and the potoato harvester that feed owls, kestrels stoats and weasels.  What nesting habitat is there in the derilict looking steading and for what cretures?  Many rural parts of England and alas of Scotland to are becoming too tidy, too efficient at the expense of our wildlife.  And that is not good for the soul or the mental health of the nation.

Rant over

Total on list 201

A Day with the RSPB

23rd April

The Aberdeen and District RSPB members group had a day out.  It was planned that we meet at the Linn o' Dee Car park at 10.00 for a bird watching walk.

Brian, Alex and I left from Fraserburgh and took a route that took us to Huntly on to Strathdon and over to Deeside via the A939 and B796 to join the A93 at Balmoral.  This went over open Grouse Moor and sure enough there were Red Grouse aplenty.  We had enough time to stop for photographs.

Red Grouse

Red Grouse looking like a Whisky Advert

We even had time to get some habitat shots

Brian getting close and personal to a Red Grouse

  We also saw a Black Grouse (Blackcock).  Unfortunately it was strategicaly placed behind some fencing.

Black Grouse

When it eventually had enough of us trying to get a clean, fenceless shot it flew off.  Only then did we see that there was a female (Greyhen) as well.

Blackcock and Greyhen in Flight

Unfortunately the A93 was closed due to a very bad accident earlier in the day and we could not get to Braemar and then on to the Linn o' Dee.  All the RSPB trippers were waiting at the road closed sign wondering what to do.  At last a decision was made and we went in convoy the Glen Muick instead.

At Glen Muick we saw more Black Grouse and more Red Grouse,  a Snipe

Snipe

Lots of Red Deer

A Peregrine - a long way away on top rocky outcrop.

Peregrine

The highlight of everyones day was a flock of Crossbills.  Red ones are males and the green ones female.  There are three types of Crossbills live in this part of the world.  'Common', that can also be found throughout the UK bat are not that common, 'Scottish' that are endemic to the UK and only live in the Scottish Highlands, and 'Parrot' again in the UK these only live in the Scottish Highlands but can be found in Scandinavia.  Parrot Crossbills have much thicker bills than the other two.  Common and Scottish are very difficult to tell apart.  To be sure you would have to take sound recordings of their songs, take detailed measurements or a DNA sample.  None of these techniques were available to us, so these are either Common or Scottish.  As a year lister aiming to see 200 species in 2017 this leave me with a bit of a dilemma.  Do I just list these birds as 'Crossbill Speicies' and count it as 1 for my list or do I say 'this is the right place and the right habitat I'll list it as a Scottish Crossbill'.  I know that if I see a Crossbill outside the Scottish Highlands it will be a Common Crossbill.  So by calling this on a 'Scottish' I will have 2 ticks rather than 1

Male Crossbill

Crossbills

Female Crossbill

Male Crossbill

Female Crossbill

Here are a few more images from the trip.  Great landscapes.....

Looking towards Lochnagar

Field Trip Leader Tony getting in the way of a Loch Muick view

.....more common birds....

Chaffinch

Song Thrush

Wren

Lapwing

.....and the group

It is Brian looking back at the camera.

But the days story does not end there or even with the trip home.
On the way back I got a message that a  Bonaparte's Gull was at the Loch of Strathbeg.  Other messages came through saying that it was 'now in a ploughed field' and 'not seen for ten minutes'.  Alex and I decided to look for it and there it was in the ploughed field.  I have to say that we only saw it thanks to Paul who had re-found the bird after it had left the Strathbeg reserve. 

Total on list 153

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