Killiecrankie, The Cuilc and Loch of Lowes

I left Oban at about 5.00am and arrived at Killiecrankie at 7.30.  All there is at Killiecrankie is a car park and a National Trust for Scotland visitors centre.  It was closed , so were the toilets and the car was saying I had less than 30 miles of fuel left in the tank.   I then knew I should have gone to Pitlochry for a pit stop.  As it was I had to drive there in some discomfort and carefully to ensure I didn't run out of fuel.  Thankfully I found a garage with all its facilities at my disposal fairly quickly.

About the only good thing about that journey fro m Oban was the spectacular views and the cuckoo that I saw perched on a roadside fence.  Even that flew off before I could get sorted to take a photo.

As I was in Pitlochry, which was scheduled to be my second stop I went on my quest for the Ring-necked Duck that had been living on a 'The Cuilc' a small loch near the golf course for several years.  I think the only time it was not there was on the 27th May when I went to look for it.  I did see Tufted Ducks, a family of Mute Swans, a Little Grebe and nice reflections

Tufted Duck

Mute Swans

Reflections in The Cuilc

Ring-necked Ducks look very much like Tufted Ducks but these were Tufties.  I explored a bit more of Pitlochry.  There is a large Hydro Electric Scheme where a damn has been built across the River Tummel forming a large Loch.  I figured that if the Ring-necked Duck wasn't on The Cuilc then it would be here, the nearest large body of water.  I was wrong,  There was even less on this Loch on the Tummel than there was on The Cuilc.  There was a nice view looking into the morning mist downstream from the dam

River Tummel

And here is a close up of the fisherman.

So back I went to Killiecrankie.  The visitors centre was still shut but it didn't matter now.  I was on a mission to find a Nuthatch.  The car park at Killiecrankie is at the top of a deep wooded gorge.  Steps and steep paths led to the bottom of the gorge.  The number of times I went up and down the gorge must have involved the same amount of climbing as I had dome getting to the top of Cairncorm.  There was a good variety of bird life, but not a nuthatch despite staking out a dell where a couple had seen it just minutes before.

By this time the visitor centre was open so I got a cup of coffee, went out onto the veranda and looked at the bird feeding station which before had no bird feeders.  I didn't have long to wait for the Nuthatch to turn up.  

Nuthatch

 The only task left was to get a picture without the feeder.  Here it is:-

 

Nuthatch

 
Try as I might I could not get a shot without the wire. Ho hum that's the way it goes.

Mission accomplished with a couple of bonus shot I quite like...

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

....I went on my way passing through Pitlochry again.  I had to call in to The Cuilc to see if the duck was there.  It wasn't so I took a picture of a Mallard.

Mallard

The only thing to do now was go home via a decent lunch spot.  I bought lunch at the co-op supermarket in Pitlochry and drove to the Loch of Lowes to eat it.  The Loch of Lowes is famous for its nesting Osprey and did not disappoint.  Not only was it on the nest but while I was watching its mate returned with a fish

Osprey

Also on the Loch was a pair of Great Crested Grebes

Great Crested Grebes

 ...and from the visitor centre window a Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

I got home at tea time!

Total on list 190

19th April the day the rare bird message system went mad

There is rare bird message system for NE Scotland on 'Whatsapp'.  When someone sees a rare bird they send a 'Whatsapp' message that goes to all the other birders on the system.  On the 19th April messages were coming in thick and fast.

The first flurry were all about a White Stork seen at Ythanbank the day before.  Initially a picture of the bird was posted on Facebook.  The first messages alerted birders to the sighting the next ten or so were devoted to trying to find our where the  Stork had been seen.  All this was quite confusing (to me anyway) as in the middle of these messages several were sent giving details were sent about a Nuthatch that was seen in Rora two days before.  Once all that was sorted out notification of a third bird was broadcast on 'Whatsapp'  a Common Crane at the Loch of Strathbeg.

So I set off on a trip around Aberdeenshire to find three birds each of which would be a year tick.

My first port of call was the South end of the Loch of Strathbeg to find the Crane, it was the nearest to where I live.  I could not find it.  The next nearest bird was the Nuthatch.  On the way there I came across my mate Alex.  We debated what to do as the Nuthatch was a bird sen two days ago and the Stork was a more recent sighting.  We decided to go for the Nuthatch.  It was at Rora Kennels.  I had a sort of idea where they were and with only a little difficulty we found them and met the owner who showed us where the Nuthatch had last been seen.  Of course it was not there.  It hadn't been seen on the peanut feeder for two days. No doubt it had had a good feed and had enough fuel to make the journey back across the North Sea.  It was a pale-bellied bird which indicates that it probably came from Scandinavia rather than from further South in the UK where they are quite common.  We did look round the garden and woodland area round the kennels but there was no Nuthatch.  We did see a rather handsome male Siskin on the feeder that the Nuthatch had favoured

Siskin

I did get a year tick though.  A House Martin was zooming around the kennels.

My next quest of the day was to find the White Stork.   By this time there were two possible locations for this bird.  One had a grid reference and a map, the other seemed to suggest that access was somewhat difficult.  I went to the first but could not see the Stork. The location was a fishing pond created from a gravel pit.  Here is the only photo I took there.

Pheasant

 And finally when it was getting dark another 'Whatsapp' message came through - Little Ringed Plover at the Loch of Strathbeg visitors centre.  I decided to leave it until the morning.  I had been on enough 'not finding the bird' hunts for that day.

Total on list 151

Fog

Not a lot of birding today - Fogbound.  In any case I had domestic chores to do and I had to catch up with sorting (deleting) and filing all the photos I have been taking. I have up loaded the Cherry Cottage Big Garden Birdwatch results.
From 9:30 to 10:30 on Saturday the birds were recorded following the RSPB instructions.

Starling

Coal Tit

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Tree Sparrow

Of course I had my camera by my side as well as a notebook and pen and a cup of tea.  The birds recorded were:-
Goldfinch                       7
Starling                        33
Chaffinch                     13
Tree Sparrow               11
House Sparrow           16
Blackbird                       8
Blue Tit                          2
Great Tit                        2
Robin                             1
Dunnock                        2
Woodpigeon                  1

Carrion Crow                 2

Collared Dove               2

Coal Tit                         2
Jackdaw                       1
(The numbers are the highest number of each bird seen at one time)


I have also been looking at further trips.  In the middle of February I am going to Edinburgh to spend a day with daughters and grandchildren.  I want to be able to see thing on the journey that would be difficult or impossible to see here in the NE of Scotland.

One bird that I want to plan in the trip is a Red Kite.  Although there has been a Red Kite release scheme to the west of Aberdeen numbers are still small and there is no designated  viewing isn't like the ones in Dumfriesshire, Perthshire and the Highlands.  A couple of years ago I did see one on one of my morning walks but I can't rely on that that happening again to get the tick.

Another bird, one that doesn't live in Aberdeenshire at all, is a Nuthatch.  Their range has been extending northward for several years and they have now reached Edinburgh.  The Firth of Forth is a a good place to find wintering Grebes so if time permits they might be the subject of a search.  The Firth of Firth is a big area and I would have to be quite sure that I would find one or two.

One place I have heard a lot about and from where I have seen lots of bird  photos is  Balgavies Loch in Angus.  It may not provide any ticks but if I have time I would like to visit.  There might even be a Coot there.