Scotland
2009 Tour Report 9th- 13th April ![]() |
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9th April After picking
up our brand new people carrier we picked up the tour participants, a
small but select band consisting of just the four of us. Hitting the M1
we continued north up the A1 before stopping part way along the A66, conveniently
to view a new lake created in a field. This held many Black- headed
Gull, as well as Coot, 6 Shelduck, 6 Teal and
2 Shoveler. Driving further north via the M6 and M74 the landscape
became more dramatic. The valleys getting deeper and the hills/ mountains
higher. Here we began to see Curlew, Oystercatcher and of
course many Buzzard. Stopping several times at services we picked
up Chiffchaff, Black- headed Gull, Jackdaws and Rooks.
Further north Black- headed Gulls gave way to Common Gulls,
with dozens following the plough plus Great Black- backed Gull &
Herring Gull. At Dunkeld a stop by the River Tay produced 2 pairs
of Goosander and a Goldeneye with a Great Spotted Woodpecker
& Nuthatch in nearby trees and a small party of Sand
Martin over the river. An early House Martin flew over the
car. The journey up produced a day total of 55 species! We arrived in
Aviemore and checked into our favourite b+b. After a coffee and a shower
we wandered 10th April The alarm
went off at an unearthly 04:30, but it had to be done to catch up with
Capercaillie. A quick coffee kick started us all as we met in the
gloom at 05:00 for the 15 min. drive to Loch Garten, picking up Tawny
Owl in the headlights perched by the roadside. Unbelievably we weren't
the first there! Waiting for the gates to open we had roding Woodcock.
We moved in to the main centre & didn't have to wait long for a male
Capercaillie to be seen as the 11th
April Another early
morning, but a bit of lie in today, not leaving until 05:45, as we headed
back to Abernethy Forest in search of the specialty species within. Chaffinch
& Siskin were immediately obvious as the sun rose and illuminated
& warmed the woods, this broken by the honking of 15 Greylag Geese
>N although a party of crossbills were eventually tracked
down and consisted of males & females, the large bills indicated they
were Parrot Crossbill, deep bills, flat heads and thick necks,
and a slightly deeper 'gyp' call confirmed our identification. 12 Goldeneye
displayed on the flat calm & spooky Loch Garten, with 4 more on
Loch Mallachie. Returning to Aviemore for breakfast we spot on a roadside
pond; Little Grebe, Redshank & 10 Teal. We headed
north after breakfast to the Findhorn Valley given the bright, dry, but
cool & windy weather. Immediately we started seeing Oystercatchers,
many Curlew, 100's of Lapwing, Black- headed Gulls and
Common Gulls. A side stream produced Grey Wagtail. Parking
up 10 miles down the valley we spent the first hour in the car park enjoying
hot chocolate in the biting wind, scanning the valley and sides for any
movement. Our efforts were rewarded with several Buzzard and a
pair of Peregrine that showed well several times as well as Raven.
Although moderately bright, it was cold and windy, this unfortunately
kept the Golden Eagles at bay. To warm up we walked up the valley
to a watchpoint. Sitting and scanning produced a brief view of Merlin
over the brow plus several Wheatear. Returning back down the
valley we took a side road over the moors, this produced a few noisy Red
Grouse and a few Meadow Pipit, as well as Buzzard. Despite
not connecting with Golde 12th April A change
of scenery today as we head for the coast around Lossiemouth, although
not before another early start as we headed for Abernethy in search of
the scarce Crested Tit (hit hard by the severe winter this year).
Tantalizingly we heard just 2 Crested Tits with a very brief view
of one. We did see a pair of Red- breasted Merganser on Loch Garten.
At the bottom of Garten Woods we found more Goldeneye, Wigeon
and Teal at Loch Mallachie, with the bubble of distant Black
Grouse, with a brief view of a male perched in the top of a Silver
Birch. We also had 3 more Parrot Crossbills as we returned for
breakfast, where the birding didn't stop as several skein 13th April Our final
day, but not before plenty of birding. A quick visit to Abernethy produced
more Parrot Crossbill as well as the usual 100's of Coal Tit,
Chaffinch & Siskin . After much searching we heard the
distinctive chippering call and behold a pair of Crested Tit taking
material to a nest hole. This afforded the group amazing views as they
flew back & forth, and just reward for our early starts. Black
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