Scotland Trip February 2015 Part1 Stockton - Aberdeen
After weeks in the Planning the day had finally come to start the Journey north to Scotland. The plan was to head to Stockton-on-Tees overnight staying at my Grandparents. The next day would see me travel to Aberdeen taking in a few sights on the way up. Aberdeen was an overnight stop and the plan was to see the long stay Harlequin Duck before travelling on to Grantown-on-Spey were I had 3 nights in the Grant Arms Hotel. Here I would meet up with a photography tour party and our Guide Marcus Conway ( www.ebirder.net ). Here I hoped to see the Highland specialities such as Crested Tit, Ptarmingan, Red Grouse, Mountain Hare, Red Squirrel and Red Deer. Also on the list was the Capercaillie but knowing this particular bird was very secretive and hard to see I didn't hold out much hope.
Tuesday 3rd February 2015
I arrived in Stockton in a snow shower that had already produced a few millimetres of lying snow, It had also been snowing a lot over the weekend in the Cairngorms which should produce a nice backdrop. Lets hope not to much so we can get out and about. Plan for tomorrow had changed slightly due to the snow I aimed to stay local to Teeside to try and take in a few of the local highlights. Long-eared Owl at RSPB Saltholme, Glaucous Gull and Shorelark at Hartlepool and the lone Waxwing a bit further north at South Shields.
Wednesday 4th February 2015
More overnight snow locally was nice as we hadn't really had much this winter in Bristol. I began with the short trip to RSPB Saltholme to look for the Long-eared Owl that had been seen around the reserve this winter. I met a fairly local birder Steve Chinnery and we began our quest to find a needle in a haystack!!! After 2 hours of searching in freezing conditions we drew a blank. If I had more time I would of spent the day on this great looking reserve but I had some other targets to achieve.
Next was a short stop at the Hartlepool Fish Quay for a Glaucous Gull sadly after a quick scan the bird wasn't to be seen, a pattern was appearing here. I didn't hold out much hope when i arrived at the site for the Shorelark. A snow shower was blowing in off the North Sea and after a fruitless 30min search I was off. 3 Targets 3 misses. One final stop was in order before the long trek to Aberdeen.
I arrived at South Shields and quickly found the bushes were the Waxwing had been favouring. I met two local birders Stuart Thompson and his friend here and the bird was sat in the hedge just above their heads!! Boom at last things were looking up.
The Bird showed very well and was feeding on berries, it would fly off for 5-10minutes before returning to feed further. I would of loved to of stayed longer but I needed to get to Aberdeen which was still nearly a 6 hour journey. A few snow showers and 6 hours of driving later saw me arrive at the Holiday Inn Aberdeen.
Thursday 5th February 2015
The Harlequin Duck had been reported yesterday so I was off to Seaton Park to try and find this very rare visitor normally seen in Iceland and North America. I parked my car and took the short walk to the River Don. No sooner had I arrived at the waters edge when something caught my eye. Bloody nora it was an Otter just sat eating on a rock. I had only once seen an Otter before and the was a flitting glimpse. The major issue here was my camera was still in my bag!!!!! I ducked out of view and got the camera out, bollocks it had gone. If only!!!!! I started to search hoping it was still in the area and I wasn't disappointed. I watched it for a about 5 minutes diving in and out of the rapids to hard to photograph as it was only out of the water for a spilt second before disappearing under the water again. This was pretty amazing to watch. It soon disappeared for good, no photo but a memory that will I won't forget. Whilst watching the otter I had a pair of dippers flying up and down the stream there was also a couple of Goldeneye and a male Goosander.
Here I met a guy called Mark Leitch up in Aberdeen to twitch the Harlequin Duck. We began walking the River Don in search of the Duck when we saw another Otter. This one was a little bit more photographic and allowed us to get a few photos of. There was at least 3 individuals on the River that day.
We continued with our quest of finding the Harlequin Duck. We meet another guy on the River who had seen it further up stream and said he had seen it at point blank range. Slightly excited we headed to it last known position. We arrived at its favoured rapids and began to scan the river, it wasn't long before Mark found it although very distant it was great to see. It sat out of view for a while before feeding in the River every now and again. I kept willing it to come down river but it just sat there teasing us. Eventually it did drift slightly down stream and gave better views still not close enough for good photography.
It was joined by a male Goosander before eventually disappearing up stream.
Mark left to go and find the 21 Waxwings that had been seen in town but I was determined to get a closer shot. A fruitless 2 hour wait proved unproductive and I called it time to head off to my next stop the Cairngorms. The Drive to the Cairngorms was pretty impressive and the amounts of Snow was increasing as I drove up. Grant Arms here i come!!!!!!!
