Iceland 2019 Day 1-2

June 12, 2019 • Leave a Comment

After a lot of time and planning the day had come. After an over night stay at the Hilton Gatwick ( probably the best hotel we were going to stay in all week) we were on our Easyjet flight to Keflavik International Airport. I was being joined by my Uncle Adrian on this trip who has a passion for nest recording so this would be a good fit. He finds the birds and hopefully I photography them. The flight landed at 8.45am and we had soon picked up our Hire Car. We hired a Mazda 3 from Thrifty which appeared to be brand new. Wasn't long before we were on the road and off to our first stop Sandgeroi a small town about 8km from the airport. Grey Phalarope had been seen here on migration in years gone by so was worth a look. Driving into the town we saw the first of many Golden Plovers which were just happily feeding on peoples freshly cut lawns. Sandgeroi has a couple of ponds on the outskirts of town this would be our first stop.

Our hire car at Sandgeroi

The ponds were stacked with birds mainly Gulls, Tuffed Ducks, Greylag Geese and our first sightings of Red-necked Phalaropes (Life Tick) these tiny waders were present all over the Island. The sun was already pretty high in the sky by now and photography opportunities were limited. A Phalarope took my eye close to the shore, so close I couldn't focus on it. A sign of things to come. We had a walk past the ponds and onto the surrounding area. A couple of Redshanks were going nuts and following us along the road, clearly had chicks nearby. As we crossed the area we flushed a Greylag Goose we both shat ourselves as it flew up, loudly calling!! This must of been sat on a nest. It didn't take to long to find our first nest of the trip.

Greylag Goose - Sandgeroi, Iceland, June 2019

Greylag Goose, Sandgeroi, Iceland, June 2019

It was nice to see some genuine wild Greylag Geese, unlike the feral population we have throughout much of England. Wasn't to long before our 2nd nest of the trip was located. A Pair of Oystercatchers were easy to see amongst the moss covered rocks. They moved off as we approached to reveal 2 eggs. (All nest pictures were taken using my Iphone Camera and once photographed were left alone all birds were witnessed to return to their nests)

Oystercatcher, Sandgeroi, Iceland, June 2019

From the car we had been watching a couple of Whimbrels walking around and hoped they maybe nesting nearby as we walked across the top of a small ridge a bird came into view and it sulked off in away that sugguested it had a nest nearby. Adrian sat out of the way and attempted to watch the bird back to its nest. I carried on across the rocky ground to see what else I could see. It wasn't long before I was watching a pair of Whimbrel and Golden Plover acting very strange, both clearly had a nest nearby. Adrian soon came back clearly happy and had found his first ever Whimbrel nest. Whimbrels are rare nesters in the UK and therefore Schedule 1. In Iceland they are very common and are breeding in numerous habits across the Island. We both sat up on some rocks and watched one of the birds I had been watching walk straight back to its nest. 2 Sets of 4 Whimberl's nests and it wasn't even midday. The Golden Plover weren't looked for and we left the area.

Whimbrel, Sandgeroi, Iceland, June 2019

Habit around Sandgeroi

Not a bad start to our first day in Iceland. Also in the area were a couple of pairs of Ringed Plover, and Numerous Meadow Pipits these birds are literailly everywhere in Iceland.

We hadn't booked any accommodation before we left as we planned to travel around the Island and seek out the good weather. Although we had a list of areas we wanted to visit we had no set itinerary. The weather looked pretty bad around Lake Myvatn all week, but it was a place we wanted to visit mainly for the Barrows Goldeneye and Harlequin Duck. These are two ducks that are only found in Europe on Iceland. With a rough plan to maybe head this way midweek we set off to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. Here the weather looked good for the next few days. We booked to stay at the Laekjarkot Rooms and cottages in Borgarnes for the next 2 nights a good base to check out the local area. After a pretty slow afternoon and not much in the way of photography opportunities we drove into Borgarnes for some tea. After Tea we headed out on the 54 to check out some of the side roads. Side roads in Iceland are unlike our roads as they are basic gravel roads. We took the 533 which was devoid of life for a large part. Eventually we found some Redshanks and a Couple of the Icelandic subspecies of the Black-tailed Godwit. The Redshanks posed beautiful on a Post and so begun my birds on a post Photography, something I had read a lot of birds do in Iceland.

Redshank, Iceland June 2019 Redshank, Nr Borgarnes, Iceland, June 2019

it was time for some sleep. Sleeping in Iceland is pretty difficult as it doesn't really get dark.

Day 2

I was up and out early to check out the surrounding areas I walked from our room and took a local Bridleway there were Redwings signing from pretty much every tree. We hadn't seen to many Redwings yet so was nice to just sit and listen to these thrushes that we are all very familiar with during the winter months.

Redwing, Borgarnes, Iceland 2019

The scenery was stunning and it was a clear and crisp morning, the wind had picked up since yesterday making it pretty cold. It didn't take long to warm up though crossing through the pine woodland and up an across the numerous rocky outcrops. I was looking for Ptarmigan and Golden Plover to try and photograph. I heard plenty of Golden Plover around the area & hoped from some good chances as this was a bird that i didn't really have any decent photos of.

Borgarnes

I managed to find and photograph my first Ptarmigan of the trip but drew a blank on the Golden Plover. I decided to head back to our digs to meet up with Adrian. En route back I cut through the trees looking for some Redwings nest I found 3 empty ones 1 of which was clearly from last year. Whilst checking one I flushed a snipe from the grass I knew there must be a nest nearby so had a little scout around. Didn't take to long to find my first ever Snipe nest. It was difficult to see in the long grass as seen in the 2nd picture.

Snipe, Borgarnes, Iceland June 2019

Our route today would see us take the 54 towards the Snaefellsnes National Park. We hoped to see Great Northern Divers, Ptarmigan, Skuas and lots of Waders. It was a good journey to the edge of the national park when we found a large lake that had a pair of Whooper Swans nesting on. We stopped to have a closer look at this point we flushed a Great Northern Diver off the bank. It must of been nesting nearby I took cover in the under growth to take some pictures of this magnificent bird they seem a lot bigger up close. I have seen plenty of these divers in winter plumage but never in summer plumage. It was an absolute beauty. We soon left after a quick check on the Whooper swans one bird was sat on the bank and had a couple of cygnets nearby we didn't disturb them and left them alone. There was a small lake by the side of the large one probably the size of a Tennis court it had a Pair of Red-throated Divers on these were soon off as we approached. It was my first glimpse of Red-throated Divers in breeding Plumage. I heard they loved these small lakes but didn't believe it until i saw them floating around on this tiny piece of water.

Great Northern Diver, Iceland, June 2019

Great Northern Diver, Iceland, June 2019
Great Northern Diver, Iceland, June 2019

Great Northern Diver, Snaefellsnes, Iceland June 2019

There was another large lake on the other side of the road and we promised to check this out if we had time on our return to our Hotel in Borganes. We carried on along the 54 stopping at a church near the coast we walked through the rocky dunes to the sound of drumming Snipe and Signing Redwing. Sounds we would hear all the time throughout of trip. I swear I could hear drumming Snipe in my Sleep.

Icelandic Church, Snaefellsnes, June 2019

We saw our first Glaucous Gull, Common Scoters and Eider Ducks from the beach. I headed back to the Church as I has seen a few tame Redwings feeding in the Graveyard. I wasn't getting the results I wanted so was pretty happy when Adrian called me across to a pair he had found nesting in a rocky outcrop. The pair were pretty tame and clearly use to people in this tourist hotspot. I fired off a few shots that I wouldn't better over the week.

Redwing nest site, Snaefellsnes, Iceland, June 2019

Redwing nest, Snaefellsnes, Iceland, June 2019

Redwing, Snaefellsnes, Iceland, June 2019 (uncropped)

Redwing, Hellnar, Iceland, June 2019. Redwing, Snefellsnes, Iceland, June 2019

We then travelled on further down the 54 and headed towards Arnarstapi and Hellnar we got out at a infamous site near the home of Bjorn Petursson or Axlar-Bjorn as he was later known as. He was Iceland most notorious serial killer and as allaged to have killed between 9 and 18 people. He was executed in 1596 for his crimes. Dispite this grosome story the area around here was pretty productive. I headed up the hill towards a former hot spring feed lake and Adrian headed down the hill. I didn't have much luck apart from a few Wimbrels i didn't see to much the lake and views of Snaefellsnes were pretty impressive. There was so pretty impressive flowers growing on the lava as I walked up.

Views of Snaefellnes

I returned down the hill to check out the lower area. Adrian was out of sight so I walked across the bare ground to see what I could find ,I could hear a pair of Golden Plovers so pushed on to investigate. As I began to walk across an Arctic Skua started to following me, this was joined by a 2nd bird. This could only mean one thing a nest must be nearby. I sat down to photography the Skua that had landed in front of me the other disappeared out of sight. I spent a couple of minutes slowly approaching the bird and got some shots, some of which I was fairly happy with. Adrian soon joined me and as he approached the 2nd bird appeared again.

Arctic Skua - Snaefellsnes, June 2019
Arctic Skua - Snaefellsnes, June 2019
Arctic Skua - Snaefellsnes, June 2019
Arctic Skua - Snaefellsnes, June 2019
Arctic Skua - Snaefellsnes, June 2019

We watched the 2nd bird and this soon returned to an area about 100meters away from us. As we approached it took off and started to mob the both of us. Adrian spotted just in front of us was its nest contining 2 eggs. Our first Arctic Skua of the trip.

Arctic Skua nest, Snaefellsnes, June 2019

We spilt again I dececided to stay on the lower part and spend some time with a Whimbrel that was feeding nearby and Adrian choose to check out the pair I had seen further up the Hill. He was pretty successful finding the Whimbrel nest and our first Meadow Pipits of the trip. I was fairly successful with the Whimbrel

Whimbrel, Helenar, Iceland, June 2019 Whimbrel, Hellnar, Iceland, June 2019
Whimbrel, Helenar, Iceland, June 2019 Whimbrel, Hellnar, Iceland, June 2019

Meadow Pipit nest site, Snafellsnes, June 2019

Meadow Pipit nest, Snafellsnes, June 2019

Whimbrel nest, Snaefellsnes, June 2019

We tired a few other areas further round the snaefellsnes peninsula throughout the afternoon, with not much luck. We came across an area that held a lot of Whooper Swans, Geese and Gulls. This is where we found our first Pink-footed Geese and a Single Canada Goose. Canada Geese are a rare bird in Iceland. At this point we turned and headed for our base back in Borganes. The plan was to stop at the Diver site again to try and photograph the Red-throated Divers. They were both there again and a slow approach to the shore line aloud me to get down to the water level. Sadly I wasn't getting the shots i wanted so I left them in peace and crossed the road to were Adrian was checking out the lake on that side. He had found a pair of Whooper Swans with a nest containing 6 eggs. The lake also had a few other ducks and waders on. I tried my luck with these and one of the Whooper Swans which gave me a close views as it swam past.

Whooper Swan nest, Iceland June 2019

Whooper Swan, Iceland June 2019

After a pretty decent burger in Borganes we went out and checked the area surrorinding our hotel again. About 1 mile down a bridle track was a small area that appeared to be a dumping ground for the local farmer. It was also a little oasis of birdlife. Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Oystercathchers and Snipe were all nesting in the area. I set myself up by a little pool that the Godwits were bathing in. They soon saw me and flew off. They seemed to be one step ahead of me and knew I was hiding out there. I sat on the rocks nearby until I eventually gave up and left. As soon as I left they were back in bathing. Godwits 1 Matt 0. This whole time Adrian had been watching a pair of Ringed Plover and they had been giving him the run around until eventually he found the nest. I could see why it took some time to locate.

Ringed Plover nest, Borganes, Iceland, June 2019

Black-tailed Godwit, Borganes, June 2019

Golden Plover, Borganes, June 2019

Golden Plover, Borganes, Iceland, June 2019

Not the best Golden Plover shots you will see just liked the snowy mountain background. Same goes for the below Ptarmigan not the best photo I just like the Lupins. I have since learnt these are non native to Iceland and were introduced to Iceland from Alaska in the 60s to help with soil erosion. They are now growling wild everywhere.

Ptarmigan, Borganes, Iceland, June 2019 Ptarmigan, Borganes, Iceland, June 2019

This brought an end to our 2nd day in Iceland. A good day all round. Cold and windy but worth the red sore wind swept faces.

Scotland 2016

February 22, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Scotland - 18th - 22nd Feb 2016

Thursday 18th Feb

After months in the planning today was the day we set off for a winter trip to the Cairngorms. Firstly a trip to Sharpness was needed. Ricky who was joining me on this trip to Scotland had requested to see one of the long staying Black Redstarts that were in the area. This would be a lifer for Ricky.

I am unfamiliar with Sharpness as I had not been here since fishing trips as a child. A quick text to Lee Gardiner a fellow bird photographer produced the goods. Lee's words were drive along Dock Road and look for building with sloping roof. We quickly found the building and boom sat on the roof was one Black Redstart. We pulled up alongside the building and waited for the bird to come within photographic distance. Below are a few images of the Sharpness Black Redstart.

Black Redstart - Sharpness Black Redstart - Sharpness

Black Redstart - Sharpness

This great Start today was quickly followed by a fat boy fried breakfast cooked by the old man and then it was off to Bristol Airport to catch our flight to Inverness. We were met at the Airport by our fellow travellers Brian Thompson a Local Bird Photographer and Karle Burford a local Birdwatcher. Yes you have read this right 3 photographers and a bird watcher are off to Scotland together. Are they going to play nicely??? how will this ever work??? Surely the photographers will come back with no photos as the birder in the group will tell them off as they kept getting to close and flushing the birds. This will never work surely???.

Brian, Karle and Ricky are all year listing so are keen to see as many species as possible within the 4 days we had in Scotland. Myself I don't list or tick birds lol, so I am after plenty of photos and happy to see what ever comes along!!! The flight was pretty painless apart from a 30min delay. Myself and Ricky both got pulled up at bag search and had all but a full strip search!!! I fully get all the security stuff but the unhelpful and uncooperative staff at this part of the Airport really didn't help the situation.

On arrival in Inverness we quickly picked up our hire car a nice white Mazda 6 (didn't stay white for long) and set off to make the most of the last hour of daylight. We stopped at Alturlie which overlooks the Moray Firth. Karle had visited here before and knew it was a good place to tick ( not me) the Sea Ducks. I don't keep a list so this is purely from memory. I think we saw a few of Goldeneye, Gooseanders, and Long-tailed Ducks. These were mostly blobs in the distance and not great for the photographer in me but still great to year tick Long-tailed Duck (not that i year tick).

Moray Firth

Setting Sun Moray Firth

We also saw plenty of Hooded Crows but apparently you can't if I was ticking, tick these as most birds on the East coast of Scotland are Hybrids. I won't waffle on with the science shit but i ticked it anyway. According to the Brian Thompson list it counts!! Good enough for me! The daylight was fading so it was time to head off to our hotel for the next 4 nights. We were staying at the Grant Arms in Grantown on Spey, a superb hotel which is idea for nature lovers. If anyone is thinking of a vacation to the Cairngorms i highly recommend this hotel. The food is fantastic.

Tea was the time of great debate on what the plans were going to be for our first full day. It was decided to try for some Black Cock (stealing a Packham joke) first at the bottom Cairngorm Ski car park and then up onto the mountains for Ptarmigan and Snow Bunting. The Weather didn't look great but looked the best for the next 3 days. After a few pints of tradewind it was time to get some rest before a full day in the mountains.

Friday 19th February

A slight covering of snow in Grantown wasn't enough to put us off going up into the Cairngorms. We set off slightly later than planned as breakfast which was excellent was a bit slow in coming. By the time we had got to the first car park it was probably to late to find any Black Grouse on the Lech. We were right it was. The Lech is viewed from a purpose built viewing station and sadly no birds were seen. It was bloody freezing and the driving winds was wiping up the lying and falling snow. We were soon in the car and off to the main car park further up the mountain. The car park is a good place to see Snow Bunting and on occasions Ptarmigan. No Ptarmigan today but a flock of 15 Snow Bunting was a good year tick for most of the guys. (If I was year listing I would already have it on the List) We decided to head off into the mountains to try and find some Ptarmigan the weather wasn't great so we made a decision to head up before the weather got any worse. We were heading to an area that I had photographed Ptarmigan in last year. There were a lot of serious hill walkers and Ice climbers on the route but no Ptarmigan. As we climbed the weather continued to get worse and after Brian went arse over tit we decided that the weather had got the better of us. Even if they were on the lower slopes we wouldn't be able to see them in the white out conditions let alone hear them in the howling wind. We headed back down to the Car Park for the Snow Buntings again. Sadly these had disappeared. The weather was bad enough to close the Ski runs, definitely the right decision to turn around.

Next on the agenda was a Trip to Loch Morlich and Loch Garten. There were a few Goldeneye and Mallards on Loch Morlich but little else. After dipping the Ptarmigan we headed Loch Garten for The Crested Tit. These are pretty much a given from the feeders at Loch Garten. It wasn't long until we gifted our first views of a Crestie they were few and far between probably 3 birds in total but great to see. We set up a few perches and baited them with bird friendly Peanut Butter (no salt) the Cresties loved it along with the 100s of Chaffinches and Coal Tits. No Red Squirrels was a disappointment.

Crested Tit, Loch Garten, Feb 2016 Crested Tit - Loch Garten

Chaffinch, Loch Garten, February 2016. Chaffinch - Loch Garten

We had a bit of time to kill after dipping on the Ptarmigan so we headed off to Lochindorb. But first we stopped off at a Place called Broomhill Station which is an old Railway Station that overlooks a few flooded fields. Throughout the Winter a Glaucous and Iceland Gull had been spotted here. We were reliable informed that both had in fact been seen yesterday. No Such luck today but hey we could maybe try again.

Broomhill Station

Lochindorb is a great place to find Red Grouse from the comfort of your car. We also hoped for some raptors or some early returning Divers on the Loch. The Loch held the usual suspects Goldeneye and Gooseanders but little else. There were plenty of Grouse to photograph from the car. The sun even shone here for a spilt second!!

Red Grouse, Lochindorb, February 2016. Red Grouse - Lochindorb

Red Grouse, Lochindorb, February 2016 Red Grouse - Lochindorb

After travelling past Lochindorb we decided to head over to the Findhorn Valley. This was also our planned area to visit tomorrow so if we ticked all the boxes we could probably do something else on Sunday. Findhorn Valley AKA as Raptor valley is an area of outstanding beauty it is a single track road with a few houses rooted along it the follows the River Findhorn for about 10 Miles.

We took a slow drive along as every time we caught sight of the River Findhorn, Karle would ask me to stop and say "this is a good place for Dipper here". This wasn't the first time today he had said this and every time we went over a bridge, saw or even heard water we had to stop as it was a good place for Dippers. Like the other 106 times we had stopped today we drew a blank. LOL. We decided to pull in at a small lay-by and scan the surrounding areas for Raptors. The one thing i wanted to see this trip was a Golden Eagle. Having been to Scotland on numerous occasions I had always drew a Blank on this amazing birds. Today was going to be my lucky day. No sooner had we got out of the car a raptor drifted towards us, we got our bins on what we though was a Buzzard but as it drew closer it clearly wasn't and a Golden Eagle drifted low over our heads. Before any of us could close our mouths and grab a camera it was gone!!!! Wow no photo but who cares I had just saw my first Golden Eagle (life tick). We travelled on to the end of the valley were we hoped to see more raptors and Mountain Hares. We saw quite a few Buzzards around but not much else. I climbed up on the hill to see if I could flush any hares. No such luck. Plenty of poo about but no hares. The views from here are stunning and well worth the trip.

Findhorn Valley

I think on the way back to the hotel we stopped again at Broomhill Station!! Guess what no Gulls. Tea again at the Hotel was fantastic I can highly recommend the Haggis dumplings to start. They are to die for. It was decided over a few Tradewinds we would head off tomorrow to see the long staying Ring-necked Duck at Pitlochry.

Saturday 20th Feb

The weather in Grantown was a bit sleety and thankful no real over night snow that had been forecast so we set off after another hearty breakfast to Pitlochry which is about 90 minutes south of Grantown-on-Spey. We made a quick stop to Broomhill Station, yes you guessed it no Gulls. The weather went down hill pretty fast and it wasn't long before we were into a full on Snow storm. Probably just a light dusting for the locals but to us southern softies this was pretty mental. I was trying hard to follow the car in fronts tyre marks and to not drive on any of the lying snow. It took a little longer than hoped due to the weather but we were soon out of the mountains and into Pitlochry. We had a brief stop off to buy some bread as rumour has it the Ring-necked Duck can't get enough of it. We soon located the small lake on which this long staying American visitor had been frequenting and sure enough amongst the Tuffted Duck was a slightly odd looking Tuffty. Boom Ring-necked Duck in the bag.

The Cuilc - Pitlochry

Luckily the lake was frozen and the small area that wasn't, was right next to the road from here we had great views of another lifer for me. The rumours were true it loves the bread, although it was a little timid and took its time to come in close. Shame the light was so bad as this was a real opportunity to get some stonkers of a pretty rare visitor.

Ring-necked Duck, Pitlochry

An awesome bird. Brian even managed some great pics of the dull red ring that goes around its neck. Sadly a few of mine showed this but were pretty crap so got binned. There was also a Mandarin Duck on the Lake. Nearby were 2 Red Squirrels, Siskin and a Jay. We headed back to Cairngorms for another drive through the Findhorn Valley. The route back home was again fun but the snow wasn't quite as bad as the journey across. Oh I almost forgot we stopped at Broomhill Station!! Boom Gulls.................. but no white wingers!!!!!!!!!!!! We also stopped at Nethy Bridge and found no Dippers.

Nethy Bridge. Nethy Bridge

By the time we arrived at Findhorn the weather had turned again and it was snowing pretty hard. We made the decision to try and get down the valley road but if the snow started to settle on the roads, we would turn for home. Luckly it was about 0c so the road temperature stopped the snow from settling. We slowly drove along the road until we reached the end we had a look around before heading a couple of 100meters back along the road to an area which is good for Mountain Hare. We could see from the car park a few people on the mountains this was good enough for us. Karle decided he was happy to stay in the warm and scope us and the hares from the safety of the car park. Ricky, Brian and myself geared up and set off up the mountain. The snow was coming down thick and fast and made walking very difficult. It was like having needles hit your eyes.

Findhorn Valley in the snow

Findhorn Valley

Findhorn Valley - Whiteout

Brian and Ricky in the Findhorn Valley

Findhorn Valley - Whiteout

Findhorn Valley

We got up onto the mountain where a couple of guys were photographing a Hare we decided not to disturb these guys and find another. Brian went high and Ricky and I went low. It wasn't long before Brian signalled us. He had found a sitting Hare, an excellent spot. We all got together and slowly approached the hare. It gave us fantastic views in some horrendous conditions.

Mountain Hare - Findhorn Valley

Mountain Hare, Findhorn Valley

After spending about 10 minutes with this Hare we thought it best to get of the mountain and out of the Valley as the conditions were getting worse and we didn't have a Keg of Tailwind in the boot so we headed back to the Hotel. We made it back to the hotel via Broomhill Station. Surprise surprise no Gulls.

That night I had arranged a night in a wildlife hide just outside Aviemore on the Rothiemurchus estate. We were met by our Guide and taken to the hide. The guide without trying to be was a comedy legend. I think we all enjoyed his store about an event that happened during 1 of his 16 years working at a wildlife park. A Goat or something managed to hook his belt off and pull down his trousers revealing his bright blue pants. He had caught the animal and was kind of riding it from behind with his trousers down!!!! Awkward!!! Thats his story and he was sticking to it I am sure someone somewhere else could of saw this differently. If you ever meet the guy ask to see his tattoo as well!!! The hide was awesome and we hoped to see Badgers and Pine Martins. Despite what the website says photographing from here isn't easy as the light isn't great but none the less the experience was amazing. It wasn't long before a badger visited the feeding area and before long a Pine Martin graced us with her presences. Across the 3 hours we had at least 3 Badgers, 2 Pine Martins and a few Wood Mice visit us. Below are a couple of half decent photos I managed. Was also good to see how well the 7D mark 2 coped on 16000 ISO.

Pine Martin, Rothiemurchus

Badger, Rothiemurchus, February 2016. Badger, Rothiemurchus

Another fantastic day. What will tomorrow Bring

Sunday 21st Feb

The Plan today was to head down to the Coast starting at Dingwall for a long staying Ring-billed Gull. This Gull has been seen throughout the winter on a small Pond in a park right in the heart of Dingwall. We arrived and quickly located a few Gulls none of which were the Ring-billed Gull. After a quick visit to Tesco for some bread we managed to bring in a lot more gulls, for some reason they were all very cautious. After an hour of nothing I located a bird that fitted the bill!!! Yes we had the Ring-billed and just as we were about to leave. Brian managed to fire of a few quick shots before it disappeared. It was later on when viewing these shots we realised that it was a Common Gull and not a Ring-billed Gull! A Kingfisher was a nice addition to the days birds.

We headed off to our next stop Burghead harbour. This has the potential to turn up some decent birds in the harbour at close range. A Male Eider and a seal were good to see in the Harbour. Along the Harbour wall was a small wader flock of Turnstones, Redshanks and 2 Purple Sandpipers.

Eider Duck, Burghead, February 2016 Eider Duck - Burghead

Purple Sandpiper - Burghead

We checked the Sea from the Harbour walls and the nearby coastline, we quickly located a Red-throated Diver, Long Tailed Ducks, Goldeneye, Eiders, Red-brested Mergansers and a raft of Common Scoters. Next Stop was a Pig farm near Hopeman that has had 2 Iceland Gull visiting it over the past few weeks. We arrived at the Pig farm and were overwhelmed by the number of Gulls there. There must have been well over 1000 we tried in vain to locate one but the words needle in a hay stack come to mind!! We soon moved on to Lossiemouth for a scout around the coast. The tide was fast going out and not much was seen from the sea walls. A lot of disturbance on the beach meant little chance of finding any Snow Buntings. Brian and Karle were checking out the Sea Whilst Ricky and I headed to the Harbour. It was there I spotted two Ducks in close I slowly approached and found it was a pair of Long-tailed Ducks I quickly called Brian and Karle over and we spent the next 30 mins in the wind,rain and hale photographing these amazing Birds. They were both very wary and stayed pretty much away from us before flying out to sea. Was great to see these up close just a shame about the weather.

Long-tailed Duck- Lossiemouth

Guess what on route back to Grantown we stopped at Broomhill Station and guess what no Gulls!!! Another fantastic meal was had at the hotel and a few more Tradewinds were sunk. Brian and Karle thought it was a good idea to sample the delights of Scottish Whisky. Hopefully they will be good to go for an early start for Black Grouse on our last morning.

Monday 21st Feb

Our last morning was spend at Tulloch Moor at first light looking for Black Grouse sadly no sign but we did randomly find a few gravestones. We had enough time to have another look around Loch Garten. Karle and Brian had a thrash around the woods whilst Ricky and I had another pop at the Crested Tits.

Crested Tit, Loch Garten, Feb 2016

Crested Tit-Loch Garten Crested Tit, Loch Garten, Feb 2016 Crested Tit-Loch Garten

Crested Tit, Loch Garten, Feb 2016 Crested Tit-Loch Garten

We then headed off to the Airport but one last stop was needed at Broomhill Station and at last it was to be!!!! sat in the flooded field was a huge big fat amazing...... nothing!!!! Oh well wasn't to be. Before we dropped the car off we had another look around the Moray Firth. There were plenty of Hybrid Hooded Crows in the nearby fields and plenty of Sea Ducks just off the beach. Most were Scaups and Wigeon but there seemed to be a few distant Long-tailed Duck. It was good to see such good numbers of Scaup. I have only either seen these in 1 or 2s before. A Flock of Curlew and Oystercatchers were on the beach but before we could photograph them some prick in a van beeped his horn and scared them all off!!!!!

Greater Scaup - Moray Firth

Hooded Crow

It was finally time to head for home. The weekend could be summed up by these words. Good times, Good Beer, Good Food, Good friends and Shit Gulls. Thanks to Ricky Brian and Karle for a top weekend and we all played nicely. Oh and i forgot to mention on the last day Karle was true to his word and we found a Dipper near Nethy Bridge.

Aruba Day 4

November 14, 2015 • 1 Comment

Friday 14th November

After yesterday success at Areshi Beach I Thought I would try my luck again. The day started watching 3 Semipalmated Plover chasing each around the rock shore. This other was good to watch and they were quite vocal. It was pretty much the same birds as yesterday apart form a Semipalmated Sandpiper and the Sanderling went from 1 to a flock of 7. A flock of Carib Crackle were also in the area. Below is a few of my best pictures from the morning.

Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Plover

Sanderling

I first though the below bird was a sanderling but thought it was slightly different i have now been informed its a Semipalmated Sandpiper. A new bird for me as I didn't manage to connect with the Slimbridge bird.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Royal Tern

Black-belled Plover (Grey Plover)

Black-billed Plover (Grey Plover)

Brown Pelican

Eared Dove

Spotted Sandpiper

Common Tern

Laughing Gull

Least Sandpiper

After a great morning at Areshi Beach it was time to head back to the hotel for Breakfast but not before a quick stop on route. I noticed a Great Egret close to the roadside near the Salina next to the Skydive Centre. Here I managed to photograph the Great Egret hunting. There was also 2 Killdeer nearby.

Great Egret Great Egret

Great Egret

Killdeer

Arikok National Park and a Beautiful beach called Baby Beach was the plan today. Arikok takes up 18% of the Island of Aruba and was on the opposite side of the island to our hotel. Today I hoped to photograph a Venezuelan Troupial on a Cactus the ionic picture of these birds and also I hoped to see a Crested Caracara. The national park is also a great place to see the endemic Aruban Rattlesnake. Sadly these are very rare and as few as 500 could remain in the world. We probably wouldn't see one of these as they hunt mainly at Dusk and Dawn as its to hot during the day. They had a captive one in the visitor centre I think thats as close as Hannah wanted to get. Also by the visitor centre was a Venezuelan Troupial feeding on a Cactus sadly to far away for the photo I wanted. Whislt in the National Park we visited the Quadirikiri Caves. These caves are home to a species of Fruit bat not sure what they are called as I can't find any reference to their name. Although Southern Long-nosed bats are found in other caves on the Island.

Baby Beach was a beautiful spot. Very busy but amazingly there was a small flock of Ruddy Turnstones working through the tourists on a quiet corner of the beach there was a single Black-belled Plover (Grey Plover). The Below photo was taken by Hannah.

Baby Beach

One of my main aims was to try and photograph a Crested Caracara they aren't common on Aruba but the Arikok National Park was a good place to see them. Having not seen one all day I was almost giving up when suddenly one appeared at the side of the road!!!! I asked Hannah kindly to pull over (stooooooooop) luckily the camera was out of the bag and it was almost within touching distance sadly to close and i couldn't focus on it before it was gone behind the car. We quickly turned around but it was out of reach. A 2nd bird appeared but was also to distant and to far off the road to track!!! my chance had gone. Below is my only effort of this magnificent bird.

Crested Caracara

Where we had stopped to see if the Crested Caracaras would do a u-turn sat an American Kestrel on the top of a Cactus it was really struggling to hold on in the strong warm wind. It allowed me to get pretty close, even without using the car as a moving hide. As I photographed this one another flew overhead.

American Kestrel, Aruba, November 2015 American Kestrel

Late afternoon we were going to head up to the California lighthouse to photograph the sunset but not before 2 quick stops firstly I wanted to try and photograph the Bananaquits at the Butterfly farm and then I took Hannah to see the Burrowing Owls. Well I say I took her!!!!! in all fairness it was just an excuses to have another shot at these amazing birds.

Bananaquit

Burrowing Owl

The sunset was amazing and I managed to get the picture I wanted.

Brown Pelican at Sunset

Brown Pelican

Thought I would throw in a few more of Hannah Pictures of me at work and the sunset

Me and the wife !!!!!!

Aruba Day 3

November 13, 2015 • 3 Comments

Thursday 13th November

Last morning without a Hire Car as of 9am today we have some wheels which means a) we get to see some more of the Island and its amazing beaches and b) i can get a further afield in the 2 hours i am aloud of the leash. Win Win.

This morning I walked North towards the Salina near the Skydiving centre. There was a few others I had noticed to check out first. The First one Had a few Whimbrel and what looked like Yellowlegs on the far side. A s I moved towards the shore I spooked 3 White-cheeked Pintail, 2 Killdeers and a Little Blue Heron (Garsa blou chikito) that were in a tiny pool just off the main Salina. Little Blue Heron was a new tick so hopefully I will get another opportunity to photograph this bird. There are 9 species of Herons recorded on the Island. 3 down 6 to go.

The Main Salina was linked to a marsh area and a creek. I think all the Salina and Bubali in the Palm Beach area are probably all linked. The Marsh area was good for Great Egrets, Yellowlegs and today there was a small flock of waders. Not sure which but probably Least Sandpipers (Snepi chikito)

At the end of the creek I was just about to cross the road to the area by the Boardwalk Hotel when a large wader caught my Eye. It looked like a Hudsonian Godwit (Lopi cora). I am no Godwit Expert but according to my guidebook only Hudsonian have been recorded on Aruba and thats only from 3 records. I guess by Aruba standards this was a Mega!!!! I have tried to contact a few people via Facebook to see if this is as rare as the guidebook suggests but to no avail. Please put me straight if I am wrong with my ID. You can also see in the first picture a nice plastic cup. I did wait a while for the Godwit to find a more photogenic position. Issue was it was moving further round and I was then shooting into the sun. Cant win them all!!!!!!

Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit

Whilst watching the Godwit a Great Egret flew overhead and Landed in the creek on the opposite side of the road. Also in this creek was a Spotted Sandpiper and a Lesser Yellowlegs. The sun was still pretty low so the light wasn't great.

Great Egret

Spotted Sandpiper

I was now back in the Sandy area near to the Skydive Centre Salina. Sadly the area looks like its used as a motorbike rally track and there were lots of jumps and evidence that the area is probably not a good spot for Borrowing Owls as I had hoped. A male Black-faced Grassquit was sat in a tree about the only bird i had came across. In true tv style fashion i was about to gave up on the area when I could see a distant blob which could be an owl. I moved in a little closer and it moved so I put the bins on it and boom it was what I was looking for. The endemic Aruban Species of the Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia arubensis. (Choco)

Burrowing Owl

It let me move in pretty close but I didn't push it to far as I didn't want to flush it out. I am also not sure how their burrows work and I certainly didn't want to collapse a burrow. There must have been another one nearby but I couldn't see it. It could of course been down the burrow. Where I was low to the ground I couldn't see into the burrow. I am sure I will be back!!! I left them in peace to check out the main Salina.

Burrowing Owl

Burrowing Owl Burrowing Owl Burrowing Owl

The Salina was pretty quite. There was a Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs on the near shore in the North corner there was a Black-bellied Plover or what we Europeans call a Grey Plover. The flock of Black-necked Stilts were in a bit closer so managed a few shots although not brilliant as I was shooting into the sun. A small wader which I believe to be a Least Sandpiper was in and around the Yellowlegs. On the back shore of the Salina sat a Great Blue Heron and a Snowy Egret

Least Sandpiper, Aruba, November 2015 Least Sandpiper

Black-necked Stilt

There was a small pool just South of the main Salina. Here there was another Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Killdeers and another Least Sandpiper.

Killdeer

Least Sandpiper, Aruba, November 2015 Least Sandpiper

On the way back to the hotel I stopped to see if the Little Blue Heron was around. It wasn't but a Glossy Ibis was fishing the creek

Little Blue Heron, Palm Beach, Aruba 2015 Glossy Ibis, Palm Beach, Aruba 2015 Glossy Ibis

On arrival back at the hotel we picked up our Hire car and after brekkie we set off to see some more of the Island we first headed north to the California Lighthouse

California Lighthouse View from the California Lighthouse

We later hit the coast and found a great beach (Arashi Beach) it was stunning and pretty quite. Best of all there was a lot of sea birds about. No Sooner had I sat down I noticed a Gull 50metres down the beach. The only regular gulls found on Aruba are Laughing Gulls.

Laughing Gull

Brown Pelican and Terns were fishing just of the shore. The perfect beach!! I left hannah relaxing on the beach and walked further along to see what other stuff I could find. There were terns everywhere Common and Royal were about and i picked out what looked like a few Cabot Terns. I believe Cabot Terns along with Cayenne Terns have recently been separated from the Sandwich Tern. Both Cabot and Cayenne are recorded on the Island. Cayenne are the South American relatives of the Cabot terns.

Royal Tern

Common Tern

Brown Pelican

Laughing Gull

The Pelicans were diving ungainly into the water and it was quite funny to watch. As they reappeared on the surface they were mobbed by the Laughing Gulls who were trying to steal some of their catch. I carried on down the beach until I came to a rocky area. Here there were good numbers of Terns, Laughing Gulls and Brown Pelicans resting on the rocks. There was an area along the shoreline covered in rotting seaweed with lots of insects perfect for waders and bingo there was a good selection of them. 1 Spotted Sandpiper 7 Ruddy Turnstones, 1 Sanderling 2 Semipalmated Plover 3 Least Sandpipers and an unknown Sandpiper. A great place to come back to tomorrow morning.

Sanderling

After leaving the beach we drove towards one of the Tourist traps the Alto Vista Chapel. On route we passed the Tierra del Salina Golf course. On the Golf course is a protected Salina and with permission you can look around this wetland area. This is a good place for Least and Pied billed Grebes and also Southern Lapwings. The Bunkers are also meant to be good for Burrowing Owls. Were weren't going onto the course today. As we drove passed I noticed a Yellow type Wagtail bird and the lawns at the front of the course so I politely!!!!!! (Shit me i think i just found something rare ) asked Hannah to stop and drive back. If it was what I was thinking this would be a massive bonus and a very rare bird to the Island. In 2012 a Cattle Tyrant was found at the Golf Course it stayed for about a year. I am not sure what happened to it from there but if I was not mistaken we had just drove past a Cattle Tyrant. As we pulled up alongside it, it could only be a Cattle Tyrant it was like nothing else in the Guide book. Wow what a result. I nervously got my camera out and managed to take some pics of it. The bird was a very confiding and actual came so close to the car I could no longer focus on the it. What makes these rare on Aruba is that they associate with Cattle, hence the name. There is no Cattle on Aruba!!!! I could of stayed here all day but sadly Hannah was having none of it and we carried on towards the Chapel.

Cattle Tyrant Cattle Tyrant Cattle Tyrant Cattle Tyrant Cattle Tyrant

Alto Vista Chapel

Around the chapel were a few Aruban Whiptail Lizards, I had tried a few times to get some pictures of these around the resort by failed I managed to find one in a Cactus of the grounds of the church. This was a male as the females are Brown. The males being this bright turquoise blue.

Aruban Whiptail Lizard Aruban Whiptail Lizard Aruban Whiptail Lizard

On the way back to the Hotel I had a quick stop at Arashi Beach usual suspects again but I forgot about the position of the Sun useless for photography as everything was into the sun. Good job a showy Tropical Mockingbird landed the other side of the car. At least i had something to photograph. Will be a good place to come back for a sunset.

Tropical Mockingbird Tropical Mockingbird

The Burrowing Owls were still around the Skydive Salina giving the best views yet. Whilst watching these a Whimbrel flew overhead. The usual Greater Yellowlegs was on the creek.

Burrowing Owls

Greater Yellowlegs

Best day birding so far!!!!!!!

Aruba 2015 - Day 2

November 12, 2015

Wednesday 11th November Day 2

Up and out again by 6.30am today I walked from the hotel South towards the next resort Eagle Beach. Hoping for some waders and to get into Bubali from a different point.

First bird of the day was a Magnificent Frigatebird (Makuaku) that drifted along the coast. A Brown Pelican (Rogans) was sat on a rock in a small fishing harbour. The area was very rocky and not much sand or any good areas for wading birds. I turned around and headed back towards Bubali Pond. I crossed the road to a small entrance into Bubali. In the middle of the carriageway was a small Pond here sat a very confiding Great Egret. The entrance into Bubali gave a very small window into the main lagoon sadly the only bird here was a Neotropic Cormorant (Dekla) sat drying on a pole. There were a few mosquitos here as well. Boom 1-0 to the Mosquitos. I really need to splash on the repellent!!! Just as I was leaving the area to head towards the viewing platform area 5 more Magnificent Frigatebirds flew around the main pond.

Great Egret

Neotropic Cormorant

Magnificent Frigatebird

I headed back down to the coast and headed back towards the viewing platform. As I hit the coast a Royal Tern (Sternchi di rey) flew along and gave great views of a new bird for me. Its said that you can see 9 species of Terns in the same view on Aruba. Fingers crossed.

Royal Tern

On arriving at Bubali a few Barn Swallows (Swalchi) flew around the reeds. The Open patch again had around 5 Sora a lot less then yesterday, 2 Wilson snipe and 3 Common Gallinule. There was a small patch of mud just out of view and I could see some kind of wader prodding around in the mud. Eventually it gave a good enough view to establish it was a Pectoral Sandpiper (Snepi pecho strepia). 3 White-cheeked Pintails were on the open water.

Sora

Wilson Snipe

Common Gallinule

Pectoral Sandpiper

Just before leaving a Great Egret did a flyby and the 2 Brown-throated Parakeets were sat chatting in the same tress as yesterday. The track to the entrance again had at least 5 Yellow Warblers and some Bare-eyed Pigeons.

Great Egret

The plan today was to visit the Butterfly Farm which was 2 minutes from our hotel and then to get a taxi to the Capital Oranjestad. The Butterfly farm is set within large meshed enclosures and you can see many Butterflies flying freely from all over the world. Aruba doesn't have to many Butterflies on the island it self. I managed to see 4 species flying around across the week. The only one i could identify was the Monarch. The Butterflies below are not native to Aruba and can only be found at the Butterfly farm.

Blue Morpho

Unknown

Blue Clipper

Unknown

Tree Nymph

The Cydno

This was also a great place to see the 2 species of Humminbirds on the island the Blue-tailed Emerald (Blenchi berde) and the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird (Dornasol) sadly none were seen today. There was a great spot here though to see Bananaquits, as the butterfly farm had set up a sugar feeder and there must of been 30 plus visiting the feeder along with Black-faced Grassquits (Mofi).

Bananaquit

Bananaquits and Black-faced Grassquits

Oranjestad Literally means Orange Town I guess from its Dutch influences. This was a place for the Wife as it was full of Shops and a lot of them. As its on the Caribbean cruise route a lot of Tourist pass through. Today 2 massive ships were in port so it was pretty busy. Was great to see a Green Iguana just chilling on the street.

Oranjestad

Green Iguana

Late afternoon after spending a few hours in the Capital city of Oranjestad I paid a quick visit to Bubali to it was fairly clear at this time of day the area was pretty dead. A Brown-throated Parakeet gave a good view. Along with a Green Heron.

Brown-throated Parakeet

Green Heron