Little Bunting
After a busy few weeks at work I managed to find a few hours to go and see the Long staying Little Bunting at Forest Farm near Cardiff. I aimed to get to Forest Farm for First light as I had heard the area it was often seen it looked straight into the sun. It was a frosty morning so hopefully i could get a few photos of this bird in the frost. I arrived at the hide and it wasn't long before the Little Bunting showed up. Only issue was the bird was to close, it was so close i could of picked it up. It kept disappearing but was faithfully to the same area so it wasn't long before I managed a few frosty shots.
There was also good numbers of Bullfinch in the area. A cracking little reserve somewhere i need to return to in the future.
Scotland - Cairngorms Part 4
Last day of our trip was going to spent at Loch Garten. Its a great place in the summer to see Osprey but in the winter its an easy place to see Crested Tits. These Birds are easiest to see during the winter when they come down to ground level to feed. During the Summer they spend most of their time high up in the tree canopy. The snow had melted a bit since my first visit to the area but hopefully we would still get some decent photos. Unfortunately the light was pretty poor and the speed these birds move at meant getting a decent photo was going to be tricky. The Crested tits were pretty regular to the area and i was lucky to get a couple of half decent photos.
The hardest part was getting the red in the birds eye. We were also lucky to spot a few Red Squirrels although these were always close to the feeders and although great to see them on the feeders the photos don't look very natural.
The only picture I Managed of a Red Squirrel.
The afternoon was spent again at Lochindorb looking for Red Grouse, there were a few about but we weren't always blessed with good light. Was good to see few Raptors in the area. Kestrel and Hen Harrier.
The time had come to say our Good byes after what was an awesome weekend. I cannot recommend Marcus Conway and Ebirder.net highly enough. If you want photos of the Scottish star bird species he is your man to get these. Another trip will be booked again soon.
I left the guys who i hope to meet up with again sometime soon and travelled onto Inverness. I hoped to catch up with some Geese and Sea Ducks before returning back to Bristol.
The following morning i travelled along the Coast from Inverness to Lossiemouth. Stopping at Harbours and other areas on route. First stop was Nairn were there was a Single Female Red-breasted Merganser and not much else. Next stop was Findhorn were I took a walk along the beach and the River. There was a group of Seals sleeping on the mouth of the River and a small flock of Eider Ducks were on the River. There was a single Hooded Crow on the Beach, a British first for me
Hooded Crow - Findhorn
I Carried on stopping next at Burghead which is a great spot for Long-tailed Duck. Sadly there were none in the Harbour just a lone Female Eider and a mixed flock of Turnstones, Redshank and Purple Sandpipers. There was a lot of Long-tailed Ducks at sea but to distant for photos. I also saw a single Auk, unsure of what as it disappeared before I could Id it. Lossiemouth was also quite a nice flock of fairly tame Wigeon was nice
The only other highlight of the day was watching some fighter pilot training at RAF Lossiemouth.
After an awesome few days my time had come to see goodbye to Scotland and begin the long journey back to Bristol. 9 hours later I was back. Roll on winter 2016!!!
Scotland Part 3 Cairngorms
After what was a fantastic day yesterday it was going to be hard to beat. The plan for today, Weather depending was to venture up into the mountains to track down some Ptarmigan. A bird I am yet to see. The forecast looked good so we set off after another awesome Scottish breakfast. There had been a lot of snow recently so hopefully the Ptarmigan would be a bit easier as they come lower down the mountains in search of food. The area we were heading to was also a Ski resort so the snow had brought in a lot of skiers and hill walkers.
We Parked up at the Cairngorm ski resort and set off up the mountain, the snow was well trodden on the path so not that difficult to walk on. All the way up we saw good numbers of Red Grouse. It was about a 35-40 min walk before we heard some Ptarmigan and it wasn't long before we located them. Its not that easy looking for a pure white bird in a pure white environment. Believe it or not this is were we encountered a slight issue, a dog was off its lead and causing havoc it was chasing everything in sight. This could work in our favour as the dog was higher than the Ptarmigan and it seemed to push them down towards us. It also flushed my first views of a Mountain Hare.
I am not one for selfies but the scenery was pretty good
Marcus thought it would be a good idea to go off Piste and duck in behind a ridge and hopefully the birds would come over the top, this worked well and i managed a few shots as the Ptarmigan come over the ridge. It was also pretty cool walking in probably the deepest snow I had ever experienced in my life. We don't really have major snow falls in Bristol. What an awesome start to the day Ptarmigan and Mountain Hare in the bag now to get some decent shots and hopefully not die in the process lol. There were a few avalanche warnings in the area but Marcus assured us we were pretty safe in this area.
The above picture managed to get onto Flick explore and had over 7000 views at last check
We then located some more Ptarmigan and began to stalk these for some close up photography. Again we got some great shots, it was whilst photographing these that Marcus spotted a Mountain Hare laid up against a rock he was very well camouflaged and difficult to see so we gradually edged closer. Marcus warned us that if his ears pricked up he wasn't comfortable and he would probably make a dash for it so we carefully moved in watching his body language. The hare didn't budge and by now we were almost on top of it. The first picture of this isn't cropped!! But was taken by borrowing Marcus 500mm with a 1.4 convertor. When I bought my 400mm I was in two minds on what to buy the 500mm or the 400mm after feeling the weight of the 500mm for just a few minutes my arms were glad I went for the 400mm. Was great to have the opportunity to use this monster lens though.
We spent about 30 minutes photographing this amazing mammal it wasn't fazed by us at all, 100% confident on its camouflage and was sure we hadn't seen it so it didn't need to move!! It didn't even move when a Search and Rescue sea king flew overhead. Thankfully this seemed to be just on a training session on not search and rescue. Was great to see though even if was potentially going to scare the Ptarmigan away.
After locating another group of Ptarmigan we followed these off Piste again, were we saw quite a large group probably in the region of 40-50 birds. These were going to be difficult to get close to as the become more jumpy when in large groups. We did however mange to get in between the group and this is were I got my best photographs.
Kirk, Ian and Myself
We decided to head back down the mountain to the Car park which is pretty reliable for Snow Bunting. I have seen plenty of Snow Buntings before but these have always been at costal locations. The Cairngorm birds are of a population of British breeding Snow Buntings. There was a small flightily flock in the Car park one stayed still long enough for us to get a few photos.
After finishing with the Snow Buntings there was enough light to head to Lochindorb again on the return journey back the the Grant Hotel. There were a few about in the late afternoon sunAnother fanatic day which didn't leave much left on the list for tomorrow
Scotland Part 2 Cairngorms
Thursday.
After driving across from Aberdeen it suddenly dawned on me that I had packed any waterproof trousers luckily I had enough time to get to Aviemore to pick a pair up, On Route to Aviemore is Loch Garten an RSPB reserve famous for its Ospreys but in winter its a great site for Crested Tit, would be rude not to stop off to see some tits!!!! I arrived in a snow filled car park were i could see a man with a camera, always a good start. I parked up and headed across. They guy went by the name of Ian and after a brief chat it appeared that we were both in Scotland for the same photography tour!!! Small World. Ian then directed me to the Loch Garten visitor centre were i had my first views of Crested Tit.
Took a few quick snaps before heading off to Aviemore and then on to my digs for the next 3 nights. I arrived at the Grant Hotel in Grantown-on-Spey and was mightily impressed. If your a wildlife lover you will love this hotel. Its wall are filled with fantastic pictures of the local wildlife and it plays birdsongs instead of crap cheesy music through the hotel.
We had agreed to meet up at 7.30pm for dinner and introductions. Marcus was our guide ( can be booked through website www.ebirder.net ) the other 3 in the party were David who was a Local from Inverness Kirk and Ian (who I had already met at Loch Garten) who were both from the South East. We all seemed to hit off immediately and the food was great. It was here Marcus dropped the Bombshell that there was a good chance we could get the weekend off to a flying start with Capercaillie tomorrow morning, if we were all up for it!!!!! Stupid question most birders would bite your right arm off for a glimpse of this rare secretive bird. I won't go into to much detail about this bird as its a sensitive site and would like to respect the wishes of the people who found this bird.
Friday
730 am Breakfast time which like last nights tea did not disappoint. A nice healthy full fat traditional Scottish breakfast, minus the Black pudding. I had everything crossed that we would connect with a Capercaillie today and it wasn't long before we had parked up and headed into the Pine forest in search of this rare beast. Marcus soon found some tracks in the snow which got the blood pumping but it was nearly 2 hours before the bird was spotted. Marcus, Kirk and Ian who had been searching in a different area to David and myself had witnessed the bird fly down from the tops of the pines were it had been feeding. It wasn't long before we all joined up and proceeded to get some photos of the magnificent bird. Its not uncommon in male Capercaillies to become what is known as Rouge birds these birds will literally attack you if you come into contact with them. This bird had become rouge and although it didn't attack us it gave quite a show
We spent 10 minutes photographing and observing the Capercaillie before slowly retreating out of the wood as we didn't want to tire out the bird. Probably one of the best 10 minutes i have had whilst birding. Marcus had set his stall high and had to work hard now to impress us on the rest of the trip.
The afternoon was going to be spent at the Alvie Estate photographing Red Deer. Not before we had our lunch randomly we had this in a local hospital car park. The reason for this was to hopefully see some Red Squirrels that are often seen in the Car park here. We got Lucky and managed a few Red Squirrels and a small flock of Redpolls.
We arrived at Alvie and were met by Graham who was the head gamekeeper. Imagine what a typical Scottish gamekeeper looks like and you get Graham!! So much so that if any TV programme needs a gamekeeper for a piece they all use Graham.
Our transport to get to the Red Deer in the deep snow was a snow cat. Usually used in Arctic Canada it was the perfect transport to get up into the hills to find the deer. The scenery was stunning as we climbed up into the forest covered hills. We arrived at the area the Red deer are feed in and it wasn't long before a large number of stags were making their way down to the track.
The first Stag down was nicknamed droopy due to his antlers that are a bit messed up hence the nickname. A Doe even came down which according to the locals is an unusual sight.
Now a great day in the field could only be capped off by a great evening on the field. Tonight was the 6 nations opener between England v Wales a game i was offered a ticket for but had to sadly decline as i was on this trip. Thankfully the day got better and in a thrilling game England managed to get the better of our poor neighbours (lol)
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!!!!!!!