Wood of Cree, Dumfries and Galloway (1 Viewer)

NoSpringChicken · Jul 30, 2008

Many thanks for your replies Kittykat and Mark. For some reason the replies didn't re-appear in 'New posts' or 'Today's posts' so I only found them by going directly to the thread.

Jo, we are staying at a place called Drumlamford Estate. It is a private country estate with landscaped grounds which include lochs and woods. We have stayed there twice before and really liked it. You have to drive up to the imposing wrought iron gates and press a button to make them open automatically. Very grand! The last time we stayed there I was amazed to see a Hummingbird Hawk Moth on the flowers outside the bedroom window in September.

Here's a link to the cottages in case anyone is interested:
http://www.aboutscotland.co.uk/ecosse/drumlamford/index.html

On our previous visits we went to the Red Kite feeding station which was brilliant and we also found a couple of Red Squirrels 'in the wild' but none at the normal sites. Naturally we also went to the Red Deer range to feed the deer!

Mark, thanks for your tips about Gatehouse of Fleet for Dippers and Ken-Dee Marshes. We see plenty of Marsh Tits in Norfolk but Willow Tits are pretty scarce.

I just hope the weather is reasonable as that makes all the difference.

Ron

Marmot · Jul 30, 2008

If my memory serves me correctly the Ken Dee Marsh hide actually had something in it or a leaflet stating it was one of the few places for Willow Tits and of course the Red Squirrels are a regular attraction at the feeders outside the hide as well.

From the car park this hide is about 15 minutes walk. I think there is a little stone bridge or something like it not long before...it is one of those were you feel as if you are never going to get to a hide and then when you get there it makes your day just to see the Squirrels so close. I did put a comment in the visitors book to say that they could do with a sign [or a couple] with how long it is to them.

Capercaillie71 · Jul 30, 2008

markgrubb said:
Hi Paul

I've been twice and succeeded on each occasion this year seeing a couple of birds both times-there are no marsh tits there and I had the bonus of the birds calling the first time

I think there are decent numbers there. They are most easily seen near the hides in the scrub-there are feeders to attract birds. The bad news is that this is at the far end of the reserve from where you park and from memory it's a couple of miles walk but there is usually enough to divert you on the way

Marmot said:
The Wllow Tits were actually going on the feeders at the Ken Dee reserve which are right in front of the hide............

Thanks both. Hopefully I'll manage to organise a visit while we're in the area.

NoSpringChicken · Sep 7, 2008

I have just got back from a week in Newton Stewart. The weather was a bit showery but apart from Friday we managed to miss most of the rain and went on some great walks.

We went to the Wood of Cree on Wednesday afternoon after heavy rain in the morning. There wasn't a great deal of birdlife about but it is a fantastic place for a walk with the burn tumbling along beside the path and some great waterfalls.

I finally managed to see my first Dipper on Wednesday morning. As it was pouring with rain we went to Gatehouse of Fleet and visited the old mill visitors' centre. I looked out of the window on the top floor and spotted something white moving about under the far bank of the river. I had my binoculars in my pack and discovered that it was indeed a Dipper. We were able to watch it feeding directly below us for about 15 minutes. Fantastic. Looking back over this thread it appears that markgrubb's advice was spot on.

The undisputed highlight of the holiday was watching Red Squirrels romping about on the grass outside our cottage every day in the morning and evening. We also saw many others, especially on the eleven mile drive along the narrow, winding road to and from the cottage. We also had great close views of Buzzards and Brown Hares every time we made this trip.

A really great week in a fantastic part of the country.

Ron

markgrubb · Sep 8, 2008

NoSpringChicken said:
I finally managed to see my first Dipper on Wednesday morning. As it was pouring with rain we went to Gatehouse of Fleet and visited the old mill visitors' centre. I looked out of the window on the top floor and spotted something white moving about under the far bank of the river. I had my binoculars in my pack and discovered that it was indeed a Dipper. We were able to watch it feeding directly below us for about 15 minutes.

Ron

Glad you got the dipper Ron. The mill is a lovely spot to enjoy a coffee and watch the world go by. Now all you have to do is to persuade the missus to come back in May when Wood of Cree is at it's best

NoSpringChicken · Sep 8, 2008

markgrubb said:
Glad you got the dipper Ron. The mill is a lovely spot to enjoy a coffee and watch the world go by. Now all you have to do is to persuade the missus to come back in May when Wood of Cree is at it's best

I don't think she would take much persuading. It's the 8 hour drive which is slightly off putting.

That secondhand book shop in the mill is something from a bygone era. While we were there the old boy who owns it was wrestling with the intricacies of the credit card machine and great coils of receipt paper were wrapping themselves over everything. Terrific stuff!

It's a really beautiful part of the world and I am very envious.

Ron

Capercaillie71 · Sep 30, 2008

Capercaillie71 said:
How easy were the willow tits, Mark? I'm spending a week in Dumfriesshire in September and although I've seen quite a few willow/marsh tits in the past, the only ones I've been able to identify (on location mainly) have been marsh.

Well, I'm back from a week in Dumfriesshire, but no luck with the Willow Tits at the Ken-Dee Marshes, I'm afraid :-C

markgrubb said:
The bad news is that this is at the far end of the reserve from where you park and from memory it's a couple of miles walk

I should have taken more notice of this - it was a very long walk with a two-year old, with little to see except for large numbers of reared pheasants! She gave up just past the first hide (where there was lots of heavy machinery at work and no access to the hide). I went ahead on my own to the second hide, but only had 10-15 minutes to spend there due to the length of time it had taken for the walk and other commitments later in the day. The only highlight was a nuthatch at the feeder at the hide, but its visits were brief and it always stayed at the far side of the feeder. If I kept a Scottish list, this would have been even more exciting as it was my first Scottish Nuthatch. In fact it was the first Nuthatch I had seen anywhere for two years.

There were few other birding opportunities during the week - the Red Kites at Laurieston were a highlight, and as we were staying close to Langholm, I was able to visit the (in)famous Langholm Moors. I saw a couple of red grouse there but no hen harriers, so that must prove something

.

Dumfries and Galloway is definitely an area worth visiting, but it would probably have been better staying somewhere like Kirkcudbright or Castle Douglas, where things would have been more accessible, and during winter or early summer.

JTweedie · Oct 1, 2008

I spent four days in this general area in Feb 2007, visiting Ken-Dee, Wood of Cree and Mersehead. I stayed in a guest house in Castle Douglas - can't remember the name of it, but it wasn't great quality, it served burnt breakfasts, had boy racers going up and down the street outside all day and all night, and the Chinese takeaway next door sold curries the texture of plastic. On the plus side, it gave easy access to surrounding areas! I think if I'm staying again, I'll be more picky with my accommodation!

Main reason for going down was to see the Barnacle and White-fronted Geese, which I did, but also saw my first Bramblings in Mersehead.

There were fantastic views of Snipe from one of the hides at Ken-Dee (it was a hide were you're sitting up really high, looking down on a small pool of water). They were right out in the open for the whole time I was there. Saw my first Nuthatch on the path leading up to this hide, as well as a Green Woodpecker, and the Red Squirrels on the feeders.

At Wood of Cree, I saw Willow Tits in some trees overhanging the water beside the car park. Unfortunately, the rest of the walk there was disappointing, with nothing much more to see. Wood of Cree reminded me a little bit of Inversnaid, the way you climb up through the woodland, but I think you need a lot of luck or time your visit well to get good sightings at either reserve.

markgrubb · Apr 20, 2010

Well after the volcano cancelled a Spanish trip I headed down To Dumfries and Galloway with my brother. We spent a full morning at KenDee marshes. It was full of birds and song. We found 2 singing pied flycatchers that were presumably just in as there were no records in the hide books-great watching one singing, moving round it's territory and investigating a nest hole. Willow tits were harder. I got a 10 second view of one and a much briefer view of another at the first hide-none heard singing/calling. Plenty of other decent birds, lots of red kites, 4+ nuthatch territories, jays, siskins etc

This morning we spent at Wood of Cree where pied flycatchers had been reported very early on the 10th. However we heard and saw none. The reserve was very quiet. Not a sniff of a bluebell and the wood anemones were just coming into flower- only the hint of buds in trees so it will surely be great for seeing redstarts /wood warblers etc in 2 weeks once they are in. We had a tree pipit in song as we went up and the highlight surprisingly was a large group of birds in larches high up-20+crossbills with several juveniles, siskins and other finches feeding on the cones.

We also visited the red kite centre for some photos and the warden told us that an osprey site at Threave Castle is now 'public' with a viewing platform across the river-we went and saw the 2 splendid birds across the river from a safe distance.

Well I think we got some audio(Xbills), video and pics so Neil will maybe post later

Neil Grubb · Apr 20, 2010

Further to Mark's posting these are some pics of pied flycatcher and a blackcap at Ken Dee Marshes reserve - kites and crossbills to follow.

Neil Grubb · Apr 20, 2010

Kites here, at Laurieston feeding station.

Neil Grubb · Apr 20, 2010

Crossbills on the larches at Wood of Cree, and a pic of one of several red squirrels we saw, this one on the feeder at Ken Dee Marshes.

delia todd · Apr 20, 2010

A super report from you Mark and great pictures from you Neil that's a lovely one of the singing Flycatcher.

Had a good time there didn't you, though I think I'm sorry you didn't manage to get to Spain

.

D

Neil Grubb · Apr 20, 2010

Here are some sound clips, mostly of pied flycatcher song but with a smattering of nuthatch, blackcap, great spotted woodpecker and assorted other song alongside. See what you can spot ! Great to have almost no background / traffic noise

The crossbill audio is rather faint with significant wind noise so I'll look at it on Audacity to see if I can amplify and denoise it before posting.

paulboyowhite · Sep 13, 2013

I am in the area at the back end of next week or beginning of week after .hoping to get some birding in

Wood of Cree, Dumfries and Galloway (1 Viewer)

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