Birding at Loch of Kinnordy (1 Viewer)

i have visited the reserve the following day after a shoot and have found the birds very scarce even the small birds in the trees,ill be there monday hopefully they will all be settled then

The shooting takes place on the reserve I'm afraid and that the 2 mornings a year, are part of the lease agreement between the land owner and the RSPB. Its usually a bit earlier in the month of september and there aren't that many ducks around, but by the end of the month and the beginning of October, the ducks will have started to come back in numbers. Lets hope their aim is not good.

kinnordyvolunteer said:

Lets hope their aim is not good.

Click to expand...

Fingers crossed

I will be on the reserve on sunday and going for a walk at about 10am if anyone wants to join me. Might be a bit muddy round the back of the reserve so stout footwear will be essential i would think.

Darell

Another good day at Kinnordy today, even though it was rather windy at times and, had a heavy shower of rain at midday.
i started at the gullery hide and the first bird i saw was the female marsh harrier. She flew around for a moment and the landed in the willow scrub across from the hide. She stayed there for nearly an hour before deciding to go and hunt some more. We saw her on and off for the remainder of the day but not quite as much as last week. Last week we saw her having a disagreement with a heron and this week she was being mobbed by 30+ jackdaws.

The numbers of duck are starting to build, with lots more teal, gadwall, shoveler and wigeon. Coot numbers are still quite high for kinnordy and there were also tufties around today. As i watched 20+ snipe arrive, we also had 3 whooper swans but they weren't seen again after that. I then took a walk along to the swamp hide where i saw my first Little Grebe at kinnordy for quite a while. In past years, they have bred quite successfully, but not these past couple of years, so it was good to see one today. lapwing, gadwall, mallard and a single greylag goose were the only other birds along there. There are still quite a few swallows around along with house martins and the odd sand martin, with the swallows still feeding young under the gullery hide.

i went off for a walk at 10, round to the lilly pond. Apart from some great tits and blue tits at the feeding station, there wasn't much to be seen on our walk out. This was much due to the gusty wind. Siskins were near the car park and we heard a treecreeper as well.
We came across a fallen tree between the two bridges, which had fallen across the path. we managed to duck underneath it and carry on our way. We then came across whitethroat and a small flock of goldfinches, not too far away from the lilly pond. Linnets and then meadow pipits were also seen. We carried on past the lilly pond for a few yards and saw that the field on our right was full of meadow pipits 40+. We turned round, headed back and where we had seen the whitethroat, a chiffchaff and willow warbler appeared. A pied wagtail landed on the wires above and a buzzard did a fly past. The flock of goldfinches continued to fly from bush to bush before being joined by 4 linnets. Between the two bridges was a flock of siskins, which certainly weren't there on our way past earlier. Before we got back to the gullery area we also saw long tailed tits, coal tits, 500+ common gulls who were following the tractor ploughing a field and pheasants.
It started to rain at about 12, but didn't last long. The rest of the afternoon went past quite peacefully as things do at kinnordy. Other birds seen today were kestrel, sparrowhawk, mute swans, mallard, moorhens, water rail, reed bunting, starling, wren, great spotted woodpecker, wood pigeon, heron, blackbird, chaffinch, crow and rook.

Remember the reserve is closed next saturday morning!! Good luck birds!!!

Darell

I will be on the reserve this sunday from about 7.30. Just another reminder about tomorrow mornings closure!!!
The reserve should be open again in the afternoon.

darell

Good luck ducks!

I actually went up to kinnordy yesterday afternoon. It was a lovely day and i wanted to see how the reserve was. As i drove past the swamp end there were no birds to be seen and in front of the gullery hide it was the same. There were lots of mute swans at the east end and a few ducks. mallard, wigeon, coot, gadwall and shoveler were there in very small numbers. No teal to be seen and no snipe flying round.
I walked along to the east hide and from there i spotted a female goosander...first one this autumn. 4 swallows flew past and at the feeding station there were the usual suspects plus a woodpecker.
I only stayed an hour and in that time a few more ducks did appear from the back of the reserve. How many they managed to shoot i don't know.

This morning it was lovely and sunny when i left Dundee after having to scrape the windscreen. There was a blanket of fog around the Auchindorie area before kinnordy and i couldn't see the pool of water at the bottom of the field to see if there was anything there, but after turning right and heading towards the farm, the fog disappeared and it was a glorious morning again.
After sitting in the gullery hide for a few mins it got really quite cold and i wished i had brought gloves with me. Nothing in front of the hide but, over at the east end i could see there were plenty of ducks of various varieties. Mallard, gadwall, wigeon, teal, shoveler, coot, goosander 2 females, cormorant, mute swans 31 plus 9 juvs and 3 herons. After a while i went and got my scope from the car and when i returned, all the ducks near by and snipe who were on the muddy bits, took to the sky as the female marsh harrier flew over their heads. I really didn't think i would see her again this week, especially after the shooting yesterday.
I went off for a walk round to the lilly pond. Treecreeper, blue tit, great tit, coal tit, great spotted woodpecker, chaffinch, siskin, robin and wren all in the feeding station area. Long tailed tits, bullfinch, blackbird, meadow pipit, goldfinch, redpoll, pied wagtail and whitethroat were all seen round at the back of the reserve, but not in great numbers. It was really quite quiet for a change round there but good to see the whitethroat still there.
Swallows still passing through in good numbers with one youngster trying to get in the gullery hide. I think it was being fed under the hide last week and now getting ready for a longer flight.
Snipe were still present in large numbers infront of gullery and the mute swan numbers are increasing all the time. We had a few skienes of pink feet flying over during the day and also large numbers of common gulls coming to drink and wash after following tractors in the fields.
A really lovely day. Very cold to begin with, but lovely and warm when in the direct sunshine.
Other birds seen today were Goldfinch, jay, skylark, buzzard, sparrowhawk, lapwing, pheasant, woodpigeons, jackdaws, crows, rooks, goldcrest and reed buntings.

Wow! It's nice to know the Marsh Harrier is still there Darell; I wonder how much longer she's likely to hang around?

A great report this.

I didn't see her again today after this morning Delia, so she might have gone. She was showing really well the past two sundays and someone saw her on thursday apparently. Just that one appearance today.

I will be at Kinnordy again this sunday at the usual time, so let me know if you want to go for a walk in the morning.

Darell

The weather was true to its forcast yesterday...rain at first and then getting brighter later on. Well, apart from a short visit to the swamp hide, i found myself sheltering in the gullery hide for the rest of my time on the reserve.
In front of the gullery fist thing were shoveler, mallard, wigeon, teal and gadwall. Towards the east, there were a couple of mute swans and various ducks already mentioned. I headed for the swamp hide and it was the same along there, but in smaller numbers. The wind was starting to get up and that brought the rain in, with really heavy showers for a while. It did brighten up later on, but there was still a strong wind blowing, although it was quite mild.
I had filled up all the feeders earlier in the day and all the blue tits, great tits, coal tits and chaffinches were soon feeding their faces. Great spotted woodpecker, treecreeper and robins were also in that area. Goldcrests were present outside the swamp hide and later in the day a flock of long tailed tits moved through outside the gullery hide. In amongst them were blue tits and goldcrests.
While watching the gullery area i noticed a flock of 30+ golden plovers flying overhead and when i went along to the swamp hide, they flew up to join an even larger flock which had appeared. 130+ i reckon, not to be seen again. We then had a visit from 4 canada geese who stayed for 10 mins before flying off again. In the early afternoon, all the ducks out front took to the air as a peregrine flew overhead. it was good to see what was actually on the bogbean and what numbers there were.
Not so many snipe this week, but they came out to feed on their muddy area, on and off all day. A little grebe flew in just before i departed, so that was nice to see.

Other birds seen were pheasant, cormorant, heron, jackdaw, crows, woodpigeon, buzzards, sparrowhawk, tufties, coot, moorhen, reed bunting, mistle thrushes 7, blackbirds, bullfinch, redpoll, greylags, siskin, wren, common gulls.

The reserve is closed again, next saturday morning. Good luck ducks!!!

Darell

It seems like you should sometimes look up at Kinnordy! This satellite-tagged Golden Eagle seems to have flown more or less directly over the reserve at an altitude of 480 metres on 19th September:

http://www.raptortrack.org/category/golden-eagle/eagle-chick-2011/

and over Fife, where there has only been one modern record ...
It might even have been visible from our house.

Rob

Capercaillie71 said:

It seems like you should sometimes look up at Kinnordy! This satellite-tagged Golden Eagle seems to have flown more or less directly over the reserve at an altitude of 480 metres on 19th September:

http://www.raptortrack.org/category/golden-eagle/eagle-chick-2011/

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. It's a while since I've checked the movements of those Golden Eagles (& nice to see that some new ones about to come online). Didn't realise they would head out to the coast like that... I've looked up for Osprey whilst at Kinnordy but wouldn't expect to see an Eagle!

I was at kinnordy for a few hours yesterday and it was a horrible day, with rain for most of it. There were still lots to see though with mallard and teal in front of the gallery hide. A group of 10 gadwall flew past the hide before heading towards the swamp hide. Over towards the east end, there were tufties, mute swans and goldeneye. Greylags were also there along with coots and a single female goosander.
I went along to the swamp hide and here i found 20 shoveler, gadwall, mallards and wigeon. On the way back to the gallery, between showers, 6 snipe flew overhead as did a flock of siskins and long tailed tits. Goldcrest at the gallery boardwalk along with treecreeper, wren, robin, chaffinch and red squirrels.[/B]
Other birds seen were 18 redwing in among 10 mistle thrushes, meadow pipit, buzzard, blue tit, coal tit, great tit, goldfinch 50+, pheasant, blackbird, reed bunting, wood pigeon, rook, crow, cormorant, heron.

Today i went up again to find sunshine, but it was bitterly cold. Most of the birds i saw yesterday were seen again today with the addition of kestrel and bullfinch. In front of the gallery are most of the teal and mallard, at the east is the swans, tufts and goldeneye, while at the swamp end you find the wigeon, shoveler and gadwall. The mistle thrushes were again present in large numbers 15, plus 8 redwing in amongst them today. The teal and shoveler are now almost completely out of eclipse and the numbers of ducks are increasing all the time. Wigeon 60+, teal 80+, shoveler 20, goldeneye 7, gadwall 24. The lapwing that were present for weeks have now disappeared and gone elsewhere for now. Not as many snipe in front of the gallery hide at the moment but i wonder if the shooting had anything to do with that.

Next saturday we are putting on an Autumn Birding event. Come and make some bird feeders from fir cones, guided walk and other things. 11 til 2pm.

Darell

It was really foggy when i arrived at Kinnordy yesterday. It took a few hours to clear and then it was cloudy for most of the day with short glimpses of sunshine.
Alot of pinkfeet flying over early on, but due to the fog, i could only hear them!! Most of the ducks were along at the swamp end with shoveler, gadwall, wigeon, mallard and teal. Infront of the gullery hide it was teal and mallard and over towards the east it was tufties, mallard and goldeneye.
I filled the feeders up and the birds were filling themselves up as i was placing the feeders back in the trees. 2 Great spotted woodpeckers, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, chaffinches, dunnocks underneath waiting for falling scraps, robin and red squirrels.
A large flock of lapwing arrived at noon while a snipe had a flypast of the gullery hide. Redwing 60+ were next overhead...no Eagles seen while looking up though!!
and then a flock of 15 mistle thrushes also flew past without stopping.

Other birds seen were cormorant, heron, mute swans, greylags, coot, moorhen, common gulls, wren, woodpigeon, pheasant, buzzard, jackdaws, rooks, crows, reed bunting, siskins, long tailed tits, bullfinch, treecreeper, goldfinch. No whoopers yet!!!

Darell

It was cold but sunny when i arrived this morning but this week the loch wasn't frozen. As i drove past the swamp hide i could see a family of whooper swans...at last!!
At the car park, siskins were flying round in a small flock while bullfinches and chaffinches fed off the bushes near by.
from the gullery hide it was quite quiet. Mute swans, teal, goldeneye and gadwall. I went along to the swamp hide to find the whoopers along with lots of greylags, gadwall, teal and wigeon. A great spotted woodpecker was in the trees as i came out of the hide and i could hear more bullfinches near by.
A mistle thrush flew overhead as we walked all the way along to the east hide. We noticed some brambling at the feeding station, which i had visited earlier to fill up the feeders. At the east hide, we were sitting talking when three birds flew from left to right. We didn't get a great view as they disappeared into the reed bed, but they did have long tails and too large for long tailed tits.
We had to wait for about 15 mins before the three bearded tits climbed to the top of the reeds. They appeared again before flying further away, out of sight. we didn't see them again, but its great to know they are there again.
We then went for a walk along to the edge of the reserve and it was really quiet.
The car park filled up as the Angus and Dundee Bird Club came calling. They went along to the east hide hoping to see the beardies but with no luck. They did however get good views of the brambling at the feeding station before heading off to another location.
The days are drawing in quickly now and it was starting to get dark about 3pm, and i decided to call it a day.

other birds seen today were jay, pinkfeet, long tailed tits, coal tits, great tits, blue tits, treecreeper, woodpigeon, pheasant, cormorant, goosander, grey heron, buzzard, sparrowhawk, song thrush, reed bunting, water rail, coot.

A super report that Darell, thanks. It's lovely to know the beardies are back, maybe I'll strike lucky with them this time.

Super pictures too.

My first time for seeing them at kinnordy too Delia, after many hours of wondering if ever haha!!