[andythomas]

Scotland August 2003

This is an account of my fortnight’s holiday in Scotland with my wife and two-year-old son. It was primarily a family holiday, but as I was in charge of choosing the area visited and the daily itinerary there may have been a certain amount of bias towards good birding spots. Needless to say I did my research before leaving home – thanks to Gordon Hamlett, digi-birder and IanF for their Scottish trip reports.

August may not be the optimum month to visit Scotland to see birds. However, it was the only opportunity available to me this year, and I’d been there in August before and seen good birds. I was certainly pleased with the birds that I did see, which included one lifer, twelve year ticks and 88 species all together.

Saturday 2nd August

Set off from Dudley at about 5.20am and headed up the M6. We stopped at Tebay services in Cumbria for breakfast at about 8.00am. Sat overlooking the pool with its resident mallards and watched the House Martins going to and fro from their nests under the eaves. A Grey Heron flew over.

Continued up the M6 and into Scotland. Before the border we saw a few Lapwing flocks, and then a raptor flew over the road, possibly a Peregrine. First bird in Scotland was a Buzzard hovering over a field next to the road. Crossing the southern uplands we saw pairs of Oystercatchers and Lapwings.

Stopped for coffee south of Glasgow and then continued to Stirling. Despite five previous trips to Scotland I’d never managed to see a Magpie, a very common bird at home. Anyway, sitting in a traffic jam in Cumbernauld a Magpie appeared on the verge next to the car, and I was able to tick it off on my Scotland list. We saw two more later passing through the Stirling area, but we didn’t see another one for the whole holiday. Further traffic jams before Stirling produced fly over Kestrel and Sparrowhawk.

We stopped for lunch at Stirling services. A flock of Long-tailed Tits were calling in the trees next to the car park, but I didn’t pay much attention as I was confident I’d see some later in the holiday. Unfortunately I never did.

After that we continued to Speyside with only one brief stop for petrol. The cottage we had rented was on the outskirts of Nethy Bridge, next to the Abernethy forest. We arrived at about 5.30pm, unloaded the car and had a well-earned rest after our 470 mile journey.

Sunday 3rd August

The information pack in the cottage contained an impressive list of birds which had been seen in the gardens, so I was keen to see how many birds I could spot there. The first morning produced a number of common birds along with a small flock of Mistle Thrushes and a Spotted Flycatcher.

After breakfast we drove to the Post Office in Nethy Bridge to do some shopping. Swifts and House martins flew overhead, and Goldfinches called from the treetops. A drive down to the bridge over the river Spey produced the first Dipper of the holiday.

We packed a picnic and then drove the three miles through Abernethy forest to the RSPB reserve at Loch Garten. We ate lunch on the main car park and then headed for the Osprey hide. I’d visited twice and had very average views of Ospreys, so I wasn’t getting my hopes up. However, the warden in the pay booth in the car park had got a close circuit TV showing the nest site, and there was an Osprey perched in a nearby tree. So I walked up the path to the Osprey hide full of expectation.

When we got to the hide the warden explained that this was the female bird that had been present all summer trying to attract a suitable mate. She was sitting in a tree behind the nest eating a fish, and we could get good views of her through the scopes. All of a sudden something disturbed her, and she began flying around, eventually landing in a tree much closer to the hide. We now had an excellent view, and even Gail and Matthew were impressed with the views through the scope.

After a while we walked back to the car. The various feeders at the hide and the car park produced Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Great Tit, Coal Tit and Siskin, and a Treecreeper appeared on a tree close to the path. We crossed the road for a quick look at the loch, but there was nothing to see apart from a few unidentifiable ducks at the far end.

We then drove down to the Mallachie car park, where I’d been lucky enough to see Crested Tits in previous years. I left Gail and Matthew in the car and went for a short stroll. There were a lot of people about on the main path so I took the first turning on the right and crept along listening for birdcalls. After about 100 yards a feeding flock of small birds began to fly across the path in front of me. At first all I could see were Robins, Great Tits and Chaffinches, but then a pair of Crested Tits appeared. Needless to say I was delighted, as it had been many years since I’d seen one. I watched them moving through the trees until they were lost from sight.

Back to the car and next stop was Loch Milton at Boat of Garten. We sat on a bench and were approached by a large white farmyard goose as well as a group of Mallards, who were obviously used to being fed. On the loch were a pair of Little Grebes with two young, a few Wigeon, and a young Moorhen. House and Sand martins flew overhead, and a Grey Heron was disturbed from the reedbed.

Driving again and we headed south towards Rothiemurchus. I wanted to see if we could spot any birds on Loch Morlich, although a Sunday afternoon in August would probably mean there was too much disturbance. By the time we got there Matthew had fallen asleep in the back. I drove up the side of the lake and then turned to come back, looking for somewhere to park for free. We pulled into a spot with a view of the loch and I couldn’t believe my eyes, the first birds we saw were a pair of divers only about 50 yards from the car. I quickly got my scope out of the boot to confirm they were Red-throated Divers, a lifer for me. We watched them swim around for about half an hour, apparently unconcerned by the yachts and windsurfers nearby.

After that we drove back to the cottage for tea.

[digi-birder]

There certainly was some "bias towards good birding spots" involved here!!

A great start - I look forward to the continuation.

Miffed about the Red-throated Divers, though - we missed out on those.

[andythomas]

Thanks Diane

I was actually using your total of 88 species as a target, and as you can see I managed to equal it. I think we were up there 2 days longer than you though.

Looking at your list you saw 20 species that I didn't see, therefore I must have seen 20 which you didn't. You'll have to wait to find out what the others were.

--
Andy

[digi-birder]

If you saw a Golden Eagle I'll come over there and strangle you!!

[IanF]

You obviously had a very good trip Andy. We missed the RT Divers too this time around. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your reports.

[birdman]

Nice report Andy... upto now in areas I am familiar with. Seen divers at Loch Shin (RTs I think), but never at Loch Morlich - and only seen the Cresties once in the UK... in Rothiemurchus.

Looking forward to the next intstallment!!!

[Andrew]

I'll be the first non-moderator to praise your first instalment. I am very keen on all Scottish reports as I hope to do a Highland Birding trip one day. I look forward to the next ones. How far is the last two places from your base at Nethy Bridge.

[andythomas]

Diane,

No need to worry about us seeing any eagles. We never had a sniff of anything that large.

Andrew, Boat of Garten is about 4 miles from Nethy Bridge. Loch Morlich is about 12 miles away.

--
Andy

[Sal]

Sounds great Andy. Scotland, and particularly the West coast, is an area I've always wanted to visit. Don't have an atlas with me so I don't know how far away from there you were, but something that seems so much better organised over there is that you seem to have so many more reserves geared to birding with hides and even wardens. I envy you the osprey!