Birding at Loch of Kinnordy (1 Viewer)

cheers Darrell. Most formal reserves have made great advances in accessability in the last few years. Glad to hear Loch of Kinnordy is one of them. Some places I suppose its just not practical though.Mark

Hi Register,
Aye it would be possible to get very close by car allowing use of a rough but negotiable track for the last 100-200 metres. I can't remember the exact turn-off but halfway through Errol on the right-hand side (if driving west to east) there is a turning which leads down a tarmac track to the entrance to the second cottage I mention above. If your vehicle is smallish it should be possible to park here without obstruction -a 'blue-badge' on display will prevent any critiscism from locals (but you will be near the vehicle should it need to be moved anyway).
The reedbeds are easily viewable from here -you may have to sit awhile before something interesting appears but for Marsh Harriers & Bearded Tits ( AND a few Reed Warblers!!) in Scotland it's got to be worth while.

If only the RSPB could buy up & flood a few of the local fields to create freshwater (rather than brackish) reedbeds then perhaps they could bring Bittern to us jocks!!!

Thanks Steve. Bearded tit is a bird I haven't seen yet so I will definitely be paying this site a visit at some point. Some cracking pictures your friend took by the way. Cheers, Mark.

I have been at the reserve today for a few hours and it was really nice and warm with no rain either. Marsh Harrier came in four times while i was there so lots of visitors got great views of it hunting along at the swamp end. Six Golden Plover flew over head, as the Osprey came into do a spot of fishing. There are still a few black headed gull chicks that are thinking about flying but not quite getting there.
The new family of Coots are thriving while i spotted a new family of Moorhens with two chicks that are slightly bigger than the coots. The other new family i saw today was a pair of Little Grebes with two youngsters. We weren't sure if they had bred this year or not.
Water Rails could be heard almost continuously either side of the Gullery hide but weren't prepared to show face. They could be heard along at the East hide aswell.
Lots of Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, Tufted duck, Mute swans, Reed Bunting, Willow and Sedge warblers,Goldcrest, Blackcap, Swift, Swallows and House Martins. No sign today of the Ruddy ducks tho.
Tomorrow its the local Kirriemuir show, where we are going to have a marquee, so if anyone is in the area, please pop in and say hello.

The show will have cleared up by sunday, right? Me and 4getmenot were planning on coming up on Sunday, but really can't be bothered with super busy times (see the tayside birding thread when we made the mistake of visiting vane farm on an open day!)

Show was only on for the one day. Tomorrow will be fine. I am on duty all day so you'l find me around some where.Probably in the Gullery hide. The warden, Hannah, is doing a guided walk from Kirriemuir at 2.30 so they will be at the reserve at about 4pm i would think. It will certainly not be like the Vane farm open day,i promise!!

Sunday 15th July
Most of the ducks seemed to have congregated at the east end this morning apart from ninety or so Mallards along at the swamp end. The Marsh Harrier was seen early morning and then didn't make another appearance for the rest of the day. The Ospreys entertained visitors for most of the day with their angling skills. The male caught a tiddler and was sent back straight away for something more substantial.
It was a beautiful day and really quite warm..about time too!!
A flock of 40+ Lapwings flew around for a while before a group of 36 Oystercatchers also tried to find some where to settle down for a while. I noticed in the sightings book, in the gullery hide, 200+ swifts were counted on friday evening along with swallows and sandmartins. We had alot in today but not as many as 200. Other birds today included Willow and Sedge Warblers, Goldcrest, Common Sandpipers,Herons, Blackcaps, Water Rail- seen and heard, 30+ Coots, 16 Moorhens, Great Sp Woodpecker, Common gulls, black headed gulls and Lesser black backs.
Not too many visitors today. With the weather the way it was, they were probably all down at the beach watching waders in the sun!! We did have a visit from llendorin and 4getmenot which was great...nice to meet you both. If any one would like the reserves newsletter, please send your e-mail address to loch.kinnordy 'at' rspb.org.uk and the warden will send it out to you each month.

Well, i'm home now after a pretty busy but good day. I'm pretty tired now, though!
We took the directions mentioned in a previous post for the tay reedbeds and we succeeded in seeing.... umm, reeds. Wasn't much happening, really. Have to admit, i was totally astounded at the size of them. I didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't that! How on earth could you pick out a bearded tit in amongst that lot?!
We then went up to Loch of Kinnordy. It was nice meeting you, Darell. I probably should have said earlier on who i was, but why spoil the surprise? ;-)
Watching the Osprey fishing was real nice and it's a nice reserve. The gulls sure can make a noise, though!
Then we went off to Loch of the Lowes. We got there just after the young ones had been fed and they were still picking away at the fish the whole time we were there. Seems mum has given up feeding them herself. Time for them to fend for themselves, I guess.
All in all, it was a good, but long day, but definitely worthwhile. A whole lot to be seen.

Wanted to thank Darell for the info he gave me and Llendorin yesterday Having guys in the know on hand at reserves always makes the experience more enjoyable! Watching the Osprey catching its dinner at Kinnordy was the highlight of my day bird-wise although I just like going on walks too (i know - shame on me ;-)) and for that aspect I really enjoyed the walk to the Tay reed beds! It felt like 3 different worlds in the space of a 15 minute walk (not counting stopping for birds, squirrels and toads on route!) due to the path surroundings changing from waters-edge, to woodland, to the immense reedbed itself. Well worth a visit folks so thanks to Steve G for that posting. A real eye-opener ;-)

I am doing guided walks this coming sunday if anyone is interested. First one will be at 9am and the second at 3.30pm.

The paths are good but its advisable to wear stout, comfortable footwear. The walks will be slow, as i have just recently had my plaster removed after breaking an ankle. Insect repellent is also advisable for those like me who are adored by the midges!!

The walks will take about an hour and a half depending on how much we see.

Cost- Free

I spent a few hours at the reserve today in the pouring rain. Well, it rained for most of my visit. There were still quite a number of birds around including water rail, little Grebe,heron, mute swans, mallards, wigeon, teal, tufties, coots, moorhen, marsh harrier, osprey, buzzards, reed bunting, sedge and willow warblers, black headed gulls and lesser black backs.

Fourteen brave souls visited the reserve during the hours i was there from as far away as Doncaster and Galloway.

We now have three cygnets in each swan family which means that one family lost one sometime between sunday and today. It was one from the older family which originally had five. Lets hope they don't lose any more.

The gulls continue to be as noisy as ever, although there doesn't seem to be as many around at the moment. One or two still have to learn to fly but the other youngsters are scattered all over the loch and in fields close by.

One of the mallard family has also lost a member of its family but the latest coot family still have three. Saying that, one of the young was getting a serious repremanding this afternoon for something it had or hadn't done. Their mother is a bit of a hard case and chases anything within a 100m radius of the youngsters. A couple of gulls were having a siesta on a patch of bog bean, when the "mummy" coot barged them off bacause her little ones wanted to rest there. Mallards and young Moorhens seem to the ones getting most of the hassel from her.

Not a bad afternoons birdwatching apart from the weather....not so bad if you're a duck though!!

Walk would have been of interest were it not that I am in Derby this weekend :-( I'll keep my eyes peeled for similar future postings though ;-)

I am hoping to do the walks every time i'm on duty for the next couple of months any way. I go round the reserve taking note of water levels etc, so thought it a good idea to do guided walks at the same time. I will post timings etc each week. Sunday 29th July will be at 11 o'clock, starting at the car park.

erm... thinking of coming on Sunday (9am one) ... do I need to book?

D

Hi Delia

No need to book. Will meet in the car park.

kinnordyvolunteer said:

Hi Delia

No need to book. Will meet in the car park.

Click to expand...

Thanks.... just need to wake up in time then:-O

D

Sunday July 22nd

I left Dundee this morning in the pouring rain and was happy to find it alot lighter and almost brighter at kinnordy....a false setting for what we were about to receive. The rain started to get heavier and heavier not long after i arrived. It was 8 o'clock and i was hoping to do a guided walk at 9. Delia had said she would be attending the mornings walk...surely not in this weather!!

At 9 o'clock i proceeded to the carpark to find Delia ready for a nice walk in the rain, so off we went.

We started at the swamp end, where there were a few mallards, coots and a heron sitting in the grass. It was then along to the gullery hide. More mallards, moorhen youngsters, a pair of little grebes, teal, a pair of female shoveler and black headed gulls. After a few more minutes it was off to brave the elements again. We couldn't really hear many birds around for the sound of the rain hitting the leaves. The birds were obviously the sensible ones sheltering in the bushes. At the east hide we tried our best to look for the water rail. The area in front of the hide had been strimmed back to allow this to be possible.

Swans, coots, mallards, tufted duck and more gulls were present at the hide along with reed bunting. Just as we were about to leave i caught a glimpse of a young water rail. Unfortunately, Delia was looking in a different direction and so missed it!! I did see it, honest!!

Off we went again towards the edge of the reserve, where the path carries on to Kirriemuir, past the "plug" area, over the slues bridge where the water was really quite high and on to the second bridge. I had thought of turning round at this point, but we found that a new path had been put in place to allow us to go round to the other side of the loch. Hey, we were already wet so why not.

We still seemed to come across a lack of bird movement. A reed bunting could be heard as we headed towards the lilly pond. A couple of Buzzards, a parent and a youngster could be heard in the wooded area ahead, but we only saw the adult. Through the woods to a field at the other side, we decided to go along at the bottom of the field to an old barn, that can be seen from the gullery hide, on the other side. Now we started to hear some bird sounds..a whitethroat at last and some willow warblers.

After looking round for other birds, we headed off, back to the cars. We skirted round the woods and came across a pair of yellowhammers, reed buntings, great tits and willow warblers. Back on to the path and we stood for a good ten minutes watching willow warblers, long tailed tits, great and blue tits, and a garden warbler...a first for Delia.

We carried on back to the main part of the reserve and decided to look inat the east hide again to see if we could find the water rail. We weren't disappointed. People in the hide were busy watching some chicks, running in and out of the reeds. As we watched the mother came out and led the four chicks into the reeds. We only had to wait a few more minutes before the mother again came out to find her young and stayed out in the open preening, for a good five minutes. I had had brief glimpses of them in the reeds and flying between reed beds bfore today, but nothing compared to what we saw today. It was one of those WOW moments. We also had good views of reed bunting and sedge warblers.

It was back to the cars to get our lunch out, which we ate in the gullery hide. While eating lunch, Delia spotted the female marsh harrier along at the swamp end and was also first to spot the Osprey along at the swamp end. We were surprised that we hadn't seen more of the osprey.

It had been a good walk with lots to see, plenty of rain in the morning and almost sunshine in the afternoon.

Sorry Delia, but when you departed, i went and had some more good views of the water rail and also 3 osprey!!

Photo of the water rail and chicks, from todays visit to kinnordy.

Great report Darrell and a lovely picture there.

You forgot the raspberries :-O

Those views we had of the Water Rail are the best I've ever had - superb. Never seen young ones before and hadn't thought they'd be all black.

I just knew you'd see more of the Ospreys once I'd left - they must have had some hungry youngsters by that time of day.

Thanks for the escort :t: - a good day out, albeit a bit damp to start with.

D

Next sundays walk will start at 9 o'clock and not at 11 o'clock as stated earlier.

Here are another couple of water rail pictures along with a couple taken last week.