Tayforth Birding (3 Viewers)

Common Scoter still on Loch Leven on Sunday. Only 4th Site record! The Ross's flew off South West. I fear they were flying south as they have not been seen since.

The Ross's have flown up to Montrose. We've still got two Curlew Sandpipers here. That is well late!

Went down to my local patch today for a bit of a look about, once the fog had started to lift. There's plenty of activity going on right now.
Starting from the car park, there were a couple of male pheasants about (Who narrowly avoided getting run down!) a couple of robins and some blue and great tits.
On the path towards the loch there was more robins, blackbirds, great tits, bullfinches, dunnocks, wrens and yet more pheasants. I also saw my first Jay of the year flying across to the woodland opposite the reserve.
On the loch there was the usual suspects. Plenty of teal, wigeon and mallard, 2 herons and several coot and moorhen. They've now been joined by a group of approximately 50 black-headed gulls, too. The loch is getting pretty full of life now!
A female sparrowhawk flew across the loch while i was watching, which drove all the gulls up into the air!
On the return there were a couple of buzzards to be seen flying over and the usual crows and pretty much all the species mentioned previously.
I did see 2 Curlews flying towards the loch as i was returning to the car park, too.
I'm surprised at the lack of thrushes and the like, the berry eaters. The rowan and hawthorn trees and bushes are laden with berries right now, but there doesn't seem to be anything going near them. I would have thought there would have been some activity by now!
The feeders are getting remarkably quiet, too. Only a single chaffinch and a single blue tit seen at them while i was visiting. It's gone from having to fill the feeders every 4 days to now doing it every 3 weeks (good for my wallet, though!)

Just got back from a conference in Crieff and came back the scenic route, by Dunkeld and Braemar. Driving down Strathbraan, I encountered five male black grouse right by the roadside in a grass field near Ballachraggan Farm. They looked really out of place as they were quite some distance from the nearest moorland or trees, so much so that at first glance I thought they were black pheasants. I was kicking myself for not having a camera with me as they were only about 20 metres from the road and weren't bothered when I stopped.

Later on at the Glenshee ski centre there were three red grouse pecking around in the gravel in the car park.

By the way, does anyone know how many Jackdaws roost at the Crieff Hydro? I don't think I've ever seen such a big flock before (must have been a few thousand) - a very impressive sight.

After a good visit to my Patch with Ant this morning we moved on to Lintrathen.

There seem to be large numbers of everything. Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Goldeneye, Pochard, etc, etc but there were just loads of Pinkfeet Geese, picture attached of just a small part of them. Also quite a few Greylag.

A WOW moment when a Peregrine flew over and put everything up... think Ant was quite impressed!

D

Edit: sorry forgot the photo!

i visited lintrathen today hoping to see geese but there was none,plenty of ducks plus one little grebe,

on the way there i passed several buzzards siting near the roadside,as soon as i slowed down they took off as usual

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/bzzrda.jpg

just past the area where they are cutting down the trees i witnessed some buzzard behavior i have never seen before,
the buzzard was sitting on top of a cut down tree and didn,t fly off when i stopped,i took a few pics but wasn,t happy with the exposure as the background was hard to expose against the dark bird,i changed the settings got the bird in frame then suddenly it flew straight at my car ,it came within three feet then returned to its perch,it made no calls during this and it was all over in seconds,iv,e been very close to buzzards on the sidlaws but have never seen this

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/b1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/b2-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/b3-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/b4.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/b5.jpg

as it got closer the camera lost focus

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/b6.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/b7.jpg

Black Swan at Carsebreck

There was a pheasant shoot on the other side of Carsebreck Loch yesterday, so instead of doing my usual walk, I followed the track around the edge of Rhynd Loch. A couple of Buzzards were circling in the air and parties of Whoopers flying low over my head. There were quite a lot of birds on the loch. Mute and Whooper Swans, (lots of) Wigeon, Teal, Little Grebe, Greylag Geese, Tufted Duck, Cormorant. And amongst the swans, in a bay on the far side (it's always the far side) a Black Swan. My first thought was that it must be a melanistic Mute, but I got a good long look at it through the binoculars, bright red beak and all, and am convinced it was a true Black Swan. Looking it up afterwards I read in Collins that, '...introduced, self-sustaining populations exist in Britain...'

Michael

Good day's work!

Well, I've had a very good day at my local patch today.

I was given time off work for a 'volunteering day'. I was originally supposed to be going to the SWT's National Convenor's Day, but that got canceled, so i decided to spend the time on my local patch.
When i got there i met the local bird ringer, who was just setting up his net. Luckily i had my trusty (Ok, normally useless!) camera with me and a few shots are shown below. The net was set up just in front of my peanut feeders, so a fair few birds were captured and ringed. There were a couple of Robins, a single Coal Tit, a plethora of Blue and Great Tits and 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers - 2 males, 1 female
There were several other birds to be seen where the netting was going on. There were large flocks of both Siskin and Long-Tailed Tits and a small group of Goldcrests
On the loch itself, there was much the same usual suspects. There were Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot and Moorhen. There was also a visit from a Grey Heron for a while and on a couple of occasions a Sparrowhawk was seen flying past the edge of the loch, causing the Woodpigeons in the trees to fly off.
There were a fair amount of other birds to be seen in the woodlands, too. There were Chaffinch, Blackbird, Redwing, Song Thrush and Fieldfare

The main reason i was supposed to be on the reserve was to do some coppicing work. There is an area on the reserve which has always been known as the 'snipe bog' as it used to have Snipe wintering there in large numbers and there were even reports of them breeding on the reserve. Unfortunately, the willow has encroached rather heavily on this area and I decided to make a start on clearing it, to try and bring this habitat back. To my shock, though, i managed to flush 3 Snipe from the area when i was walking through it! It really is great to know that they're still about, and hopefully with the work being done this winter we'll get them back in even greater numbers!

All in all, it was a good day, although a bit of hard work and my back is now killing me.
Hopefully I'll have my blog (see signature) updated shortly with a little video of one of the great spotted woodpeckers being ringed.
Edit: Blog aint processing the video, sadly so can't show it i'm afraid.

Wing tagged Buzzards !!

Hi folks,five or six weeks ago I spotted a Buzzard in a tree,nothing unusual there,but then I noticed it had a blue wing tag with number one in white,then again today,not far from where I saw blue number one I saw another tagged Buzzard,this time a white wing tag with number eleven in black,picture quality is grime,but I took them with my phone camera,

catkom3 said:

Hi folks,five or six weeks ago I spotted a Buzzard in a tree,nothing unusual there,but then I noticed it had a blue wing tag with number one in white,then again today,not far from where I saw blue number one I saw another tagged Buzzard,this time a white wing tag with number eleven in black,picture quality is grime,but I took them with my phone camera,

Click to expand...

The buzzards may have been part of the project mentioned at the bottom of this page:

http://www.scottishraptorgroups.org/news.php?month=8&year=2007

There is an email address for reporting sightings

Capercaillie71 said:

The buzzards may have been part of the project mentioned at the bottom of this page:

http://www.scottishraptorgroups.org/news.php?month=8&year=2007

There is an email address for reporting sightings

Click to expand...

er... well it should be there Paul... but it seems to be missing - at least I can't find it:gh:

I'd better start taking more notice of my Buzzards then, Catkom

D

delia todd said:

er... well it should be there Paul... but it seems to be missing - at least I can't find it:gh:

I'd better start taking more notice of my Buzzards then, Catkom

D

Click to expand...

It was still there when I just checked the link Delia, but this is what it says:

Central Scotland RSG Study on Common Buzzard

This study aims to look at the dispersal of Common Buzzards from a long term study area in the Doune/Callander/Aberfoyle area of West Perthshire. There are two discrete habitat types - commercial forestry and farmland. During the winter of 2006/07 40 adult Buzzards were marked with a white wing tag with black letters/numbers on the right wing. During the summer of 2007 c90 young Buzzards were tagged with a white tag with black numbers on the right wing and a blue tag with white numbers on the left. Reports of marked birds should be sent to david.anderson'at'forestry.gsi.gov.uk

Capercaillie71 said:

It was still there when I just checked the link Delia, but this is what it says:

Central Scotland RSG Study on Common Buzzard

This study aims to look at the dispersal of Common Buzzards from a long term study area in the Doune/Callander/Aberfoyle area of West Perthshire. There are two discrete habitat types - commercial forestry and farmland. During the winter of 2006/07 40 adult Buzzards were marked with a white wing tag with black letters/numbers on the right wing. During the summer of 2007 c90 young Buzzards were tagged with a white tag with black numbers on the right wing and a blue tag with white numbers on the left. Reports of marked birds should be sent to david.anderson'at'forestry.gsi.gov.uk

Click to expand...

grr... my firewall was blocking it... strange it allowed all the other links to be shown though:stuck:

I don't understand 'puters

D

Hi Delia/ Capercaillie thanks for the link,I've sent David Anderson an e-mail and a map to pinpoint where I saw both birds,I had mentioned it to RSPB but at the time they knew nothing about tagged Buzzards,yes Delia best to keep an eye on the Buzzards,I thought I was seeing things,just wish those photo's came out better

done a late walk on the sidlaws today 3 buzzards which looked like they were settling down for the night 2 flying woodcocks on the top of the wooded hill plus 2 calling tawny owls,1 at the bottom 1 on top of the wooded hill

So, yesterday we decided to go to Lochore Meadows for the day. Not a place I’d normally visit for the purposes of bird watching (It’s too full of people – dog walkers and fishermen!)

There wasn’t really much to see upon arrival at the car park, but it was a nice enough afternoon, so good for a walk, which was the main intention for the day.

As we started on the walk, as expected the Mallard started chasing us around near the park centre, assuming that we’d be feeding them. Wrong! I don’t tend to feed the ducks at these places. There’s more than enough people who do that already. A quick scan around showed that besides the mallard there were a few Black-headed Gulls and a couple of Mute Swans. As we carried on walking, we saw another Mute Swan and a couple of Tufted Ducks as we reached the channel between the mainland and Tod Island. Just past this we saw a Sparrowhawk fly across and into the trees on Tod Island. At this point we decided to wait for a minute or two to let some men and a young boy past (mainly because the young boy was on a bike which had a horn and he was keen to use it!). Another quick scan of the water showed a Cormorant and a couple of Goldeneye. As a result, there wasn’t much to be seen on the way round until they veered off towards the riding stables. All that was really seen were a few Blackbirds, a Robin or two and a Wren. As we moved further on, it got a bit quieter, and with less people about, there was invariably more to see. When we got to the point where we joined the single track road there were several Redwing, Blackbird and Chaffinch to be seen in about the hedges. There were Siskin flying overhead in small groups, too. The walk around the woods and to the nature reserve was pleasant, with lots of Robins and Wrens calling out. Along the way, we saw a small Goldcrest not six feet away from us, so we sat and watched it for a minute or so until it got scared off by a group of three women coming the other way. Along beside the path in the wooded area of the nature reserve, there is a small ditch. Part of the ditch was full of water, part of it was dried up. In one of the dried up parts we noticed a Short-tailed Vole scurrying about, no more than four feet away from us, yet completely oblivious to our presence. What a great sight!

As we crossed the bridge, a quick scan towards the loch showed another Mute swan and two Little Grebe.

We decided to take a quick visit to the hide to see if there was anything about on the large pool and it was actually quite busy. There were Teal, Wigeon, five Whooper Swans, more Mute Swans, Goleneye and Mallard and a Grey Heron was standing at the edge. We stayed there for a few minutes, just watching the birds go about their lives.

We were getting a bit cold by then, so decided to move on. There were yet more Blackbirds, Robins, Redwing, Chaffinch and Wrens in the trees, this time joined by several Blue Tits and a few Fieldfare and Song Thrush. A few scans of the water produced a Great Crested Grebe and another Sparrowhawk flew overhead as we neared the woods (It flew towards Moss Island). In the area in front of Moss Island, several Moorhen could be seen along with more Tufties and Goldeneye. There were also five or six Pochard here, which is always a good addition to a bird list

The rest of the walk was much of the same until we got near the large people populations. There were several Magpies flying about. When in a small group of woods, I could hear Bullfinch and eventually we saw them. There were four, comprising of two males and two females. And just as we were finishing up for the day as we were beginning to lose the light a Kestrel flew in and landed on a nearby tree. Some great views of that one!

Other birds seen were Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon and a small flock of Jackdaw went overhead.

I’m surprised how good an afternoon it turned out to be. It’s not a place I normally consider, but I guess because it was a weekday it was relatively quiet, so there was more to be seen. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though and I think I’ll be doing it a little bit more regularly!

I've attached a wee map showing the route taken. The route is the red line

I was at a meeting in Perth today, and out of the window I saw a flock of 15-20 pinkish-looking, starling-sized birds land at the top of a tree about 300 metres away, next to the Caithness Glass roundabout. They stayed for a couple of minutes before flying down the motor mile towards the town centre. Too far away to be sure of ID, but worth a look if anyone's in the area. Don't know if any waxwings have been recorded here already yet.

3 buzzards/2kestrels/1female sparrowhawk/1 woodcock/3wrens on the sidlaws late today

I decided to try something i should have done a long time ago today. I live in Dalgety Bay, in Fife, and although i knew the 'bay' itself was quite good for Shelduck from memory, i haven't actually been there in years. Considering it's only 15 minutes walk from me, i've very little excuse!

My memory was correct, though. When i arrived, there was at least 50 Shelduck in the bay, surrounded by several Black-headed Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. The tide was not far off full, but there was still plenty of wader activity to be seen. I know that it could be excellent at low tide, since the mud stretches quite a bit back. Getting it closer to the high meant the birds were closer to me, and closer together, which is nice. There was approximately 400 Turnstone, about 80 Redshank, 30 or so Oystercatcher, the best view i've had of a lone Snipe out in the open and a couple of Curlews. There was also the obligatory Grey Heron.
A Sparrowhawk flew over about 15 minutes after i arrived, causing the birds to all fly up into the air. What a brilliant sight!
There's some woodland just off the shore, where there's a small rookery, so i saw plenty of Rooks, a few Carrion Crow, a couple of the dreaded Magpie and several of the smaller birds, including Wren, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Blackbird. There was also a lone Rock Pipit on the shoreline.
Since i was having a fair amount of success in my home town, i decided to move onto St David's Harbour, another little bay around the town. I added a few birds to the list for the day, including Eider and Great Crested Grebe. Again, there were plenty of gulls about and a good few Oystercatcher and Redshank.
The real surprises for the day for me was a small flock of 8 Twite and a lone female Reed Bunting! Definitely not what i was expecting to see! Well worth it, though!

Dalgety Bay is one of those really under appreciated places for bird watching and i have to admit, i've more or less ignored it myself (Though i won't be from now on!). It's a shame, really, because it clearly has a lot to offer. The deterrent of being right next to, or in a town is still there for most people, though, which is probably the main reason why the area isn't regularly looked at.

Don't you just hate when you're not sure what it is you've seen and there is nobody about to help with it?

I went along to fill up the feeders at Cullaloe today (Got the boss on site tomorrow, can't have him seeing half empty feeders!) and for the third time this month I've seen a bird i can't be totally sure I'm right on!
I'm 90% sure there's a female Lapland Bunting on site, and has been there for the best part of a month... well, I've seen it three times during that time, anyway. I just can't be positive! I've seen it twice in the bushes and trees along the path, and once in the trees near the feeders.
Sadly, none of my contacts were available to come along at short notice to see if they could confirm my thoughts or no, so it'll have to stay with the big ? over it's head. Very frustrating, though! Would definitely be a lifer for me, and as far as I'm aware, it would also be a first for the site.
Here's hoping it stays around till February and puts in an appearance when you guys are about!

I'm not quite willing to add it to my list, because there is that little bit of lingering doubt that I'm potentially looking at something else. The books I've got seem to indicate that it has a paler, more white, breast than a Reed Bunting and the head pattern is more clearly defined, which definitely seems to be the case for this bird. I've still got the doubt, though... If I'd seen one before I'd probably be more confident, i guess.