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Birding at Loch of Kinnordy (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter kinnordyvolunteer
- Start date
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Saturday 14th June
I arrived at 7am and stayed til noon before heading up to glen doll to look for eagles.
It was quiet outside the gullery hide, although the female marsh harrier did appear briefly before disappearing in the grass on the far side. In the book in the hide, some one had seen both female and male yesterday. I know a juv bird was also seen last week by the warden and others. I dont think there is time for them to produce anything for this year, but who knows what might happen next year...fingers crossed!!
I headed for the swamp end and found lots of ducks along there. Mallards, teal, wigeon, gadwall, coot, moorhen and plenty of noise from water rail just in dront of the hide. Didnt see any though!! Along the path towards the hide were wrens, dunnock, blackbird, willow warbler, blue tit, goldcrest,and song thrush.
Most of the ducks seem to be along at the swamp end and i think its due to the fact that the water is shallower there, hence easier for them to find food.
Along towards the west end i could see a pair of curlew, redshank, lapwing, oystercatcher and in the sky i counted three snipe drumming.
I headed off for a walk round to the east end of the reserve. Treecreeper, robins, blackcap, whitethroat, pied wagtail, yellow hammer and a new family of five cygnets at the plug area. We have this new family plus a family of four along at the swamp end, another family of three at the east end and a family of two that seem to hang around to the right of the gullery hide. There might be another family of two plus another nest at the swamp end which is great news for the mute swans.
There are alot of young blue tits and great tits around the reserve along with robins and tree sparrows. Lets hope they all thrive.
Sedge warblers can be heard and seen from all three hides, along at the plug area and around at the back towards the lilly pond. I also saw the great spotted woodpecker, jackdaws, rooks, crows and a pair of herons along with three buzzards during my walk round.
Back at the gullery hide, i was chatting away when a male marsh harrier appeared from the left beside the pine trees, flew across at the back of the reserve then climbed high and off eastwards. We then got a good view of a peregrine as it circled the reserve towards the swamp end but soon headed north towards the hills. The male harrier came back over the reserve but didnt hang along too long before heading west. The female continued to hunt from the west and over towards the back of the loch.
When again at the swamp hide, we watched as something spooked alot of the ducks. The remaining ducks were all looking to the left channel and we soon saw the culpret as it swam past the hide and into the bog bean...an otter!!
One bird that i didnt see today was the osprey..might have been in when i went off for my walk. It had been an interesting morning with lots to see.
Todays photos are of the female marsh harrier, the new swan family and a young moorhen who appeared to the left of the gullery hide, and seeing its parent swimming over to the right of the hide, decided it didnt want to chance a swim like that. It was seen about 20mins later at the edge of the reeds on the right having worked its way round.
Darell:t:
I arrived at 7am and stayed til noon before heading up to glen doll to look for eagles.
It was quiet outside the gullery hide, although the female marsh harrier did appear briefly before disappearing in the grass on the far side. In the book in the hide, some one had seen both female and male yesterday. I know a juv bird was also seen last week by the warden and others. I dont think there is time for them to produce anything for this year, but who knows what might happen next year...fingers crossed!!
I headed for the swamp end and found lots of ducks along there. Mallards, teal, wigeon, gadwall, coot, moorhen and plenty of noise from water rail just in dront of the hide. Didnt see any though!! Along the path towards the hide were wrens, dunnock, blackbird, willow warbler, blue tit, goldcrest,and song thrush.
Most of the ducks seem to be along at the swamp end and i think its due to the fact that the water is shallower there, hence easier for them to find food.
Along towards the west end i could see a pair of curlew, redshank, lapwing, oystercatcher and in the sky i counted three snipe drumming.
I headed off for a walk round to the east end of the reserve. Treecreeper, robins, blackcap, whitethroat, pied wagtail, yellow hammer and a new family of five cygnets at the plug area. We have this new family plus a family of four along at the swamp end, another family of three at the east end and a family of two that seem to hang around to the right of the gullery hide. There might be another family of two plus another nest at the swamp end which is great news for the mute swans.
There are alot of young blue tits and great tits around the reserve along with robins and tree sparrows. Lets hope they all thrive.
Sedge warblers can be heard and seen from all three hides, along at the plug area and around at the back towards the lilly pond. I also saw the great spotted woodpecker, jackdaws, rooks, crows and a pair of herons along with three buzzards during my walk round.
Back at the gullery hide, i was chatting away when a male marsh harrier appeared from the left beside the pine trees, flew across at the back of the reserve then climbed high and off eastwards. We then got a good view of a peregrine as it circled the reserve towards the swamp end but soon headed north towards the hills. The male harrier came back over the reserve but didnt hang along too long before heading west. The female continued to hunt from the west and over towards the back of the loch.
When again at the swamp hide, we watched as something spooked alot of the ducks. The remaining ducks were all looking to the left channel and we soon saw the culpret as it swam past the hide and into the bog bean...an otter!!
One bird that i didnt see today was the osprey..might have been in when i went off for my walk. It had been an interesting morning with lots to see.
Todays photos are of the female marsh harrier, the new swan family and a young moorhen who appeared to the left of the gullery hide, and seeing its parent swimming over to the right of the hide, decided it didnt want to chance a swim like that. It was seen about 20mins later at the edge of the reeds on the right having worked its way round.
Darell:t:
Attachments
kawwauser
Well-known member
i was at kinnordy today ,plenty ducks at the swamp hide mostly mallard plus quite a few widgeon,moorhen/coot/pied wagtail/mute swan,there is an empty moorhen/coot nest right next to the boardwalk which makes me think there must have been few visitors to the swamp hide since my last visit,i saw 2 jackdaw young plus 1 large mallard youngster with an adult next to the boardwalk,robins are still showing but it is hard to spot the other small birds,but you can certainly hear them,swallows/swift/sandmartins were showing well,a mute swan pair with what looked like 3 cygnets(hard to tell raining heavily)was at the far side opposite the east hide,1 male reedbunting plus a sedgewarbler nearby got the attention of the visitors sitting in the east hide,there was a lot of visitors plus noise today which makes me think sundays probably not the best day for a serious days birding,next time ill be at kinnordy will be a thurs/wed/tues,no noisy visitors then,
pic
moorhen sitting beside the swamp hide
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/mrh1.jpg
pic
moorhen sitting beside the swamp hide
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/mrh1.jpg
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
I rearly dont know what that bird behind the harrier is. Ive looked in my other photos from that moment and cant see anything in them..sorry. Dont think its the osprey because we would have seen it before or indeed afterwards.
Darell
Darell
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
I am doing a series of guided walks during the week beginning 7th July. The walks on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday will start at 11am while the one on Wednesday will begin at 2pm.
You can book by contacting the warden on 01738 630783, by e-mail [email protected] or send me a PM
The walks will last a couple of hours, depending on the weather. Stout footware and insect repellent are advisable.
Darell:t:
You can book by contacting the warden on 01738 630783, by e-mail [email protected] or send me a PM
The walks will last a couple of hours, depending on the weather. Stout footware and insect repellent are advisable.
Darell:t:
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
I will be at kinnordy on sunday if anyone would like to go for a walk at 11am. Haven't seen a weather forcast yet but best bring stout footware and insect repellent!!!
Darell:t:
Darell:t:
gus guthrie
gus guthrie
Hi Darell, was at the loch yesterday and counted 59 species. osprey & marsh harrier were there all day, both really close up.
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Glad there was plenty to see Gus. Hope they will all make an appearance tomorrow...only the one harrier and osprey?
gus guthrie
gus guthrie
only saw the female harrier yesterday and only one osprey at a time. saw it at 4 different times, the last time it caught a pike of several pounds and it took it all its time to get airborne again.I got a really close view of this happening, could see all the markings on the pike.The marsh Harrier was over in her usual place for most of the day but swung over to the gullery hide on two occassions when I was in there, really good views.
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Sunday 24th june
I arrived about 7.30 to do a WeBs count and honestly thought about going home straight afterwards:storm: It was tipping down when i arrived, tho i wasnt the first person there...two regular sunday morning visitors had beaten me to it.
We headed for the gullery hide which was the nearest place to get some shelter for a while. A pair of tufties were just infront of the hide and that was about that...a few mallard over to the east and also to the far left of the hide. After a while i headed for the swamp end to count all the ducks etc.....mallards in all stages of eclipse, wigeon, teal, moorhen, coot, mute swans and cygnets, redshank, snipe, lapwing, oycs, rooks, crows and jackdaws. A single common tern flew past almost unnoticed while the male osprey flew west with breakfast...didnt look like much of a meal so i expected it to be sent back for more, quite soon.
On my way back from the swamp hide i saw a great spt woodpecker, wren, robin, blackcap, great tit, blue tit.
I went back to the car to get my water proof trousers before heading anywhere else...it was still tipping down. I headed off for the east hide to find very little at that end of the loch apart from more mute swans and youngsters. I then decidd to brave the weather and head along the path towards the plug to try and see if there were any ducks etc in that area. More mallards and yet another swan with a single cygnet. I was going to turn round and head back to base but headed for the sleus instead. Lots of blakbird families along with young great and blue tits, chaffinches, yellowhammer, skylark and pied wagtail. On my way back i found the five cygnet family which gave me my 5 swan families i had been looking for.
Back at the gullery hide it was starting to get a bit brighter..the sun was trying its best to come out, but it wasnt long before the next shower appeared and wow was it heavy. A sedge warbler was giving it laldy and flying from left to right and back again..the sounds it was making was incredible. Later on i saw a pair fly from the reeds...i dont know if she was trying to get him to shut up or what, but soon a spotted flycathcher appeared from the trees to the right of the hide and continued to fly from there to the post sticking out of the water to the right of the hide, and back to the trees. It continued to do this for the rest of the time i was there.
The marsh harrier had been seen early morning but odviously went somewhere else to seek some cover from the rain and wasnt seen again.
Five curlews flew across the reserve heading west.
I went along to Lintrathen for an hour to see the ringed and little ringed plovers and when i came back i decided to leave my camcorder in the car...i entered the gullery hide and the osprey came across, flew right in front of the hide, went to the west end, came back to the east and had a couple attempts at fish before it was successful, not too far away from the hide...where was my camcorder!!!!
Other birds seen today included dunnock, pheasant, bullfinch, song thrush, reed bunting, willow warbler, 2 woodpeckers, grey wagtail, black headed gull, common gull, lesser black back, gadwall, greylags, swift , house and sand martins, swallows and goldfinch.
No photos today...didnt bother taking my camera because of the weather but when i got really good views of the flycatcher, i wish i had bothered!!!
All in all it had been a good day for birds. The weather was good between showers and we had over 40 visitors which was good.
I did find another family of mute swans with three cygnets, so at the moment we have six families with 17 cygnets.
Darell:t:
I arrived about 7.30 to do a WeBs count and honestly thought about going home straight afterwards:storm: It was tipping down when i arrived, tho i wasnt the first person there...two regular sunday morning visitors had beaten me to it.
We headed for the gullery hide which was the nearest place to get some shelter for a while. A pair of tufties were just infront of the hide and that was about that...a few mallard over to the east and also to the far left of the hide. After a while i headed for the swamp end to count all the ducks etc.....mallards in all stages of eclipse, wigeon, teal, moorhen, coot, mute swans and cygnets, redshank, snipe, lapwing, oycs, rooks, crows and jackdaws. A single common tern flew past almost unnoticed while the male osprey flew west with breakfast...didnt look like much of a meal so i expected it to be sent back for more, quite soon.
On my way back from the swamp hide i saw a great spt woodpecker, wren, robin, blackcap, great tit, blue tit.
I went back to the car to get my water proof trousers before heading anywhere else...it was still tipping down. I headed off for the east hide to find very little at that end of the loch apart from more mute swans and youngsters. I then decidd to brave the weather and head along the path towards the plug to try and see if there were any ducks etc in that area. More mallards and yet another swan with a single cygnet. I was going to turn round and head back to base but headed for the sleus instead. Lots of blakbird families along with young great and blue tits, chaffinches, yellowhammer, skylark and pied wagtail. On my way back i found the five cygnet family which gave me my 5 swan families i had been looking for.
Back at the gullery hide it was starting to get a bit brighter..the sun was trying its best to come out, but it wasnt long before the next shower appeared and wow was it heavy. A sedge warbler was giving it laldy and flying from left to right and back again..the sounds it was making was incredible. Later on i saw a pair fly from the reeds...i dont know if she was trying to get him to shut up or what, but soon a spotted flycathcher appeared from the trees to the right of the hide and continued to fly from there to the post sticking out of the water to the right of the hide, and back to the trees. It continued to do this for the rest of the time i was there.
The marsh harrier had been seen early morning but odviously went somewhere else to seek some cover from the rain and wasnt seen again.
Five curlews flew across the reserve heading west.
I went along to Lintrathen for an hour to see the ringed and little ringed plovers and when i came back i decided to leave my camcorder in the car...i entered the gullery hide and the osprey came across, flew right in front of the hide, went to the west end, came back to the east and had a couple attempts at fish before it was successful, not too far away from the hide...where was my camcorder!!!!
Other birds seen today included dunnock, pheasant, bullfinch, song thrush, reed bunting, willow warbler, 2 woodpeckers, grey wagtail, black headed gull, common gull, lesser black back, gadwall, greylags, swift , house and sand martins, swallows and goldfinch.
No photos today...didnt bother taking my camera because of the weather but when i got really good views of the flycatcher, i wish i had bothered!!!
All in all it had been a good day for birds. The weather was good between showers and we had over 40 visitors which was good.
I did find another family of mute swans with three cygnets, so at the moment we have six families with 17 cygnets.
Darell:t:
kawwauser
Well-known member
id like to show this vid again, i already posted it last year but linked it to photobucket and the vid was very blocky,now that birdforum has vid posting it looks better, it was a parent water rail at the east hide feeding and chasing two chicks back into the vegetation
http://www.birdforum.tv/action/viewvideo/689/water_rail/
http://www.birdforum.tv/action/viewvideo/689/water_rail/
kawwauser
Well-known member
two pairs of mute swans with cygnets at the swamp hide today,one had 4 the other 3,the adults were showing aggression towards each other as they tried to swim down the same channel of water,another 3 pairs were at the east hide,one with2 cygnets,one with1 another with 4,that makes 14 cygnets from five pairs,not sure if thats a good number but this is in the wild,swans in the citys facing less predators usually have larger broods,loads of ducks on the water mainly mallards some tufted and some teals,a curlew flew over the east hide calling and reed bunting and sedge warblers were also calling here,i heard the water rail to the right of the east hide and it sounded like some youngsters were calling ,swallows and sandmartins were flying about in good numbers and 2 swifts joined in,i also saw 1 robin and some young jackdaws in the trees,i must be the only person not to see the marsh harrier this year ,looking in the book it has been showing well
pics
sedge warbler
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/Picture029.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/Picture032.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/Picture030.jpg
taken at east hide
pics
sedge warbler
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/Picture029.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/Picture032.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/Picture030.jpg
taken at east hide
Last edited:
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Friday 4th july
It was really lovely at kinnordy this afternoon. I arrived about 2.30 just as the male osprey was flying past the gullery hide windows. It went along to the swamp end, back to the east end, back to swamp before catching a good sized pike at the east end of the reserve. It was a good three hours before it came back for more and seemed content with catching a really small fish/ snack...was probably sent packing for more straight away!!!
The juv male marsh harrier was showing well while i was around. Its a youngster from the tay reed beds, from last year. Apparently they haven't done at all well down there this year.
The sun stayed out the entire time i was there which was til 7pm.
I went along to the swamp end to find lots of ducks who seem to prefer that end of the reserve. Mallard, wigeon, coot, moorhen, 6 greylags, mute swans with cygnets, lapwing, redshank, heron, water rail-heard, snipe and tufties.
Willow warblers, bullfinches, chaffinches, robin, wren, rook, crow, jackdaw, buzzard, sparrowhawk, goldfinch, dunnock, yellowhammer, skylark, gt spt woodpecker, curlew, oycs, sedge warbler, reed bunting, song thrush, blackbird and pheasant were also seen while i was on the reserve today.
Midges are in abundance...i use avons skin so soft, which i find works for me and if i dont put it on, regret it the following day. What do other people use?
Darell:t:
It was really lovely at kinnordy this afternoon. I arrived about 2.30 just as the male osprey was flying past the gullery hide windows. It went along to the swamp end, back to the east end, back to swamp before catching a good sized pike at the east end of the reserve. It was a good three hours before it came back for more and seemed content with catching a really small fish/ snack...was probably sent packing for more straight away!!!
The juv male marsh harrier was showing well while i was around. Its a youngster from the tay reed beds, from last year. Apparently they haven't done at all well down there this year.
The sun stayed out the entire time i was there which was til 7pm.
I went along to the swamp end to find lots of ducks who seem to prefer that end of the reserve. Mallard, wigeon, coot, moorhen, 6 greylags, mute swans with cygnets, lapwing, redshank, heron, water rail-heard, snipe and tufties.
Willow warblers, bullfinches, chaffinches, robin, wren, rook, crow, jackdaw, buzzard, sparrowhawk, goldfinch, dunnock, yellowhammer, skylark, gt spt woodpecker, curlew, oycs, sedge warbler, reed bunting, song thrush, blackbird and pheasant were also seen while i was on the reserve today.
Midges are in abundance...i use avons skin so soft, which i find works for me and if i dont put it on, regret it the following day. What do other people use?
Darell:t:
Attachments
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Sunday 6th july
I arrived at 7.30 having gone through some heavy fog to get to the reserve to find it not as bad as Dundee.
Outside the gullery hide it was quiet apart from some mallard, tufties and mute swans.The skys outside the hide were full of swifts 200+ along with swallows and sand martins. Along at the swamp hide there were more mallard, gadwall, coot, moorhen, mute swan, tufties, lesser black back gull, common gull, black headed gull, heron, greylag geese, crow, rooks, woodpigeon and a water rail which sat in the open preening itself opposite the hide...first i'd seen for a while. Have been hearing them all over the reserve but seldom seen. Over on the far side of the water from the swamp hide, there were a group of 60+ lapwing...they were there on thursday, oycs, redshank and snipe.
Wren, robin, willow warbler, reed bunting, sedge warbler, dunnock, blackcap, great tit, blue tit, treecreeper and blackbird were all seen on my way to the east hide.
Myself and one of the other volunteers went to check on the local osprey site to find two chicks on the nest. Ed had been out early this morning and had gone to another three nest sites in the area and had seen a further five youngsters, so things are looking bright for the local Ospreys.
After lunch, i heard a woodpecker knocking on a near by tree, so i decided to tap back and it wasn't long before a young woodpecker came to investigate, who was replying to its tapping.
Later this afternoon we went for a walk round to the lilly pond to look for Damsels etc. The weather wasn't great for them but we did see one or two on the pond darting around.
Whitethroat, mistle thrush, yellowhammer, and buzzard were added to my bird list for the day.
The Osprey was seen from the east hide when we returned..he caught a large pike, headed for the nest and returned about 15mins later for more.
No sign of either marsh harrier today.
Darell:t:
I arrived at 7.30 having gone through some heavy fog to get to the reserve to find it not as bad as Dundee.
Outside the gullery hide it was quiet apart from some mallard, tufties and mute swans.The skys outside the hide were full of swifts 200+ along with swallows and sand martins. Along at the swamp hide there were more mallard, gadwall, coot, moorhen, mute swan, tufties, lesser black back gull, common gull, black headed gull, heron, greylag geese, crow, rooks, woodpigeon and a water rail which sat in the open preening itself opposite the hide...first i'd seen for a while. Have been hearing them all over the reserve but seldom seen. Over on the far side of the water from the swamp hide, there were a group of 60+ lapwing...they were there on thursday, oycs, redshank and snipe.
Wren, robin, willow warbler, reed bunting, sedge warbler, dunnock, blackcap, great tit, blue tit, treecreeper and blackbird were all seen on my way to the east hide.
Myself and one of the other volunteers went to check on the local osprey site to find two chicks on the nest. Ed had been out early this morning and had gone to another three nest sites in the area and had seen a further five youngsters, so things are looking bright for the local Ospreys.
After lunch, i heard a woodpecker knocking on a near by tree, so i decided to tap back and it wasn't long before a young woodpecker came to investigate, who was replying to its tapping.
Later this afternoon we went for a walk round to the lilly pond to look for Damsels etc. The weather wasn't great for them but we did see one or two on the pond darting around.
Whitethroat, mistle thrush, yellowhammer, and buzzard were added to my bird list for the day.
The Osprey was seen from the east hide when we returned..he caught a large pike, headed for the nest and returned about 15mins later for more.
No sign of either marsh harrier today.
Darell:t:
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
I went up to kinnordy again this morning and found three ospreys fishing in front of the gullery hide. One was definately the male from the local nest but dont know where the others came from.
The weather was fantastic up til mid day and then the rain set in...time to leave. Before i did, the osprey appeared and only took a couple of mins to find some lunch for the family. I thought he might have found it harder to see the fish with rain bouncing off the surface.
Other birds this morning included wren, robin, rook, crow, woodpigeon, stonechat, mute swan, lapwing, oycs, heron, redshank, sparrowhawk, kestrel, buzzard, dunnock, willow and segde warblers, reed bunting, yellowhammer, blackbird, lesser black back, herring gull, common gull, tufties, wigeon, teal, mallard, gadwall, shoveler, moorhen, coot, coal tit, blue tit, great tit and heard lots of water rail, but not seen.
Darell:t:
The weather was fantastic up til mid day and then the rain set in...time to leave. Before i did, the osprey appeared and only took a couple of mins to find some lunch for the family. I thought he might have found it harder to see the fish with rain bouncing off the surface.
Other birds this morning included wren, robin, rook, crow, woodpigeon, stonechat, mute swan, lapwing, oycs, heron, redshank, sparrowhawk, kestrel, buzzard, dunnock, willow and segde warblers, reed bunting, yellowhammer, blackbird, lesser black back, herring gull, common gull, tufties, wigeon, teal, mallard, gadwall, shoveler, moorhen, coot, coal tit, blue tit, great tit and heard lots of water rail, but not seen.
Darell:t:
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
It was quite bright when i arrived at kinnordy this morning to find an osprey on one of the posts, put up in september last year, for the purpose of providing perches for the ospreys...although it wasn't the local male, it was good to see the post getting used. When he left the post, he flew and landed in the row of pine trees to the right of the gullery hide. People in the hides got great views of him before he flew off.
Later in the morning i headed round to the lilly pond to take same pics of the blue darters that had been seen on sunday. On my way back the heavens openned and when i got back to the gullery hide for shelter, three ospreys were fishing. Two soon departed but one remained for a good 15mins before heading off in the direction of Lintrathen..obviously hoping to get better luck along there.
Photos today are of some of the swans...7 pairs have bred succesfully this year, and young blue and coal tits who have also done well along with the great tits. Another success in the nest boxes has been the tree sparrows.
More photos of Osperys to follow
Darell:t:
Later in the morning i headed round to the lilly pond to take same pics of the blue darters that had been seen on sunday. On my way back the heavens openned and when i got back to the gullery hide for shelter, three ospreys were fishing. Two soon departed but one remained for a good 15mins before heading off in the direction of Lintrathen..obviously hoping to get better luck along there.
Photos today are of some of the swans...7 pairs have bred succesfully this year, and young blue and coal tits who have also done well along with the great tits. Another success in the nest boxes has been the tree sparrows.
More photos of Osperys to follow
Darell:t:
