kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Sunday 30th November
As i departed Dundee, the temperature outside was -3, arriving at Kinnordy it had reached -6!!! It was a beautiful sunny day when i arrived at 9am, but BALTIC. The loch was frozen apart from the usual patch at the east end, where all the ducks and swans had gathered.
I went into the gullery hide and all the windows were frozen...didn't really want to open a window due to the cold, but had to if i was to see any thing.
Mallard, tufties, gadwall, goldeneye, wigeon, shoveler, teal, mute swan and ten whoopers were present, either on the ice or swimming in the small area of water.
I went back to the car to get some nuts and seed for the feeders...boy were the little birds glad to see me. They were hanging off the feeders before i could get the back to where i had got them from. Blue tits, great tits, coal tits, greenfinch, chaffinch with pheasants and robins underneath,waiting for scraps that the others dropped for them.
I decided to go for a walk and started along at the swamp end. I didn't expect to see anything along there because of the conditions everywhere else. On my way along i saw treecreeper, woodpecker, wren, moorhen and reed bunting which seemed to be shivereing as it sat on a frozen reed. At the hide, i saw another ten whoopers sleeping on the ice.
I made my way back and headed for the lilly pond. Wren, dunnock, blackbirds, robins and chaffinches were seen. I hadn't seen siskins, bullfinches or long tailed tits and had those down as my MUST SEE for the day. Red Squirrel and Hare were seen on my way to the pond and a number of greylags were flying round,wondering wether to drop in for a drink.
It was quiet at the pond although there were a number of blackbirds helping themselves to the numerous berries that were present on the trees. It was like a winter wonderland in that area with all the reeds and grasses covered white.
On my way back i was sure i had heard siskins between the bridges, but they weren't showing, but when i got to the second bridge i did manage to add long tailed tits to my list. Half way between that bridge and the plug, i did finally catch up with a flock of 30+ siskins as they fed on the bushes, both sides of the path. Two male goosander flew past on their way to the loch and i saw them later on, while 5 moorhens appeared from the side of the water and fled for their lives when i walked past them!!
Before i sat down to have a cup of tea, i headed back towards the swamp hide to try and find some bullfinches that were reported there. I found a group of five who were quickly joined by another four and they looked really stunning against the bright blue sky.
A welcome cup of tea and lunch was next followed by anther walk round the hides. Rook, jackdaw, crow, woodpigeon, more treecreepers, goldcrest, redwing, heron, common gulls, buzzards and more views of bullfinches and siskins. A number of the whoopers decided to leave, around 2pm and the others couldn't make up their minds wether to follow or not.
At 2.45, i decided to call it a day. The sun had gone down again and the air was getting alot colder again.
It had been a beautiful day though very cold. It was warm standing in the sunny areas so had been a good day for walking round, rather than sitting in the hides for any great length of time.
Darell:t:
As i departed Dundee, the temperature outside was -3, arriving at Kinnordy it had reached -6!!! It was a beautiful sunny day when i arrived at 9am, but BALTIC. The loch was frozen apart from the usual patch at the east end, where all the ducks and swans had gathered.
I went into the gullery hide and all the windows were frozen...didn't really want to open a window due to the cold, but had to if i was to see any thing.
Mallard, tufties, gadwall, goldeneye, wigeon, shoveler, teal, mute swan and ten whoopers were present, either on the ice or swimming in the small area of water.
I went back to the car to get some nuts and seed for the feeders...boy were the little birds glad to see me. They were hanging off the feeders before i could get the back to where i had got them from. Blue tits, great tits, coal tits, greenfinch, chaffinch with pheasants and robins underneath,waiting for scraps that the others dropped for them.
I decided to go for a walk and started along at the swamp end. I didn't expect to see anything along there because of the conditions everywhere else. On my way along i saw treecreeper, woodpecker, wren, moorhen and reed bunting which seemed to be shivereing as it sat on a frozen reed. At the hide, i saw another ten whoopers sleeping on the ice.
I made my way back and headed for the lilly pond. Wren, dunnock, blackbirds, robins and chaffinches were seen. I hadn't seen siskins, bullfinches or long tailed tits and had those down as my MUST SEE for the day. Red Squirrel and Hare were seen on my way to the pond and a number of greylags were flying round,wondering wether to drop in for a drink.
It was quiet at the pond although there were a number of blackbirds helping themselves to the numerous berries that were present on the trees. It was like a winter wonderland in that area with all the reeds and grasses covered white.
On my way back i was sure i had heard siskins between the bridges, but they weren't showing, but when i got to the second bridge i did manage to add long tailed tits to my list. Half way between that bridge and the plug, i did finally catch up with a flock of 30+ siskins as they fed on the bushes, both sides of the path. Two male goosander flew past on their way to the loch and i saw them later on, while 5 moorhens appeared from the side of the water and fled for their lives when i walked past them!!
Before i sat down to have a cup of tea, i headed back towards the swamp hide to try and find some bullfinches that were reported there. I found a group of five who were quickly joined by another four and they looked really stunning against the bright blue sky.
A welcome cup of tea and lunch was next followed by anther walk round the hides. Rook, jackdaw, crow, woodpigeon, more treecreepers, goldcrest, redwing, heron, common gulls, buzzards and more views of bullfinches and siskins. A number of the whoopers decided to leave, around 2pm and the others couldn't make up their minds wether to follow or not.
At 2.45, i decided to call it a day. The sun had gone down again and the air was getting alot colder again.
It had been a beautiful day though very cold. It was warm standing in the sunny areas so had been a good day for walking round, rather than sitting in the hides for any great length of time.
Darell:t:
