Oh that's great news Darell - congratulations:t:
Wet the baby's head for meB
D
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Birding at Loch of Kinnordy (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter kinnordyvolunteer
- Start date
Oh that's great news Darell - congratulations:t:
Wet the baby's head for meB
D
FoghornKinghorn
Durham Recorder
For thoose who didn't know there is a Ring Billed Gull (North American vagrant) in Dundee.
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Thanks for that Andrew. I think most people in the area have been to see the gull...there was a coach load of people there on saturday afternoon when i drove past in the driving rain.
Still worth a look if you haven't seen it...would be good if it decided to have a break up at Kinnordy!!!
Darell
Still worth a look if you haven't seen it...would be good if it decided to have a break up at Kinnordy!!!
Darell
FoghornKinghorn
Durham Recorder
Cool, I saw it while I was up it came and sat on the lamp and the other birder said he was looking for it and his wife got some pictures of it, it was on the 31/11/08 and I went to see King Eider at Kincraig Point then that great Iceland Gull at Anstruther!
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
I haven't seen the king eider or iceland gull yet but they are still present.
Darell
Darell
FoghornKinghorn
Durham Recorder
I have been to Flanders Moss and I saw my first Male Hen Harrier. It was toward dusk. Sort of before the sun starts to set and they come in to the reserve. Great views through my scope! :t:
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Hope the harrier stays around till the weekend. I heard about a male in the kinross area todat as well.
We've usually had a female hen harrier on the reserve by now but haven't seen anything yet.
Darell
We've usually had a female hen harrier on the reserve by now but haven't seen anything yet.
Darell
FoghornKinghorn
Durham Recorder
If you would like to get information of interesting Rare & Scarce Bird you could join Bird Guides free of charge and you get information on sightings from everywhere in the UK.
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Apparently, 15 mins after i left Kinnordy on sunday, a Merlin and Male Hen Harrier were seen!!! The harrier was seen for an hour, then not seen again, with the merlin being seen a couple of times.
Must have been waiting for me to leave!!!
Darell
Must have been waiting for me to leave!!!
Darell
Better luck next time Darell..! :-O
kawwauser
Well-known member
i was at kinnordy for a couple of hours at dinner time today(20/01/09)when i got up this morning the weather was dismal and i was in two minds wether to go or not,there has been reports of pintails (kinnordy is the only place iv,e seen this bird)plus the offchance of the hen harrier got the better of me,the dismal weather was still present when i reached kinnordy and the grey sky made it look quite dark,the birds were certainly fooled by this as apart from mallards there was no birdcalls,most of the loch was frozen, the swamp hide had 5 whoopers sitting on the bank and 2 mutes with cygnets swimming on a small stretch of open water,the rooks were sitting in their nesting tree, the reeds beside the boardwalk had 2 male reedbuntings chasing each other,the trees in front of the gullery hide had a lot of small birds ,robin/bluetit/great tit/coal tit/chaffinch/dunnock,the dunnocks were very appoachable feeding within 2 feet at times,a great tit was giving out alarm calls in the trees to the left,i searched all around but couldn,t see any predators,the water in front of the gullery hide had a small area of open water and 20 teals were swimming here,the feeders were very busy with coal/blue/great tits/chaffinch/robin feeding here,a female pheasant was feeding below the feeders and a woodpecker could be heard in the distant,the open water area in front of the east hide was main area again today ,there was a very large amount of water birds here certainly the most iv,e ever seen at kinnordy,visabilty wasn,t great but i could see mallards/wigeon were the most numerous ,there was also tufted ducks /teal /goldeneye /shovelar/goosander/cormorant/common gull/mute swan,i searched the many pics i took and think i spotted a male pintail ill post the pic below, between the east hide and lily pond i only had woodpigeon/jackdaw/robin plus 2 roe deer, the trees beyond the lily pond have been cut down which was a bit of a downer,looking at the cut down trees this was actually quite a small area but there was always a lot of small birds feeding here and no doubt some were nesting here....
male pintail i think (middle bird)
the bird is facing right ,this pic is heavily cropped the white on the neck is seen better on the uncropped pic
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/ppp.jpg
all thats left of the trees at the lily pond
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/trees2.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/trees1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/trees3.jpg
male pintail i think (middle bird)
the bird is facing right ,this pic is heavily cropped the white on the neck is seen better on the uncropped pic
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/ppp.jpg
all thats left of the trees at the lily pond
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/trees2.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/trees1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/trees3.jpg
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Sunday 25th January
It was cold when i left Dundee but it wasn't until i turned off the A90, towards Glamis that i met up with the snow. I wondered what it would be like at the reserve and found it to be not as bad as i thought it would be.
As i drove past the swamp area, there were 5 whoopers standing on the ice. The car park was covered in a layer of slush which was very slippery and the paths had snow in places.
As i left the car park for the gullery hide another 3 whoopers flew from the east area and away. Apart from the usual area over at the east end, the remainder of the loch was frozen solid with a coating of slush on the top. Nothing out front from gullery so it was along to the east end to have a look at what was there.
Mallard, tufties, goldeneye, shoveler, teal, goosander, mute swans, common gulls, herring gulls, cormorant, heron and a female scaup. Thats the first time ive seen a scaup at kinnordy. Still no Gadwall though.
I filled all the feeders up and they were soon covered in birds. Coal tits, blue tits, great tits, dunnock, robins, chaffinch and pheasants underneath. Also in the area were bullfinches, siskin, wren, jackdaw and blackbird.
Over on the far side of the reserve i saw a flock of 27 fieldfare, 6 buzzards and pied wagtail. I saw a single snipe along at the west end when i went to check the rain gauge.
Other birds seen included reed bunting, meadow pipit, crow, rook, great spotted woodpecker, moorhen, treecreeper and woodpigeon. We could hear tree sparrows in the fir trees at the end of the boardwalk next to the gullery hide but couldn't see them.
I did go off for an hour to see the red necked grebe at forfar loch wich was nice to see and then at the end of the day i returned to Dundee via the Lintrathen area and found a flock of 500+ chaffinches with a good number of bramblings in amongst them.
Apart from the weather, a good days birding.
It was cold when i left Dundee but it wasn't until i turned off the A90, towards Glamis that i met up with the snow. I wondered what it would be like at the reserve and found it to be not as bad as i thought it would be.
As i drove past the swamp area, there were 5 whoopers standing on the ice. The car park was covered in a layer of slush which was very slippery and the paths had snow in places.
As i left the car park for the gullery hide another 3 whoopers flew from the east area and away. Apart from the usual area over at the east end, the remainder of the loch was frozen solid with a coating of slush on the top. Nothing out front from gullery so it was along to the east end to have a look at what was there.
Mallard, tufties, goldeneye, shoveler, teal, goosander, mute swans, common gulls, herring gulls, cormorant, heron and a female scaup. Thats the first time ive seen a scaup at kinnordy. Still no Gadwall though.
I filled all the feeders up and they were soon covered in birds. Coal tits, blue tits, great tits, dunnock, robins, chaffinch and pheasants underneath. Also in the area were bullfinches, siskin, wren, jackdaw and blackbird.
Over on the far side of the reserve i saw a flock of 27 fieldfare, 6 buzzards and pied wagtail. I saw a single snipe along at the west end when i went to check the rain gauge.
Other birds seen included reed bunting, meadow pipit, crow, rook, great spotted woodpecker, moorhen, treecreeper and woodpigeon. We could hear tree sparrows in the fir trees at the end of the boardwalk next to the gullery hide but couldn't see them.
I did go off for an hour to see the red necked grebe at forfar loch wich was nice to see and then at the end of the day i returned to Dundee via the Lintrathen area and found a flock of 500+ chaffinches with a good number of bramblings in amongst them.
Apart from the weather, a good days birding.
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
I forgot to mention in my report that there are a couple of dead swans on the loch, at the east end. The warden is aware, but cant get to the birds due to the state of the loch. I thought i would warn you, just incase anyone goes for a visit and sees them.
Darell
Darell
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Sunday 1st February
I arrived at kinnordy just after 8am to find a camper van in the car park, so the first job i had this morning was an eviction... occupants certainly didnt expect to be woken up so early on a sunday morning!!! I did have to mention the local constabulary before i did get any positive reaction, They weren't camping, they were "resting their eyes".
I filled up the gullery feeders before venturing into the hide its self and there didn't seem to be much birdlife on the loch until you looked alot more closely. The ducks were starting to come out of the reeds and show themselves. A couple of regular visitors said there wasn't much around but they obviously missed the male pintail that was sitting at the edge of the bogbean on the far side. Goosander, shoveler, shelduck, teal, tufties, cormorant, heron, wigeon, goldeneye, mallard, mute swan and a single whooper were also there.
The Dundee RSPB group were starting their outing at kinnordy today before moving up to Glen Prossen and other places. Just as their first car arrived in the car park, the pintail decided to leave!!!
Other birds seen before we departed for the glens were robin, dunnock, blue tit, long tail tits, chaffinch, siskin, bullfinch, great tit, coal tit, moorhen, common gull, greylags, woodpecker, treecreeper, blackbird, pheasant, crow, rook, jackdaw, buzzard and woodpigeon.
We returned from the Glens at lunchtime and added tree sparrow and redpoll to our kinnordy list. After lunch we headed for kingoldrum and lintrathen.
Todays photos are of goosander outside the gullery hide first thing this morning, one of the local robins and a very poor shot of a pair of redpoll, not far from the feeding station.
Hannah counted 32 goosander on the loch earlier this week and on tuesday morning, Beardies were heard from the gullery hide and were in the reeds opposite the hide....not seen though.
I arrived at kinnordy just after 8am to find a camper van in the car park, so the first job i had this morning was an eviction... occupants certainly didnt expect to be woken up so early on a sunday morning!!! I did have to mention the local constabulary before i did get any positive reaction, They weren't camping, they were "resting their eyes".
I filled up the gullery feeders before venturing into the hide its self and there didn't seem to be much birdlife on the loch until you looked alot more closely. The ducks were starting to come out of the reeds and show themselves. A couple of regular visitors said there wasn't much around but they obviously missed the male pintail that was sitting at the edge of the bogbean on the far side. Goosander, shoveler, shelduck, teal, tufties, cormorant, heron, wigeon, goldeneye, mallard, mute swan and a single whooper were also there.
The Dundee RSPB group were starting their outing at kinnordy today before moving up to Glen Prossen and other places. Just as their first car arrived in the car park, the pintail decided to leave!!!
Other birds seen before we departed for the glens were robin, dunnock, blue tit, long tail tits, chaffinch, siskin, bullfinch, great tit, coal tit, moorhen, common gull, greylags, woodpecker, treecreeper, blackbird, pheasant, crow, rook, jackdaw, buzzard and woodpigeon.
We returned from the Glens at lunchtime and added tree sparrow and redpoll to our kinnordy list. After lunch we headed for kingoldrum and lintrathen.
Todays photos are of goosander outside the gullery hide first thing this morning, one of the local robins and a very poor shot of a pair of redpoll, not far from the feeding station.
Hannah counted 32 goosander on the loch earlier this week and on tuesday morning, Beardies were heard from the gullery hide and were in the reeds opposite the hide....not seen though.
Attachments
FoghornKinghorn
Durham Recorder
"20:15 04/02/09 Scaup Angus/Dundee Loch of Kinnordy RSPB"
- Bird Guides
http://www.birdguides.com/bne/default.asp
- Bird Guides
http://www.birdguides.com/bne/default.asp
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Sunday 8th Feb
It was cold, snowy but sunny when i arrived at kinnordy. Driving past the swamp end, i could see that the loch was frozen and i eventually saw that apart from a very small area over at the east end, it was completely frozen.
Over at the area of water were a few whoopers, some mute swans, 3 female goldeneye, a few teal and a good number of mallard. That was it on the loch. Later in the day, a few pheasants were seen on the ice along with a couple of foxes.
There were lots of small birds around and with the feeders empty, my first job was to get them filled up as quickly as possibly. As you can see from the photo below, even a female pheasant got in on the protest for food!!!
It was quite amusing watching the blue tits pecking at the nuts in the squirrel feeder. They couldn't quite work out why they weren't managing to get anything from behind the glass. To cap it all, the red squirrel continuously appeared and helped himself to nuts while the birds looked on. He even stopped many times to sit on top of the feeder and eat his food with hungry birds looking on.
Blue tits, coal tits, great tits, robins, siskin, redpoll, blackbird, chaffinch and dunnock were all busy at the feeding areas.
With the feeders full i headeed off for a walk round to the lilly pond area. More siskins at their favourite spot at the plug area, along with dunnocks and mute swans. More swans at the first bridge. Round the back of the reserve, before the pond, i found another pair of swans who had found a very small area of water to swim in and they were soon joined by a heron. He was obviously getting fed up of fish smiling up at him from under the ice and had come over to see what was in that area...obviously not alot seeing how he didn't hang around very long.
I then heard the sound of a bullfinch and soon after watched one fly into sight from the estate house direction, landing in a bush not far from where i was standing. It continued to call out and was soon joined by another 7 from the same direction.
The depleated wooded area looked strange and its a shame because it used to be full of goldcrests, tits, finches and jays. I'm sure they will have found new areas close by, but i used to enjoy going into that area and listen for all the different sounds. One good thing to come out of it is the prospect of them finishing the path to the top road.
On my way back, i found that the siskins had moved along to the first bridge area and i also saw some long tailed tits...all three spieces seen again this week!!! Treecreepers, woodpigeon, rooks and crows were also present during my walk along with a very noisy buzzard.
Woodpeckers could be heard all day, drumming on various posts in the gullery and swamp areas. At the carpark area, i heard the sound of tree sparrows and found one in the trees in the area and another in the tall pines. Lets hope they stay over that side and breed.
Along at the swamp area, the only birds around were a family of 5 mute swans, some rooks in their trees, a couple of fly past herons and the occasional wren. On my way back to the gullery area i saw moorhens and more siskins. I headed to the feeding station and got chatting to some visitors from Bournemouth who had headed to Scotland to get away from the snow!!!! As we stood chatting, a male hen harrier flew overhead, flying eastwards.
It had been a good day..not one for sitting in the hides too long or for that matter standing still outside.
If you are considering visiting the reserve soon, and i hope you are, then please wear sturdy footware because the paths are covered in snow and are quite slippery in areas.
The photos are of the frozen loch, pheasant at the feeders, bullfinches near the lilly pond area and woody near the gullery area.
Darell
It was cold, snowy but sunny when i arrived at kinnordy. Driving past the swamp end, i could see that the loch was frozen and i eventually saw that apart from a very small area over at the east end, it was completely frozen.
Over at the area of water were a few whoopers, some mute swans, 3 female goldeneye, a few teal and a good number of mallard. That was it on the loch. Later in the day, a few pheasants were seen on the ice along with a couple of foxes.
There were lots of small birds around and with the feeders empty, my first job was to get them filled up as quickly as possibly. As you can see from the photo below, even a female pheasant got in on the protest for food!!!
It was quite amusing watching the blue tits pecking at the nuts in the squirrel feeder. They couldn't quite work out why they weren't managing to get anything from behind the glass. To cap it all, the red squirrel continuously appeared and helped himself to nuts while the birds looked on. He even stopped many times to sit on top of the feeder and eat his food with hungry birds looking on.
Blue tits, coal tits, great tits, robins, siskin, redpoll, blackbird, chaffinch and dunnock were all busy at the feeding areas.
With the feeders full i headeed off for a walk round to the lilly pond area. More siskins at their favourite spot at the plug area, along with dunnocks and mute swans. More swans at the first bridge. Round the back of the reserve, before the pond, i found another pair of swans who had found a very small area of water to swim in and they were soon joined by a heron. He was obviously getting fed up of fish smiling up at him from under the ice and had come over to see what was in that area...obviously not alot seeing how he didn't hang around very long.
I then heard the sound of a bullfinch and soon after watched one fly into sight from the estate house direction, landing in a bush not far from where i was standing. It continued to call out and was soon joined by another 7 from the same direction.
The depleated wooded area looked strange and its a shame because it used to be full of goldcrests, tits, finches and jays. I'm sure they will have found new areas close by, but i used to enjoy going into that area and listen for all the different sounds. One good thing to come out of it is the prospect of them finishing the path to the top road.
On my way back, i found that the siskins had moved along to the first bridge area and i also saw some long tailed tits...all three spieces seen again this week!!! Treecreepers, woodpigeon, rooks and crows were also present during my walk along with a very noisy buzzard.
Woodpeckers could be heard all day, drumming on various posts in the gullery and swamp areas. At the carpark area, i heard the sound of tree sparrows and found one in the trees in the area and another in the tall pines. Lets hope they stay over that side and breed.
Along at the swamp area, the only birds around were a family of 5 mute swans, some rooks in their trees, a couple of fly past herons and the occasional wren. On my way back to the gullery area i saw moorhens and more siskins. I headed to the feeding station and got chatting to some visitors from Bournemouth who had headed to Scotland to get away from the snow!!!! As we stood chatting, a male hen harrier flew overhead, flying eastwards.
It had been a good day..not one for sitting in the hides too long or for that matter standing still outside.
If you are considering visiting the reserve soon, and i hope you are, then please wear sturdy footware because the paths are covered in snow and are quite slippery in areas.
The photos are of the frozen loch, pheasant at the feeders, bullfinches near the lilly pond area and woody near the gullery area.
Darell
Attachments
kawwauser
Well-known member
nice pics darrel,i particulary like your second shot,when i take pics from this point its usually only the foreground that has any interest,the fields at the back are usually all brown and dull,the winter scene makes a more scenic pic,i never seem to see redpolls ill have to look harder next time im there
Last edited:
kinnordyvolunteer
Darell Berthon
Sunday 21st Feb
It was sunny but windy when i arrived at kinnordy with my 6yr old Grandson. We stayed for most of the morning and had lots of birds to see.
From the gullery hide there were lots of teal in among the bogbean along with mallard, wieon and shoveler. There were also a few oystercatchers and black headed gulls...at the 9am i got my first glimpse of an otter for this year..the same day the gulls popped in!!!!!
We went along to the swamp hide where a pair of pintail were showing really well along with mallard, wigeon, teal, goldeneye, tufties, whoopers, mute swans and greylag geese. On the way to the hide we saw a pair of great spotted woodies chasing each other around the area, dunnock, reed bunting, moorhen, siskin, chaffinch, rooks, crows, jackdaws, wren, blue tit, great tit and blackbird.
We then went back to the gullery hide and again saw the otter, this time struggling to carry something. We wondered if it was a duck but realised we would have heard a commotion if it was. It wasn't til i took a photograph and enlarged the picture to discover the otter trying to carry a very large fish...see photo below.
At the feeding stations were pheasants, siskins, blue, great and coal tits, chaffinches, robins, treecreeper, wren and blackbird.
From the east hide we saw mallard, goosander, tufties, whoopers, mutes, 2 pochard which is unusual for kinnordy, goldeneye, wigeon and teal. Heron, cormorant, lapwing, woodpigeon and goldcrest were also seen.
A good mornings viewing was had by the both of us, even though my grandson was ready for his lunch at 9.30!!!! By 11 o'clock he had seen enough but was wanting to come back for more another day.
There is now a list of events for kinnordy and i will post all dates etc on my next posting. They include a Dawn Chorus, birdwatching for beginners, osprey and otter watch, moth night and family fun day. Watch this space for dates.
Darell
Photos are of the otter with breakfast, lunch and dinner in one fish, a male mallard and the pair of pintail at the swamp end.
It was sunny but windy when i arrived at kinnordy with my 6yr old Grandson. We stayed for most of the morning and had lots of birds to see.
From the gullery hide there were lots of teal in among the bogbean along with mallard, wieon and shoveler. There were also a few oystercatchers and black headed gulls...at the 9am i got my first glimpse of an otter for this year..the same day the gulls popped in!!!!!
We went along to the swamp hide where a pair of pintail were showing really well along with mallard, wigeon, teal, goldeneye, tufties, whoopers, mute swans and greylag geese. On the way to the hide we saw a pair of great spotted woodies chasing each other around the area, dunnock, reed bunting, moorhen, siskin, chaffinch, rooks, crows, jackdaws, wren, blue tit, great tit and blackbird.
We then went back to the gullery hide and again saw the otter, this time struggling to carry something. We wondered if it was a duck but realised we would have heard a commotion if it was. It wasn't til i took a photograph and enlarged the picture to discover the otter trying to carry a very large fish...see photo below.
At the feeding stations were pheasants, siskins, blue, great and coal tits, chaffinches, robins, treecreeper, wren and blackbird.
From the east hide we saw mallard, goosander, tufties, whoopers, mutes, 2 pochard which is unusual for kinnordy, goldeneye, wigeon and teal. Heron, cormorant, lapwing, woodpigeon and goldcrest were also seen.
A good mornings viewing was had by the both of us, even though my grandson was ready for his lunch at 9.30!!!! By 11 o'clock he had seen enough but was wanting to come back for more another day.
There is now a list of events for kinnordy and i will post all dates etc on my next posting. They include a Dawn Chorus, birdwatching for beginners, osprey and otter watch, moth night and family fun day. Watch this space for dates.
Darell
Photos are of the otter with breakfast, lunch and dinner in one fish, a male mallard and the pair of pintail at the swamp end.
