Birding at Loch of Kinnordy (1 Viewer)

[sizzlor108]

Wow. I seen that large otter on friday afternoon, kicking around at the back from gullery hide. I was impressed by its size but to see one kill a greylag ! That would be awesome ! Well done, sir.

 

[kawwauser]

i had both harriers on my visit (4/7/11 at 4.30pm and am now a happy man,i cant believe they have evaded me for the last few weeks especially reading the log book /talking to other visitors,the first to show was the male,a very quick leap up into the air then back down seen from the gullery hide,next was the female flying in from the west carrying prey and landing in the nesting area,then both birds flew up heading west to the swamp hide area,a quick sprint along there ended up with views of both birds together, the female flew into the fields at the back of the reserve dived and returned with the prey, the male tried to get it off her but was uncucsesfull,there were other vistors in both hides and they were asking wether any chicks had hatched,im not familiar with breeding harriers(kinnordy is the only place i have seen harriers)so i read up on them and was surprised to read there may be 5 youngsters,the water area was very quiet coots/mallards many in eclipse mode 1 pair of shovelars with the male looking very drab,1 heron,2 mute familys 1 with 2 cygnets,1 with 4, oystercatchers/lapwing on the bogbean,sedgewarbler/reedbunting flying about,small flock of greylags landed swamp hide end,2 hunting ospreys which only went into a dive when at the east hide area near the perching post,quite a few swifts in the air plus a couple of sand martins,tawny owl chicks have been heard here recently which is good news given the road deaths nearby

pic
male shovelar certainly not at his best
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/shovelar4.jpg

 

[gus guthrie]

Good views of a very wet barn Owl at 6pm on kinnordy Loch, was sitting trying to dry itself off and ignoring all the small birds that were mobbing it, a Great Spotted Woodpecker joined in as well. After 30 mins it flew off followed by several reed buntings.
From the Gullery hide I had some good views of the Dog Otter again as he hunted among the bogbean, watched by a bedraggled marsh harrier.Duck numbers were the highest for a while and a lot of small birds were active around the hide areas including Sedge Warbler, Siskin, Reed Bunting, Yellowhammer and willow warblers.

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

I arrived at 6.30 this morning to see the female harrier hunting near the old barn. later on, both male and female appeared for a food pass. Both were bringing food back quite regularly to the nest site so lets hope there are youngsters in the nest. What with the otter being around alot lately i wondered what might happen. Fingers crossed.
I stayed for a few hours before heading for Montrose to see the Spoonbills but came back in the pouring rain. it stopped raining for at least 5 mins and in that time the female harrier arrived back with more food. then it started raining again and she went and perched on a bush near by, waiting for the rain to cease again. I departed an hour later and she was still on the bush and it was still raining.
Other birds seen today
Bullfinch, chaffinch, wren, robin, dunnock, song thrush, sedge and willow warblers, reed bunting, great tit, blue tit, blackbird, mallard, wigeon, coot, moorhen, mute swan, heron, lapwing, oycs, pheasant, swift, swallow, sand martin, woodpigeon, crow, jackdaw.

Darell

 

[delia todd]

Grand news Darell. You really had a good day in the rain, didn't you!

D

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

I went to Kinnordy yesterday to go and take a look at the Osprey nest site and join in with the local RSPB groups BBQ which was last night in the car park of the reserve.

from a distance i could see the female standing, perched on the edge of the nest. I thought she might have come to meet me to tell me to shve off, but she stayed where she was. I set the scope up and couldn't see any other heads popping up from the nest so i waited. She knew i was around somewhere but wasn't sure where. her head then turned and looked towards the reserve and moments later the male returned to the nest. I thought he was going to get a nagging cos he hadn't brought anything back, but he then started to peck at something in the nest. After a few mins he took the head of a fish and headed for a post at the bottom of the field. usually he takes it to a near by tree, but this time he changed his mind.
It was then that i saw the head of quite a large chick rise from the bottom of the nest. i only saw the one but there could have been more asleep seeing how they had obviously recently been fed. The male soon came back and then took off again, this time to his usual perch in a near by tree. i will go up again in a couple of weeks to see exactly how many young are trying to fly!! watch this space lol

Down at the loch, the two marsh harriers were still very busy hunting and all signs are that they do have youngsters to feed.
Lots of ducks on the loch..mallard, tufties, wigeon and shoveler.
I went off for a walk round the reserve, seeing how lovely a day it was. i went round as far as the lilly pond and found 4 different broods of whitethroat, blackcaps, robins, wrens, bullfinch, chaffinch, yellowhammers, goldfinch, greenfinch, willow and sedge warblers, reedbuntings and linnet. I also heard alot of water rails in various places but not to be seen!!
At the lilly pond i watched the male osprey fishing above the loch. When i got back to the hides, visitors were saying that he had been unsuccessful in his attempts, although he did dive in a few times for a good wash.
A male otter has been seen quite frequently and Barn owls are nesting near by, seen at dusk.
A Tawny Owl was seen along the path last night, so all the people at the bbq trooped off to see it while i stayed to make sure the fire brigade were not needed. A good event for the local group, who after their meal enjoyed sightings of the harriers passing food.

The reserve is well worth a visit at the moment. I know the ducks look very drab, but there is plenty to watch out for and see.

Darell

 

[delia todd]

What a lovely evening you had Darell.

I was up there on Tuesday evening. The female MH made a few passes of the reed bed and disappeared - never saw the male. And not one Osprey came in either - I think thats the first time I've been at this time of year and not seen even one.

A Sedge Warbler kept singing from the left of the hide, but wouldn't come into view, but did see a Reed Bunting in the bush to the right - he was singing too.

D

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

The male MH is hunting over a great distance now where as the female isn't straying too far from the nest site.

 

[kawwauser]

i had excellent views of the male marsh harrier today,i was in the swamp hide when the bird flew up from the vegetation on the island in front of the hide,it then sent some time hunting the area to the west then flew up into the fields dissapearing at the back of the fields,the bird was on view for 12 mins,good views of the smaller birds too particulary a family of willow warblers outside the swamp hide,bullfinches were in the trees at the car park

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

I was up on the reserve at lunchtime today and it was great to see the two marsh harriers with a juv. Lets hope this is the first of many years to come. Didn't manage to get a photo today. The male came across, passed the food to the female while the youngster came up and went down again almost immediately.

 

[delia todd]

Much the same as what I saw later on Darell. Exciting times!

D

 

[gus guthrie]

The juvenille was flying round in circles over the reeds last night at around 9pm, much to the annoyance of the crows and starlings who were trying to roost nearby. It certainly isn't as polished a flyer as its parents yet, but am sure that will improve with practise.
Also saw 7 Collared Doves in a group at Eassie yesterday, most i've seen together and a group of Tree Sparrows in a field at Cookston Farm, Eassie.

 

[kawwauser]

the juv marsh harrier was hunting on it,s own for half an hour in front of the swamp hide today(mon)it spent most of the time in the fields before turning its attention to the reeds,it landed here and was shortly joined by both parents,the female while flying above the juv put one of her legs down and hovered and done a short dip,it was as if she was enticing the juv back into the air,she done this again in the reeds further to the left of where the juv landed,there is some confusion as to wether there are 2 juvs here,2 reports in the book mention seeing 4 harriers together,only 1 juv was showing today,the juv and the female hunted the island area giving excellent views,while in the gullery hide a peregring flew past the hide,it returned flying directly towards the hide about 20 feet above the water ,this bird looked like a juv

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

I put 2 juvs in the book last weekend as i'm sure i saw two together and the female on her own. i was hoping someone else might have seen the same during the week to confirm my eyes weren't playing tricks on me lol

 

[kawwauser]

bob mcurley reported 2 harrier juvs on thursday and another report has surfaced today thats 4 reports of 2 juvs,the problem is the chances seeing all 4 birds at the same time aren,t that good ,going by the behavour of the female on my last visit i would certainly vote for 2 or maybe even more

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

I went up to kinnordy this morning for a few hours, first time for a few weeks. As i got out of the car there was silence. Nothing singing at all from any direction.
In front of the gullery hide was nothing, a few ducks and swans over towards the east end and some swans with ever growing cygnets to the left. A small group of canada geese appeared from the west, flying over the gullery hide and off to where ever they were heading. At the east end there were gadwall, mallard, tufties and wigeon.

A short while later, two of our usual sunday customers came in and sayed how quiet it was. We were discussing the harriers and the fact that they hadn't been seen last sunday either. We were then wondering if they had gone off south already. Well, 5 mins later the male appeared over towards the barn and as he disappeared, the female arrived, hunting over the far side from the hide. Didn't see either of the juveniles while i was there.

Over towards one of the "osprey" posts, opposite the east hide, alot of the willow scrub has been taken out and you can see the whole post and not just the top part. As we were looking at it i saw a large-ish, bird of prey fly behind the post heading east. At first i thought it was a sparrowhawk, then a peregrine but realised it must be a Goshawk. It flew up over the fields at the back and gave quite an ariel display for us to watch. it disappeared over the back of the fields, heading for the hills behind. later on in the morning, along with two more visitors, we were watching a flock of lapwing and noticed a large bird of prey amongst them...i was sure it was the Goshawk again. this time i did manage to get some distant photos. I posted a couple of them on bird forum to ask for peoples opinions and they agree it was a juvenile Goshawk. I know a Goshawk was seen in the area recently, and now we have a juvenile turning up.

Other birds seen today were buzzards, siskins, bullfinches, redpoll, chaffinches, coal tit, long tailed tit, great tit, blue tit, willow warbler, dunnock, wren, robins, blackbird, starling, herons x4, coot, moorhen, teal, crows, pheasant and woodpigeon.

Todays photos are of a young heron which thought it would try its luck on the kingfisher post and a poor one of the Goshawk.

 

[delia todd]

Another super record for Kinnordy - it's great you were there to see it Darell.

D

 

[gus guthrie]

nice one Darell, best i could manage was a Kestrel and one Marsh Harrier !!

 

[kawwauser]

great spot with the goshawk darell, still a lifer for me,your heron landing pic should be posted on the swamp hide gallery

 

[Standrewsbirder]

It was a lifer for me Darell, really nice bird to see. Hoping for some good stuff down the Ness this morning.