Yes, it has been a male reported this year. I can't remember if it was last year or the year before, but I think there were three or four Smew up there. Also, last year, I did get to see my first male there.
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Tayforth Birding (7 Viewers)
- Thread starter delia todd
- Start date
I spent a lot of time In Radernie/Peat Inn area near Cameron Loch. (My Grandad drained the land for It to be built) In all my time and visits to the area,It was always referred to by locals as Cameron Loch.
I knew Mrs Mac who had it when it was an actual cheese shop! Used to get our paraffin from there!
Long lunchtime walk round Rodney gardens and South Inch to brush off the cobwebs.
Greenfinch was my first bird of 2024 which I didn't expect. It's usually a feral pigeon or herring gull
Good birds today were sparrowhawk, bullfinch, goosander, common gull (not common here), mistle thrush, redwing, treecreeper, goldcrest, grey heron and siskins. There were at least 2 (I think 3) kingfishers, one of which I saw from Queen's bridge. I managed to get a phone video of one fishing - I watched it for about half an hour and it had 4 stickleback in that time.
View attachment kingfisher_Perth.mp4
Greenfinch was my first bird of 2024 which I didn't expect. It's usually a feral pigeon or herring gull
Good birds today were sparrowhawk, bullfinch, goosander, common gull (not common here), mistle thrush, redwing, treecreeper, goldcrest, grey heron and siskins. There were at least 2 (I think 3) kingfishers, one of which I saw from Queen's bridge. I managed to get a phone video of one fishing - I watched it for about half an hour and it had 4 stickleback in that time.
View attachment kingfisher_Perth.mp4
Yeah... we always went there for our cheese. I was really sad when she closed up. Mrs MacDonald was a lovely lady. She came from Switzerland, which is why the shop got the name. Most of the cheeses she sold came from her homeland.
Most people still refer to it as the cheese shop when giving directions LOL
Scozmos
Well-known member
After the flood
Evening all, I took a drive down the B954 this morning, Alyth to Meigle road where all the flooding is still lingering, passed it a few times and thought about photos, reflections, swans etc. So, I stopped in the entrance to the Balendoch road, closed due to the enormous puddle along it.
As you can see there's quite a bit of flooding, the fields on both sides of this road and the B954 are well under water and have become a temporary home to a few swans and others.
What did surprise me was that there were a lot of Whooper swans. Of course, everything swam off to the far end of the fields as soon as I got out of the car
Ach well. I got a new pair of binoculars from Santa so I got to try them out more today.
I grabbed a few shots of the swans before they all moved away.
There were also a couple of Mute swans on there and I could hear geese making a racket over at the far side, Merlin was telling me Canada geese but a flock of Pink-footed geese flew over at one point.
Most of the birds on the water had moved well away so I started plotting a route to the other side of the floodwaters.
It started raining anyway so I headed back to the car and back up the road towards Alyth, headed for Kirriemuir then off to Silvie and towards the new sub-station I'd seen from the road often but never been near.
Once I got to the other end of the flooded road, I could see where all the swans and quite a few geese were hanging about and something out on the water caught my eye.
A female Goldeneye and further towards the pylons a little gaggle of males, a pleasant surprise. The road sign and cones on the background are where I'd been parked before moving
So, to my left were all the other birds, swans, geese, gulls etc. I took a good few panorama shots in the hope I could stitch them together to give an idea of numbers, species etc.
Blimey! It worked!
So, if you're of a mind, you could scan these, see what else might be lurking in the throng. I see Canada and Greylag geese, possibly a few Pink-Footed in there as well?
I didn't even notice, until editing these photos that there was another little area full of geese, looks like Canada and Greylag but, maybe others too?
There were certainly plenty of 'gulls around but I didn't really take note of them. Here's hoping for a slightly better day before the floods disappear.
Evening all, I took a drive down the B954 this morning, Alyth to Meigle road where all the flooding is still lingering, passed it a few times and thought about photos, reflections, swans etc. So, I stopped in the entrance to the Balendoch road, closed due to the enormous puddle along it.
As you can see there's quite a bit of flooding, the fields on both sides of this road and the B954 are well under water and have become a temporary home to a few swans and others.
What did surprise me was that there were a lot of Whooper swans. Of course, everything swam off to the far end of the fields as soon as I got out of the car
Ach well. I got a new pair of binoculars from Santa so I got to try them out more today.
I grabbed a few shots of the swans before they all moved away.
There were also a couple of Mute swans on there and I could hear geese making a racket over at the far side, Merlin was telling me Canada geese but a flock of Pink-footed geese flew over at one point.
Most of the birds on the water had moved well away so I started plotting a route to the other side of the floodwaters.
It started raining anyway so I headed back to the car and back up the road towards Alyth, headed for Kirriemuir then off to Silvie and towards the new sub-station I'd seen from the road often but never been near.
Once I got to the other end of the flooded road, I could see where all the swans and quite a few geese were hanging about and something out on the water caught my eye.
A female Goldeneye and further towards the pylons a little gaggle of males, a pleasant surprise. The road sign and cones on the background are where I'd been parked before moving
So, to my left were all the other birds, swans, geese, gulls etc. I took a good few panorama shots in the hope I could stitch them together to give an idea of numbers, species etc.
Blimey! It worked!
So, if you're of a mind, you could scan these, see what else might be lurking in the throng. I see Canada and Greylag geese, possibly a few Pink-Footed in there as well?
I didn't even notice, until editing these photos that there was another little area full of geese, looks like Canada and Greylag but, maybe others too?
There were certainly plenty of 'gulls around but I didn't really take note of them. Here's hoping for a slightly better day before the floods disappear.
Scozmos
Well-known member
February 7th 2024 - Little Bello Woods
Took a drive to Little Bello woods yesterday for the first time, I'd passed it eons ago on my way to Errol and marked it as a possible good walk but, a wee look on google maps showed potential for a lot more than I knew about. There's no real parking place that we found so we parked at the gate, not blocking it and headed down the main track. It was a glorious sunny but freezing day and as long as we were in sunshine it was lovely and the ground was crispy, even the slightly flooded bits, which was nice. Anyway, not too far down the track and we were hearing birds around us, the first call heard was a Raven, but there was something else making sounds nearby. I whipped out my device and flashed up Merlin while scanning around. There was a bird just off the track perched clear out on a tree branch but the sun was behind it, I was thinking that's big when I glanced at Merlin which was telling me Hawfinch! I was frantically grabbing for the camera when it disappeared, of course!!!! Dammit. A first for me, in Scotland
The walk had been pretty quiet until that point but we started seeing and hearing a lot more. A small flock of Bullfinches were moving around at the top of a clump of trees not far from the Hawfinch and as we walked on more Buzzards were soaring around. We passed through a clump of Gorse both sides of the path and there was lots of activity in there, mainly Blue & Coal Tits from what I could see. A Treecreeper flew over and started running up a nearby tree and a Jay(s) were kicking up a fuss in the same copse. We walked on, Buzzard, Buzzard, Blue Tit, Wood Pigeons and ............ Crossbills. A gorgeous young? female was perched on a branch at head height just ahead above the path and there were a few more in the surrounding area, always chuffed to see and grab a few shots of. In standing watching and photographing them we noticed lots of birds flitting in and out of the conifers. Chaffinches, Linnet, Tits, Siskin and Brambling, a bonus. In the same area as the Crossbills I spotted a bird standing high on a branch then darting out for insects and back, in the quick glimpse I got, a Spotted Flycatcher? We turned towards the loch and followed a line of conifers full of those already mentioned but we were in shade and freezing so kept walking and spotting, rather than stopping to ID / photograph everything. We came across Redmyre Loch after the trees and there was a good selection of birds on that so, we sat in the sun and had our picnic and I grabbed some shots. Goosander, Goldeneye, Canada Geese, Mute Swan pair & Wigeon were all spotted on the water, possibly more, they all moved well away from us and into reeds at the other end.
We took a track around the woods back towards the road and the car park, bordered by conifers on one side and fields on the other, a lot of Fieldfare around, Dunnock, Reed Buntings, Robin, Blackbirds & Mistle Thrush all around with Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeons, more Buzzards, a Wren and a lot of gulls on the fields being ploughed.
All in all it was a fabulous walk, an exploration of a new area and the added bonus of a Hawfinch, I'll be back asap.
Took a drive to Little Bello woods yesterday for the first time, I'd passed it eons ago on my way to Errol and marked it as a possible good walk but, a wee look on google maps showed potential for a lot more than I knew about. There's no real parking place that we found so we parked at the gate, not blocking it and headed down the main track. It was a glorious sunny but freezing day and as long as we were in sunshine it was lovely and the ground was crispy, even the slightly flooded bits, which was nice. Anyway, not too far down the track and we were hearing birds around us, the first call heard was a Raven, but there was something else making sounds nearby. I whipped out my device and flashed up Merlin while scanning around. There was a bird just off the track perched clear out on a tree branch but the sun was behind it, I was thinking that's big when I glanced at Merlin which was telling me Hawfinch! I was frantically grabbing for the camera when it disappeared, of course!!!! Dammit. A first for me, in Scotland
The walk had been pretty quiet until that point but we started seeing and hearing a lot more. A small flock of Bullfinches were moving around at the top of a clump of trees not far from the Hawfinch and as we walked on more Buzzards were soaring around. We passed through a clump of Gorse both sides of the path and there was lots of activity in there, mainly Blue & Coal Tits from what I could see. A Treecreeper flew over and started running up a nearby tree and a Jay(s) were kicking up a fuss in the same copse. We walked on, Buzzard, Buzzard, Blue Tit, Wood Pigeons and ............ Crossbills. A gorgeous young? female was perched on a branch at head height just ahead above the path and there were a few more in the surrounding area, always chuffed to see and grab a few shots of. In standing watching and photographing them we noticed lots of birds flitting in and out of the conifers. Chaffinches, Linnet, Tits, Siskin and Brambling, a bonus. In the same area as the Crossbills I spotted a bird standing high on a branch then darting out for insects and back, in the quick glimpse I got, a Spotted Flycatcher? We turned towards the loch and followed a line of conifers full of those already mentioned but we were in shade and freezing so kept walking and spotting, rather than stopping to ID / photograph everything. We came across Redmyre Loch after the trees and there was a good selection of birds on that so, we sat in the sun and had our picnic and I grabbed some shots. Goosander, Goldeneye, Canada Geese, Mute Swan pair & Wigeon were all spotted on the water, possibly more, they all moved well away from us and into reeds at the other end.
We took a track around the woods back towards the road and the car park, bordered by conifers on one side and fields on the other, a lot of Fieldfare around, Dunnock, Reed Buntings, Robin, Blackbirds & Mistle Thrush all around with Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeons, more Buzzards, a Wren and a lot of gulls on the fields being ploughed.
All in all it was a fabulous walk, an exploration of a new area and the added bonus of a Hawfinch, I'll be back asap.
MJB
Well-known member
I have to suggest that Spotted Flycatcher in early February is very early for this late migrant, given it usually arrives no earlier than May... Mind you, that would be a nice record if you can get images...!February 7th 2024 - Little Bello Woods
Took a drive to Little Bello woods yesterday for the first time, I'd passed it eons ago on my way to Errol and marked it as a possible good walk but, a wee look on google maps showed potential for a lot more than I knew about. There's no real parking place that we found so we parked at the gate, not blocking it and headed down the main track. It was a glorious sunny but freezing day and as long as we were in sunshine it was lovely and the ground was crispy, even the slightly flooded bits, which was nice. Anyway, not too far down the track and we were hearing birds around us, the first call heard was a Raven, but there was something else making sounds nearby. I whipped out my device and flashed up Merlin while scanning around. There was a bird just off the track perched clear out on a tree branch but the sun was behind it, I was thinking that's big when I glanced at Merlin which was telling me Hawfinch! I was frantically grabbing for the camera when it disappeared, of course!!!! Dammit. A first for me, in Scotland
The walk had been pretty quiet until that point but we started seeing and hearing a lot more. A small flock of Bullfinches were moving around at the top of a clump of trees not far from the Hawfinch and as we walked on more Buzzards were soaring around. We passed through a clump of Gorse both sides of the path and there was lots of activity in there, mainly Blue & Coal Tits from what I could see. A Treecreeper flew over and started running up a nearby tree and a Jay(s) were kicking up a fuss in the same copse. We walked on, Buzzard, Buzzard, Blue Tit, Wood Pigeons and ............ Crossbills. A gorgeous young? female was perched on a branch at head height just ahead above the path and there were a few more in the surrounding area, always chuffed to see and grab a few shots of. In standing watching and photographing them we noticed lots of birds flitting in and out of the conifers. Chaffinches, Linnet, Tits, Siskin and Brambling, a bonus. In the same area as the Crossbills I spotted a bird standing high on a branch then darting out for insects and back, in the quick glimpse I got, a Spotted Flycatcher? We turned towards the loch and followed a line of conifers full of those already mentioned but we were in shade and freezing so kept walking and spotting, rather than stopping to ID / photograph everything. We came across Redmyre Loch after the trees and there was a good selection of birds on that so, we sat in the sun and had our picnic and I grabbed some shots. Goosander, Goldeneye, Canada Geese, Mute Swan pair & Wigeon were all spotted on the water, possibly more, they all moved well away from us and into reeds at the other end.
We took a track around the woods back towards the road and the car park, bordered by conifers on one side and fields on the other, a lot of Fieldfare around, Dunnock, Reed Buntings, Robin, Blackbirds & Mistle Thrush all around with Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeons, more Buzzards, a Wren and a lot of gulls on the fields being ploughed.
All in all it was a fabulous walk, an exploration of a new area and the added bonus of a Hawfinch, I'll be back asap.
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MJB
Stonefaction
Dundee Birding....(target 150 in 2024).
A word of caution on your Hawfinch too. While not impossible, Merlin will quite often suggest Hawfinch based on call, but 99% of the time it'll be a Robin which has only ticked, rather than tic-tic-ticked. The good thing about Merlin is that it will take you to the actual recording of the call, by selecting it from the list when playing back the recording. This will also provide a sonogram of the call which can be compared against an actual Hawfinch call sonagram (Xeno-canto website can provide these).February 7th 2024 - Little Bello Woods
Took a drive to Little Bello woods yesterday for the first time, I'd passed it eons ago on my way to Errol and marked it as a possible good walk but, a wee look on google maps showed potential for a lot more than I knew about. There's no real parking place that we found so we parked at the gate, not blocking it and headed down the main track. It was a glorious sunny but freezing day and as long as we were in sunshine it was lovely and the ground was crispy, even the slightly flooded bits, which was nice. Anyway, not too far down the track and we were hearing birds around us, the first call heard was a Raven, but there was something else making sounds nearby. I whipped out my device and flashed up Merlin while scanning around. There was a bird just off the track perched clear out on a tree branch but the sun was behind it, I was thinking that's big when I glanced at Merlin which was telling me Hawfinch! I was frantically grabbing for the camera when it disappeared, of course!!!! Dammit. A first for me, in Scotland
The walk had been pretty quiet until that point but we started seeing and hearing a lot more. A small flock of Bullfinches were moving around at the top of a clump of trees not far from the Hawfinch and as we walked on more Buzzards were soaring around. We passed through a clump of Gorse both sides of the path and there was lots of activity in there, mainly Blue & Coal Tits from what I could see. A Treecreeper flew over and started running up a nearby tree and a Jay(s) were kicking up a fuss in the same copse. We walked on, Buzzard, Buzzard, Blue Tit, Wood Pigeons and ............ Crossbills. A gorgeous young? female was perched on a branch at head height just ahead above the path and there were a few more in the surrounding area, always chuffed to see and grab a few shots of. In standing watching and photographing them we noticed lots of birds flitting in and out of the conifers. Chaffinches, Linnet, Tits, Siskin and Brambling, a bonus. In the same area as the Crossbills I spotted a bird standing high on a branch then darting out for insects and back, in the quick glimpse I got, a Spotted Flycatcher? We turned towards the loch and followed a line of conifers full of those already mentioned but we were in shade and freezing so kept walking and spotting, rather than stopping to ID / photograph everything. We came across Redmyre Loch after the trees and there was a good selection of birds on that so, we sat in the sun and had our picnic and I grabbed some shots. Goosander, Goldeneye, Canada Geese, Mute Swan pair & Wigeon were all spotted on the water, possibly more, they all moved well away from us and into reeds at the other end.
We took a track around the woods back towards the road and the car park, bordered by conifers on one side and fields on the other, a lot of Fieldfare around, Dunnock, Reed Buntings, Robin, Blackbirds & Mistle Thrush all around with Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeons, more Buzzards, a Wren and a lot of gulls on the fields being ploughed.
All in all it was a fabulous walk, an exploration of a new area and the added bonus of a Hawfinch, I'll be back asap.
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There are also number of birds that will take insects in the manner of a flycatcher when the opportunity presents itself in winter, and as MJB says SpotFly is one of the later migrants in May, so one making it this far north in winter would be highly unlikely. There will always be some birds that 'get away', so it is best to let them go, rather than put them on a list based on a combination of circumstantial evidence and wishful thinking.
LittleBitOfBreadNoCheese
Well-known member
The Robin/Hawfinch issue also appears with birdNET (and hence the BirdWeather network) too.
Scozmos
Well-known member
The Flycatcher, I get, I stood looking at a Hawfinch which I've watched and photographed before
Stonefaction
Dundee Birding....(target 150 in 2024).
The way you worded the Hawfinch sighting in your original post was ambiguous giving the impression that although the bird looked 'big', the sun behind it made viewing difficult and as Merlin said it could 'hear' a Hawfinch that was enough to confirm the ID of the 'big' bird for you - rather than you just saying you saw an obvious Hawfinch that Merlin could also 'hear' at the same time - which would've removed the ambiguity, and which appears to have been the case given your most recent comment. This ambiguity was why I mentioned the regularity with which Merlin incorrectly 'hears' Hawfinch, in the first place.
Incidentally, Perthshire & Kinross has a new Bird Recorder now (George Dunbar) who I would think would probably be very interested in your sighting (and your recent Merlin sighting too - and anything else within Perthshire etc). I had a look for Little Bello Woods on Google Earth/Maps and Ordnance Survey as it wasn't ringing any bells, but then I remembered there was a Ballo Hill to the northwest of Dundee - and found a Little Ballo Woods nearby, which I'm guessing is/was the location in question?
(You've given LBOBNC's post a
but not mine, (which you've given a ) when it was me who suggested Merlin calls 'Hawfinch' incorrectly and he was just saying that the other well known AI bird ID app does the same, which I don't think really merited the ).Anyway, Hawfinch away from Scone Palace is always a great find (and given how hard they can be even at Scone Palace, almost as much of a great find there - even when you know they should be there), so well done.
Scozmos
Well-known member
Cheers Barry, I see what you mean about my wording, noted 👍 I did 😕 for the app issues, not the remark 👍The way you worded the Hawfinch sighting in your original post was ambiguous giving the impression that although the bird looked 'big', the sun behind it made viewing difficult and as Merlin said it could 'hear' a Hawfinch that was enough to confirm the ID of the 'big' bird for you - rather than you just saying you saw an obvious Hawfinch that Merlin could also 'hear' at the same time - which would've removed the ambiguity, and which appears to have been the case given your most recent comment. This ambiguity was why I mentioned the regularity with which Merlin incorrectly 'hears' Hawfinch, in the first place.
Incidentally, Perthshire & Kinross has a new Bird Recorder now (George Dunbar) who I would think would probably be very interested in your sighting (and your recent Merlin sighting too - and anything else within Perthshire etc). I had a look for Little Bello Woods on Google Earth/Maps and Ordnance Survey as it wasn't ringing any bells, but then I remembered there was a Ballo Hill to the northwest of Dundee - and found a Little Ballo Woods nearby, which I'm guessing is/was the location in question?
(You've given LBOBNC's post a
Anyway, Hawfinch away from Scone Palace is always a great find (and given how hard they can be even at Scone Palace, almost as much of a great find there - even when you know they should be there), so well done.
The weather has stopped me going back up there to Little Ballo, not Bello 👍
Stonefaction
Dundee Birding....(target 150 in 2024).
No worries, Brian. I can sympathise with regards the weather - the latter of my two visits to that general area (for landscape photography rather than birding) coincided with the beginning of the snow that ushered in that pretty bad winter in 2010-11.
A pair of mandarin ducks has set up home on Gannochy pond, Perth.
Gosh... no longer have to go to Edinburgh to find them now eh? LOL
kawwauser
Well-known member
first lesser black backed gull of the year for me at adler pond,also present several reed buntings /long tailed tits/great tits/robin/moorhen/dunnock/house s[arrow/woodpigeon/chaffinch just around the corner at clatto somebody has been putting down bird seed at the car park and there was small flock of birds ground feeding,best birds were 7 yellowhammers good to see that many and so close,there was also 3 magpies/2woodpigeons/coal tits/great tits/chaffinch/dunnocks/robins,a grey squirrel kept interrupting them ,at riverside nature park i saw my first bumble bee of the year i think this is the earliest i have ever seen one
