Up the Hill (1 Viewer)

[delia todd]

Hi Henry... well there's supposed to be just 16, so I think that's the last one going up now.

Joanne: they're just great to watch aren't they. Even though when I first saw her, and so far away (just a blob in my binocs) the jizz was just so recognisable, flying low over the heather, with a quick stall turn.

Brosnabirder: The hill with the turbines is over a kilometer away, there's a road at the bottom of the hill, then my patch starts.

I have seen them hunting the lower slopes of that hill but not on/near the top. Where the nest is I'm afraid I don't know.

The picture shows the hill, you can't see the road but there is quite a lot of moor between it and what you can see in the foreground. I've been searching through to try and find a better pic but sorry that's the best I can do at the moment.

When I first saw her yesterday she was way out of shot on the LHS then I followed her to round about the RHS of the pic where I lost her till she appeared behind me more-or-less where this picture is taken from.

So 'near' is relative... closer to them than me LOL

I'm sure all that makes absolutely no sense at all either.

D

 

[Jos Stratford]

Hi Henry... well there's supposed to be just 16, so I think that's the last one going up now.

Could you bring a couple over when you next come, do fancy being a bit more green myself and I'm sure I could squeeze a half dozen on my land. Do you think the energy company would fix nestboxes to them for me?

PS nice about the Hen Harrier, all the best patches have one

 

[Brosnabirder]

Thanks for the reply Delia.
Harriers always catch my interest. A friend saw a female Harrier in a soaring display flight this morning in Co. Kerry. Can't wait til the weekend to find some of my own in the hills.
Keep your eyes peeled. Will look in to the thread with interest

 

[delia todd]

A friend saw a female Harrier in a soaring display flight this morning in Co. Kerry.

Lucky b****r I was watching for that last year and this but haven't been lucky enough. Good luck for you though.

Can you supply the 200ft lorries, Jos. Not sure if I could drive it though:-O

D

 

[Alan227]

I do patch work too; on Ashdown Forest and had a similar experience.....saw a large raptor in the distance, thought it was a HH but it was too far away to be sure. It was high for a change....I lost site of it, then half an hour later there it was in front of me! A ringtail! That was last week.....probably the last one I'll see for awhile.

I went to look last Friday Joanne, but nil. That could be it for the season now...

Al

 

[kawwauser]

i was up your way today delia, i left blairgowrie and took the braemar road ending up at alyth,what beutifull scenery,im coming back as soon as we get blue skies,i visited the turbines,not sure if they are as big as michelins, but there is a hell of a lot more of them ,how big are they?,they certainly wont go down well with the tourists looking for a good old scottish landscape,on the plus side i saw a buzzard collecting nesting material on the moor oposite the turbines,i also saw 2 curlews plus heard a skylark(first this year)

buzzard with moss

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/bzzrdn.jpg

turbines

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/Picture069.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/Picture067b-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/Picture083-1.jpg

view to the east

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/vie.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d91/kawwauser/vie2.jpg

 

[delia todd]

Oh the Buzzards are back are they... I haven't seen or heard one for ages up there - round about but just not on the patch. Strange that, as they're usually present all year.

Your guess is as good as mine as to how tall they are... tell you what you climb up with a ball of string and I'll hold the ladder:-O Have you any idea how far apart the lights are on the sides of the trailer units... well there were 17 of them on the ones I saw

I haven't been on that road for a year now... it just wasn't the place to be with all the construction traffic using it. How those huge lorries negotiated the bends I have no idea!

Unfortunately I had to tramp the streets of Perth today.

D

 

[kawwauser]

i phoned dundee district council asking if a wildlife report was available for the michelin turbines,i was punted from pillar to post,i eventually got a phone call which stated that as the surrounding wildlife was used to a built up enviroment there was no reason to think the turbines would be a deterent,i was also guided to this website
http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/projects/plan_michelin.html

the turbines are 85m

delia your turbines are totally different because of the location plus the numbers will have more of an impact,ive also heard from others birders across the globe that birds flying into them are a problem,im trying to contact ecotricity to ask if i could check the ground below the turbines for dead birds ,at the end of the day we wont stop this progress but it would be helpfull if we could submit a truthfull report rather than wait on a company report

 

[delia todd]

i phoned dundee district council asking if a wildlife report was available for the michelin turbines,i was punted from pillar to post,i eventually got a phone call which stated that as the surrounding wildlife was used to a built up enviroment there was no reason to think the turbines would be a deterent,i was also guided to this website
http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/projects/plan_michelin.html

the turbines are 85m

delia your turbines are totally different because of the location plus the numbers will have more of an impact,ive also heard from others birders across the globe that birds flying into them are a problem,im trying to contact ecotricity to ask if i could check the ground below the turbines for dead birds ,at the end of the day we wont stop this progress but it would be helpfull if we could submit a truthfull report rather than wait on a company report

hmmm they didn't seem to make it easy for you to get the information, but at least somebody phoned you back in the end.

As Drumderg is still a construction site I don't think anyone would be allowed to wander round the hill at the moment.

Just done a bit of googling and this is the best I can find at the mo. Total height 107m!

It's not just the visual impact of the turbines that has been an issue. The road from Alyth was supposed to have been upgraded (I understand) before work started... but that didn't happen. So the verges became a muddy quagmire blocking the drainage ditches.

Agreed speed limits weren't adhered to either.

The farmer who owns my patch said that 1 in 6 of the loads of concrete were dumped (he erected a sign at his road end inviting them to his farm to dump them at the new barn he was erecting:-O). I'd be on my patch for a couple of hours and at any one time I could see at least 6 concrete lorries either on site or en route.

Then there were the hydro linesmen erecting new power lines all over the place. One evening I could see a convoy of them coming behind me, so moved off immediately to a passing place 100 yrds up the road. The lead vehicle came right up my backside; the driver made a rude gesture when I pulled in for them to pass. I rang in a complaint about that:storm: He told his boss that it wasn't a 'rude gesture' and he didn't know where I was going when I pulled in.... yeah... right!

D

 

[Brosnabirder]

Hi Delia
I found a possible pair of Hen Harriers Saturday morning in the Silvermine's Mts, Co. Tipperary. They might be a pair as they were hunting within 50m of each other. The female was mobbed by Hoodies and left the area so unfortunately I didn't see display. The male did hunt within 100m of me. I must have blended in better than I thought. It was very cold. My hands were so numb I could barely roll a cigarette! The place I saw them at is a regular site (had several sightings there last year) so I suppose I refound them properly speaking. It is the earliest date I've seen them back at a breeding site. Best of luck with your quest. I'll be watching my site as much as possible over the next few weeks anyhow.

Alan227 that might indeed be it for wintering Harriers this year. At least over here they are back on the breeding grounds but I wouldn't rule out the odd straggler deciding the Arctic air this weekend was a bit much and staying on lower ground. I know I thought it a bit much anyway.

 

[delia todd]

My hands were so numb I could barely roll a cigarette

Ha! you need to toughen up a bit... a bit of cold has never stopped me:-O

I rarely see both of them out together and then they're not what you would call close... usually hunting different parts of the moor.

D

 

[Brosnabirder]

Ha! you need to toughen up a bit... a bit of cold has never stopped me:-O

I rarely see both of them out together and then they're not what you would call close... usually hunting different parts of the moor.

D

They just don't make us as tough as the Scots over here. Southern softies I suppose.
You probably know this but Harriers only defend an immediate nesting territory and birds from different pairs will hunt the same general area if the food is there. Males have been recorded hunting 10km from an active nest. Hope your birds are a pair and they are breeding close by though.

 

[delia todd]

Comings and Goings

There was a very light drizzle falling as I started to climb up the hill - this turned to snow when I was up there brrr.

The big flock of Skylarks has moved on although I could hear the odd one singing brave little souls! Unlike the Oystercatchers... think it's too cold for them:-O A Curlew is still toughing it out though.

The visibility became too poor to see much through the snow cloud, so I moved down to the loch. A couple of Common Gulls chased a Buzzard away, but not far, he just went and sat on a big rock.

Two Mallard and two Dabchicks, very much as pairs today but three... yes three Moorhens two fairly near together the remaining one at the other end of the loch.

Peering through the snowy scene, I found a Heron's head sticking out of the long grass, then a movement out of the corner of my eye and there behind me was a really beautiful male Stonechat, in fact there were two males and at least one female.

D

 

[delia todd]

How it all changes

I wouldn't normally have gone up two days running but the weather was so nice I just had to.

A raptor watch produced only Buzzards one soaring higher and higher on the thermals, then another two above the windfarm... these being mobbed by a Crow.

There were four Curlews in the stubble (much more noticeable today, not hunkered down like yesterday), along with a few Pheasants.

Down at the loch the Heron was on the causeway, being kept company by an Oystercatcher (another two in the field behind, so the warm weather has tempted them back).

Two pairs of Mallards now and both the Dabchicks and Moorhens were swimming about.

I got out of the car for a little wander about immediately finding a Fieldfare - later there was a flock of about 25 of them. A single Pied Wagtail has arrived and the Skylarks were singing.

What a lovely day.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Down at the loch the Heron was on the causeway.

Having presumably extracted his head from the grass where it had been left the day before, sticking out.

 

[delia todd]

Having presumably extracted his head from the grass where it had been left the day before, sticking out.

Clever to do that wasn't he:-O

D

 

[delia todd]

First visit yesterday since I got back from my trip to Wales on Sunday.

No Willow Warblers or Linnets singing from the gorse yet and only a couple of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits could be heard, mind a Kestrel was hunting that part, which may have kept them quiet.

Down at the water a pair of Moorhens on one side, one of which then went and chased another one (which was quietly minding his own business at the other side); it shot across the causeway and disappeared into the marshy grass below. It reappeared a little later on when the coast was clear.

One Dabchick visible, hopefully the other on a nest. Another pair of Tufted Ducks have arrived - I wonder if these two will stay to breed this year.

Three Black Headed Gulls and around 10 Common Gulls but only one Oystercatcher and Curlew were noted.

Three Swallows zoomed past, not stopping to feed over the water (hmmm it was rather windy though LOL) so does that mean summer has arrived up there?

D

 

[delia todd]

All right Ben... you needn't nag

After a really dreich morning on Thursday, the sun came out in Blairgowrie during the afternoon, so off I went. I caught the rain up and could hardly even see the windmills for the cloud.

Started at the loch, as I thought the birds there wouldn't mind the weather. There's actually 4 Moorhens now - a very minor squabble between them in the middle of the water but peace soon returned. A single Dabchick at the far end, so hopefully the other is on a nest. No Mallards to be seen at all.

Three Oystercatchers and 4 Common Gulls, so numbers of these are well down on previous years.

A Reed Bunting popped onto a fence post tweeting away, then a pair of Linnets flew in to sit on a gorse bush. Two Curlews walked across the hill on the skyline

Time to leave (bit fed up with the rain by now) but drove slowly by the stubble field, which was absolutely full of Chaffinches feeding away, a few Skylarks with them.

I disturbed two Song Thrushes and a Pied Wagtail on the road.

D

 

[Ian Bell]

My apologies for nagging Delia...but if you want results...!

Nice report as always and I love the way you introduced "dreich" into your post.A truly,fantastic Scots word.:t:

 

[delia todd]

http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Template:LocationTemplate

Thanks Ben

I love the way you introduced "dreich" into your post.

hmmmm... it's just a shame we have to use it so often:eek!:

Not like that today though, really lovely and warm, hardly a cloud in the sky. Managed my Atlas tetrad this afternoon.

I see you saved your thousandth post for a good report on the Torry thread... well done:t:

D