Patch treat

Not often I get the chance to see a real quality bird without considerable travel so seeing a red-backed shrike in the NW highlands is a real bonus! The bird showed well (although was always a little distant) and put on a show of doing what shrikes do- sitting on a perch, dropping down to predate a beetle or grub, then returning to its' vantage point to eat its prey. A real treat for me as although I have seen a couple of 1st winter/female types in Scotland over the past few years this is my first adult male since seeing a Breckland bird in the early 80's! 

Rose tinted birding

At last a bird has been reported in Highland that could be considered a local twitch- only a 50 mile round trip to try and catch up with a rose-coloured starling at Achiltibuie. Friday evenings' attempt turned into a dip despite careful scrutiny of the area around the piping school cafe and surrounding crofts over a near 3 hour search. A return on Saturday morning resulted in a rather nervous second attempt with the bird taking nearly 2 hours to show- but when it did it proved worth the wait- I had not seen an adult before and it was certainly an attractive individual. I also saw a helmeted guineafowl walking along the verge- obviously an escape but interesting to see. 

Cutting edge birding!

No- unfortunately I have not come up with a new wing formula for tricky warblers or new bill dimension criteria for crossbill sp. - but I did rescue two tawny owlets from a horrible fate! 

Yesterday, whilst walking on a highland estate I came across a tractor with hedge trimming/grass cutting equipment bolted on the sides. As cutting operations were ongoing I decided to follow an alternative loop to avoid the general disturbance and noise- not much use for woodland/riverside habitat birding. Anyway, a couple of hours later having done some very pleasant birding, I started the return leg when I became aware of two birds calling in deep vegetation just off the track. I was unfamiliar with the calls which immediately raised my excitement level as it is not often I do not recognise bird calls. Further investigation revealed two owlets emitting what I assumed were begging/contact calls. I admired the two birds before commencing my walk along the track- until I realised with some horror that the two owlets were in the path of the ongoing trimming operations that were now some 400 metres or so further down the track and likely to trim the owlets in an hour or so! With plenty of daylight remaining I guessed that the owlets would remain in situ for some time. Now I'm well aware that we should not touch or interfere with recently fledged birds and chicks but on this occasion I knew that if I did not intervene the owlets would certainly meet with a grisly death- so reluctantly I returned to the birds locations and after much beak clacking, blinking of large blue eyes and flexing of sharp claws, I managed to lift both birds to a safer location further into the vegetation and between trees where no cutting blades could reach. Fortunately a passer -bye managed to capture a shot on my iPhone of me holding an owlet -job done as they say!

tawny owlet in cover

Later that day breaking news of a Citrine wagtail near Durness prompted a plan for the following morning that allowed me to twitch a much needed lifer- just reward methinks! 

part of the trimmed verge- not good for owls- or much else!

a lovely little bird carefully relocated out of harms way!

Summer stroll

We have a fine spell of weather in the NW highlands just now, so it  is a good time to spend an evening or two strolling around Achnahaird. Few birds of note with the exception of the long staying glaucous gull, a few passage dunlin and two pairs of lapwing. Nature is in full swing now with the salt marsh covered in thrift- the pink flowers providing a very pretty carpet for the ringed plover to forage in. A few puffballs are putting in an appearance and the bay gave up some fantastic sand ripples at low tide. 

dunlin

long staying glaucous gull

view of Achnahaird bay

stunning sand ripples

puff ball

a carpet of thrift

KP nuts and a saucy Savi's.

Last week I was finalising a plan for a significant twitch to try and catch up with spoonbill on the Montrose basin and Temminck's stint at Letham pools in Fife- both species being needed for my 'Scottish' list. Whilst packing my bag an RBA alert came through at 18:10 informing me that a Kentish plover had been found near Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. With a minimum 3 hour drive to the site and 4 hours of light left it was a non-starter. A quick phone call to my birder friend Bob Mcmillan confirmed that he had found the bird and he obligingly provided an accurate grid. ref. for the site location. Plan B was set in motion very early the following day. As any twitcher knows, the feeling of total desolation following a major dip is not something to dwell on, so I'll just say that after a 03:00 start, a 6 hour return drive of 280 miles and 6 hours on site searching for the bird without success my mood could not really be described as jolly! The bird had obviously been a one- dayer and flown on overnight. To rub salt into my wounds I had received a couple of alerts during my travels informing me that both the stint and spoonbill had stayed in place all day- bummer. Highlight birds for my efforts were limited to 3 bar-tailed godwits and two pairs of very tidy whinchat. Enough said. I did enjoy spectacular views of the Cuillin range on Skye however. 

Anyway, moving swiftly on, a few days later I teamed up with former Highland recorder Al Mcnee for a very early twitch to Loch of Strathbeg to try and see a Savi's warbler. We left Inverness at 01:00, arrived on site shortly after 03:15 and had located the bird shortly after 03:30. Although distant we enjoyed intermittent 'scope' views for the next couple of hours. Although the bird was perched in an upright stance in the tops of the phragmites reed stems, the distance and wind direction did not allow me to hear it. Some you win, some you lose……..

Highland spring?

It has been a fairly poor run of weather this 'spring' in the Highland region- a few days of sun here and there but generally much of April and May has been chilly and damp. Migrants have been slow to arrive and with pink- footed geese and white-winged gulls hanging about, it still seems like late March! I have managed to twitch a couple of good birds further south including a subalpine warbler and collared flycatcher at St. Abbs- unfortunately I did not manage any photos. of those beauties! Redstarts and spotted flycatchers are just back on local territories and hirundines remain scarce. Hopefully things will improve soon!!

pinkies- Achnahaird

Iceland gull with common gull- Achnahaird

twite- Mellon Udrigle

Highland coo- Mellon Udrigle

Bluebells- Loch Broom

Slow spring, scarce migrants.

Little to report from the NW - the air temperature is still way down and 'spring' migrants are few and far between- a few sand martins, the occasional willow warbler, chiffchaff and wheatear, a very occasional swallow and a single singing tree pipit. With white-winged gulls still sticking around at Achnahaird it still seems rather wintery, although one or two of the resident great-northern divers are starting to look good in their summer plumages. A pair of merlin sat on the salt marsh was a bonus as was a fly-over white-tailed eagle. Today the first white wagtails tipped up so it is very much a transitional period at the moment. Hopefully we will get a good twitchable migrant before too long- preferably on the mainland or else I'm gonna have to go for the serin…………

glaucous gull

Iceland gull

great northern diver

merlin

white wagtail

white-tailed eagle

The case of the phantom white- billed diver.

It is great to be home and I had a great half day birding on one of my 'local' patches today- Achnahaird beach/salt marsh/dunes- a 25 mile drive north of Ullapool. I had planned a trip to the hebrides and although the rooms were booked the ferry was full. Plan B- check out the recently reported 'white-billed diver' - one of two reported, with another further up the coast at Lochinver. As is so often the case with WBD reports in the north and west, this one turned out to be a waste of time- either the birds in this part of the world are incredibly mobile and have moved on by the time I arrive or visiting birders are often duped by pale-billed great northerns- unfortunately an annual occurrence . Of course, with a number of experienced birders visiting this part of the world too, some birds turn out to be genuine white-bills, but unfortunately nowhere near as many as the various reports on the bird news services suggest. On arrival I saw a nice Iceland gull sitting on the loch alongside the approach road. From the car park I scoped 5 great northern divers- four with black bills and a lone pale-billed individual. A single black-throated diver was a nice bonus. The bay also held cormorants, black guillemots and a couple of razorbills. On the beach with the common, herring and great black-backed gulls was a magnificent glaucous gull- this bird allowed for some of the best views I have ever had of this species in Britain. Other notable birds included a splendid snow bunting- my first record at this site since November 2010 and a pair of shelduck- another unusual record for the north-west coast. Two sand martins were my first true spring migrants of this year. Singing skylarks and calling lapwings and snipe coupled with displaying ringed plovers made for a very enjoyable birding session- and it was so refreshing to have to wear a beanie and gloves! ;)

glaucous gull

glaucous gull

Iceland gull

common gull

snow bunting

shelduck