Birding Ecosse Blogspot

Welcome to the Birding Ecosse blog, if it is your first visit then thank you very much for dropping in!

This blog will follow all my trips and tours, so if you have been out with me recently the chances are very high you will make an appearance! Most of the pictures on the blog are my own, however if I do use third party pictures I will have obtained their permission and will give them full credit.

It is designed to be a lighthearted read to show how and where Birding Ecosse operates, so if you are thinking of booking a tour check out this Blog and my Blog Archives and then read through the Testimonials and you should get a flavour of what to expect! Great Birds, Great Scenery with Coffee and biscuits thrown in!  Please note: All  birds will have been viewed in a safe and environmentally accepted way, that is to say by using public access at all times or by the use of hides specifically erected for the observation of this species and by keeping at a  safe distance and viewing through telescopes. Remember you can keep in touch via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dslaterbirdingecosse or twitter @birdingecosse

Did you know Birding Ecosse produces a newsletter?  Get up to date news and offers first if you subscribe, check out “latest news” page for the most current publication then just select subscribe.   The newsletter is a lighthearted look at what has happened the previous months, full of Pictures and information (many that are not published on this blog page) of places we have visited, we also produce our mid-month “Planned trips” mailing which gives an update of all remaining spaces available on tours.

So sit back and enjoy the read, any feedback is appreciated.

Keep safe and keep Birding

Dave

November 2022 – Newsletter

Tony and Fiona

Immature White Tailed Eagle.

September 2022 – Round Up

Greetings and salutations from the far North and welcome to this October Newsletter. Firstly, where did September go? I was quite happily muddling through August then all of a sudden “Hello October” the trees are changing colour and Easter Eggs are in the shops!

September is a busy month, summer birds are in their final stages of preparation for migration and the very first signs of winter migrants start to appear, this year in the form of Pink Footed Geese. Lying in bed it is always nice to hear the first “honk, honk, ink, ink, honk” as Skien’s of these weary travellers’ head for Findhorn Bay, just 5 miles away. A very evocative sound.

The West Coast is always worth a visit at this time of year, and that is where Jackie and myself were bound early on in the month. Enroute to Gruinard a large raptor appeared just to the left of the car and passed low overhead “Golden Eagle” was the cry as we watched it glide over the moorland and disappear across a nearby hill.. a cracking start!

Tourist Eagle – Common Buzzard

Robert, Maureen and Peter – Uists Autumn 2022

Last up for September 22 was Karen all the way from the US of A

Uists 2022 – 09-13 September 2022

And that’s a wrap! The end of the Uists 2022 season has sadly arrived.

The latest batch of Victims Robert, Maureen and Peter notched up an impressive 86 species and covering all the islands from Berneray in the North to Vatersay in the south.

Team Uists 2022 – Robert, Maureen and Peter.

Weather was a mixed bag with beautiful sunshine, flat calm (with Midges) to Downpours (not the local Gin lol) and gales! But all in all it was quite pleasant.  Accommodation was at the old hunting lodge “Langass Lodge” comfy beds, great showers, super friendly and helpful staff and lovely food, I have to mention the Fish and Chips off the bar menu and the Monk Fish and Langoustine from the restaurant, absolutely delicious!

An Autumn visit to the Uists is a very different experience to a summer trip, no Corncrakes or Phalaropes, but plenty of interesting things to keep us amused.

The stars of the trip had to be the waders, areas such as Middlequarter, Ardivachar and Stinky Bay all came up Trumps with Pectoral and Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stints, Ruff and Grey Plovers, still sporting their breeding plumage, add to these Golden Plover, Turnstones, Know Black and Bar Tailed Godwits, Sanderling, Oystercatchers, Curlews, and Redshanks! Absolutely brilliant.

Curlew

Black Tailed Godwits

RSPB Balranald came up with great comparisons on Linnet and Twites, sitting on the fences and telephone wires.

Linnet

Twite

The small birds put on a good show with 4 Sand Martins at the south end of Loch Bi passing through in waves and joined with Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails.

A Slavonian Grebe just over the causeway at Benbecula showed some very strange but interesting behaviour, when we first spotted the bird is was floating normally on the water, it then dived, as we watched the bird resurfaced, but only poking the crown of head, eye and upper mandible out of the water, it then slipped sub surface again before once again resurfacing with just the crown, eye and upper bill above the water, it carried this out four of five times, very strange.  I have seen this behaviour in Black Throated Divers but never in Grebes.

And finally, my favourite picture of the trip was this Wren, sitting on a Canna flower on an early damp and misty Hebridean morning.

Wren

Thursday 01 September 2022

As we draw closer to Autumn, the trees are just beginning to turn colour, Hirundines are still present in the area with some House Martin still trying to encourage their second broods to leave the nest,

The last few months have been a torrent of Birding Tours and family stuff, both leading to some fantastic birding.  A quick pictorial summary follows.

Black Browed Albatross

Probably the Highlight of this year so far, the long staying Black Browed Albatross at RSPB Bempton Cliffs, absolutely fantastic to witness this master of the air in flight!

Hot on the heels of the Albatross were the breeding Bee Eaters at Trimingham at Norfolk, long range pictures but fantastic views through the scopes.

In my life I have only ever seen three Bitterns, and all have been out of the right-hand window of the Bittern Hide at RSPB Minsmere, sad to think that very soon the new nuclear facility at Sizewell C will border right onto the flagship RSPB Minsmere reserve.

Marsh Harriers put on a great show, a true success story from Norfolk and Suffolk.

Dunwich Heath is now probably both Lucky Lynda’s and my favourite visit, beautiful habitat, a great coffee shop and Dartford Warblers! What’s not to like!

A visit to Arbroath gave some good year birds, a Juvenile Black Tern hung about on the foreshore for a good four hours and a total count of three Mediterranean Gulls, something a young David would never ever have imagined being possible.

Another nice find was over 100 Little Gulls, quite a surprise to see so many in one place!

Even the commoner species showed well, like this Redshank in fighting mood with its peers!

A couple of Common Cranes cheered up a lunchtime at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg, it is so nice to see these birds are becoming more numerous and have bred in the area.

Our local Slavonians had a very good season managing to get two chicks away, a really fantastic success for such a rare species, the reports I am hearing does not point to an overall good season though.

We have also had quite a good cetacean season with this Minke breaching more like a Dolphin than a whale!

So, all in all, it has been a great time, this full-time guiding is turning out quite well!

Friday 08 to Sunday 10 July 2022

A truly fantastic three days with a great group of folk, exploring the stunning west coast of Scotland, the beautiful Scottish Highlands and the dramatic Moray Coastline.

Shenagh, Mandy and Ben

Shenagh, Mandy and Ben were first up, and as we set off the running plan for the day changed due to very low cloud from the high pass to Applecross to the stunning West Coast. Stopping off at a small Loch en-route is was quite sad to see no Slavonian Grebes in the area, this site used to hold at least four pairs, hopefully they have moved to another lochan, however on a happier note the Osprey nest we watch each year has two fairly chunky, nearly fledged, young!

The West coast was bathed in sun when we arrived, two pure Hooded Crows were perched on the nearby church roof, Gannets gleaming pure white circled and fed out in the bay, but there was a severe lack of birds on the water, moving around the coast we had great views of Juvenile Wheatear, Eider female with a fluffy chick, Curlews.

Lunch with a view

Heading out to Mellon Charles we were treated to superb views of Common Terns as they fed and tended to the young, it was surprising the age spread of chicks with some tiny birds to some fully fledged.

And so to the bird pictured above, a bird that every year leads to many “what on earth is that” comments, with most people coming down on the side of some sort of wader.  It is in fact a juvenile Black Headed Gull!  Quite a smart looking bird I think.

Now the constant factor on the three days was Shenagh, and today she was joined by Umesh, Vibha and Shanti.

Shanti, Vibha and Umesh on Cairngorm

Today was Cairngorm birds, the day was mild, however arriving from sunny and warm California Shanti and Vibha were feeling the cold!  I was nearly in tee shirt and flip flops.

A really pleasant day ensued with great views of Male Reed Bunting, Spotted Flycatcher, Red Grouse, Slavonian Grebe, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Common Sandpiper and Meadow Pipits to name just a few.

Spotted Flycatcher

After lunch and as is normal at this time of year raptor valley was fairly quiet however an Osprey was a great bonus as we watched it fish in the river Findhorn, it really is a great spectacle of nature to see these birds stoop and plunge into the water.

The final day was just Shenagh and myself, and it was a day of great chat, good advice (received not given I hasten to ask!) beautiful scenery and great birds, plus a bit of an added bonus.

First stop was Bowfiddle Rock, a bit of an overlooked local beauty spot.

Bowfiddle Rock

It was scorching on the coast today, but so nice to experience some proper summer time.

Bowfiddle Rock is one of my favourite places to be in the summer time, Fulmars glide past almost at touching distance, Kittiwakes “Kitti-waaaake Kitti – Waaaaake” on the vertical cliff faces beside Guillemots and Razorbills, Herring Gulls and Shag litter any other available ledges, shelves and flat areas.  Further along the cliff path we came to the small breeding cliff. this area gives outstanding close up views of the breeding birds, the highlight being seeing the emerald green eye of the Shags, the bonus for today was a Minky Whale very very close to shore! (and yes I know it is not Whale Ecosse!)

Driving along the beautiful Moray Coastline we were treated to Eiders with Chicks, Moulting Goosanders, Rock Pipits, Gannets, Black Guillemots, and superb comparison views of Common and Arctic Terns on Lossiemouth Estuary.

We did see a couple of dead Gannets on our travels a sobering reminder of the Avian Flu that is ravaging seabird colonies throughout the North of Scotland, hopefully our birds will rebound over the coming months and years.

Arctic Tern

Common Tern

Tuesday 05 July 2022

Strangely enough todays pick up for Terry and her son Stephen was once again in Inverness, that is every tour since I left the railway been Inverness collections!

Anyway soon we had driven south and were on the beautiful (although sterile) Scottish grouse moors, the drizzly cool weather (+8) kept the Grouse huddled down although we did manage to see one female and around 4 chicks.

It was also great to see the local Black Throated Divers  cruising around with their now quite sizable two chicks, hopefully securing the breeding link to this stunning location.

Common Sandpiper

A slow drive around the loch gave excellent views of Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Common Sandpiper, and more surprisingly a Cuckoo and one of my first Spotted Flycatchers of the season, I feel the Flycatchers are arriving later and later each year.

A very distant and heavily cropped Cuckoo

Spotted Flycatcher

The day then took a more sombre turn when we tried to drive to the Strathdearn Valley only to be faced with a huge tailback and a closed A9, Sadly it transpired that three people had perished in a horrible crash that closed the road for many hours.

Stephen and Terry

A change of plan saw us heading to the stunning area of Spey dam, one of our target species for today the dipper was seen just below the River at the beginning of the dam, however it was when we stopped for a Coffee at the beginning of the Dam itself that Stephen looked up as an adult Golden Eagle glided overhead and across the valley, a glorious sight!  Throughout the trip in the valley we also picked up Stonechat (plenty of Juveniles) Meadow Pipits, Osprey, Siskin, Coal Tit, Buzzard, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk.

A great day with Terry and Stephen, I look forward to our next meeting, hopefully in less than 4 years time like it was this trip!

Friday 08 to Sunday 10 July 2022

Another fantastic three days birding we a super set of people!

Thursday 30 June and Friday 01 July 2022

Well what can I say, so much has changed since my last blog below, we are selling our house, we have already moved back out into the country where we can sit on our couches and watch Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Tree Sparrows and Red Squirrels on our feeder and where the only sound we hear is the wind blowing in the silver birches… total bliss!  But the biggest change to my life is I have now retired from my job in the Railway and as such I am now a full time Birding Guide! It has taken a while, my initial hope was to be full time in three years, however being the coward I am it has taken fourteen to get to that stage, but the deed is done and the only way now is forward! (although it still does feel I’m holiday and will be going back to the old job any day soon!)

Vivek and Abja en-route to Troup Head

The first people to fall victim to “Full Time” Dave were Abja and Vivek, all the way from the US of A and what a great couple of days, filled with stories, laughs, advice (thank you Vivek) and history, plus some great birding as well!

A trip to Troup Head is always a great day out, this year however it has taken on a different guise with the arrival of Bird Flu and over the last few weeks we have seen quite a large number of Gannets either dead in the water, cliffs and nesting ledges or birds looking very lethargic and waterlogged on the sea surface or land, a very sad sight indeed, at present the Auks and Kittiwakes look unaffected.

RSPB Troup Head

it was no all doom and gloom though and there were still thousands of seabirds to see Guillemots, Black Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin, Kittiwake, Shag, Cormorant, Herring, Great Black Backed, Lesser Black Backed and Black Headed Gull all put in an appearance.  Highlight of the trip though had to be when Harold and Sophia threw some Mackerel overboard, the resulting feeding frenzy was just jawdropping!

Gannets

The next day was Highland Birds and another great day.  Red Grouse was first on the list and a female and chicks duly obliged.

Red Grouse

It was nice to see the young Grouse, hopefully they will survive no only the summer but also when the shooting season starts again.

We also had a good showing of the breeding waders pictured below:

Oystercatcher

Lapwing

We also picked up great views of a Male Lesser Redpoll and Male Reed Bunting, and this Male Greenfinch decided to stop off and check us out, checking it out!

Male Greenfinch

And so the two days passed far too quickly, soon I was waving Abja and Vivek farewell, strangely enough at Inverness Railway Station 🙂  a great couple of days in good company, thanks to both of you!

Saturday 14 May 2022

So much for a weekly blog! Life once again has gone into birding tour overdrive with all my May and June dates now full, thank you to everyone for booking, it is much appreciated.

We have had some absolutely fantastic birding lately, Little Ringed Plover, Great White Egret, Marsh Harriers, Garganey, Lots and lots of Ospreys, Golden Eagle and lots more beside.

As if that is not busy enough Birding Ecosse is moving HQ back out into the countryside, so watch out for lots of Garden Bird pictures, already had a Crossbill, Tree Sparrows and Yellowhammer visiting, along with next doors Muscovy Duck “Bob” (who is actually a she!)

So just a few shots of some of the birds my victims have encountered over the last few weeks:

Osprey

A frazzled looking Dipper with food for its brood!

Whimbrel

“Bridled” Guillemot

Male Yellowhammer

Weekly Blog:  07 – 13 March 2022

A very quiet week tours wise but still a lot to see and do in the area.  The Long Staying King Eider was seen again off the Nairn Leisure centre, but was absolutely miles out, just below the horizon and quite difficult to pick out from the Common Eiders it was hanging around with.

A Surf Scoter was off Roseisle viewpoint at the beginning of the week but has since fallen off the radar.

Winter migrants still grace the area with flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing seen on most birding days and Pink Footed Geese still depart Findhorn Bay early morning.

Dipper collecting nesting material

The local Dippers are back on territory and a memory of 2 year ago was this bird collecting nesting material at a site in Nethybridge, which incidentally is still hosting 4 Waxwings although the Hawfinches seem to have moved on.

And so that’s another week over, this time next week I should be in Norfolk, however even now there is exciting news for the next weekly blog…… stay tuned 😉

Keep safe and Good Birding

Dave

Weekly Blog:  28 Feb – 06 March 2022

Welcome to my (hopefully) weekly blog, a very quick resume of the weeks birding highlights.

It was a busy week with Maureen and Peter out for a day trip and Denise taking part in a weekend tour, a wide variety of species were requested, we were lucky on some and missed out on others.

For some reason the pretty village of Nethybridge was the epicentre of birding activity in the area with Waxwings, Hawfinch and a huge influx of Brambling on offer.

Some of the huge Brambling influx to the area.

The waxwings were picked up on a couple of Mornings but remained high up in trees and in very poor lighting for photography, the Hawfinch was never seen!

Crossbills were high on the wanted lists and luckily we scored on every trip, the birds performed really well for all trips feeding on larch cones and one male in full song,

Crossbill (male top picture – female lower)

The three long staying Snow Geese were outside Lossiemouth in a field with a group of Feral Greylags and the Ring Necked Duck on a wee Lochan outside Elgin is always a nice bird to pick up.

Snow Bunting were also a wanted bird, and they did not disappoint.

Trips to the West Coast of Scotland are always a treat, and always turn up nice birds, this time we had all the regular Divers including this very showy Great Northern Diver.

Surprisingly for BIRDING Ecosse we picked up a fair few “other stuff” including a very showy Dolphiny type thing,

We also saw Red and Roe Deer, Brown Hare, Grey Seal and Red Squirrel.

Plus mother nature gifted us with some stunning weather and jaw dropping scenery.

And so that is you all up to date for this week, keep safe and keep Birding!

Monday 21 February 2022

A highly entertaining day scooting around Moray and the Highlands with multi trip victim Pam, starting off at Burghead harbour we were treated to a group of Eiders inside the harbour walls giving outstanding views, this one bird showed an interesting plumage.

Male Eider

A Carbo Cormorant was trying it’s hardest to be a Sinensis Cormorant! But try as I might the gular patch remained Carbo.

Cormorant (Carbo)

But Highlight had to be the long staying King Eider at Nairn and today was the closest I have seen it by far. (still rubbish pictures though!)

Also added to the days list were Brambling, Velvet Scoters, Purple Sandpipers, 3 White Morph Snow Geese and a beautiful male Red Grouse it was a truly great day out

Monday 14 February 2022

Cracking day today with a full on twitch with Lynda, Hilary and Craig, destination Fraserburgh, and focus of the twitch? A superb adult Ross’s Gull! Expectations were high!

Arriving at Kinnaird Head a fellow Birder informed us straight away the bird was present and showing distantly but well through a scope.

Kinnaird Head Lighthouse – Fraserburgh

Distinctive Petrel like pattering on waters surface.

In total 64 species were seen including 20 Brent Geese, over 400 Pintails, 40 plus Velvet Scoter, Common Scoter and Long Tailed Ducks, 1 Slavonian Grebe, Purple Sandpiper and Red Throated Divers.

A perfectly nice birding day was spoiled by Bottle Nosed Dolphins and this Squirrel.

January 2022