sh4rpy's birding blog
Monday, 26 May 2014
Otmoor
A couple of hours in the rain with Paul F at Otmoor this morning. Turtle Dove, Cuckoo, Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Raven, Bullfinch, Snipe.
Saturday, 24 May 2014
N Uist and Highlands Trip Pics
All the pics below were taken by my birding pal Paul Frost.
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| Osprey-Skye |
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| Great Northern Diver-Skye |
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| White-tailed Eagle-Skye |
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| Hooded Crow-Skye |
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| Corncrake-Balranald |
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| Cuckoo-N Uist |
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| Arctic Tern-Balranald |
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| Sheep waiting for bus to go speed dating |
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| Golden Eagle |
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| Golden Eagle |
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| Golden Eagle mobbed by Raven |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Corn Bunting-Balranald |
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| Redshank-Balranald |
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| Redshank chick-Balranald |
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| Short-eared Owl-Solas |
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| Whooper Swan-Balranald |
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| Pomarine Skua-Balranald |
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| Pomarine Skua-Balranald |
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| Arctic Skua-Balranald |
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| Great Skua (Bonxie)-Balranald |
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| Arctic Terns-Balranald |
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| Long-tailed Skua-Balranald |
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| Whinchat-Tulloch Moor |
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| Ptarmigan-Cairngorm |
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| Ptarmigan Cairngorm |
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| Cairngorm |
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| Cairngorm |
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| Red Grouse chick-Farr Road |
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| Red Grouse-Farr Road |
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| Red Grouse-Farr Road |
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| Yellowhammer-Ythan Estuary |
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| King Eider-Ythan Estuary |
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| King Eider-Ythan Estuary |
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| American Wigeon-Loch of Strathbeg |
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Stint and Splint
Tues May 20th 2014.
A lunchtime visit to see the 2 Temminck's Stint at Tyttenhanger. A handful of birders were there when I arrived and the Temminck's Stints were showing well on the main spit. I had work to do so I couldn't stay long. On my walk back to the car park a cyclist had fallen from his bike and was lying on the gravel path. His leg or ankle were obviously broken. A birder coming in the other direction was on the phone to the emergency services and a lady jogger appeared on the scene. As there were two people with the unfortunate cyclist I decided to wait nearer the entrance to the gravel pits so I could give the emergency services directions. After a few minutes a paramedic arrived, so I flagged him down and gave him some directions. I was running late so I left for work. Later via twitter I learned that the air ambulance also attended the injured cyclist.
Temminck's Stint pic below. Poor even by my low standards.
A lunchtime visit to see the 2 Temminck's Stint at Tyttenhanger. A handful of birders were there when I arrived and the Temminck's Stints were showing well on the main spit. I had work to do so I couldn't stay long. On my walk back to the car park a cyclist had fallen from his bike and was lying on the gravel path. His leg or ankle were obviously broken. A birder coming in the other direction was on the phone to the emergency services and a lady jogger appeared on the scene. As there were two people with the unfortunate cyclist I decided to wait nearer the entrance to the gravel pits so I could give the emergency services directions. After a few minutes a paramedic arrived, so I flagged him down and gave him some directions. I was running late so I left for work. Later via twitter I learned that the air ambulance also attended the injured cyclist.
Temminck's Stint pic below. Poor even by my low standards.
Monday, 19 May 2014
North Uist and Highlands Trip
Monday 12th May 2014
Brendan and Paul met at my house at 07:00 and we picked up Dave from the Bedmond on route to Airparks off airport parking at Slip End. Then courtesy bus to the airport, check in, passport control...............
Arrived on time at Inverness Airport and collected our hire before setting of for Uig on the Isle of Skye where we had to catch our ferry to Lochmaddy, North Uist. We started out trip list at Inverness Airport and the following were noted there;
Kestrel
Skylark
Hooded Crow
House Martin
Jackdaw
Rook
Herring Gull
Starling
Buzzard
Swallow
Pied Wagtail
Then on route from the airport;
Carrion Crow
Wood Pigeon
Lapwing
Blackbird
Chaffinch
Red Kite (Black Isle area)
House Sparrow
Goldfinch
Willow Warbler
A stop at Achnasheen;
Osprey x 3 fishing
Wigeon
Mallard
Greylag
Sand Martin
Tree Pipit
Common Sandpiper
Greenshank
Red-throated Diver
Wheatear
Another stop this time at Balnacra;
Ring Ouzel
Lesser Redpoll
Dunnock
Robin
Seen from the car in the Balmacara area;
Great black-backed Gull
Black-headed Gull
A stop at Lochalsh no Black Guillemots but;
Common Gull
Shag
Grey Heron
Over the Skye Bridge at Luib;
Great Northern Diver
Oystercatcher
Meadow Pipit
Guillemot
Red-breasted Merganser
Corn Bunting
Linnet
White Tailed Eagle - Adult pair passed overhead
Chiffchaff
Uig while wating for the ferry;
Black Guillemot
Raven
Rock Dove
Eider
Arctic Tern
Razorbill
Seen on the Uig/Lochmaddy ferry crossing;
Manx Shearwater
Puffin
Gannet
Great Skua
Cormorant
Fulmar
Kittiwake
Arrived on North Uist and checked in to Lochmaddy Hotel then straight out birding.
In the Committee Road area the following were added to our trip list;
Stonechat
Mute Swan
Short-eared Owl
Hen Harrier
Curlew
Grenitote not far from the co-op! at 21:00
Snowy Owl sitting on a pile of pallets
Whimbrel
Redshank
Snipe
Grey Plover
Dunlin
Shelduck
Ringed Plover
Little Tern
Bar-tailed Godwit
Tufted Duck
Our last birding of the day was in the fading light at RSPB Balranald;
Corn Crake 4 showing well and flying around near the visitors centre
Shoveler in flight
Not a bad start!
Tues 13th May 2014; Up at 05:30 and left hotel at 06:00.
Balranald our first stop for a bit of a seawatch. Not much going on here but the following were added;
Turnstone
Purple Sand
Sanderling
Arctic Skua
Rock Pipit
Back to Hotel for a full Scottish Breakfast then off in search of Golden Eagle. We visited an area we stumbled upon last year and immediately connected with a Golden Eagle as it hunted over a mountain. We watched as it caught a rabbit and flew from view. Later we saw the same Eagle on a fence post being mobbed by gulls, it ignored the Gulls but was forced from the post when 2 Raven joined in the mobbing.
Loch Bhrusda;
Twite
Garganey
(Arctic Skua also here)
Another visit to Balranald added the following to our trip list;
Brent Goose
White Wagtail
(Also Minke Whale 100 yrds off rocks)
Sollas;
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Loch Maddy area;
Song Thrush
Also male Hen Harrier chasing Great Black-backed Gull
Wed 14th May 2014 up and out same time as Tuesday.
A visit to Benbecula
Loch Mhor;
Black-tailed Godwit
(also male Hen Harrier)
Loch Fada;
Teal
Little Grebe
Coot
(Also 2 drake Garganey)
Back to Balranald;
Whooper Swan
Whilst at Balranald news of Dotterel on South Uist had us retracing some of our earlier footsteps.
Ardivachar;
Dotterell – pair on the firing range
Iceland Gull on the beach
(Also Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrid)
Thurs 15th May 2014 our last day on North Uist. Up and out same time as previous days.
Lochmaddy;
Black-throated Diver
Balranald;
Pomarine Skua
Long -tailed Skua
Time to head for the ferry to Uig and then our onward journey to the Highlands.
From the ferry in Loch Maddy Port;
Common Scoter
(later whilst feeding our faces in the ferry restaurant a Bonxie showed well on the sea close in to the boat)
On the journey to our accommodation "Mondhuie" http://www.mondhuie.com at Netheybridge an Osprey at Strathcarron.
Fri 16th May 2014
An 05:00 start in search of Capercaillie;
Pheasant
Mistle Thrush
Bullfinch
Red-legged Partridge
Jay
Capercaillie not great views but a Caper nonetheless.
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Goldcrest
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Tulloch Moor;
Whinchat a nice male singing his heart out
Blue Tit
Netheybridge;
Siskin
Loch Garten ;
Goldeneye
Aviemore ;
Greenfinch in Tesco's car park
A hike up Cairngorm was rewarded with;
Ptarmigan
Red Grouse
Loch Ruthven ;
Slavonian Grebe
Wren
(Also an Osprey allowed good views as it hung in the wind.)
Along the Farr Road on route to Findhorn Valley a Red Grouse pair escorting 8 chicks across the road was nice to see.
Findhorn Valley ;
Dipper
Peregrine
Common Tern
(Also Golden Eagle)
Sat 17th May 2014 an 05:00 start again and our first stop Tulloch Moor;
Black Grouse an early start the key to seeing Black Grouse here I think.
Forest Lodge;
Redstart
Crossbill
Treecreeper
Aviemore ;
Swift
Advie ;
Grey Wagtail
We decided to head over to the Ythan Estuary in search of King Eider.
A stop in Dufftown;
Blackcap
Whitethroat
Long-tailed Tit
In an attempt to cross a river here I lost my footing on some stepping stones and ended up with two bootfulls. I found the freezing water rather refreshing on a nice warm day. Paul soon followed suit but his entry lacked the grace and finesse of my effort.
Newburgh;
Yellowhammer
On arrival at the Ythan Estuary we immediately connected with the returning King Eider;
King Eider
Sedge Warbler
Sandwich Tern
Magpie
Next up, the Loch of Strathbeg ;
Tree Sparrow
American Wigeon
Spoonbill x 2
Gadwall
Moorhen
Reed Bunting
Stock Dove
Barnacle Goose (flock of 28)
Little Gull
Portsoy ;
Long Tailed Duck
Late evening at Netheybridge, no Woodcock or Long-eared Owl but a pair of;
Goosander
Sun 18th May 2014 our last day and also our latest start of 07:00.
Forest Lodge ;
Sparrowhawk
(also here; Redstart, Tree Pipit, Dipper, Crossbill, Treecreeper )
Loch Mallachie;
Spotted Flycatcher
(also Tree Pipit, Redstart)
Our time was up and off to Inverness for our return flight to Luton.
A great 6 days birding with lots of laughs along the way. Looking forward to next year already.
Thanks to all the friendly and helpful birders we met on our travels.
A big thanks also to Brendan, Paul and Dave for their great company.
This account certainly does not do the trip justice.
A total of 151 species. One or two “heard only” and roughly the same only seen by one observer
On the trip; Chris Sharp (sh4rpy), Brendan Glynn, Dave Johnson, Paul Frost.
We stayed at Lochmaddy Hotel on North Uist.
In the Highlands we stayed at "Mondhuie" great value for birding on a budget and ideally situated for Loch Garten, Tulloch Moor, Abernethy Forest, Findhorn Valley......................... website here http://www.mondhuie.com/
A breakdown of our trip costs below.
return easyjet flights flights luton inverness £445.68 total £111.42 per person
car parking luton airparks £32.00 total £8.00 per person
calmac uig-lochmaddy ferry return £106.00 total £26.50 per person
avis hire car with 1 additional driver £210.00 total £52.50 per person
b and b lochmaddy hotel 3nts £660.00 total £165.00 per person
self catering mondhuie accom 3nts £160.00 total £40.00 per person
mondhuie electric £4.00 total £1.00 per person
petrol c1,100 miles £160.00 total £40.00 per person
£1,777.68 total £444.42 total per person
Brendan and Paul met at my house at 07:00 and we picked up Dave from the Bedmond on route to Airparks off airport parking at Slip End. Then courtesy bus to the airport, check in, passport control...............
Arrived on time at Inverness Airport and collected our hire before setting of for Uig on the Isle of Skye where we had to catch our ferry to Lochmaddy, North Uist. We started out trip list at Inverness Airport and the following were noted there;
Kestrel
Skylark
Hooded Crow
House Martin
Jackdaw
Rook
Herring Gull
Starling
Buzzard
Swallow
Pied Wagtail
Then on route from the airport;
Carrion Crow
Wood Pigeon
Lapwing
Blackbird
Chaffinch
Red Kite (Black Isle area)
House Sparrow
Goldfinch
Willow Warbler
A stop at Achnasheen;
Osprey x 3 fishing
Wigeon
Mallard
Greylag
Sand Martin
Tree Pipit
Common Sandpiper
Greenshank
Red-throated Diver
Wheatear
Another stop this time at Balnacra;
Ring Ouzel
Lesser Redpoll
Dunnock
Robin
Seen from the car in the Balmacara area;
Great black-backed Gull
Black-headed Gull
A stop at Lochalsh no Black Guillemots but;
Common Gull
Shag
Grey Heron
Over the Skye Bridge at Luib;
Great Northern Diver
Oystercatcher
Meadow Pipit
Guillemot
Red-breasted Merganser
Corn Bunting
Linnet
White Tailed Eagle - Adult pair passed overhead
Chiffchaff
Uig while wating for the ferry;
Black Guillemot
Raven
Rock Dove
Eider
Arctic Tern
Razorbill
Seen on the Uig/Lochmaddy ferry crossing;
Manx Shearwater
Puffin
Gannet
Great Skua
Cormorant
Fulmar
Kittiwake
Arrived on North Uist and checked in to Lochmaddy Hotel then straight out birding.
In the Committee Road area the following were added to our trip list;
Stonechat
Mute Swan
Short-eared Owl
Hen Harrier
Curlew
Grenitote not far from the co-op! at 21:00
Snowy Owl sitting on a pile of pallets
Whimbrel
Redshank
Snipe
Grey Plover
Dunlin
Shelduck
Ringed Plover
Little Tern
Bar-tailed Godwit
Tufted Duck
Our last birding of the day was in the fading light at RSPB Balranald;
Corn Crake 4 showing well and flying around near the visitors centre
Shoveler in flight
Not a bad start!
Tues 13th May 2014; Up at 05:30 and left hotel at 06:00.
Balranald our first stop for a bit of a seawatch. Not much going on here but the following were added;
Turnstone
Purple Sand
Sanderling
Arctic Skua
Rock Pipit
Back to Hotel for a full Scottish Breakfast then off in search of Golden Eagle. We visited an area we stumbled upon last year and immediately connected with a Golden Eagle as it hunted over a mountain. We watched as it caught a rabbit and flew from view. Later we saw the same Eagle on a fence post being mobbed by gulls, it ignored the Gulls but was forced from the post when 2 Raven joined in the mobbing.
Loch Bhrusda;
Twite
Garganey
(Arctic Skua also here)
Another visit to Balranald added the following to our trip list;
Brent Goose
White Wagtail
(Also Minke Whale 100 yrds off rocks)
Sollas;
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Loch Maddy area;
Song Thrush
Also male Hen Harrier chasing Great Black-backed Gull
Wed 14th May 2014 up and out same time as Tuesday.
A visit to Benbecula
Loch Mhor;
Black-tailed Godwit
(also male Hen Harrier)
Loch Fada;
Teal
Little Grebe
Coot
(Also 2 drake Garganey)
Back to Balranald;
Whooper Swan
Whilst at Balranald news of Dotterel on South Uist had us retracing some of our earlier footsteps.
Ardivachar;
Dotterell – pair on the firing range
Iceland Gull on the beach
(Also Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrid)
Thurs 15th May 2014 our last day on North Uist. Up and out same time as previous days.
Lochmaddy;
Black-throated Diver
Balranald;
Pomarine Skua
Long -tailed Skua
Time to head for the ferry to Uig and then our onward journey to the Highlands.
From the ferry in Loch Maddy Port;
Common Scoter
(later whilst feeding our faces in the ferry restaurant a Bonxie showed well on the sea close in to the boat)
On the journey to our accommodation "Mondhuie" http://www.mondhuie.com at Netheybridge an Osprey at Strathcarron.
Fri 16th May 2014
An 05:00 start in search of Capercaillie;
Pheasant
Mistle Thrush
Bullfinch
Red-legged Partridge
Jay
Capercaillie not great views but a Caper nonetheless.
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Goldcrest
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Tulloch Moor;
Whinchat a nice male singing his heart out
Blue Tit
Netheybridge;
Siskin
Loch Garten ;
Goldeneye
Aviemore ;
Greenfinch in Tesco's car park
A hike up Cairngorm was rewarded with;
Ptarmigan
Red Grouse
Loch Ruthven ;
Slavonian Grebe
Wren
(Also an Osprey allowed good views as it hung in the wind.)
Along the Farr Road on route to Findhorn Valley a Red Grouse pair escorting 8 chicks across the road was nice to see.
Findhorn Valley ;
Dipper
Peregrine
Common Tern
(Also Golden Eagle)
Sat 17th May 2014 an 05:00 start again and our first stop Tulloch Moor;
Black Grouse an early start the key to seeing Black Grouse here I think.
Forest Lodge;
Redstart
Crossbill
Treecreeper
Aviemore ;
Swift
Advie ;
Grey Wagtail
We decided to head over to the Ythan Estuary in search of King Eider.
A stop in Dufftown;
Blackcap
Whitethroat
Long-tailed Tit
In an attempt to cross a river here I lost my footing on some stepping stones and ended up with two bootfulls. I found the freezing water rather refreshing on a nice warm day. Paul soon followed suit but his entry lacked the grace and finesse of my effort.
Newburgh;
Yellowhammer
On arrival at the Ythan Estuary we immediately connected with the returning King Eider;
King Eider
Sedge Warbler
Sandwich Tern
Magpie
Next up, the Loch of Strathbeg ;
Tree Sparrow
American Wigeon
Spoonbill x 2
Gadwall
Moorhen
Reed Bunting
Stock Dove
Barnacle Goose (flock of 28)
Little Gull
Portsoy ;
Long Tailed Duck
Late evening at Netheybridge, no Woodcock or Long-eared Owl but a pair of;
Goosander
Sun 18th May 2014 our last day and also our latest start of 07:00.
Forest Lodge ;
Sparrowhawk
(also here; Redstart, Tree Pipit, Dipper, Crossbill, Treecreeper )
Loch Mallachie;
Spotted Flycatcher
(also Tree Pipit, Redstart)
Our time was up and off to Inverness for our return flight to Luton.
A great 6 days birding with lots of laughs along the way. Looking forward to next year already.
Thanks to all the friendly and helpful birders we met on our travels.
A big thanks also to Brendan, Paul and Dave for their great company.
This account certainly does not do the trip justice.
A total of 151 species. One or two “heard only” and roughly the same only seen by one observer
On the trip; Chris Sharp (sh4rpy), Brendan Glynn, Dave Johnson, Paul Frost.
We stayed at Lochmaddy Hotel on North Uist.
In the Highlands we stayed at "Mondhuie" great value for birding on a budget and ideally situated for Loch Garten, Tulloch Moor, Abernethy Forest, Findhorn Valley......................... website here http://www.mondhuie.com/
A breakdown of our trip costs below.
return easyjet flights flights luton inverness £445.68 total £111.42 per person
car parking luton airparks £32.00 total £8.00 per person
calmac uig-lochmaddy ferry return £106.00 total £26.50 per person
avis hire car with 1 additional driver £210.00 total £52.50 per person
b and b lochmaddy hotel 3nts £660.00 total £165.00 per person
self catering mondhuie accom 3nts £160.00 total £40.00 per person
mondhuie electric £4.00 total £1.00 per person
petrol c1,100 miles £160.00 total £40.00 per person
£1,777.68 total £444.42 total per person
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