Lochindorb

Lochindorb is a stunning smaller loch with a ruined building on a small island. This Loch holds breeding Black-throated Diver. The road in has a large Common Gull colony and Red Grouse are usually easy from the car on the drive around the Loch. Golden Plover and Curlew are usually seen and the lodge gardens hold Red Squirrel. Common Sandpiper, Lapwing and Oystercatcher can all be found on the fringe of the loch and both Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl are often reported here. A juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard has wintered here and has remained into May.

Common Sandpiper

Red Grouse

Red Grouse

Red Squirrel

Kilchoan

At Kilchoan we enjoyed good views of Cuckoo, Gannets, Meadow Pipit and Wheatear,
also present but not so happy to pose for the camera were Twite and Whinchat.

Cuckoo and Chaffinch

Cuckoo 

Cuckoo in the rain

Gannets

Gannet

Meadow Pipit

Wheatear

Kilchoan does have some really good Iris beds and I'd expect Corncrake to make use of these fields once they've exploited territory on Iona and the other islands. It's also a good spot for wandering Sea Eagles.

Eagles and Ravens

White-tailed Sea Eagle

Ptarmigan at Applecross

We drove through the pass of the cattle to Applecross and stopped at the top car park some 2053 feet above sea level. The views from the car park are quite stunning but if you feel fit enough to tackle the last few hundred feet on foot then the views are even more spectacular so I walked to the top.
On the way up I heard Ptarmigan call and then looked up to find a pair crossing the path in front of me. I walked away from them and sat down on a ridge with the light behind me. As other walkers came along the birds moved off the path and towards me so my plan worked and I enjoyed some really close views of this special mountain grouse.

Male Ptarmigan

Male Ptarmigan

Ptarmigan

Ptarmigan

Female Ptarmigan

Male and female Ptarmigan

One of those moments you dream off as a birder and It will live long in the memory for sure.

What a week on the Ardnamurchan Peninsular

We booked a cottage in the lovely village of Strontian on the Ardnamurchan peninsular. Making the 520 mile journey was a little challenging but a stop of at Leighton Moss only a few miles from the M6 gave me a few good year ticks. First a Spotted Crake was calling just beyond the public hide then a Sand Martin flies over and from the Lower hide about a mile from the car park I found the Pied-billed Grebe. On the way back to the car I heard the Spotted Crake again and found three Otters playing in front of the Public hide.
The journey continued north with Suzanne taking a share of the drive which helped. We took the Corran Ferry over and drove the remaining 14 miles to Strontian finding our cottage with ease and what a cottage.
Last one on the left before you reach Ariundle nature reserve....WOW! As I got out of the car I had Wheatear on the lawn followed by Stonechats on the fence and a Hooded Crow sitting in the tree with a Red Deer sitting under it, later joined by a couple of Roe Deer.

The Cottage

A few walks around Ariundle during the week delivered Redstart and Wood Warbler along with numerous Tree Pipit and plenty of very vocal Willow Warblers. Ravens called above and both Cuckoo and Tawny Owl where heard each morning. A Whinchat dropped into the garden one morning but was chased off by the Wheatear and a Grey Heron visited every day. Pine Martin came to the feeder each night but we failed to see them despite the evidence that they'd been in each night. (Fatballs and Jam Sandwiches had gone)

Pied-billed Grebe at Leighton Moss

During the week we visited Mull and Iona along with trips to Applecross, Ardnamurchan point, Loch Garten, Lochindorb and Cairngorm. Some of the drives were spectacular. The A87 route from Fort William to Applecross was stunning as was the thrilling drive up the "Pass of the cattle" at Applecross. Glencoe is always glorious as is the 28mile drive along the shore of Loch Lomond and the Ardnamurchan peninsular has it's own beauty too.

The pass of the cattle at Applecross

I picked up a lifer on Iona when first I heard a Corncrake then Suzanne picked one out from the Iris bed and we enjoyed it for a wee while in the company of Geoff B and Carol who just happened to be visiting the same day. (Small world!) Iona is worth a visit on it's own merit without the Corncrakes as it's more like a pacific island than an Atlantic one with Torquise water and golden sand it's hard to remember where you are.

Iona

On Mull we found two Ospreys fishing as we drove along, we managed to pull over and watch for a while from the car as the birds displayed different levels of skill pulling trout from the Loch. Later the warden was to tell us that they only knew of one bird on the island so two was interesting to them. Further along and Suzanne picks out a male Hen Harrier which is just one of the best birds with it's almost silver metalic appearance.. Again we watched from the car as the bird hunted but it drifted off before too long. Surprisingly we found no Eagles on Mull despite a rather special drive around Loch Na Kiel but we did find two Golden Eagles back on the mainland on a couple of occasions and Suzanne spotted two Eagles being mobbed by Ravens on one of our journeys. We pulled over and managed to watch as a Sub adult and juvenile White-tailed sea Eagle landed on the mountain side and then hung around for great scope views as they had dinner, feasting on a carcase.

At Ardnamurchan we found the sea alive with thousands of Manx Shearwater and we picked up a passing Arctic Skua here too along with Guillemot, Razorbill and Gannet.

Manx Shearwater

Whimbrel were present in small numbers and I only found three Whinchat all week including the garden bird. Golden Plover were present at Lochindorb in good numbers and we found a few Red Squirrel in the lodge gardens here too. Black-throated Diver remain on the Loch but Red Grouse numbers were low. Twite gathered in the harbour at Kilchoan with over thirty in the flock. Wheatears where everywhere!

We drove to 2053 feet at Applecross and I walked the rest (300 foot I guess) to the top where I found a pair of Ptarmigan which gave me stunning views and allowed a few images to be taken. On the journey home we took a break at Hadrian's Wall which was interesting and broke up the 520 miles nicely.

Hadrian's Wall

The Black Duck of Strontian gave me the slip with only a possible fly over for my efforts searching for it and on a visit to Loch Garten I didn't see any Capers chosing not to wander around looking for one as seems best advise at this time of year. I did find a couple of Cresties at Loch Garten and saw the Ospreys although I was there on the day that the nest came under threat and it has now resulted in three eggs being destroyed and the male bird going missing so let's hope for a second clutch and a better story by the end of Summer.

Overall a really good trip in a lovely house with my two girls Suzanne and Tia

Tia enjoying the garden

I'll load some more images over the next few days.

Year list now 220 Life list now 357

Scotland again!

Off to Scotland in the morning, weather looks set to be a bit grey and damp but here's hoping for a little sunshine between the showers.

The wife and I are staying in a cottage along the Ardnamurchan peninsular so hoping for a bit of Eagle activity whilst there.

I had planned on getting half way tonight but work demands have prevented that so I'll be setting off early and fresh in the morning.M25/M1/M6/A74/M74/A82/A861 and Bingo.
Just the 517miles!

I'll post some pictures on my return.

British Birds and birding in Britain

So I was doing a little research into how many birds have been recorded in Britain and who has seen the most of these and then I thought I'd expand that research into year listing in Britain and see where that takes me.

Firstly a visit to the BOU (British Ornithologist's Union) website www.bou.org.uk/british-list/  gave me the top line figures stating that we have 596 species on the official British list.

Of these 596 species

578 sit in Category A
(Species in Category A have been recorded in an apparently natural state at least once since 1 January 1950.)

8 sit in Category B
(Species in Category B have been recorded in an apparently natural state at least once between 1 January 1800 and 31 December 1949, but have not been recorded subsequently.)

Ruddy Shelduck last recorded in 1946
White-faced storm Petrel last recorded in 1897
Egyptian Vulture last recorded in 1868
Spotted Eagle last recorded in 1915
Eskimo Curlew last recorded in 1880
Great Auk last recorded in 1840
Pallas's Gull last recorded in 1859
Red-necked Nightjar last recorded in 1856

and

10 sit in Category C
(Species in Category C, although introduced, now derive from the resulting self-sustaining populations)

Ring-necked Parakeet First recorded in 1969 now over 8600 pairs in the UK
Little Owl First recorded in 1758 now over 5700 pairs in the UK
Golden Pheasant Introduced in the 1870's less than 100 pairs remain in the wild
Lady Amherst's Pheasant Introduced in Bedfordshire in 1890 less than five birds remain
Common Pheasant Introduced in medieval times with an estimated population over two million.
Capercaillie Re - introduced in 1837 less than 1300 birds remain in Britian
Red-legged Partridge Introduced in 1779 and now over 86,000 territories in the UK
Ruddy Duck First recorded in 1949 but due to constant culling less than 50 birds now survive.
Mandarin Duck First recorded in 1866 and now numbers over 7000 wintering birds
Egyptian Goose First recorded in 1898 and now numbers over 3000 wintering birds

so that's the list but who holds the record for having seen the most of them?

Well it would appear that Steve Webb holds this title having connected with no fewer than 552 species on the BOU list.

As for year listing well that title seems to lie with Adrian Webb
with 367 BOU & 373 BOU/IRBC  (Adrian If I have these wrong please correct me.)

It's taken me four years to put 350 (ish) on my life list and my biggest year list is 289 so I can fully appreciate the dedication and commitment it takes to achieve the numbers above and congratulate the people involved.

Lakenheath and Titchwell

We set off so early this morning the car park lighting was still on when we arrived at Lakenheath.

It's never too early!

Our walk along the public footpath listening to the dawn chorus was more than interesting and made up for the grey skies and damp conditions. We'd had a Barn Owl before entering the reserve and the first call as we get out of the car is our first Cuckoo of 2015. As we walk up the path the reed bed is alive with the calls of Sedge and Reed Warbler with a few Whitethroat around for good measure too. Cetti's is our next encounter before Grasshopper Warbler is heard reeling. Common Tern flew along the river and Bittern Boomed as we walked out to Joist Fen. Bearded Tit Pinged and Marsh Harrier hunted the fen. Two Cranes dropped into the reed bed from over the river bank and we generally had a decent visit.

Barn Owl seen  as we left Lakenheath

Urban Owl

We left and drove further north with Choseley Drying Barns our next destination with another two Barn Owls entertaining us on route.  We parked up in Chalkpit Lane and walked along towards the drying barns where a small group of birders had gathered. Within a couple of minutes we'd located the birds at distance in the fields below us. In the farm fields around the barn we found large flocks of Yellowhammer with Linnet and Corn Bunting in evidence too. Stock Docks were well represented along with RL Partridge and lot's of Hares. Marsh Harrier flew over as did a Red Kite being mobbed by Rooks. A single Wheatear was found by the old fella before the pager bleeped with news that a couple of Ring Ouzel had been found at Thornham so we left and made the mile or so journey to connect with the Ouzels before making it to our final destination at Titchwell.

Dotterel....right in the distance!

Hare and Red-legged Partridge

Red-legged Partridge

Marsh Harrier

Yellowhammer

Ring Ouzel at Thornham

After a coffee break we headed out along the footpath and connected with Little-ringed Plover, Spotted Redshank and a few others to give us a couple more year ticks.

Chinese Water Deer at Titchwell

Year list now 208

In the week I managed to visit Lea Valley and add Hobby to the year list and whilst listening to the Nightingales I got lucky with a pair of Bullfinch.

First Hobby of 2015

Bullfinch