Our plan today was to visit
Tolquhonie Wood looking for Capercaillie and then head north to the Moray
Coast. However just after leaving Nethy
Bridge and approaching Broomhill we saw a small party of gulls feeding in a
field. We pulled up and Roger who was in
the front today picked up a first-winter Iceland Gull amongst the Herring
Gulls. They were disturbed by a Buzzard
and they flew but soon settled again and we decided to park up at the railway
station to get a better view. Once out
of the vehicle we had better views but they then took to flight and headed off
further into the valley. They we now out
of sight and so we walked closer to the end of the parking area to get a clear
view. As we approached they were still
in flight and I picked up the Iceland as it landed but another white-winged
gull caught my eye as it landed a few meters away. It was clearly bigger than the Iceland and
turned out to be a first-winter Glaucous Gull.
What a start to the day with both Iceland and Glaucous Gulls seen within
a few miles of leaving the hotel.
First-winter Glaucous Gull
First-winter Glaucous Gull
Having had good views of both
birds we continued on to Tolquhonie Wood and hopefully Capercaillie. It was bright and sunny the whole time we
were in the wood but we saw very little just a Buzzard and a couple of Coal Tits
in over an hour.
On reaching Findhorn on the
coast we continued to the east dunes to view the sea. Roger soon picked up a Slavonian Grebe and I
found a Red-throated Diver. There was
also small numbers of Common Scoter scattered around, along with several
Long-tailed Ducks and single Eider and Red-breasted Merganser. One of our targets was Velvet Scoter and Ian
found one on the sea but no one else was able to find it and just as we were
about to move on I picked one up flying low over the sea, which everyone
managed to see. Thirty Golden Plover
also flew over, which were to be our only sighting of the week.
Feeling we had seen most of
what was on offer we moved on to Burghead but the harbour was devoid of birds
but we did see Oystercatcher, Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew and Redshank
feeding on the shore just south of the harbour.
We parked up overlooking the sea to the north of the harbour and Roger
found a Purple Sandpiper on the rocks just off shore. There was also several Redshank and
Turnstones and a party of Bar-tailed Godwits flew west. There were several more Eider and Long-tailed
Ducks and we also saw four more Red-throated Divers and a Kittiwake off shore.
Drake winter Long-tailed Duck
Bar-tailed Godwits
We stopped in the harbour at
Hopeman for lunch and saw five Purple Sandpiper and several Turnstones and
there was a Shag on the rocks. Off shore
there was a single Eider and a Fulmar flew west and in the bay there was a pair
of Red-breasted Mergansers, Oystercatcher and several Redshanks. A Rock Pipit also obliged as it bathed on the
jetty and then again feeding on a grassy area just as we were leaving.
Purple Sandpiper
There had been another Iceland
Gull using a pig field just outside Hopeman and we stopped to check it
out. Roger soon found the bird amongst
the numerous Herring Gulls and I was able to get a view shots of it as it
rested and bathed on a pool.
First-winter Iceland Gull
First-winter Iceland Gull
First-winter Iceland Gull
First-winter Iceland Gull
Having seen enough of the
Iceland Gull we moved on to Lossiemouth and a car park overlooking the River
Lossie. The tide was quite high but
there was a good selection of birds on the north shore of the river, mainly
Wigeon and Teal with c.100 Dunlin. As I
scanned the south shore I found several Snow Buntings feeding on a small spit
and the Yorkshire contingent went to try and get closer views. Just after they had gone Ian found a
Green-winged Teal on the north shore feeding amongst a party of Teal. I soon located but Roger was having more
difficulty and so he looked through my scope whilst I tried to locate it in
his. However it suddenly disappeared and
we were unable to locate it again despite an extensive search.
Snow Bunting
Our final port of call was
Loch Spynie where we had views of a Water Rail close to a feeding platform but
there was very little else.
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