Roger and I had travelled up
to Nethy Bridge yesterday for a six day Bird List Booster holiday with
Hatherlea and today was our first day out in the field.
Our tour leader was Ian Ford
and we were joined by four other birders from Yorkshire. We set off for Dorback, which is quite close
to Nethy Bridge, and a site for Black Grouse.
We saw three Buzzards that were obviously feeding on worms as we drove
out towards the moor and there was a singe Fieldfare in the same field. When we arrived at the site we continued beyond
to look back so as not to disturb the birds.
We parked and walked up on to a small mound but there was no sign of any
birds at the lek. I then saw a male fly
and land in the area but it flew off again a few minutes later and clearly the
birds were not interested this morning.
We tried another vantage point with the same success but we did see a
couple of Ravens and a Roe Deer. We
moved back towards Nethy Bridge before turning right on to a link road that
took us back on to more moorland. As we
approached the more open moor we found a male and three female Black Grouse
feeding in a spruce and we stopped briefly to view. We continued up the road and found a Red
Grouse quite close to the road before we turned and headed back towards Nethy
Bridge. The Black Grouse were still
present and we stopped again and I was able to get some shots off before they
eventually flew off over the moor.
Female Black Grouse
Female Black Grouse
Red Grouse
Having successfully got two of
the target birds we moved off to the RSPB Reserve at Loch Garten. As we arrived in the car park two photographs
had put some food out for the birds and there was a constant stream of Coal
Tits visiting and we also had a Crested Tit.
We walked through the wood to the observation centre, seeing a Red
Squirrel on the path. The feeders were
alive with the constant coming and going of Coal Tits and a Crested Tit also
made several visits. We also saw a Great
Spotted Woodpecker and Treecreeper as we observed the feeders. When we got back to the car park we had
several views of a Crested Tit and a Red Squirrel was very obliging as it fed
under the feeding station and another Treecreeper was observed.
Crested Tit
Crested Tit
Red Squirrel
A frozen Loch Garten
A female Goosander flew over
as we made a comfort break at Nethy Bridge and I picked up a Dipper feeding
along the edge of the stream as we were leaving Nethy Bridge.
Our next stop was Tomvaich
where Crossbill had been feeding on the massive cone crop. There was no sign of any Crossbills along the
road and so we went for a short walk in the wood, seeing Goldcrest, Coal Tit,
Wren and Robin but no Crossbills. As we
returned to the vehicle Ian heard Crossbills calling and we eventually had good
if brief views of two Common Crossbills both perched and in flight.
After a spot of lunch
alongside the River Spey where we had a male and female Goosander and a
Sparrowhawk we moved on to the Findhorn Valley.
The weather began to take a turn for the worse as we drove along the
valley but we did see at least eight Ravens, a Red-legged Partridge, a Kestrel
and several Red Deer and a Mountain Hare but there was no sign of any hoped for
Golden Eagles and we eventually called it a day.
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