Birdwatcher’s Diary No.39

Published on: 25 Jun, 2013
Updated on: 27 Jun, 2013

By Malcolm Fincham

With little sign of any new sightings to photograph locally, on Sunday June 8, loaded to the hilt with camera equipment, I boarded a train at Kings Cross and headed to the Highlands of Scotland.

Cairngorm National Park emblem with mountains beyond.

This was a pre-arranged trip into the heart of the Cairngorm National Park to link up with a small posse of old friends who had arrived by various modes of transport to visit Steve, a Guildfordian, who now lives in Aviemore. He leads his own wildlife safaris http://www.highlandwildlifesafaris.co.uk/.

Having gained plenty of ‘local’ knowledge in the decade he’s been living there, it was of great help to us to find some of the different species that reside there.

Peregrine falcon: the fastest living creature capable of speeds up to 200mph.

Peregrine falcon: the fastest living creature and capable of speeds up to 200mph.

Just behind Aviemore town centre are the Craigellachie cliffs, and with a good pair of binoculars and some scanning of the rocks a pair of peregrine falcons could be viewed.

The real give away of their presence was the sound of their young calling out to them. I guessed that although the nest site was obscured, their young were almost ready to fledge as the parents looked unconcerned as they watched over them.

A wood warbler sings in its woodland retreat.

While spending a good hour watching them interacting and attempting a few distant pictures of the adults, I was pleased to pick out the sound of both spotted flycatcher and wood warbler close by in the silver birches on the sloping bank leading up to the cliff face. I was even more thrilled to get a picture of the latter and I have also added a clip of this bird’s unmistakable song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvklySFLkU0

Common sandpiper.

Some of the birds that breed there are only seen as ‘passage migrants’ in the Surrey area. They include the common sandpiper, a regular seen by lochs and rivers throughout Scotland where they breed at this time of the year.

Oystercatcher with its bright orange, carrot-like bill.

Another pleasing site was the strange looking, carrot-like billed, oystercatcher nesting in similar locations to the sandpiper. And also dippers, which are resident in Scotland as well near fast flowing streams throughout the UK, where they patrol for food.

An action shot of a wheatear once commonly known as white-arse due to its distinctive white rump.

Another bird regularly sited in the mountainous rocky outcrops is the wheatear – mentioned in an earlier report this year, and which facts were added about its original name being ‘white arse’, due to its distinctive rump. That was a comment made by Martin Giles. http://www.guildford-dragon.com/2013/04/14/birdwatchers-diary-no-33/

Ring ouzel in flight.

Also on rare occasions in Surrey ring ouzels are known to be seen passing through on migration in both spring and autumn. They are a similar shape and size to our well loved blackbird, but have a white crescent bib. They only breed in more mountainous regions in the UK.

Although we managed to find a pair near to the ski centre car park, they were both very mobile collecting worms to take back to their nest site up in the mountain. For those unfamiliar I have added a clip of the two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_KfRv-ISyg

Male and female red grouse.

Up in the moorland areas we had good sightings of those ‘famous’ red grouse, now with chicks. I also took a few shots (with my camera) before many will probably be shot for real on the so called ‘glorious’ 12th of August when the annual grouse season starts.

Black-throated divers on a loch near Aviemore.

We also managed a few sighting of both black-throated as well as red-throated divers, which breed at these latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year.

They are known as loons in Canada, where they also breed, and are depicted on the Canadian dollar coin – also known as the loonie.

Black-throated diver in flight.

Although both species are quite rare in Scotland, I was pleased to see both and even get a picture of the rarer black-throated in flight.

Slavonian grebes in summer plumage.

Another rare sighting we had on one of the smaller lochens was a pair of Slavonian grebes in thieir glorious golden summer plumage.

With well over 17 hours of sunlight at this time of the year in the Scottish Highlands, and the fortune of picking a whole week without rain, we certainly made the most of the time available.

Golden eagle on the Isle of Mull.

We even found time for a few west coast trips, including a 4am start day trip to the Isle of Mull which also brought a few bonus sightings, such as a white-tailed sea eagle and even a golden eagle sitting by its eerie.

A gannet flies out to sea.

On coastal watch I picked out and even get ‘record shots’ of both a gannet and even more pleasingly a pomarine skua, instantly recognising it by its distinctive tail shape.

Pomarine skua on the West Highland coast.

Also out on the water were several eider duck, goosanders and some black gullimots, known locally as tysties.

Drake eider duck enjoying a bit of a splash.

Goosanders last seen by me wintering at Cut Mill pond near Puttenham back in January.

Black Guillemots (tysties) nesting in a small pier.

Arctic terns could be seen fishing on the coastal waters. Although similar to our local Stoke Lake common terns, Arctic terns only breed in the northern regions of the UK.

Arctic terns.

They are also known as the sea swallow, the are even more agile than the common tern. They also winder even further south in Antarctic.

Crested tit on a feeder at Loch Garten osprey centre.

Although this report is just a synopsis of the many other birds and mammals I saw, I have added a few other images I took, including my first picture of a crested tit.

In the UK this bird only breeds and lives in the Caledonian pine forests of Scotland. Surprisingly for the time of year, this usually shy bird was on a feeder at Loch Garten Osprey Centre!