Burghead and Lossiemouth

A visit to Burghead never fails to produce something. During the winter hundreds of sea ducks reside in Burghead Bay and in periods of rough weather take shelter in the harbour. This time we were royally entertained by Eiders, several in the harbour, catching a plentiful supply of crabs.

Eiders have a great way of dealing with the bits of crab they don't want. The specimen is shaken and dunked until all the legs and claws fall off and is then consumed, leaving a lump in the throat, of the Eider that is!

 

Further round on the beach another flock of Eiders feeding off the point, constantly harassed by Herring Gulls.

One day the sun was shining and roosting on the rocks were five Knot amongst the Oystercatchers, one Knot posed for us before the incoming tide caused them to depart. It was good to record two Purple Sandpipers, making a brief visit before being swept from their perch by a large wave.

Seawatching  produced several good sightings, three Bonxies and a lone Pomarine Skua. Lots of Gannets plunge diving, a horde of Shags and the odd string of newly arrived Long-tailed Ducks. Razorbills and Guillemots were about in good numbers. The star sighting was two brief glimpses of a Minke Whale breaching a fair way offshore. Seals are numerous here and they can be easily spotted, poking their heads up just off the rocky beach.

Burghead is a busy fishing port, the bonus is that when one of the boats enters harbour the seals follow and today was no exception.

I reckon this one has landed its last catch, the propeller probably worth more than the rest.

We visited Roseisle for another sea watch and to try to locate a reported Red-necked Grebe. Plenty of birds present in flat calm conditions. We recorded Velvet and Common Scoters, Eider and Long-tailed Ducks, Goosander, Red-breasted Merganser, Slavonian Grebes and finally the sought after Red-necked Grebe.

We rounded off the day with another visit to Lossiemouth, this time the harbour and the estuary. The river and East Beach are home to a large flock of Wigeon and roosting gulls of all kinds. Odd how a common bird on your own patch can cause excitement for the local birders, a lone Mediterranean Gull spotted by a sharp eyed birder amongst the huge numbers of gulls, was a notable record. Two rather scruffy looking Goosanders were in the river and several female Red-breasted Mergansers were feeding where a small burn entered the main river.

Scruffy!

Meanest looking Herring Gull I have ever seen

If you visit Lossie then I heartily recommend that you visit the local home made ice cream emporium on the esplanade. Great to sit and consume a twin cone Snicker and sea salt caramel whilst searching the gulls for something exotic.

The RAF are busy here and we were treated to flybys of both Tornado and Typhoon aircraft, the odd observation is that these extremely noisy machines do not disturb the birds one iota.

One for Dave Shepherd

Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans

Before we headed north I had been monitoring the recent sightings page of the "Birds in Moray and Nairn" website. There had been a report of 1100 Pink-footed  Geese and 250 Whooper Swans on the fields between Inchbroom and Bailliesland Farm, just south of Lossiemouth. Both of these species turn up on the south coast in very low numbers so I was interested to see them in larger groups, therefore I made this my first port of call. I have to say I wasn't disappointed, the goose population was now around 1800 and the swans on the way to 400.

During our stay we visited this location several times, mainly to try and record such a great sight on camera. Unfortunately the light was never satisfactory and I had no idea how unapproachable the PFG are. On the first day I took care with my approach and as soon as I got within 200 yards the birds were on the move, gradually walking away from me. I tried to make the lowest profile possible using the minimal cover that was available - not easy when there were only a couple of gateposts. The birds were extremely nervous, cars on the adjacent road had them raising their heads and when a car transporter went through the whole flock took to the air.

Only one neck ring spotted....



.... GN29



An all too frequent view of PFG

 

By the end of the first week numbers had swelled to an estimated 10,000  and the swans peaked at about 450. Late one afternoon, just as I had finished photographing them the local postie arrived in his red van, the birds were on alert immediately but as he got out 8,000 geese took to the air as one. They really didn't care for his bright red Post Office jacket.

The Whoopers, by contrast, were much calmer, though in such numbers it was inevitable that occasional squabbles broke out and they chased each other around the muddy pool that was home.

 

Birding Scotland (again!)

No doubt the words of my eight readers - What - Scotland again?? Well actually it was a birthday present from Liz. We have been married for forty something years and the days of gift wrapped surprises have passed. Now it is a pragmatic "What would you like for your birthday?"  Well it means that you get what you want or need. So, having some unfinished business  with a certain duck that resides at the mouth of the River Esk at Musselburgh, and an overwhelming desire to travel the "Wee Mad Road" to sample the pies from the Lochinver Larder, I asked for a couple of weeks in Scotland.

Getting the nod from Liz, I spent some considerable time on the internet searching for somewhere that would provide an ideal base for birding in both the Cairngorms and on the Moray and Nairn coast. I had narrowed it down to a short list of two. Finally I (we) decided we should stay at Lochan Lodge on the Balnafettach Estate just east of Cromdale. It transpired that by fortuitous happenstance we had found a gem, giving us exactly what we wanted, lots of room, great scenery and cracking wildlife. If you need somewhere for an outdoor activity holiday in the Highlands then this is ideal - have a look at Bill and Steph's website Lochan Lodge This is a working farm with lots of highland cattle, really friendly docile beasts and the youngsters are definitely photogenic. The Jacob's sheep are less obliging, just turning their backs and walking away.

This was our base for two weeks birding, unfortunately as we set off north, someone called Gonzalo and several of his minor relatives intervened, pounding the west coast with continuous gales and rainfall of truly diluvean and Biblical proportions. "Never mind", I kept telling myself, "Nobody goes to Scotland for the weather".  So we made the best of it, no fixed plan, we just watched the weather forecast and went where it wasn't too bad. Landslips, floods, closed roads and bridges meant the west was not an option. Sadly no pie from the famous pie shop, meant to be consumed on a beach near Lochinver whilst scanning the horizon for a White-tailed Eagle. So we made forays to the Black Isle, taking in Udale Bay, Cromarty and Fortrose. One afternoon we parked at Chanonry Point, the wind was so strong that I could hardly open the car door, never mind setting the scope up to view the sea which was a cauldron of white foam.

We persevered, making visits to Nairn, Burghead, Roseisle, Lossiemouth and Findhorn Bay for waders and wildfowl. Loch Garten, Lochindorb and the Inshriach Forest kept us entertained with the inland species. With the weather so dreich, photography was almost a waste of time. As the Urban Dictionary says "The kind of weather which makes you miserable: dull, grey and wet. If it rains hard and water runs down your neck it's dreich".
However, in the end, we were rewarded with American Wigeon, Surf Scoter, King Eider and Red-necked Grebe as "lifers" and it was good to catch up with Pomarine Skua and oddly enough, Woodcock, which was a notable absentee from the year list.

On the farm we had Buzzards, Kestrel, Merlin and a possible Peregrine, plus a host of "usual suspects".  One morning we had both Dipper and Grey Wagtail visiting the lochan, probably because the heavy rainfall had swollen the burns and usual perches were under water.

Superb scenery and some great walks - all to yourself!

The hardy inhabitants of Balnafettach



Inquisitive.....

.....calm....

......cute....

....photogenic....

....and friendly.

A rarity - Jacob's Sheep willing to pose for the camera.

Most days we were entertained by "Sid the Stoat",  making those mad acrobatic dashes about the lawn - impossible to photograph.

 All too soon it was over, time to travel home, with an overnight stop in Northumberland, then a leisurely journey south on the Sunday. There had been reports of record numbers of Pink-footed Geese on Montrose Basin, counts of 79,000 meant that there was a spectacle worth seeing. So we modified our route and journeyed down the east coast via Aberdeen and Stonehaven. Lots of places familiar to us, as for ten years we spent our holidays at St. Cyrus. Superb fishing on the North and South Esk, early September when the nets were removed from the beaches and anticipation of the first spate. We had a picnic lunch at the Bridge of Dun, just up river from the basin. Lots of happy memories of fishing for Finnock on the Montrose Angling Club stretch, coming off the water in the darkness and the friendliness of the locals to a visiting "foreigner". As for the Pink Foots - not a single one to be found - probably all on the Wash by now!

The Old Bakery, St. Cyrus - our holiday base in the 1970s - no TV then so we played endless hands of canasta late into the night.

Bridge of Dun, River South Esk - looking towards the basin.