Wednesday 21 June 2017

A Bird for all Seasons ... the past fortnight ... Whinchats in wintry Geltsdale ... Blyth's Reed Warbler singing at sultry Siddick ...

With the characteristic vagaries of the weather around the summer solstice, nothing should come as a surprise ... but it did !

A foray into the far south east corner of the Geltsdale Reserve took us through some swathes of burgeoning bracken ... Curlews alarming overhead and Short-eared Owls foraging up the slopes and some lovely male Whinchats flitting between the bracken fronds and calling urgently ...



... heading up towards the Pennine ridge the landscape is excitingly wild but tempered by the awareness of the Grouse shooting estates of Croglin on one side and Knarsdale looming ahead ...


... with rain clouds looming and a punishing wind, it felt a bit like winter ... but still the Short-eared Owls foraged ...

Back on lower ground at the Stagsike Meadow and the array of buttercups painted a nice picture looking over towards White Tortie ...


... and breeding waders were everywhere ...

Curlews with chicks alarming incessantly ...



Lapwings performing extravagant flights ...



... and Redshank in their obligatory 'sentinel' role ...



Away from the uplands, at Siddick Pond, Carl Thompson had made a great find - a singing Blyth's Reed Warbler ...

... the following day it first of all sang well but the singing tailed off as the sultry day wore on ...

... a great opportunity to experience this rarity giving a comprehensive performance ...

... there was no mistaking the song ... so different from the relaxed rhythmic utterances of Reed Warbler ... it included pure whistled notes and very characteristic descending scales of notes interspersed with clicking calls ...






The sonogram looks really attractive as well !



Tuesday 6 June 2017

Reserve Spotlight : Marsh Harriers, Bearded Tits, Common Cranes - Norfolk perhaps ? ... No, Loch of Strathbeg !

Two recent visits to this reserve, one in late April and again in late May both produced interesting birds ... species not usually associated with northern Scotland ...

We dropped in to the reserve just briefly in April and were treated to calling Common Cranes which flew right over us before alighting briefly in a ploughed field ...


... a male Garganey and a male Green-winged Teal showed on the pools and from the visitor centre the pair of Little Gulls that bred here last year were resting among some Black-headed Gulls and Common Terns ... frustratingly, the visitor centre closed before further views of the Little Gulls were possible ... so another visit was essential ...

Towards the end of May I was back at the reserve for a more comprehensive visit ... a drake Garganey was again present ...


... but resting ...

Sadly there was no sign of Little Gulls and in conversation with a local birder I learned that a Peregrine had taken one of the pair and the other had subsequently departed ...

The reserve covers a large area with pools and a larger water body - the Loch of Strathbeg itself ... from the visitor centre the view covers a swathe of wet meadow grazed by Koniks and close by is an island protected for breeding terns ...




... Common Terns were flying in carrying fish ...

...

... a walk of around a mile towards the coast goes through some lovely habitat ...


... and becomes a boardwalk through wet woodland ...


... before coming to the Fen Hide with views out across the reedbed to the loch ...


... Bearded Tits flew across every few minutes, perching occasionally to give unexpectedly good views ... an Osprey appeared, immediately attracting the attention of a defensive group of terns ...

... further towards the coast the Bay Hide looks out over open water where a lone Whooper Swan fed languidly ...


... and a group of four Pinkfeet dropped in before moving north onto farmland ...


... the edges of the loch had Shoveler and a few Pintail bobbed around in the middle ...

... between the hides the route passed through a succession of Sedge Warbler territories with a smaller number of Common Whitethroats singing from the hedgerows ...


... heading back inland to the Tower pool Hide and Marsh Harriers showed intermittently , low over the reeds ... and then in the middle of the complex of pools a Great White Egret strolled out as if from nowhere ...


... and eventually showed very nicely ...


... the Garganey became more animated but was always cryptic as it fed ...


... the reserve reminded me of Leighton Moss ... but on a much larger scale ... and with far fewer human visitors ... quite an appealing combination !