Storker! 9th June 2019

We could see a little bit of blue sky this morning! A tiny speck of it through the clouds but, yes you've guessed it, it was still raining but at least, instead of the torrential downpours that we'd become accustomed to lately, it was only a light drizzle. By the time we had togged up ready to go out though the rain had increased in intensity again and we watched it hammer against the cottage windows. If we were living here then it would be a Sunday morning spent doing very little but this was a holiday so we had to get out. Lochindorb again then!

Remarkably Lochindorb was decked out in bright sunshine when we arrived, although it didn't last long. This would be a morning of on and off showery weather interspersed with sunny periods but the afternoon would revert to type and heavy rain would return once more.  We approached the loch from the Grantown side for a change and stopped to admire the colony of Common Gulls that nest on the moorland by the road. Around 100 pairs of these handsome Gulls breed here and take advantage of the numerous road killed rabbits in the area although sadly a few get caught out in their pursuit of an easy meal and end up as dinner themselves.

Common Gull

We drove around the loch noting the now familiar birds, a Common Sandpiper with two chicks, a Curlew with one and Lapwings with none. I pulled up to chat with a dear old guy that we'd met a few days earlier and listened to his stories of his travels around Northern Scotland in his camper van. A wildlife tour guide pulled up alongside and asked if Lochindorb's star residents were on view so I duly pointed them out to him. Since learning of where the nest was located they were now easy to find. He had two guests with him and one of them pointed to a raptor that had appeared over the ridge behind us, "is that a buzzard?" he asked of his guide. "Oh yes, it is alright, we get lots of those here" was his guides reply. I watched the bird of prey approach a little closer and suggested, "I'm sorry but that bird is a Golden Eagle!". The guide was flabbergasted and quickly tried to cover his tracks by making up all sorts of excuses to cover his embarrassment. I reached for my camera to get a photo of the Eagle, the white tail with a black terminal band denoting it as an immature bird, and grabbed empty air. I'd left the camera in the car! Not quite so cool then. Despite running to the car to fetch the camera, by the time I'd retrieved it the Golden eagle had of course disappeared back over the ridge and it didn't reappear.

Common Sandpiper chick (top), adult (bottom)

While we were stood chewing the fat, our new found friend told us that he'd considered using the guide for a day or two but had now changed his mind but asked if I'd be available! Ha ha, maybe a future career? With my people skills probably not I think!  A message via the phone informed us that a Black Stork had been found at Findhorn Bay, presumably the one that had been seen on two days at Strathbeg last week and which we'd missed on Friday. We were only 25 miles away so, after a quick goodbye, jumped in the car and made our way northwards. Having already been to the bay during the week before we knew exactly where to go this time and in less than 45 minutes were joining the three other birders already on site. Twitching can be mad up here!

As expected though there was no sign of the Stork anywhere out on the bay. That wasn't to say it wasn't there though, Findhorn Bay is huge and there are lots of hidden creeks where the Stork could be feeding. One of the other birders was a friend, Steve, that we'd met a couple of years before. He has already done what we aim to do one day and has moved up to Nethybridge from the south. Assuredly he says he has no regrets whatsoever about making the move. Steve is a fine birder and he nudged our year list up to #236 when he spotted the long staying Iceland Gull about 400 metres away! With my scope on full 75x zoom the view was good enough to ratify the ID. We saw the Spoonbill fly past at some distance too but the Black Stork was still staying hidden. It was definitely still around though since the original finder had remained on site and he'd not seen it fly off. After about an hour the same guy announced "it's flying" and sure enough the Black Stork was flying along the distant river harassed by Gulls as it went. Fortunately it landed again and you could just about make out its head as it worked its way along one of the channels. Bird #237 and our third ever Black Stork after ones at Rugby and a (self found) flyover bird at Dungeness in August 2015.

Happy that we'd added another couple of birds to our year list we decided a coffee was in order so left Steve and the other chap to it. The weather was still very changeable, sunny one minute then pelting it down the next and we got semi-soaked just getting from the car and into our chosen cafe. The coffee helped but despite being delighted at getting a couple of "bonus" birds in the Black Stork and Iceland Gull we weren't entirely satisfied with our views. Birdguides was still reporting the Black Stork as being present and also as showing well so we thought that we may as well return to Findhorn Bay and have another look in the hope that the bird had indeed come into closer range.

There were a few more birders present now although still only a handful. Twitches in Scotland are not a bit like those down south. Steve was still there and as I said hello he pointed out onto the marsh. The tide had come sweeping in during our absence flooding the bay and leaving dry ground only at this southern edge. Just a few hundred metres away stood the Black Stork hunched up against the drizzle.

Black Stork, Findhorn Bay 09/06/2019

A path leads away around the edge of the bay and after getting the approval of my fellow watchers and leaving Mrs Caley at the viewpoint I stealthily made my way along the path to get closer to the Stork. The long-legged bird appeared to be almost entirely disinterested in my presence and hardly moved. I made it to about fifty metres from the Stork and settled down on the damp grass and took some photos. It was raining harder again and I was getting soaked for what seemed like the umpteenth time on this trip so I didn't linger for long. The images reflect the damp conditions.

When I reached the viewpoint the Black Stork was still in the same spot so it had clearly been unaffected by me getting that bit closer. But as we bade our goodbyes to the few birders left, they are clearly more used to standing out in the rain than we are, the Black Stork began feeding again and moved slowly away down one of the channels that cross the marsh. We left for our temporary home back in Carrbridge, driving along roads that resembled rivers since the weather had really closed in over the Dava Moorland. When will this rain ever stop?!