We like to stop over for a coffee and lunch at the RSPB reserve at Loch Leven. We rarely actually do any birding there, apart from checking the feeders for Tree Sparrows which are always good to see. We do stare out of the picture window across the Loch of course, who couldn't resist that view. On one visit in the winter we spied a White-tailed Eagle dispatching a Goose while stood on the frozen surface. Today though it was a lovely day, the sun was shining and we both felt good and excited about the forthcoming fortnight in the Cairngorms and Speyside.
We were about to leave after stocking up with bird food for the holiday, there will be so many birds to encourage into the garden of the holiday cottage, when Mrs Caley casually announced that a Ring-billed Gull had been seen near Crieff. My jaw dropped a little since I have a full grasp of where places are in Scotland and knew that we were only around thirty miles away. A no-brainer then, we were detouring away from our intended route within seconds. The bird had been seen at Loch Turret, a place we'd never been before. Loch Turret sits at the head of Glen Turret through which a stream flows and feeds the Glen Turret distillery which is the main producer of whisky that makes up The Famous Grouse brand. We frequently visit The Famous Grouse Experience because, besides whisky, there is fine coffee and cake to be had there and there are Dippers on the adjacent fast flowing stream.
The Loch itself is about five miles above the town of Crieff and the long narrow road winds its way through some prime looking moorland. The road ends at a carpark about a hundred metres away from the huge dam that holds the reservoir water at bay. The Ring-billed Gull had been reported as being on the dam itself so we were hopeful of a quick tick. We had only seen two Ring-billed Gulls before, a fine adult bird on Dunster beach in Somerset, in pre-camera days, and a first-winter bird at the Hayle Estuary on a miserable wet day when photography was impossible. We walked onto the dam causeway and spotted a couple of birders looking intently at the Valve Tower halfway along. There were several Gulls stood on the dam wall and on the tower but a quick survey proved them all to be the similar looking Common Gulls. One of the Common Gulls had us fooled for a few moments owing to it sporting a faint ring around the bill but as much as I willed it to be the target bird, it wasn't. We had to find the real Ring-billed Gull. I asked the other couple if they had seen the rarer bird but the reply was negative. Yet again it seemed, we wouldn't be getting the easy tick that we wanted.
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| Common Gulls |
For the next hour I scrutinised every Gull that was in the area and every candidate proved to be yet another Common Gull. Usually I'd be delighted to see Common Gulls, in our area they are far from common, and they are one of the most beautiful of our Gull species but, with a "better" Gull to see, I was rapidly getting sick of them. There were also some cute looking Common Gull chicks on the concrete apron to the Loch, superbly camouflaged and well protected by their parents who wheeled around us and made quite a racket whenever we stood too closely on the path above the chicks.
An Osprey sailed along the ridge to our right into view approaching from the direction of Crieff, presumably visiting the Loch for some fishing. It was followed by another. The second Osprey flew almost overhead. I tracked it as it soared over the Loch until it disappeared around the eastern flank of hills. The Ospreys were our first of the year although I was pretty confident we'd see lots more once in the Highlands.
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| Osprey |
My eye was drawn to a Gull that was flying low to the water and directly towards us. It was slightly bigger than the Common Gulls, more impressively built with a longer neck and larger head. I was originally thinking that it was probably a Herring Gull, up to that point we'd only seen Common and Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the Loch. As it came nearer though I was aware of a very bright yellow bill which crucially appeared to have a broad black band around it. I aimed the camera and took a couple of shots just as the Gull flew almost straight up towards the Osprey. The shots were blurred and unidentifiable! Luckily however, the bird which had flown over our heads and disappeared over the trees down the Glen, was now flying back again. I knew that because the two birders that'd left a few minutes before were waving their arms in the air and pointing upwards while shouting, 'It's there!' The Gull flew fairly low past us, dropped toward the surface of the Loch, did a circuit of the valve tower and disappeared! I managed a couple more shots and they revealed that my suspicions were correct, we had our Ring-billed Gull. Despite viewing the tower from every available angle we couldn't find the Ring-billed Gull and not for the first time I wondered if birds possess the ability to teleport.
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| Ring-billed Gull |
We'd seen the Ring-billed Gull but with only those brief views, and since we were in no hurry to leave since we knew our holiday cottage well, having stayed there several times before so had plenty of time, we retreated to the car, ate our sandwiches, and then returned to the Loch. And I'm so glad we did although to begin with it was, "How you were" with lots of Common Gulls and no sign of the Ring-billed. We studied every bird both near to the dam, and further out on the Loch. I had brought the scope back so that I could scan through the Lesser Black-backed Gull flock that were bathing and hanging about by an outfall but there was no sign of the Ring-billed Gull, and there still wasn't for over an hour since we'd seen it. The position of almost every Gull on the Loch was imprinted on my mind so when I saw a Gull swimming towards us about a hundred metres out, I just knew that I had to check it because it wasn't there before. I don't know how it did it, maybe it teleported back, but it was the Ring-billed Gull and this time I had ample time to check the features, helped by the fact that it was quickly closing in on the dam. Whereas the Common Gulls are kind looking birds with friendly looking faces, the Ring-billed Gull is a fierce looking bird, with glaring eyes set into a face that appears to be frowning, scowling even. The bill is more substantial with a clear black band near to the tip (the ring-bill). Ring-billed Gull is slightly larger than Common Gull giving it a much more impressive looking structure and the legs are bright yellow as opposed to the grey-green legs of the Common Gulls. The Ring-billed Gull also has a much smaller "white mirror" at the tip of the wing.
The Ring-billed Gull took off from the water, allowing me to get a few flight shots as it passed. It flew into a small fenced compound around a pumping station at the carpark and emerged carrying a piece of bread, presumably leftover from someone's picnic. The Gull flew down to the end of a concrete jetty and dipped the bread in the water to soften it before gulping it down. After a quick dip in the water the Gull then walked up the jetty and stood, rather menacingly I thought, looking around. You wouldn't win a staring contest with an adult Ring-billed Gull!
I thought that the Gull would return to its picnic site for more sustenance so positioned Mrs Caley and myself next to the small compound. It wasn't long before the Ring-billed Gull followed us, again affording some excellent flight views. It didn't go straight to the grassy compound but flew around a couple of times, at one point, I feared it may depart.
The Gull was obviously still hungry though and its flight was just to deter a juvenile Herring Gull that was also eyeing up its takeaway. The Ring-billed, while clearly smaller, easily ousted the other Gull which fled to bathe in the stream mouth with the other larger Gulls. The Ring-billed Gull then landed and stood on top of a concrete post. At such close quarters we could see what a truly beautiful bird the Ring-billed Gull was, its under parts gleaming pure white in the bright sunshine, with bright colour added by the bill, eyes, legs and feet. However, that menacing look was still very eminent.
After a few moments of repose the Gull dropped back into the compound to resume its afternoon tea. More flight shots gained I moved slightly so that I could see the Gull on the ground. Instead of landing directly on the food the Gull pranced around for a while first, I'm guessing that birds always like to make sure there are no nasty surprises and that the coast is clear.
Then after walking right up to the fence, the Ring-billed Gull emerged with its food, a half eaten bread roll, cheese filled I think, and flew strongly straight towards us.
This was "fill your boots time" for me as the Gull got so close I couldn't get the whole bird in the frame. Even the BirdGuides judges liked the header shot as it earned me a Notable Photo in their weekly contest and such accolades don't come around very often for me these days.
The Gull repeated its earlier behaviour by flying back to the end of the concrete jetty and dipping its bounty before swallowing it whole. Unfortunately it did that while facing away from us so we missed it but I was able to photograph it when it had a more prolonged dip and wash up afterwards.
We left when the Ring-billed Gull returned to the middle reaches of the Loch to digest its meal and rest. We paused to look at a Whinchat that straddled a power line by the carpark before setting off on the rest of our journey to Speyside.
Year List additions;
229) Osprey, 230) Ring-billed Gull
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