Another must see bird for any birder visiting the Cairngorm and Speyside area is the Crested Tit which as far as the UK goes are only found in the northern pine forests of Scotland. Usually Cresties are not difficult to find but in June, because they are breeding and will have either eggs or young, they are back in the forests rather than hanging around feeder set ups in RSPB carparks. Crested Tits can be found just about anywhere in the forests, walk any track and you will probably hear their lovely bubbling trilling calls. However, we have some favourite spots to find them.
One such place is close to the village of Insh not far from the walk up to Carn Ban Mor. The forest here is known as Inshriach and is an excellent area to find Cresties and other special forest birds such as Crossbills and the holy grail, Capercaillie. As everyone who knows me will know, Capercaillie are my most favourite of all birds and always will be. It was wanting to see a Capercaillie that first brought us to this part of Scotland twenty-five years ago. On our very first try we had a cock Capercaillie walk out onto a forest track ahead of our car and our love for the huge forest grouse, and the Speyside region, was cemented forever.
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| Capercaillie (Tetrao urugallus) |
We've gone on to see plenty more Capercaillie over those past twenty-five years although sightings have thinned out considerably in recent times. More disturbance from various sources and increased predation have taken their toll on the magnificent birds. Nowadays to see one is a very rare event indeed. The signs of their continued presence are there though, as piles of droppings, "Crapercaillie Do's" as I call them, are still found along the forest tracks. Capercaillie must ingest grit, found on the tracks, to aid digestion of the pine needles and bilberry leaves that make up a large part of their meagre diet. Because that diet is so poor the birds must eat a lot and what goes in must come out so it's quite usual to find accumulations of droppings at a place where a Capercaillie has been feeding and gritting.
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| "Crapercaillie" |
We were walking in the afternoon because of a wet start to the day and, because after walking up Carn Ban Mor the previous day, we were more than a little jaded so there would be next to no chance of seeing a Capercaillie on this walk although our senses were heightened just in case. It pays to be quiet and vigilant when walking amongst the pine trees. The more common residents of the forest were well represented and we easily saw Tree Pipits, Siskins, Mistle Thrushes and Spotted Flycatchers. A couple of Red Squirrels tore around the upper branches of a pine and Crossbills flew over the track calling continually.
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| Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) |
It took us a while to hear the trill of a Crested Tit but once we heard them then the pair that were searching for food were readily found. Cresties are quick and nimble birds and when feeding among the fronds of pine needles can be hard to track and to photograph. We found a rock and sat and watched them. Careful studying revealed two more so this appeared to be parents feeding chicks judging by repeated visits to the same tree where the two young birds were secreted. Eventually one of the parent birds descended to a lower part of the trees and I managed to grab some shots of the bird clinging acrobatically onto the branch.
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| Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus) |
We returned to the same spot on the following Monday. The weather was better than on the Friday with less of a breeze but perversely the birds were harder to see. As we walked towards the section of forest where we'd seen the Crested Tits before we encountered a very tame Brown Hare which appeared to be as interested in us as we were in it because it followed us a short way up the track before it decided to scarper across a clearing in the trees.
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| Mountain Hare (Lepus timidus) |
A Grey Wagtail feeding along a stream caught our attention and allowed a reasonably close approach for a photo or two. Grey Wagtails are seen just about everywhere there is fast flowing water in Speyside, and there are a lot of streams and rocky rivers.
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| Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) |
The family of Crested Tits, could have been another one I suppose, were not far from we saw them before, and the attendant youngsters were still being fed. They looked big and well developed enough to sort themselves out but we saw one still begging for food. It was having to chase its parents for it though rather than have it delivered.
The cottage we rent near Boat-of-Garten has a tiny little garden although is surrounded by silver birch trees. The feeders there, when stocked, attract a multitude of common birds. We've not yet seen a Crested Tit on them but then we've never stayed in the tiny tin-roofed dwelling in the winter months. We have seen Cresties when we've stayed at other cottages, and even shared our Christmas Day lunch one year with a Crestie and other birds. That was when it was minus 10 degrees at best at midday and many birds were grateful for the extra handouts. They loved stuffing balls. I often sit on the picnic bench on the cottage veranda and take photos of the birds feeding just a few metres away. In mid-June there are lots of recently fledged youngsters to admire and photograph.
Year List addition;
236) Crested Tit
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