A frustrating day! June 8th

After the brilliant days birding on Handa Island yesterday, the following day was always going to be a bit of a letdown. After that long and tiring day we chose to take it easy and fit some other stuff in like visiting the Walkers biscuit factory at Aberlour and Brodies country fare store (Mrs Caley's favourite). At least the shops would be out of the way (I have an aversion to shopping). All was calm until I received a message informing that a Rosy Starling had been seen at Spey Bay on the Moray Coast. We were close to Elgin at the time so didn't have far to go to detour and get up there!

Spey Bay (or Tugnet as it's known to locals) sits neatly on the banks of the Spey estuary and is home to the Whale and Dolphin centre (which I've never visited, Cetaceans are just not my bag). The Rosy Starling (new nomenclature, I prefer Rose-coloured Starling but Rosy is easier to type so I'll stick with that!) had been seen feeding on the muddy shore of the estuary so we set up stall and scanned every available patch of possible feeding ground but couldn't see any starlings of any description. The bright sunlight in our faces wasn't helping either shedding a really vibrant heat haze across the estuary. There were birds here, with over 30 Goosanders loafing on a shingle bank until one of those annoying dog walkers and their dog sent them all scattering, a good number of Shelducks and some Ringed Plovers amongst others. 

Ringed Plover

Yellowhammers sang from telegraph wires while Swallows and House Martins hawked insects over the river. There were Arctic Terns fishing too but the expected Osprey failed to appear. I continued scanning the entire bay even zooming right in to look at the Kingston side of the estuary (about half a mile away). I thought I could make out a small flock of Starlings in the garden of a house over there so we decided to go "over to the other side". This entailed a drive of about ten miles! Of course once we'd got there the Starlings had disappeared. It didn't take long for them to return though and for the next half hour or so we scrutinised every Starling that flew in or over but there was no sign of the Rosy. At least we had the sun at our backs now so viewing was easier.

Another birder joined us, also on the hunt for the Rosy, and we chatted about the local birding scene and I quizzed him about locations and other info. We discovered that Steve (well met Sir) had moved up to Nethybridge from Kent so we eagerly questioned him about settling in up here too (since we still harbour those plans of our own). Despite pooling our efforts and searching the whole of downtown Kingston (in truth just a row of houses) neither of us could locate the quarry. We bade our goodbyes and drove off to Brodies where we could have what turned out to be a (very nice) coffee and an (extremely disappointing) cake. Mrs Caley perused the overpriced goods on offer while I feigned interest (did I mention that I hate shopping?). My salvation came when a new message informed that another Rosy Starling had been seen in Forres just a few miles down the road. We were there less than 20 minutes later at the location given which was frustratingly vague (near the school on some road, I forget now). Birding with binoculars and a camera is always awkward close to schools, some people jump to the wrong conclusions so we chose to stay in the car and look from there. Driving slowly backwards and forwards raises suspicions too so we were fighting a losing battle! We noticed a familiar car  and drew alongside Steve who was doing exactly the same and with the same reservations. At least we'd cover more ground now. After a while we discovered a flock of Starlings dust bathing in a small park at the back of some houses but in the next half hour of watching they weren't joined by any Rosy's so we called it a day. Although we've seen many Rosy Starlings over the years they have all been juveniles in autumn and the last, in fact the only, adult that we've seen was in Woodford Halse, Northants way back in the Noughties.

We popped into Sanquhar Loch on the edge of town where Dippers had been seen the week before but of course there was no sign now. We did have the consolation of seeing a lovely Grey wagtail feeding on the weir though and I finally used the camera for the first time in the day (compare that to taking over 500 shots on Handa the day before).

Another (much better) coffee and cake stop was made at the Logie Steading on the way back to the cottage. I also managed to resist paying far too much for a bottle of Gin (unlike last year)! A drive around Dulsie to the bridge (another reputed spot for Dipper) turned up nothing of note except for a young Curlew in a roadside field. 

So the day was more than a little bit frustrating but maybe it was the antidote to the day before. Reminds you that birding isn't always easy and you don't always see what you want to. All helps to keep you in check!