Bits & Bobs and a Brambling, from early January 2023.

January 6,

We had a quick look for a Pink-footed Goose that had been found in amongst a flock of Canada Geese in the flooded Cherwell Valley, not far from our home. A scour of the area didn't reveal any Geese apart from a distant flock of about twenty flying away which may or may not have held the Pink-foot. To look further for the Goose would have required a longish walk along the Oxford canal, and with little time to spare before an afternoon appointment, we opted instead to drive to Balscote Quarry Reserve (BQR) to check out the feeding station there.

On our last visit to BQR on New Year's Day we had failed to connect with a Brambling that had been seen over the Christmas break but it had been seen on subsequent days so I was hopeful that we'd see it at the second attempt. Even though the sun was shining it was chilly, as it often is at BQR where the wind blows straight into the observers hunkered behind a low wall at the top of a bank that overlooks the reserve. Our friend Lee was there, but he was having a spot of trouble with his car and was busy trying to resolve the issue, so initially we were the only people sat watching over the feeding station. As well as the expected Goldfinches and Greenfinches, there were also five Yellowhammers making use of the food provided.

Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)

We continued to watch the common birds, a couple of Chaffinches had joined in the feast and various species of the Tit family were also in attendance. There was no sign of the Brambling though and we feared that we'd be missing out again. The birds continued to come and go but for twenty minutes there was still no sign of that Brambling. We couldn't spare too much time to wait for it to appear either.

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Greenfinch (Chloris chloris)

Lee joined us at the screen, having sorted out somebody to come and rescue him. I told him that there had been a Brambling present for a few days but that it was avoiding me. He advised me to look under the closest feeder. Of course, there was the male Brambling, I had completely managed to miss it joining the other birds feeding. I need to go to Specsavers!

Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)

The Brambling, now that it had appeared, showed almost constantly for the next half hour or so, usually feeding on the ground underneath the feeders but sometimes balancing awkwardly on a feeder itself. I'm not a photography snob but I wanted more natural poses from the bird so I concentrated on capturing it when it was perched in the bushes next to the feeders.

I failed in my attempts to get the Brambling flying between the bushes and feeders, it's only a distance of around six feet, partly to my own poor skills but also because I was still having teething problems with the new Canon R7 camera. I'd only had the new mirrorless camera for a week and hadn't managed to find settings that I was happy with. So far I was finding it great to photograph perched birds but flight shots were proving very difficult to obtain. The step up in quality of the R7 from my previous model is huge and it really is a game changer but it's a very technical piece of kit and apart from a basic grasp of how cameras work and operate, my technical skill and know how is rudimentary at best. Much improvement in those skills are required.

Year List additions;

61) Pied Wagtail, 62) Song Thrush, 63) Brambling

Lazy Old Blogger #5: Cresties! Insh, 10&13 June 2022

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. 

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Otter-mor! 2nd January 2023

Kick-starting a New Year in Oxfordshire has to involve a visit to the RSPB reserve at Otmoor. Even if you are definitely not Year Listing this time around! Of course I will be counting the birds that I see in 2023 but I flatly refuse to allow myself and Mrs Caley to go through the stress of trying to attain the Big Year target of three hundred species after the previous year's effort. This time we will just accumulate the birds as they come along. However, Otmoor does provide the opportunity to add quite a few birds to one's list and it's always worth a walk around out on the Moor. Recently there had been multiple sightings of Otters from the first screen and even though I'm not as excited by mustelids as I am by birds, it would be good to see them for ourselves.

Otmoor, both because of its proximity to home and also for the variety of wildlife that can be found there, has long been a mainstay of our birding. During Lockdown, Otmoor kept us going when we couldn't travel out of the county to other places. Although we didn't go there so much last year it was still our go-to-place in the spring for recently arrived summering birds. The visitor experience of Otmoor has changed in recent years though. More people were attracted to the reserve during the pandemic, the wide open spaces offered respite from the imposed confinement, and many of those folk are continuing to visit. Hence the reserve isn't quite the tranquil oasis it used to be, but it's a vast place and there is room for everyone. Except at the viewing screens that is, and particularly the first one where a gaggle of photographers always seem to be in residence, taking up the space while waiting patiently for a Bittern or a Kingfisher or the Otters to appear. The superb photos posted on local social media groups have enticed even more folk eager to see the special creatures for themselves. And of course there is the well known daily Starling murmuration which has created such interest amongst the public that a visit to the Moor in late afternoon or early evening is a trial in itself with too many cars to fit into the small parking area. But it's a bit like complaining about traffic, I'm as much a part of the problem as everybody else is so there's no way I can blame anyone else more than I can blame myself.

I wanted to see the Otters despite my feigned disinterest, it had taken me over a month to raise the enthusiasm for an early start which was necessary according to the resident togger reports. It was barely getting light as we gained our first big surprise of the morning. As we drove up the hill just before the turn into Beckley, a bird appeared in the headlight beam of the car. It was stood square in the road causing me to hit the brakes to avoid wiping it out. Luckily it wasn't an icy morning and I brought the car to a standstill just a few metres from the bird. Looking back at us was a Woodcock! It remained in the road for a few seconds before flying off into the nearby trees. To see a Woodcock in that fashion was a great surprise and a big bonus bird to get so early in the year.

We arrived at the carpark just after seven and were staggered to find seven other cars already parked up. I said that Otmoor was popular these days. We wanted to see the spectacular sight of the entire roost of Starlings leaving for their days feeding in the villages, towns and fields of the surrounding area. The estimated fifty-thousand birds leave en masse and create quite a picture as they fly past. Because of the Woodcock we were later than originally planned so we wouldn't get to the screen for the birds departure and that proved to be true as we reached the bridleway. The birds streamed over our heads just seconds later, all headed eastwards presumably towards the sun which was rising in the clear sky. It took a good few seconds for the whole flock to have passed over and while they did the sky was filled with black dots and the sound of thousands of whirring wing beats.

A sky full of Starlings

We continued on to the first screen and joined half a dozen familiar faces, the same ones that are always there these days, looking out onto the slightly misty covered water. There was little of interest on the lagoon itself, just a few Ducks and a pair of Mute Swans floated idly there. The weedy edge of the lagoon held some Common Snipe and a handful of Lapwing, and a Grey Heron stood hunched up in the shallows.

Lapwing

We stood silently for almost half an hour before a Kingfisher appeared, quite close to the screen but obscured by reeds. I noticed that the excitement level rose a notch or two amongst the toggers. Apparently, so I'd read on social media, the Kingfishers here followed the Otters around in the hope of a by-catch. The Otters would disturb smaller fish while hunting for bigger fry. A minute or so later an Otter appeared, and it was really close too, right in front of the screen. In fact, there were two, we could see them through the reeds just twenty feet away. I fired off a few shots but only captured a blurry head behind some sharper reeds. I tutted silently but then tried to cheer up by reminding myself that I'd only had my camera for less than a week. The Otters swam past the screen so close almost that you could touch have touched them, except they were submerged and the only sign that they did swim past was the trails of bubbles left behind. One of the Otters, the largest and presumably the mother of the other, emerged on the opposite side of the nearest bay. Half a dozen cameras whirred into action, mine too although being mirrorless there was no noise from it. I was delighted to see the Otter so close, the first good view of one we'd had since watching a young cub in an ornamental pond in a park in Elgin a few years back. However, my glee soon turned to annoyance when I reviewed the images and noticed that they were all horribly over exposed. For some reason my camera had jumped the exposure stops up by two without me asking it to. Oh well, at least overblown photos have some artistic merit, albeit a little bit.

Otter

Of course, as soon as I had corrected the camera error and reverted it back to normal exposure settings the Otters disappeared into the reedbeds. When they reappeared again they were distant right over the far side of the lagoon. I had blown a gilt edged chance to grab some great photos of the stars of Otmoor. Oh well, onwards and upwards, new cameras need learning. It was a pretty basic mistake to make though but in the heat of the moment checking the settings is always forgotten.

The Kingfisher, a female as depicted by the red base to its bill, at least stayed faithful to the reeds closest to the screen and allowed some photography. If the Kingfisher was following the Otters around then they must have stayed deep within the reeds because they was no outward signs of any further presence of them.

Kingfisher

I tried a bit of aerial photography on a few birds. Greylag Geese, a Grey Heron and a female Marsh Harrier all providing worthy practice. My results weren't great though but I guess my skills will improve with more time spent using the camera. I was struggling with focusing on the moving subjects but maybe I hadn't discovered the right settings yet.

Grey Heron

Marsh Harrier

We left the screen and the attendant photographers and spent a few moments in the Wetlands Hide. We enjoyed a New Year's social with our regular Otmoor mates and left them promising to spend more time on the Moor this year. From the hide we watched the finch and bunting flocks which are attracted to the supplementary food provided. No Bramblings on offer here either after drawing a blank at Balscote on New Year's Day. The other more common species were well represented though.

Reed Bunting

Along the bridleway we witnessed a Peregrine Falcon stooping onto Greenaways and pursuing some ducks that scattered every which way they could. I was far too slow to pick up the camera but was happy to watch the mastery of the falcon anyway.

As we passed the carpark feeding station we were amazed to see a bold-as-brass Muntjac Deer pigging out on the spilt seed below the feeders. No matter how many folk stopped and stared at the deer, it just stood there and ate. Unlike most of its kind that was not a shy animal at all!

Muntjac Deer

Otmoor always offers something good. Today was our best ever Otter day on the Moor, to be fair I'd only seen one there before, so it didn't have much to be beat. We'd tallied up over sixty species of birds too, of which almost half were new for the year. Next time out on the Moor I wonder if it will be Otter-more or maybe a Bit(tern)-moor!

Year List additions;

33) Woodcock, 34) Raven, 35) Teal, 36) Wigeon, 37) Tufted Duck, 38) Lapwing, 39) Golden Plover, 40) Common Snipe, 41) Moorhen, 42) Water Rail, 43) Cetti's Warbler, 44) Bullfinch, 45) Stonechat, 46) Skylark, 47) Grey Heron, 48) Marsh Harrier, 49) Linnet, 50) Reed Bunting, 51) Kingfisher, 52) Peregrine Falcon, 53) Greylag Goose, 54) Canada Goose, 55) Shoveler, 56) Jackdaw, 57) Lesser Black-backed Gull, 58) Pheasant, 59) Mute Swan, 60) Sparrowhawk

Lazy Old Blogger #4: Up We Go Again! Carn Ban Mor, Thursday 9 June 2022

It had already been a hectic and taxing start to our fortnight in The Highlands of Scotland with two uphill walks already undertaken. We were supposed to be relaxing, taking it easy, we were on holiday after all, but the fact that we'd failed to find any Ptarmigan or Dotterel on our Cairngorm walk just two days before was playing heavily on my mind and I knew that we had to summon the legs to go up again. With the weather forecast looking mixed at best, Thursday dawned dry and bright, if a tad windy, and promised to stay that way for the entire day so we took the hasty decision to walk up to the top of Carn Ban Mor, another high top favoured by birders because a good path gives relatively easy access to the plateau. It's a long walk though, at least a couple of miles to the top, and every step is uphill, obviously as you'd expect, with the last few hundred metres punishing for old knees like mine.

The reason we choose this part of Scotland to take our holidays is because of the special birds that reside in the mountain area. Ptarmigan and Dotterel are two of our most sought after birds while in the Cairngorms and the trip wouldn't feel complete if we missed out on them. The carpark at Achlean was empty as we began our walk. Before we had reached the start of the walk proper we had already seen Tree Pipits, Willow Warblers, Stonechats and a Blackcap amongst others. We paused at the road end and looked up towards the tops and the path ahead. Carn Bam Mor was clear of the wispy cloud and the rest of the skies looked clear so we should have a good walk in reasonable conditions.

Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)

As with most mountain walks there is little on offer for the birder en route. On this walk there are Coal Tits and Siskins in the wooded area and when the trees thin out you see plenty of Meadow Pipits and may come across a Wheatear or two but for the large part there is little to see and you don't see the special montane species until you get near the top.

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)

We walk slowly and take lots of breaks which is good because I get a chance to scan around for raptors. We have seen Golden Eagles high above the glen in the past. The skies were empty this time apart from the ubiquitous Common Gulls toing and froing along the River Feshie. A couple of hours after setting out we reached the "Saddle" a narrow section of path between two hills and the start of the steep ascent to Carn Ban Mor itself. It's always windy at this point and today was no exception. One year we got this far and turned around because we could barely stay attached to the ground. That U-turn worked to our advantage that day because on the way down from the hill we met a chap who told us about a Cock Capercaillie that was showing extremely well by a roadside near Nethybridge. Today however, it wasn't so bad so we continued on our laboured way up the track.

A few showers came our way and being exposed to the elements we had no choice but to put our backs to the weather and get wet. In the stiff breeze the showers thankfully didn't last long and they had soon passed. It's on this upper reach of the path when I begin very careful scanning of the terrain both sides of the track. We've seen Dotterel and Ptarmigan readily here but it seems as if both species are scarce on the Cairngorms this year. Halfway up the steep path another scan of the hillside finally revealed something interesting when one of the boulders nestled in amongst the vegetation suddenly moved slightly and exhibited a red blotch in its top right corner! It was a male Ptarmigan, barely noticeable without careful scrutiny, and sat only around twenty metres away from the path.

Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta)

We edged closer to the bird until we were broadside and able to get some better views and photos. I crept forward a bit more to get some closer shots. Ptarmigan can be extremely tolerant of people but I feel it still pays to be respectful and maintain some distance between them and us. Having said that I've had Ptarmigan walk over my feet while I've been sat watching them before so there isn't too much need to be careful around them, unless they have chicks or are sat on a nest. Spring was late on the mountains this year so they would only just be pair bonding this early in June.

We decided to eat our picnic while sat near to the Ptarmigan. The male bird relaxed and resumed its own lunch. I thought I heard the distant call of a Dotterel but despite much searching of the airspace I couldn't find any flyover birds. I scanned the hillside above us looking for more Ptarmigan and then further off for either species but to no avail. Then incredibly I did spot another Ptarmigan, this time a female. Amazingly it was also secreted in the short vegetation but only a few feet from the male! Despite it being there, hiding in plain sight, I hadn't noticed it for a whole fifteen minutes! Ptarmigan really are masters of camouflage.

I secured  a few more photos of the pair of "Mountain Chickens" as Ptarmigan are sometimes referred to, particularly the male bird because it decided to stand up and show off its white belly and feathered legs. 

We walked up the remaining few metres of the track and emerged out onto the plateau. Once there I scanned far and wide for any Dotterel and came up empty handed. I left Mrs Caley to take a breather and marched in a wide circle scanning as much as the area as I could but frustratingly couldn't find anything on the top at all. Beaten I rejoined my wife and bemoaned the fact that we'd seemingly be missing out on seeing Dotterel on this trip and possibly for the year. But miracles do happen sometimes and as we sat there contemplating the long walk back to the car, the plaintive call of a Dotterel carried on the wind towards us. I was on my feet in a flash and I was looking upwards and around. I spotted the source of the call hurtling towards us about a hundred metres away. To our enormous good fortune the Dotterel, a brightly coloured female, and although high up, passed almost right over us. I had time to increase the exposure on the camera and take some shots of the bird as it flew over. Not our best views ever by a long chalk but we had Dotterel on our year list.

Dotterel (Charadrius morinellus)

Unfortunately the Dotterel kept going and we watched it disappear into the distance but we could now undertake the return journey happy that we'd seen both of our target birds. Our Big Year dreams had nudged a couple of steps closer with the two hard earned ticks. More importantly we had enjoyed our trek up to Carn Ban Mor, enjoyed the scenery and the few birds we'd seen. And we hadn't seen another soul all day. I love the Cairngorms!

Year List additions;

234) Ptarmigan, 235) Dotterel