Enjoyed a good day in Strathspey (in spite of the rain). Route here, details as follows:

With the weather predicted to be wet and windy, I decided to keep to low ground during this impromptu visit to Strathspey. For a while, I had wanted to explore the north bank of the Spey where it borders the two golf courses in the Dalfaber Golf and Country Club. I had also wanted to take a look at the moorland between there and the steam railway (especially the lochs where I had seen an Osprey fishing once before). Today seemed an ideal opportunity to cover both.

The journey up (by bus this month) produced two really good sightings in the form of a Red Kite being mobbed by crows near Bridge of Allan and an Osprey carrying a fish at Kinkell Bridge.

Fortunately the rain stayed off for the first half of the day. My arrival in Aviemore co-incided with the Commonwealth Baton Relay, so the town was full of people lining the streets. I cut round by the resort to avoid the crowds and headed for Dalfaber. Notable birds on the way included singing Blackcap, singing Willow Warbler and feeding Blackbirds (they seemed to be on every patch of mown grass in the town).

The walk down to the Spey was  along a fence line bordering one of the golf holes. Not ideal, because of the risk of distracting players driving down the fairway, but thankfully the distance can be covered in just a few minutes. Once down at the river, the “path” proved to be not much more than an animal track through the vegetation. However, it regularly joined and re-joined the service track down the side of the golf course, so wasn’t that difficult to negotiate. A gap in the vegetation here produced probably the best sighting of the day – a Kingfisher calling loudly as it flew upstream. 

As usual, I found it fairly easy to get away from the crowds by going slightly off the beaten track. As it turned out, I saw only one person (apart from passing canoeists) between the golf courses and the outskirts of Boat of Garten. Birds of the day included Sand Martin (at least three colonies plus birds almost constantly overhead), Common Sandpiper (12), Grey Wagtail (4), Dipper (3), Goldeneye (5) and Goosander (12 in one family group). Flocks (presumably post-breeding) of Rook, Lapwing and Oystercatcher were at a few spots and some good numbers of Swifts were feeding (especially approaching Boat of Garten). Spotted Flycatchers were particularly evident around Wester Dalvoult Cottage and numerous species with attendant young (more details tomorrow).

The full bird list for the day consisted of:

Greylag Goose, Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Goosander, Buzzard, Pheasant, Little Grebe, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Swift, Kingfisher, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, hybrid Carrion x Hooded Crow, Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Skylark, Sand Martin, Swallow, House Martin, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Wren, Starling, Dipper, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Siskin (52 species)

Some impressions of Strathspey in July:
Aviemore is quite busy, with the height of the summer season approaching.

The woods are relatively quiet with relatively little bird song.

The paths are very quiet with virtually no-one around, although several small groups of open canoes drifted downstream.

Non birds on show include Rabbits (loads around Aviemore), beetles and flies (many using the “landing pads” of umbelliferous plants), “forty shades of green” in the vegetation (including  Aspen looking its best) and plenty of butterflies in the bracken.








Thursday, July 01, 2014

A brief visit to East India Harbour in Greenock this lunchtime found at least 12 Black Guillemots active, including adults bringing fish and at least one juvenile begging from a hole in the harbour wall. A Rock Pipit was also present, as was a female Eider with a small duckling. Not so nice was a female Eider (with two big young in tow) with a lot of fishing line and a fishing float or lure wrapped around her foot and trailing behind her. Sent an e mail to Hessilhead to see if they could help.