Week 11
12 – 18 March 2025
During my big year, I will update my blog most weeks. This is the tenth week's recap. This weekend I will be in Inverness, at the Scottish Birdwatchers' Conference with my friend Felix. The number next to the day indicates my year list at the end of that day. Birds written in italics indicate year ticks.
March 15 - Day 74: 130
Today, I woke up at quarter to six, got dressed and in the car, with the Satnav set to Inverness. When we arrived, at 8:40, we were in fact some of the first to arrive for the day’s talks. After a little while, my family left and went to explore Inverness, while I started to chat to many of the people at the stalls. At 9:30, Felix and I sat down for the first presentations of the day. After several interesting talks, Felix and I went out to the car park to try to get some early Chiffchaffs for our year lists. Unfortunately, we didn't see much apart from a Hooded Crow between the many Carrion Crows. We settled back and heard from some other young birders, and we even got to say a few words about the Spurn competition we did last September! At lunch, we stuffed ourselves with fruits and chicken. After eating, we went on to take as many of the free, second-hand books as well as a leaflet from each stall. We were given information on a pair of Slavonian Grebes at a nearby loch in breeding plumage. With Felix having never seen them in breeding plumage and me happy about the possibility of a year tick, we managed to convince our parents to go after the end of the talks. As the talks came to a close, we made our way to the exit and to RSPB Loch Ruthven.
Less than half an hour later, we were walking down to the hide at the RSPB's Loch Ruthven reserve. As we passed a small group of birch trees, we heard a calling Chiffchaff, a sure sign of spring. Within another 2 minutes, Felix had spotted two birds on the lake, which were, in fact, Slavonian Grebes. Despite being at a distance, the plumage and behaviour was undeniable. #130! We had to get back quickly, in order to arrive on time to our Italian dinner, which we reserved.
At the restaurant, I devoured the largest pizza I had ever seen. Just then, we got a message from the other finalist from the Spurn competition last year, Milo. He had just see 3 Goshawks, 3 Hawfinches, woodlark, 2 Firecrests, 2 Stone curlews, 3 Cattle egrets and a Marsh tit. Felix and I decided that we needed to get Snow bunting and Crested tit on the outings to Strathspey the day after, to make him jealous.
March 16 - Day 75: 133
Today I woke up, only slightly later than on Saturday, at 6:40. I made the most of this time and looked out the window to see what I could see. It turned out that the trees were full of birdlife. I saw a Goldcrest, Blue tits and Great tits, a Blackbird, another calling Chiffchaff, some Chaffinches, and a Bullfinch.
We met up with Felix, after packing out of our room. Our first stop would be Abernethy woods, at Nethy Bridge. Here, we met up with the other birders and made our way to the feeders. While we waited, he heard a Mistle Thrush, a drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers, and a Goldcrest. The feeders were also attracting many birds, mainly Blue tits, Great tits and Coal tits as well as a male Siskin. Eventually, we heard the distinctive call of the Crested tit as it approached the feeders, unfortunately, I was the only one of the group to see it and its diagnostic crest and facial pattern. We waited a bit longer, but the bird didn't come back, so I didn't manage to get any photos.
Our next stop was the Cairn Gorm car park, for Snow Bunting. As soon as I got out of the car, I saw the large flock of Snow Buntings flying around the upper car park. A lifer and #132! I managed to get several really close shots of the birds as they fed on the seeds we had put out for them, before having to run from the rain to protect my gear. After the rain eased down, and my gear and I dry, we went out again to get some more pictures. Eventually, both Felix and I had to have a break and some warm drinks at the café. Before long, the others left to RSPB Insh Marshes, so we said goodbye to them, since we could not make it. We stayed about 10 minutes longer at Cairn Gorm, getting EVEN closer to some of the Snow Buntings. We pulled ourselves away from the buntings and got in the car, deciding that we would stop at Fyvie Castle on the way back for the Mandarin Ducks.
After about two hours' drive, we arrived at Fyvie castle. We soon saw many Mallards and a few Tufted Ducks but no Mandarins. As we walked around the lake, we heard some singing Chiffchaffs and Song thrushes. We noted that many of the passerines here, such as Blue tits, Great tits, Coal tits, Chaffinches, Robins, and Dunnocks were very tame, so we got many great photographs. We walked down to the very south side, and back up, seeing more of the same birds as well as a pair of Mute Swans, Little Grebes and two Greylag Geese. We walked back, slightly disappointed, although the sight of a Treecreeper lifted our spirits. Just as we were leaving, my dad looked back towards the lake and saw a weird orange bird under some hanging trees in the water. Mandarin Ducks! As they approached us, looking for something to eat, we got spectacular photos of both the pairs.
Day 74 + 75: https://ebird.org/tripreport/341771
Snow Bunting (1st Winter)
Snow Bunting (1st Winter)
Road up to Cairn Gorm
Road up to Cairn Gorm
Chaffinch at Cairn Gorm
Snow Bunting
Snow Bunting
Snow Bunting
Snow Bunting flock
Snow Bunting
Robin at Fyvie
Blue tit
Dunnock
Great tit
Female Chaffinch
Tufted Duck
Coal Tit
Spot the Chiffchaff!
Male Mandarin Duck
Male Mandarin Duck
Male Mandarin Duck
Male Mandarin Duck
Male Mandarin Duck
Mandarin Duck Pair
Mandarin Duck
Male Chaffinch
Mandarin Duck resting
Female Mandarin Duck with a female Mallard