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This superb 'Red Grouse' shows off its inflated eyebrow sacs in response to playback. (Photo by tour participant Jim Rome)

This second Field Guides tour to Scotland enjoyed mostly good weather (if a bit variable, with its fair share of wind and cold), and this helped us score an enviable bird list and some thrilling sightings against a backdrop of unsurpassed scenic grandeur. The tour dates are situated critically between the departure of wintering waterfowl, especially the geese, and the arrival of summer residents, which makes the timing about perfect for the displaying grouse and the arrival of the Corn Crake. An interesting combination of departing winter species and early arriving summer ones added further spice as we traveled from the Solway to Highland Speyside, then west to absorb some of Scotland’s most dramatic Hebridean scenery, some of her rich cultural heritage, and of course an in-depth look at her “usage beathe,” the legendary water of life, better known as some of her finest malt whiskies.

Differing climatic conditions to the south and cold to the north of us made the bird list stronger on late winter birds than early arriving summer ones. The spectacle of thousands of Barnacles and Pink-footeds was the exciting produce of a late winter, and the corresponding late migration produced hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits and Golden Plover—all in high alternate dress—as well as an adult Iceland Gull and even a few Redwings. But, ah, those summer birds which had arrived were memorable—how about those Ring Ouzels!—yet none more so than that angry Corn Crake on Coll! Among resident species, the grouse, the Tawny Owls, the Chough, the nesting Dipper, a pair of Scottish Crossbills, and a pair of Bullfinches were hands down favorites. Despite some enervating health issues, our convivial group kept admirably to the lively pace, both birding and wee-dramming. The various neat whiskies, the intoxicating birds, and some of Scotland’s finest dining made for an extraordinary tour. Hugh and I thank you all for making ours exactly that.

I have appended a splendid, detailed account of our journey that Hugh miraculously provided before he left for China! I trust he will forgive me for having done a little light dusting with respect to Field Guides's house style.

--John

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Hugh's Detailed Day-by-Day Account

Saturday 20 April

All have foregathered in Scotland in advance and we are soon off from Glasgow Airport south. Our cheerful and adaptable driver Robert, a native of Dumfriesshire, knows our route well and will be a tower of strength in days to come. Our Mercedes 16-seater bus is comfortable enough as we progress away from Scotland's rather dreary middle belt into the bare Lowthar Hills and the lovely valley of the Elvan River. Here are the first of many, soon to be familiar Lapwings, Curlews, Oystercatchers, Meadow Pipits, Northern Wheatears, and Willow Warblers. A little further on we induce a cock Red Grouse into a stunning aerial display as he lands on open ground not 20 feet from us. He is one of a dozen or so we will see today and more in days to come. On through Warnlockhead (rather surprisingly the highest village in Scotland) and into the late emerging green valley of Upper Nithsdale where our first of several European Nuthatches is vocal and responsive. Here the River Nith produces our first Grey Wagtail, Drumlanrig Castle (seat of the Duke of Buccleugh) is admired and photographed, and we check into our comfortable small hotel in Thornhill. Profiting from the afternoon sunshine, we travel on to Lochmaben where Great Crested Grebes are in full plumage, there is a single Whooper Swan, and the iPod induces an elusive Water Rail to call and show itself to at least an alert few. Nearer Caerlaverock a flock of a thousand or so Barnacle Geese also contain a few Pink-footed, there are more at Glencaple, and a busy opening day finishes with a noisy pair of Tawny Owls and an introduction to Scottish whiskies at the Buck's home at Scaurbank in the eve.

Sunday 21 April

The morning produces what will prove to be our only real rain of the trip so we take it easy at the feeders at Hugh and Caroline's house by the River Scaur and at the lovely gardens of neighbor Robin, for our first Blackcaps, Siskins, Yellowhammers, Tree Sparrows and a couple of wary Stock Doves. At Robin's we catch up with the much wanted White-throated Dipper and, although we fail to find his newly arrived Pied Flycatcher, we soon score Pied at another site near Penpont where an unexpected and vocal pair of Green Woodpeckers produce scope views of the male atop a pine tree. It starts to clear around midday as we travel west to the valley of the River Ken, our first Red Kites and Greylag Geese, and a nice little flock of summer-garbed Black-tailed Godwits which prove to be merely a prelude to days to come. The hills of the English Lake District are clearly visible from Southerness where we find further huge numbers of Barnacle Geese, and the Solway shore at Carsethorne produces rafts of Greater Scaup and a selection of shorebirds which include several Whimbrels. The viewpoint at Drumburn gives us a number of Pintail and our lists are flying at the end of day 2.

Monday 22 April

It is bright and breezy as we leave Thornhill and the contrast of winter and summer is illustrated by reports of a Bohemian Waxwing by the Johnsons and a Common Swift by Al before breakfast - very late winter departure and early summer arrival, indeed. Our destination is North Berwick where a very windy sail on a high-speed RIB acquaints us with the main selection of Scotland's seabirds which include Puffins and thousands of Gannets. Back ashore the landlubbers have located a small flock of wintering Purple Sandpipers and we all get to see at least one of these in a flock of Turnstones. Elsewhere on the Firth of Forth we score rather windy looks at Long-tailed Ducks and White-winged (Velvet) Scoters, enjoy some of the sights of historic Edinburgh and cross the Forth Road Bridge with views of the historic Railway Bridge on our right. The RSPB reserve at Vane Farm on Loch Leven is full of wildfowl which include another 4 Whooper Swans and several hundred Pink-footed Geese. From here it is but an hour to our Hilton Hotel situated right on the banks of the River Tay in Perthshire's Dunkeld.

Tuesday 23 April

It is a bit dull and overcast as we do a 0600 "dawn chorus" walk around the hotel grounds. It is quiet but we do enjoy an Osprey patrolling the River Tay, a drumming male Great Spotted Woodpecker, good comparative views of Song and Mistle Thrushes on the lawns and such as Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren (now split from its New World cousins), and Eurasian Treecreeper. At a rather cold Glenshee we scan briefly for Ptarmigan but have to be content with Red Deer and several Mountain Hares (at least two in their white winter garb) before our descent into Royal Deeside and a visit to the Queen's summer palace at Balmoral. Only the gardens and the opulent ballroom are open, but we do get a flavor of how the other one-tenth of one percent lives. By the road from Braemar to Tomintoul we have wonderful views of a quintet of calmly feeding cock Black Grouse and keen-eyed Marcia draws our attention to a pair of breeding plumage European Golden Plovers a little distance away. A tour of the Glenlivet Distillery enhances our knowledge of the production of these famous highland malts and from here the valley of the River Spey and the comfortable Boat Hotel at Boat of Garten are but an hour away. We bully the staff into serving our dinner in time for the dusk viewing of a roding Woodcock at nearby Dulnain Bridge.

Wednesday 24 April

At dawn in relatively calm weather we drive the short distance to Loch Garten and the large and well-patronized Osprey nest-viewing hide. Our goal is the rare and sadly declining Eurasian Capercaillie and this protected area is the site of a known lekking ground, viewable from the hide and managed by the RSPB to prevent disturbance at other sites. We do not have to wait long before a fine cock arrives to do his thing. He is a bit distant and moves in and out of the trees but all get scope views as he raises his head, fans his tail and does an occasional fluttering leap forward. This mega desired bird makes a hearty breakfast all the more enjoyable. The weather remains with us, our local guide John Picton joins us, a fine pair of Arctic Loons (Black-throated Divers) in full summer garb are on Loch Morlich, and a pair of Ring Ouzels are induced into action at the lower Cairngorm car park. Although the tops of the mountains are cloud covered we take a chance and board the Cairngorm Mountain Railway to the upper restaurant and viewing area at a coolish 3000+ feet. A stiff wind and cloud hamper our early attempts, but it does suddenly clear to open up an astonishing vista both below and around us. And eventually we all get views of Rock Ptarmigan including a pair in flight, a female in the scope for those that brave the snow and wind, and a dead, winter-plumaged bird which could be examined in the hand. A single almost summer-plumaged Snow Bunting is feeding outside the restaurant - confined as a breeding bird in Scotland to these barren heights. Back down in warmer Rothiemurchus the divers have turned into a pair of Red-throated and a longish walk eventually produces a few Crested Tits, and Suann and Jan see a quartet of Crossbills, most likely the endemic Scottish, considering the Caledonian Pine habitat.

Thursday 25 April

John takes us first to Avielochan where a pair of summer-plumaged Horned (Slavonian) Grebes are the pick of a small range of waterfowl. Then on to the Caledonian forests at Inshcraig where we eventually get excellent and confirmatory scope views of a pair of Scottish Crossbills. The pine crop has been very poor this winter and sightings of these elusive birds (and even more so the closely related Parrot Crossbills) have been few and far between. We feel privileged to have nailed this single Scottish endemic in the time available. On north to the shores of the Moray Firth at Findhorn and Spey Bays where we get more manageable views of Long-tailed Ducks and a few Common and White-winged (Velvet) Scoters, an excitable pair of Crested Tits and where we flush an almost certain Corn Bunting on a roadside wire at its known hotspot but which disappears as we leave the bus never to return. Inexplicably rare now in Scotland (indeed all of Britain) and is a "miss" we will not be able to rectify. Our evening at the well known hide at Loch an Eilan produces the expected Badgers coming for their peanuts, the well known Wood Mouse making occasional darts under their noses but again, sadly, no Pine Martens.

Friday 26 April

Although we encounter some real Scottish weather, including snow in the early morning, it continues to clear as we travel southwest and will be almost universally brilliant for the rest of trip. In the cold early morning several male Black Grouse at Creag Meagaidh are lethargic and reluctant to display, so we continue west to lunch at our hotel at Kimelford south of Oban (where our first Black Guillemots are in the harbour and a possible Ring-billed Gull x Mew Gull hybrid is closely watched and much discussed). We spend the afternoon scouring the coastal woodlands where a brilliant pair of Bullfinches are the highlight and also visit the famous and fanciful "Wade" Bridge over the Atlantic at Clachan.

Saturday 27 April

Our ferry to Coll leaves Oban at 0715 and offers fine views of the Isle of Mull, the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, and north to the islands of Rhum, Eigg, and Muck. A variety of sea and other birds include a small group of Manx Shearwaters but only a few get onto them. The low lying inner Hebridean island of Coll is at its best in the spring sunshine and we check into our lovely hotel before moving on to the RSPB reserve at Totronald where, to our great relief, a single Corn Crake calls in the warden's garden and we all get at least something of a view of a rather furtive individual of this much wanted species. An excellent sea and other food lunch and we are off again to score Northern (Hen) Harrier, a trio of Cuckoos, a few lingering Redwings and definitive views of Twites before returning to Totranald in the early evening. Here we strike gold as another Corn Crake calls close by and judicious use of the tape raises his hormones to such an extent that he several times comes right into the open and rasps back his challenge. Superb scope and other views and some excellent photos are our reward and he is celebrated keenly at an excellent dinner at the Coll Hotel later.

Sunday 28 April

A reduced party makes it for the early morning trip back to Totranald where a single Corn Crake rasp is our only encounter but where we enjoy the sight of a major fallout (several hundred birds) of migratory Golden Plovers coming into the surrounding pastures. Nearby a party of 11 full-winged Snow Geese is something of surprise although this feral flock has been established here for a number of years. A hearty breakfast over we kill time around the hotel and ferry port before the afternoon ferry back to Oban. This time all get on to Manx Shearwaters close to Coll but sadly only a few onto the adult White-tailed Eagle on the shores of Mull as he flaps briefly along the shore, is mobbed by a Herring Gull, alights briefly and is lost to view. Tarbert and our hotel is reached in sunshine in the late evening.

Monday 29 April

And happily the morning dawns relatively calm and sunny for our two-hour ferry from Kennacraig to Port Ellen on the Inner Hebridean island of Islay. The pier at Kennacraig has a close pair of Rock Pipits, West Loch Tarbert holds a scattering of Common Loons (Great Northern Divers) in a variety of plumages and we will see more as we approach Islay. Eiders and Red-breasted Mergansers are numerous and there are lots Shags and Great Cormorants. The sea crossing, past the island of Gigha, produces Gannets and a few other species but is more memorable for the views to the east of the long Mull of Kintyre and to the west of the mountains of Islay and the unique triple Paps of Jura. Once at Port Ellen we admire the celebrated distilleries of Ardberg, Lagavulin, and Laphroig as well as a nearby colony of Common Seals. Then it is more whisky lore at the Bowmore Distillery where we learn of the malting of the barley over peat and get our first taste of the smoky island malts. Lunch over we scour the shores of Loch Indaal, the pastures and marshes of Loch Gruinart, and the machair of Ardnave. There are surprises including several thousand "itchy" Barnacle Geese, a wonderful flock of several hundred summer-plumaged Black-tailed Godwits, a single rather ill-looking Greenland White-fronted Goose, and, by the shores of Loch Indaal, a party of four Brant (Brent Geese). But for most it is a couple of displaying Red-billed Choughs at Ardnave that steal the show. Some join in for a memorable after dinner tutored Islay Malts session at the Bowmore Hotel.

Tuesday 30 April

Pre-breakfast we are back at Loch Gruinart where we at last catch a flock of the (usually much commoner) Bar-tailed Godwit, add Linnet to the list, and find a couple of more Choughs at Kilchoman for those that missed them the previous evening. The Godwits are still there but the numbers of Barnacles seem much reduced - doubtless the calm weather has induced them into making further inroads into their long flight to Greenland. We wind down around the woods at Bridgend but no additional warblers or other summer visitors appear to have arrived, take in the Islay Woollen Mill, historic Finlaggan, and the now much recognised distillery of Bunnahabhain on the scenic shore of the Sound of Jura. Here an immaculately plumaged adult Iceland Gull is a final (fine) new bird and precedes the scenic return ferry back to Kennacraig, on along the shores of Loch Fyne, over the Rest and Be Thankful Pass, along the shores of "bonny" Loch Lomond, and into the unwelcome sprawl of Glasgow.

Totals for the tour: 151 bird taxa and 14 mammal taxa