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Three years in the gestation, this was the inaugural Field Guides tour to Scotland, organized in conjunction with Buckbird Journeys. The dates were carefully selected to try to combine the thrilling sights of Scotland's about-to-depart wintering wildfowl, especially geese, along with spring grouse in their optimal display season. An interesting combination of departing winter species and early arriving summer ones added further spice as we traveled from south to north, then west to take in some of Scotland's most dramatic highland and island 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.
Any tour of Scotland can be made or broken by her notoriously fickle weather and we had a fair selection, as expected, on this tour. But for our southern leg and up into the highlands it was largely fine, as we skirted various rain showers, and in the west it was downright superb. Only our two days in Speyside were spoiled by a nasty series of rain fronts blowing in from the northeast, making life difficult for us and the birds, and totally ruining any chance of climbing up to the Cairngorm Plateau to look for ptarmigan (which would have been there) and dotterel (which would have not). Our one venture to the bottom of the ski lift was like a trip to the Arctic with snow, ice, and wind contrasting with bright sunshine not too far to the southwest.
In any event, our tally of 145 bird species was a good score, although different climatic conditions to the south of us made the list stronger on late winter birds than early arriving summer birds. In the end, however, some wonderful sightings, some as unexpected as that sensational Red-breasted Goose, made up for some unexpected misses, like those silent Corn Crakes. Our cheerful group from the "New World" kept to the pace- both birding and other- admirably, and they showed their true mettle in persevering through cold rain and wind to finally nail those crossbills in Caledonian Speyside. The various whiskies and some of Scotland's finest dining all seemed much appreciated and set the blueprint for hopefully many more tours in the future. Thank you to all for making this one so memorable.
--John and Hugh
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
BIRDS
MAMMALS
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
The following is a day-by-day account from Hugh's Buckbird Journal that he has graciously permitted us to use. I think the freshness and level of specificity will be appreciated by all.
Saturday 21 April All have forgathered 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 Lowther Hills where our first stop is for a fine Short-eared Owl which eventually comes back to John's playback. Here also is our first, rather distant, Red Grouse and the first of many, soon to be familiar, Lapwings, Curlews, Oystercatchers, Meadow Pipits, Northern Wheatears, and, more unexpectedly, 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 emerging green valley of Upper Nithsdale where a pair of European Nuthatches are vocal and nest building. Here the River Nith produces our first White-throated Dipper and Gray Wagtail, Drumlanrig Castle (seat of the Duke of Buccleugh) is admired and we check into our comfortable small hotel in Thornhill.
This is Hugh's home territory and soon produces our only Little Grebes of the trip, a male Pied Flycatcher literally just arrived from Africa and, at the feeders at Hugh and Caroline's house by the River Scaur and at the lovely gardens of neighbour Robin, our first Goldfinches, Siskins, Yellowhammers, and Tree Sparrows, the last two we will not find again as we go north. A busy opening day finishes with a semi-responsive Tawny Owl and a first wee whisky session at Scaurbank in the evening.
Sunday 22 April We are off again at 0800 for a long day of skirting rain showers and exploring Scotland's southern shores. First, en route to Lochmaben, we encounter a large migrating flock of Fieldfares (sadly no Redwings seem to be amongst them) and find a nice pair of Stock Doves (regular at the Scaurbank feeders but shy, skittish, and only glimpsed by a few folk yesterday). Lochmaben produces a few nice summer garbed Great Crested Grebes and a responsive pair of Willow Tits, another species not found much further north. Near Caerlaverock we find our first Barnacle Geese and the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust observation tower and grounds continue to build our wildfowl lists including a single, but perhaps not too healthy, lingering Whooper Swan.
A light lunch (soon to learn this is not to be the norm!) is taken in Dumfries (final resting place of the great poet Rabbie Burns) at Moat Brae House where James Barrie had the inspiration for the story of Peter Pan and a couple of local dignitaries tell us of the work of the Moat Brae Trust in trying to preserve this old house and the gardens for future generations. On west to the Valley of the River Dee, we are right on time for the daily feeding of dozens of Red Kites, now once again thriving in various parts of Britain after being driven to near extirpation.
At the Ken Dee Marshes are our first Graylag and feral Canada Geese, then at Southerness, thanks to Robert's deft handling of the bus, the extraordinary spectacle, with Criffel as a backdrop, of several thousand Barnacle Geese assembled for the northward journey to Spitzbergen. The sight is glorious enough but is made unforgettable by the finding, close amongst the mob, of the single adult Red-breasted Goose which has been amongst the flock for several weeks. We find it not once, but incredibly, after the flock takes wing to resettle, twice, and this rare and declining little goose, only a vagrant to Britain, gives wonderful and prolonged views through scopes and binoculars. A lifer for all but Hugh, it saves at least one person a bitterly cold trip to Bulgaria or Romania in the future!
How to beat this? Well impossible really, but the clear weather over the Solway at Carsethorne with the mountains of the English Lake District clear across the water, a large flock of Greater Scaup offshore and a migrant Whimbrel inshore do their best.
Monday 24 April 0800 again and now northwest to the Ayrshire coast at Girvan. In the distance are the mountains of the island of Arran and closer the stack of Ailsa Craig. This is our morning destination and it is an hour plus out in our rather basic boat in mercifully relatively calm waters. A few birds on the journey out do include our first Common Eiders and a couple of Manx Shearwaters winging their way north, but it is not until we get to the far side of the rock that the true spectacle becomes apparent. Here are literally thousands of nesting Gannets and Common Guillemots (Murres), hundreds of Razorbills and Black Guillemots, and a few, at least, of the much desired Atlantic Puffin, as well as Gray Seals. Sadly it is all too soon over as we round the rock and head back, in choppier waters, with only a fine Great Skua providing much excitement.
The afternoon is taken up driving further north, by passing Glasgow, distant views of Stirling Castle and the monument to William Wallace and a brief visit to the RSPB reserve at Vane Farm on the shores of Loch Leven. Here our target is Pink-footed Goose, missing near the Solway, and, although the big flocks are once again gone, a lingering half dozen or so do grant us at least scope views. North again and the wooded grounds of the comfortable Dunkeld Hilton situated alongside the River Tay where we overnight.
Tuesday 25 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 a noisy pair of Jays, good comparative views of Song and Mistle Thrushes on the lawns and add such as Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren and Eurasian Treecreeper (the wren now split from its New World cousins) to our growing lists. On north again in variable weather, a beautiful cock Black Grouse is close to the road in open grassland as we ascend the pass of Glenshee. We enjoy views of him both on the ground and in flight where he alights in open heather amongst several of the more expected Red Grouse. A surprise in this habitat this one (they usually prefer the moorland tree margins) and possibly a rogue male ejected from his flock.
At a rather cold Glenshee we scan briefly for Ptarmigan but have to be content with Red Deer and several Mountain Hares before our descent into Royal Deeside and a visit to the Queen's summer palace at Balmoral. Only the gardens (a bit difficult in the patchy drizzle) and the opulent ballroom are open but we do get a flavor of how the other half lives. The silver and diamond-lined whisky decanter for her Diamond Jubilee at£100000 does not attract any offers, it is after all only a Johnny Walker blend! For us the afternoon "Spirit of the Malt" tour at the nearby famous Glenlivet distillery is more to our taste; it includes a tasting (not much of it rejected!) of seven different "expressions" of their famous highland malts ranging from 6 months to 25 years old and climaxes in a generous dram of a newly broached cask of the 1979 vintage which sells in the Visitor Centre for over £1000 for a 750ml bottle. After all this the unexpected nearby sighting of no less than 7 male Reeve's Pheasants by the roadside has to be taken into context but they were real enough even if an exotic import. The Boat Hotel at Boat of Garten is comfortable and the food good even if the lack of a laundry service is irritating.
Wednesday 25 April Malcolm O'Reilly, our locally based guide for the next two days, is on hand at 0500 as, in uncertain weather, we drive the short distance to Loch Garten and the large and well-patronised 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. After some anxiety we do get "managed" scope views of a single rather distant male both on the ground and later up in a bare pine tree (with a perched iconic Osprey in the same field of view). In the cold and damp, although he does hold his head aloft and fan his turkey-like tail, he is rather lethargic, but he is much-wanted and appreciated nevertheless. In the next two days we could reasonably expect further sightings but the weather will prove to be right against us.
We are unlucky, after a period of fine weather, to coincide with a series of seven different rain and wind fronts blowing in from the north east which will slow us considerably. First victim is a nearby well-patronised Black Grouse lek but silence greets us and, even if birds are present they are keeping a low profile. Searching for Crossbills and other pine woods birds is a miserable prospect and we instead head north for an unscheduled visit to the Moray coast at Findhorn and Burghead. Conditions remain trying but we do swell our lists with several seabirds, including an in plumage Red-throated Diver (Loon), a single light-bellied Brent Goose, many summer-plumaged Long-tailed Ducks, and hundreds of Common Scoters amongst which a few Velvet can, with patience, be discerned. An unscheduled rarity chase produces the desired views of a large flock of Pink-footed Geese with a single Barnacle amongst them, but the reported Ross's Goose appears to be white morph Pinkfoot!
We backtrack via Loch Indorb where, in the wind and rain, we do score excellent views of two Black-throated Divers (Arctic Loons) in full breeding garb and a few also glimpse a female Hen Harrier as it sweeps by in the rain. Finding Crossbills in the pine woods near Grantown-on-Spey is a hopeless task in this weather. Instead we dine early, then take an evening visit to a hide near Loch-an-Eilan where Pine Martens and Old World Badgers are fed nightly. In the event we have wonderful views of a set of 5 Badgers coming in for their peanuts at point blank range but the Pine Martens have been coming in late (between 1130 and 0400!) and we cannot wait them out. As dusk descends we do listen and look for a roding Eurasian Woodcock but, although his soft croak can be heard, at best a small flying shape is all that can be discerned. To boost the mammal list a furtive Wood Mouse tries to share the nuts with the Badgers!
Thursday 26 April The morning weather is, if anything, even worse, and after an early responsive Crested Tit at Loch Garten we again postpone the pine woods and instead visit the extensive Insh Marshes where, from a well equipped hide, a small herd of Whooper Swans are a better sighting than our bird at Caerlaverock. Alongside Loch Insh a flock of migrating Barn Swallows and Sand Martins (Bank Swallows) give hints of better things to come. At the pinewoods around the Methven "kettle" lochs, the weather relents enough to allow a walk in the woods for more Crested Tits, a Long-tailed Tit, and another Goldcrest. Then near Aviemore a small fishing loch produces, in a biting wind, a summer-plumaged Slavonian (Horned) Grebe and it is back to Grantown-on-Spey for a last gasp walk in the Caledonian pines for Crossbills. It is frustrating at first with a few birds calling and flying but almost at the last minute we at last find a settled flock which allows scope views. Both the endemic Scottish and the very similar Parrot Crossbill are now known to inhabit these woods and, under Malcolm's expert tuition, we all get good scope views of huge-billed birds which have all the characteristics of Parrot. But amongst them are a few smaller billed ones and it appears we have a mixed flock of both species, not an uncommon phenomenon here. We have earned these birds right enough and have, if not beaten Speyside, at least put up a good fight.
Friday 27 April Happily the weather is at last clearing, although the sight of a couple of Swallows on the wires with snow flakes falling around them is unusual to say the least. At the Tulloch Moor blind we are greeted with a welcome bubbling cooing and at last have slightly distant but scope views of a couple of jousting male Black Grouse (Blackcocks) fluttering up in the air with couple of female Grayhens looking down on them from the surrounding trees. Up at the base of the Cairngorm Ski Railway it is positively arctic, the path up to the plateau is snow and ice covered and, although Ptarmigan will doubtless be toughing it out, no self respecting Dotterel will be within miles of here. As is sadly common at this time of year, a walk up to the plateau for these species is impossible.
We finish Speyside with a short drive north to Tomantin where a roadside male Ring Ouzel responds well to playback. Now south and west, between the Monadhliath and Grampian Mountains with a stop at the Creag Meagaidh Nature Reserve where a flock of Lesser Redpolls perform well for us and we learn of another Black Grouse lek nearby, but the morning performance just ended. Through Fort William in brilliant sunshine (which will largely be with us for the rest of the trip) with the bulk of Ben Nevis (at 1344m Britain's highest peak) clearly visible on our left, a picnic lunch on the seashore south of Oban (another Osprey flies by) and we are into the little fishing port of Tarbert by early evening. The modest Tarbert Hotel is friendly enough but the dinner menu fails to live up to the high standards we have come to expect!
Saturday 28 April And happily the morning dawns calm and sunny for our 2 hour ferry from Kennacraig to Port Askaig on the Inner Hebridean island of Islay. The pier at Kennacraig has a close Rock Pipit, West Loch Tarbert holds a scattering of Great Northern Divers (Common Loons) in a variety of plumages and we will see more as we approach Islay. Eiders and Red-breasted Mergansers are numerous, there are several Black Guillemots and a lot of Shags and Great Cormorants as well as both Gray and an occasional Common (Harbor) Seal. Even another Osprey flies past and a few spot a distant Red-throated Diver. 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.
As we enter the narrow Sound of Islay, a couple of distant raptors are spied over Jura (where Red Deer abound). They appear to be being mobbed by Hooded Crows and are clearly Eagles. One appears to have white in the tail but the overall impression is that they are Golden and not wandering White-tailed, now breeding on Mull not that far to the north. This feeling is strengthened with the appearance of another, slightly nearer, and the size and the huge broad wings on this one seem good for White-tailed. Sadly the views of both species are distant. We dock at Port Askaig and it is a short drive to our family-run Bowmore Hotel and a memorable lunch at the Happy Coo Bistro where we are entertained by the ebullient owner Mairi. Then it is more whisky lore at the nearby Bowmore Distillery where we learn of the malting of the barley over peat and get our first taste of the smoky island malts.
Our evening is spent with a drive along the bird-filled shores of Loch Indaal to Portnahaven where a single Pink-footed Goose seems lonely amongst the Graylags, we get nice views of Ringed Plover and single Whimbrel and add real wild Rock Pigeons and a female Stonechat to the list. Back at the Bowmore Hotel after dinner the place reverberates to the sounds of a ceiligh band, more island malts succumb and our own "Rose of Texas" proves a great hit amongst the locals!
Sunday 29 April A 0600 start sees us away to Loch Gruinart in our quest for newly arriving and much desired Corn Crakes. Sadly there is no sound of any to guide us and this will be a frustration throughout today and tomorrow. By all accounts they should be in but inclement weather to the south appears to have slowed down both them and several other summer migrants. Instead we spend our day exploring in depth the Rhinns, an area of moorland and lochs on the northwest corner of Islay. Twites, Linnets and the special Red-billed Chough (here in its only Scottish breeding ground) all oblige and our day is peppered with other good sightings. They include a majestic male Hen Harrier quartering the flats at Loch Gruinart, a lovely flock of over 150 European Golden Plover, many in full summer finery, a newly arriving flock of a dozen Whimbrel and an immaculately summer-plumaged Black-tailed Godwit, a rare breeding bird here. Graylag Geese abound, we relocate the "lost" Pink-footed and also a limping Greenland White-fronted Goose apparently left behind by the departing flocks (although we have distant scope views of another half dozen in the early morning) and Wheatears and Skylarks are now numerous and conspicuous. A Common Cuckoo calls but cannot be drawn into playback.
Our evening is quieter but it is glorious- a memory of a perfect west Scotland day with the islands of Colonsay and Mull clear and even the snowy dome of Ben Nevis visible in the distance. We close with a tutored whisky tasting session at the hotel bar where 4 expressions of Islay malts seem to be thoroughly enjoyed!
Monday 30 April In Scotland's unique way it has clouded over in the morning, no Corn Crakes are calling, the Cuckoo again refuses to be drawn in but a female Hen Harrier gives brief looks. It is blustier for our return ferry ride and nothing new is reported. We stop briefly at the lovely gardens of the Stonefield Castle Hotel (the second largest display of rhododendrons in Britain) where a hyper active and non cooperative Garden Warbler is our last new bird and at least another summer arrival.
Our last lunch at the Inverary Smokehouse at the end of Loch Fyne is memorable and then it is over the Rest and Be Thankful Pass and down to the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond. All too soon we are back where we started at Glasgow Airport where we part company after a real look at Scotland, its wildlife, culture and usage beathe, often at its unpredictable best.
Totals for the tour: 145 bird taxa and 12 mammal taxa