A repeat of last week’s successful trip to Clumber Park again led by John Parlby but this time with modifications introduced by Geoff Lynes.  On this occasion 6 members attended and whether it was the more breezy conditions or because we missed out the ford area at Hardwick Village, only 31 species of bird were ‘ticked’.

This time we missed out on a Kingfisher, Kestrel, Reed Bunting and most disappointingly, Woodcock.  However, at the Nightjar clearing, we were serenaded by one or more Whitethroats and we did get to see the Mandarins again and were able to identify both birds as juveniles.  We also spent sometime arguing as to whether a ‘pigeon’ was a Stock Dove or a juvenile Wood Pigeon.  You’d think that by now, we’d be able to tell but the excuse goes – “the light was bad, the bird was at a distance and sizing it was difficult.”  OK you’re right, we were rubbish.

At 9:00 p.m. we were again ensconced in the ‘Nightjar clearing’ but this time, the sky was really clear and so darkness wasn’t falling as quickly as it had last week.

Evening scene near the Nightjar clearing

Sunset at the Nightjar clearing

Time passed – no Nightjars – and John became more agitated no doubt worried about any potential homicidal tendencies the group might have in the light of failure.  It was noticeable that his pacing up and down took him closer and closer to his car!  10:00 p.m. arrived and the first faint churring was heard.  Gradually this became louder and then two of us caught a glimpse of a Nightjar flying.  After that it just got better and better with regular sightings of them in flight making their ‘yelping’ call and on one occasion with a sighting of one on the ground.   We also got to hear one bird doing the wing clapping courting behaviour.  As with last week, we identified at least 3 churring males but this time stayed later only leaving when, although the action was hotting up, it was getting too difficult to see flying birds (sadly the pubs were closed).  Another bonus of the breezier conditions was that there were no midges!!!

Thanks to John for again leading this fabulous trip.

An extremely successful trip to Clumber Park was led by John Parlby on Thursday evening 26th June.  The maximum of 10 members attended and 40 species of bird were clocked up in the 3.5 hours that we were there.

Initially we went to Hardwick village where we visited the ford and lake areas and then moved on to the ornamental bridge where we encountered  the most impressive items on the ‘starter menu’ – a kingfisher was seen flying across the lake and two female Mandarins were seen roosting together on a tree branch very close to where we’d parked the cars.

At 9:00 p.m. we set off in search of the main course.  At 9:15 all were assembled in the forest clearing to watch a rather weak sunset and get eyes adjusted to the gathering gloom.  At first we were greeted by a late evening Yellow Hammer and then a Song Thrush cut in.  As it got progressively darker, the midges came out and the well prepared individuals donned head nets while the rest suffered in silence.  At about 9:30, we were partially rewarded with several calling Woodcock flying overhead.  9:45 and the first churring began followed rapidly by a first brief siting of a male Nightjar.  Then, after a few minutes silence the churring started again but this time it came from two points of the compass.  For the next 35 minutes we enjoyed hearing up to 3 calling males and on at least three occasions were able to watch 2 males in the air at once, chasing one another.  At 10:20 with the smell of beer on the air, the party broke up.

Thanks to John for again leading this fabulous trip.  A repeat is planned for 3rd July 2014 (provided that the weather is good) so sign up if you want to go – those that went on the first are still eligible for the return match if there enough places available.

Eleven members gathered at Grindleford Station, and were rapidly made aware of the first disadvantage of the still overcast weather – midges! However, once underway, we seemed to be able to keep ahead of the little pests. Early on, we gained an extra member (a cat) who accompanied us for about a quarter of a mile, giving us the opportunity to study the alarm calls of a wide variety of birds. Eventually our canine friend dropped back clearly disadvantaged by a lack of ‘bins’.

The recent wet weather had made many of the paths extremely muddy and in addition, had encouraged huge growth of the under storey (see photo).

Livingston leading the porters

As we headed up towards the moor, and in spite of a good weather forecast, we experienced one of those showers that could only be described as persistent rain. Luckily, the weather improved greatly by the time we arrived on Lawrence Field moor and remained dry for the rest of the walk.

In spite of the disadvantages we still managed to clock up 40 species identified by either sight or call/song. The highlights included a Grey Wagtail, large numbers of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Green Woodpecker, Tree Pipits, Garden Warbler, Pied FlyCatchers, and Redstarts. However, the undoubted star of the show and the one which attracted most attention was the Wood Warbler (located at SK252793). Initially its unmistakeable song attracted our attention but then much to everyones’ joy, we got several excellent views (a lifer for some of the group).

Thanks go to Paul beard for leading the trip.

This was an incredibly successful trip which, while the group experienced some mixed weather, was nonetheless able to bird every day, clocking up 114 different species including most of the iconic birds that the Highlands are famous for.  The group was led by Dag Marshall who delivered a tremendous menu of different birds, places and habitats over the week.  He also arranged our accommodation at the Nethy Bridge Hotel which catered well for our needs.

The group of 8 travelled overnight in a minibus to the Cairngorm area, arriving at the Abernethy Forest at some ridiculously early, but magical hour in the morning.  The birds were up and about, but hard as we tried, we couldn’t find Capercaillie and merely heard Black Grouse chuckling in the distance.  However, we did see 5 Cuckoos flying, had a number of sightings of Crested Tits and in the windless conditions, the party was able to tune ears to the songs and calls of the less common woodland birds such as Redstart and Tree Pipit.

On the second day, we managed to get distant views of an Osprey with a massive trout and then Paul Beard spotted our one and only Black Grouse of the week.  The group then chose the lazy option of a trip up Cairngorm on the funicular railway.  Conditions at the terminal restaurant were pretty miserable with low cloud and at times a heavy drizzle.  However, on the occasions when the cloud cleared, we did get to see those birds that this mountain is famous for i.e. Ptarmigan, Dotterel, Snow Bunting and Ring Ouzel.

Dotterel – Cairngorm

To round off the day we were lucky to catch up with Slavonian Grebe.

Slavonian Grebe

Tuesday was our worst day with periods of heavy drizzle and midges being a nuisance but we still got sightings of Scottish Crossbills.

As compensation, Dag whistled up some good weather for Wednesday and took us to the seaside.  Buckets and spades were discarded at the sighting of sea ducks (Eiders and Common Scoter), Red Breasted Mergansers and all three Divers.  Sadly, the Little Terns that we hoped to see were absent though in compensation we were able to study a flock of Sanderling in a variety of plumages.  By way of variety, the return was across the mountains, where at one stop, teacher made us learn the call of the Lesser Redpoll.

While all our days out provided excellent experiences, the one that stands out was Friday.  Starting with a specially arranged breakfast at 05:00, we headed over to the west coast.  Plagued by low cloud and coastal mist early on, the weather bucked up and we had gorgeous weather from 11:00 onwards.  Sea watching near Gairloch delivered close views of a family of Black Throated Divers, plenty of Great Skuas, Shag and Black Guillemot.

Black-throated Diver family

Loch Gairloch was like a millpond and with sea watching so absorbing with all three species of Diver at all points of the compass, only Dag saw the low flying Sea Eagle which sadly, disappeared over the horizon.  The day got even better with our one and only pub lunch in the fabulously situated inn at Badachro.  Following this, it was down to Red Point for a walk across the grassy headland which was alive with Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and the occasional Twite then down to the beach where off shore we spotted perhaps the most surprising siting of the holiday – a pair of Long Tailed Ducks in full breeding plumage (clearly these two were too lazy to fly to Iceland/Scandanavia or maybe their SatNav wasn’t working).  To top the day off (as if this was necessary), we were treated to close views of Golden Eagles in the area around Loch Maree.

The final day brought more sightings of Golden Eagles in Strathconan including one dramatic incident when a visiting Osprey was told to clear off by the King of the glen.  Finally, in the Findhorn Valley the rest of us got a view of a Sea Eagle.

White-tailed Sea Eagle

Thanks to Dag for arranging all the above and for driving and to Gary Overton who did a lot of the driving.

Ten members went on the trip and in spite of the strong breeze which blew throughout, it is fair to say that all enjoyed the day.  We were also lucky because the two heavy rain showers occurred whilst we were in Ousefleet Hide and other than that, the day was mainly sunny.

We saw a total of 53 species on the day the highlights of which were the fantastic close views of Marsh Harriers and the hoped for sighting of a Grasshopper Warbler.  In addition

Male Marsh Harrier

we were able to view nesting Avocets and saw Sedge Warblers and Yellow Wagtails.

Avocets and a Blackheaded Gull

A couple of birds which might have been Bearded Tits were also observed, but the wind probably deterred these birds from venturing out of the cover of the reeds.

Thanks go to John Parlby for leading the trip.