Birding at Loch of Kinnordy (4 Viewers)

[kawwauser]

the smew was showing at the east hide today,although there was a lot of open water it was coming right up to the edge of the ice,when first spotted it was in the company of 5 goldeneyes it soon drifted off when a female gooseander appeared and stayed close to this bird,a male gooseander appeared and the smew dissapeared,a shovelar was in the background, the brambling is still putting on a good show at the feeders with all the other smaller birds,the swamp hide boardwalk is a wellies only area again,(i bought a pair in the jan sales and left them in the house)which was a pity as i could see from the road there was a large number of birds including quite a few whoopers which looked like they were swimming close to the swamp hide, 2 red squirrels were chasing each other at the gullery hide feeders,i was hoping to search the lintrathen/backwater area for crossbills but had to return home early due to the blizzard conditions ,visiting backwater i usually park in the first car park and walk around to the last car park,if i got my timing wrong today i would have ended up sleeping in my car due to the very heavy snow

 

[Ian Bell]

Is that Darell In the Helicopter,coming to fill the feeders ?

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

Haha, good idea!!!!

 

[kawwauser]

there were two of these helicopters (army)slowly flying over the reserve,there didn,t seem to be any bird disturbance ,this is a big change to the jets that used to roar above kinnordy(i haven,t seen one in two yerars)it took ages for the birds to settle after the flyover,one bird i have only seen once here is spotted flycatcher, i searched my drives for a pic but couldnt find any,i just went throught the kinnordy thread and found the pics ,

 

[gus guthrie]

male smew still present at the loch today....feeding at both east and west ends of the loch. swamp hide is still a welly job yet.
quite a few whoopers feeding at the back of the loch, also wigeon, goldeneye,teal,goosander and several tufted duck.

 

[Tomwbhx]

Finally got to Kinnordy on Friday. The Smew was showing well from the Swamp hide although somewhat distant beyond the ice. The whoopers were nice to see as well. In addition there were some Goosander, a male Goldeneye and plenty of Teal. Picked up a Brambling at the feeders, so a pleasant hour or so was had before heading to Montrose.

Thanks For you advice
Cheers
Tom

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

I was at kinnordy for a few ours this morning and it snowed for the majority of the time i was there.
In front of the gallery hide, the water is still frozen with layers of snow on top. Over to the east there is a large area of ice free water and this is where the Smew was this morning along with 12 goosander, goldeneye, tufties, mallard, mute swans and a few mallard.
A treecreeper was at the end of the gallery boardwalk along with coal tits, blue tits, chaffinches and red squirrel.
We went along to the swamp area and found most of the path clear of water. There is still an area of water before you get to the last boardwalk, but as long as you have walking boots on its ok. From the hide there were teal, mallard, tufted duck, goosander, mute swans and whooper swans. Pink feet flew overhead while greylags were around most of the time.
Gus and i went for a walk to the first bridge towards kirrie and it was quite quiet on the bird front. Long tailed tits and a few blue tits were all we saw along the path.
I had filled the feeders earlier on in the morning and it didn't take the birds long to find it. Chaffinches, woodpecker, great tits, coal tits, blue tits and brambling were there.
Other birds there today were pheasant, wood pigeons, crows, common gulls, heron, robin, wren and blackbird.
It was still snowing as i departed. Didn't want to hang around with severe weather warning of lots of snow in the afternoon.

Darell

 

[kawwauser]

a male and another female brambling were photographed at the feeders on 11/02/13

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

I was up at Kinnordy yesterday and there was still alot of snow around and the majority of the loch still frozen. No birds infront of the gullery hide, but quite a few at the swamp end including Coot, wigeon, teal, mallard, goosander, goldeneye, tufties, mute swans and whooper swans. At the east end there were goosander, mallard, mute swans, goldeneye, smew, teal and oystercatchers standing on the ice.
The paths are covered in snow and when it melts' there will lots more water everywhere so if you do go up, best to take wellies.
Lots of small birds around with brambling, bullfinches, reed buntings, blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits, coal tits, chaffinch, redpoll.
I also heard a skylark singing, with mistle thrush and redwing flying over.
Other birds seen were sparrowhawk, buzzard, pheasant, wood pigeon, rook, crow, lapwing, meadow pipit, treecreeper, robin, wren, goldcrest and blackbird.

Darell

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

Here are some more photos from yesterday, plus more sightings for my 2013 list for kinnordy.

41 Siskin
42 Coot
43 Meadow Pipit
44 Redwing
45 Mistle Thrush
46 Heron
47 Reed Bunting
48 Oystercatcher
49 Redpoll

Darell

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

Forgot yesterday!!

50 Lapwing

Darell

 

[gus guthrie]

Drake Smew still showing well despite most of the loch still being frozen, it flies back and forward between the open areas at the east & west ends.
46 Lapwing sitting on the bogbean and around 20 Oystercatchers too.

Bittern and Beaver both reported at the weekend, also duck numbers building up too. Plenty Teal,Wigeon, Mallard, Goldeneye and around 12 Tufties now.
Other birds in smaller numbers are Goosander, Gadwall and a single Shoveler
this afternoon.
Still around 35 Whoopers at the loch and also heard Skylarks singing in the stubble field next to the loch too.

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

Had a good few hours at kinnordy today but boy it was cold. The water in front of the gallery hide was still frozen, but most of the east and west ends of the loch are at last free of ice.
The male smew was still there along with tufted ducks, goldeneye, goosander, mallard, common gulls, blackheaded gulls, herring gulls and oystercatchers, all at the east while along at the swamp end there were mute swans, whooper swans, coot, lapwing, greylags, wigeon, teal, gadwall (51), mallard and goosander.
Beaver and otter had been seen from the east hide yesterday and the otter appeared again today in front of the gallery hide, on the ice. I was in the east hide at the time and managed to see it before it went into the reed bed opposite. Photos to follow.
Othe birds seen today were brambling, chaffinch, blackbird, song thrush (52), herons, Barn Owl (53), bluetit, great tit, coal tit, robin, jackdaw, rook, crow, wood pigeon, pheasant, buzzard, kestrel, mistle thrush.
A few weeks ago we came across someone fly tipping at the entrance to the car park. Gus and i moved a chest of drawers today and found inside one of the drawers, some papers with a name and address on them!!! They are now in the hands of the police, so hopefully something positive will come from it yet. Cheers Gus!!

Darell

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

Here are some photos from todays visit to the loch.

1 Brambling
2 red Squirrel
3 Otter from east hide
4 Otter from gullery hide

Darell

 

[Marmot]

Looks like it is all go there at the moment....can you send a few of them down in this direction.

It makes you think why would people drive so far out of the way to dump their rubbish, lets hope the police sort them out.

 

[gus guthrie]

super 1st winter Iceland Gull on the ice today.....luckily it hung around until I finished work.
Also drake Smew still here and a Barn Owl too.
Add to that a Song Thrush on our lawn and a male Brambling on a feeder and it was a nice end to the day.

 

[kawwauser]

i think this is the iceland gull below,i didn,t know it was there when i was at kinnordy 10-12 today,i couldn,t locate the smew when i was there so took a lot of pics of the 3 parts of open water,today is the first real break i have i had the weather at kinnordy and was looking forward to looking through the many pics i took,5 mins after getting home at 6 i heard my front door getting kicked in,i opened it to be confronted by a junkie threatening to cut my throat for some unknown reason,this is me just getting on my pc now plus i have to spend some time tommorrow at the police station , the joys of living in a flat..
ill post my sightings tomorrow having a drink just now

 

[Ian Bell]

5 mins after getting home at 6 i heard my front door getting kicked in,i opened it to be confronted by a junkie threatening to cut my throat for some unknown reason,this is me just getting on my pc now plus i have to spend some time tommorrow at the police station , the joys of living in a flat..
ill post my sightings tomorrow having a drink just now

I hope the Police get the Junkie and bang him up.I have several Junkie's where I live and although I have had my run In's with them,nothing as bad as that.

 

[kinnordyvolunteer]

Nice photos of the unexpected!!!
Hope you get your flat sorted. there are some lovely people around aren't there!!

 

[gus guthrie]

drake Smew still on the loch, still favouring the east end. Barn Owl also regularly seen.
Around 35 Whooper swans on the loch and various waders are appearing back now, over 350 Lapwing last week and the first Redshank i've seen this year here.