I've mentioned before my hope that this would be a 'good year' not necessarily a 'big year' as too much else in life impacts on my birding, but a year of quality birding, new places, new species, immersing myself in birds and nature. Its funny though how the birding gods conspire to keep your feet on the ground- for every ying of a great day out, there's the yang of a blown weekend. Take a couple of recent weekends.
The first of my big days out (where I had been promised the car and the whole day to myself, from silly AM to whenever I could drag myself home) was looming, and I had the day planned out. Unfortunately, the best laid plans, etc, etc.
Mrs Green Sand had a night out on Saturday with her BFF, which involved the 2 forty- something year old women rolling in at 2 am. To make up for me having to give the GreenSand pal a run back to Glasgow, the wife suggested that I take the car and have a day out in far- flung areas. Not needing much persuasion (or sleep, apparently) I threw some stuff together and headed off to Ken Dee Marshes RSPB reserve at 0630.
Naturally, I got lost en route, so that I was arriving just as the bright sunlight and blue skies were departing- luckily, the radio had been telling me for 2 hours that there were Atlantic storms heading in. Anyway, got there, only my second time being there as well. Immediately, got robin, great tit, blue tit on the path. Wandered through the mud to the good viewing platform, to find 2 idiots in a boat right where the geese hang out. Needless to say, geese were nowhere.
Wandered back through the clabber, got singing skylark from the field, plus chaffinches in full voice from the various trees. No sign of red kite by this point, so was slightly concerned. On the path round to the hides, got a bucket load of pheasant erupting from the verge, and a good sized flock of fieldfare feeding on the ground in a field. Good views as well. A raven cronked from overhead, but stayed maddeningly out of sight.
Decided to try the further away hide, as I had missed it last time. Was hoping for willow tit as well. By now, it was drizzling, but you know, I didn't actually mind. In the woods, I heard the unmistaekable sound of a nuthatch, and was quite chuffed with myself for following the sound util finally saw it. Into the hide, up the steep stairs, the rain was teeming it down. Not much on the loch, bar some very noisy Canada geese, teal, and three goldeneye (2 males trying to impress a female, unsuccessfully) No sign of willow tit, naturally. Bumped into a couple of other birders, John and Beth, had a pleasant chat, and agreed to meet at Mersehead later. They also reassured me that the kites were near the farm. They didn't let me down, and got a lovely red kite floating over the hill, using mere slgithest movements of its wing to steer itself.
Back at the car, and I was trying to perform a 20 point turn out of the car park, when John (of John and Beth) stopped me and put me onto the white- fronted geese. Great view, even through binos. Real stroke of luck, given the aforementioned 2 idiots in a boat.
Anyway, programmed the sat nav for Mersehead's postcode, which gave me a destination 2 miles away. So, sat nav was out. An hour later, finally got there, and was greeted by Barnacle geese in the fields, another easy tick. From the visitor centre, got Tree Sparrow on a feeder, which qualifies as a ridiculously easy tick. Lots of squabbling with goldfinches, greenfinches and tits.
Left the visitor centre and head to the first hide. 2 mystery waders erupted from the field next to me, and were gone by the time I fiddled with my binos. Curlew called from the other field, and a pair of carrion crows splashed in a puddle. From the hide, got shoveler close- in, plus teal and wigeon. As a bonus, got the rear- end of three pintail close in, offering great views of their jacksies. Nice year tick, mind, and eventually they showed their heads. Further out, shelduck were a- plenty, as were curlew, and through the increasing murk, blackwits. More Barnies descended and more lapwing appeared from nowhere.
Light was failing badly by now, and I wanted to explore more. Walked toward the other hide, and bumped into John and Beth who let me know there wasn't much about. Decided to wander down to the beach, just because it was there, and enjoyed splashing about in the mud. Made it back to the car just as the heavens opened, to find a yellowhammer perched right above it. Stopped and stood in the rain just enjoying it- best views of this wonderful wee bird this year.
All in all, I got about 10 year ticks, including 2 audibles, got my red kite and barnies. The Tree Sparrow was a bonus, as were the pintail. The bird I was proudest of was the nuthatch, as I had to work hardest for it- eyes and ears both, listening for its call and looking for likely spots.
Got home at a decent hour (stopped off for a kip at Sweetheart Abbey in Dumfries) to find the wife's hangover just about resolving. Tired, muddy, sore (about 10 miles walked, all told) but with the nice glow of a good day's birding.
This happy glow lasted all week, the sense of anticipation for the next weekend (ordinary sized, albeit) growing daily. Where would i go? Local or mid- distance. Experiment with somwhere new or to stay with triedand tested favourites? Birdtrack was well researched as I sat in my office and dreamed of what birding i could do.
And then, the weekend arrived.
Due to family commitments, I was reduced to going to Hogganfield Loch last saturday specifically to tick the GC Grebe. A tick for the sake of it, got brief look in amongst the feeding frenzy and well- meaning but naive locals feeding whooper swans white bread. Shallow and unsatisfying tick, in short, eveyrthing I vowed to avoid.
On the plus side, my boy was with me, so did get to show him close up views of waterfowl. More worrying, he didn't know much of what was on offer- this is a boy who regularly gets 100% in the garden bird quizzes accessed through Fatbirder's website. A work in progress.
Wife was out and about last sunday morning, leaving me kicking my heels until 1 pm. Of course, all that spare time could have been used to plan what I was goign to do, and instead I formed some half- arsed plan for 'Musselbirgh' 'the Haugh' or 'Ardmore'
True to form, failed to make it to any of these. The lack of petrol in the car (somethign to do with the X chromosome makes Mrs Green Sand phobic about petrol pumps) coupled with a traffic jam on the motorway, plus a sense of birding frustration reaching boiled kettle point, and I had an embolism and decided to head to Loch Ardinning. Yes, loch ardinning which was crap the last time i went, and which to a man and woman, everyone I ever mentioned it to, told me to avoid due to its inherent crapness. Anyway, stretched my legs walking up to the moor, scared a dunlin out of a marsh, no sign of red grouse, the black grouse are a myth propagated by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and have been absent for about 5 years. It was good for dog walkers, though, and no doubt whichever rare moss species the SWT was focussing on.
Quite an imprtant lesson about what happens when you manage a nature reserve for all nature, not just for birds.
CAlled that a day, and decided to stop off at Millichen Farm (having accidentally rediscovered it on the road up) Parked up, and wandered about, hoping for the bean geese that had been seen there a few days ago. Got whoopers aplenty, house sparrows, but nae geese. Mind you, I was at the wrong Millichen Farm (East, not West) which kind of summed up my weekend. Worse was to come, it was week 4 of flexi, no chance of any early finishes, and the sun was shining all week as I'm stuck being an office drone. Surely, this weekend just passed couldn't be as bad......?
The first of my big days out (where I had been promised the car and the whole day to myself, from silly AM to whenever I could drag myself home) was looming, and I had the day planned out. Unfortunately, the best laid plans, etc, etc.
Mrs Green Sand had a night out on Saturday with her BFF, which involved the 2 forty- something year old women rolling in at 2 am. To make up for me having to give the GreenSand pal a run back to Glasgow, the wife suggested that I take the car and have a day out in far- flung areas. Not needing much persuasion (or sleep, apparently) I threw some stuff together and headed off to Ken Dee Marshes RSPB reserve at 0630.
Naturally, I got lost en route, so that I was arriving just as the bright sunlight and blue skies were departing- luckily, the radio had been telling me for 2 hours that there were Atlantic storms heading in. Anyway, got there, only my second time being there as well. Immediately, got robin, great tit, blue tit on the path. Wandered through the mud to the good viewing platform, to find 2 idiots in a boat right where the geese hang out. Needless to say, geese were nowhere.
Wandered back through the clabber, got singing skylark from the field, plus chaffinches in full voice from the various trees. No sign of red kite by this point, so was slightly concerned. On the path round to the hides, got a bucket load of pheasant erupting from the verge, and a good sized flock of fieldfare feeding on the ground in a field. Good views as well. A raven cronked from overhead, but stayed maddeningly out of sight.
Decided to try the further away hide, as I had missed it last time. Was hoping for willow tit as well. By now, it was drizzling, but you know, I didn't actually mind. In the woods, I heard the unmistaekable sound of a nuthatch, and was quite chuffed with myself for following the sound util finally saw it. Into the hide, up the steep stairs, the rain was teeming it down. Not much on the loch, bar some very noisy Canada geese, teal, and three goldeneye (2 males trying to impress a female, unsuccessfully) No sign of willow tit, naturally. Bumped into a couple of other birders, John and Beth, had a pleasant chat, and agreed to meet at Mersehead later. They also reassured me that the kites were near the farm. They didn't let me down, and got a lovely red kite floating over the hill, using mere slgithest movements of its wing to steer itself.
Back at the car, and I was trying to perform a 20 point turn out of the car park, when John (of John and Beth) stopped me and put me onto the white- fronted geese. Great view, even through binos. Real stroke of luck, given the aforementioned 2 idiots in a boat.
Anyway, programmed the sat nav for Mersehead's postcode, which gave me a destination 2 miles away. So, sat nav was out. An hour later, finally got there, and was greeted by Barnacle geese in the fields, another easy tick. From the visitor centre, got Tree Sparrow on a feeder, which qualifies as a ridiculously easy tick. Lots of squabbling with goldfinches, greenfinches and tits.
Left the visitor centre and head to the first hide. 2 mystery waders erupted from the field next to me, and were gone by the time I fiddled with my binos. Curlew called from the other field, and a pair of carrion crows splashed in a puddle. From the hide, got shoveler close- in, plus teal and wigeon. As a bonus, got the rear- end of three pintail close in, offering great views of their jacksies. Nice year tick, mind, and eventually they showed their heads. Further out, shelduck were a- plenty, as were curlew, and through the increasing murk, blackwits. More Barnies descended and more lapwing appeared from nowhere.
Light was failing badly by now, and I wanted to explore more. Walked toward the other hide, and bumped into John and Beth who let me know there wasn't much about. Decided to wander down to the beach, just because it was there, and enjoyed splashing about in the mud. Made it back to the car just as the heavens opened, to find a yellowhammer perched right above it. Stopped and stood in the rain just enjoying it- best views of this wonderful wee bird this year.
All in all, I got about 10 year ticks, including 2 audibles, got my red kite and barnies. The Tree Sparrow was a bonus, as were the pintail. The bird I was proudest of was the nuthatch, as I had to work hardest for it- eyes and ears both, listening for its call and looking for likely spots.
Got home at a decent hour (stopped off for a kip at Sweetheart Abbey in Dumfries) to find the wife's hangover just about resolving. Tired, muddy, sore (about 10 miles walked, all told) but with the nice glow of a good day's birding.
This happy glow lasted all week, the sense of anticipation for the next weekend (ordinary sized, albeit) growing daily. Where would i go? Local or mid- distance. Experiment with somwhere new or to stay with triedand tested favourites? Birdtrack was well researched as I sat in my office and dreamed of what birding i could do.
And then, the weekend arrived.
Due to family commitments, I was reduced to going to Hogganfield Loch last saturday specifically to tick the GC Grebe. A tick for the sake of it, got brief look in amongst the feeding frenzy and well- meaning but naive locals feeding whooper swans white bread. Shallow and unsatisfying tick, in short, eveyrthing I vowed to avoid.
On the plus side, my boy was with me, so did get to show him close up views of waterfowl. More worrying, he didn't know much of what was on offer- this is a boy who regularly gets 100% in the garden bird quizzes accessed through Fatbirder's website. A work in progress.
Wife was out and about last sunday morning, leaving me kicking my heels until 1 pm. Of course, all that spare time could have been used to plan what I was goign to do, and instead I formed some half- arsed plan for 'Musselbirgh' 'the Haugh' or 'Ardmore'
True to form, failed to make it to any of these. The lack of petrol in the car (somethign to do with the X chromosome makes Mrs Green Sand phobic about petrol pumps) coupled with a traffic jam on the motorway, plus a sense of birding frustration reaching boiled kettle point, and I had an embolism and decided to head to Loch Ardinning. Yes, loch ardinning which was crap the last time i went, and which to a man and woman, everyone I ever mentioned it to, told me to avoid due to its inherent crapness. Anyway, stretched my legs walking up to the moor, scared a dunlin out of a marsh, no sign of red grouse, the black grouse are a myth propagated by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and have been absent for about 5 years. It was good for dog walkers, though, and no doubt whichever rare moss species the SWT was focussing on.
Quite an imprtant lesson about what happens when you manage a nature reserve for all nature, not just for birds.
CAlled that a day, and decided to stop off at Millichen Farm (having accidentally rediscovered it on the road up) Parked up, and wandered about, hoping for the bean geese that had been seen there a few days ago. Got whoopers aplenty, house sparrows, but nae geese. Mind you, I was at the wrong Millichen Farm (East, not West) which kind of summed up my weekend. Worse was to come, it was week 4 of flexi, no chance of any early finishes, and the sun was shining all week as I'm stuck being an office drone. Surely, this weekend just passed couldn't be as bad......?