Highlands Day 2 : 15th October 2016

We had the idea that the Black Isle might not be as wet as the rest of the immediate area which turned out to be a rather optimistic outlook as it actually rained non-stop everywhere we went and often quite heavily.
We started out for the Black Isle by driving along the road to Carrbridge, the Carr Road. The fields around and sky above the Carr Road were full of flocks of mixed Mistle Thrushes, Redwing, Fieldfares and Starlings with the odd Reed Bunting and Chaffinch thrown in. This made for a really nice scene and the birds were so active that they may well have just arrived from parts further north.Our next stop was North Kessock where the skies as sea were full of Gannets, mainly juveniles but some adults.

We continued on along the Beauly Firth, where the tide was quite high, collecting Oystercatcher, Redshank, Curlew, Teal, very many Wigeon and also large numbers of Greylag and Pink-footed Geese. We passed a field in which a flock of Chaffinches kept rising from and flying around before returning to their starting point. What made this remarkable was that there were approximately a hundred of them !

At Redcastle we looked on to the Beauly Firth and saw a good collection of Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Curlew and around one hundred Greylag Geese.Near Avoch, just while John was telling me that there were hardly any Red Kites left around the area anymore, I spotted on sitting on a hay bale. It shot off but we got good views of it anyway. A nice surprise was a group of five Swallow (in mid-October !) and two Pink-footed Geese among about three hundred Barnacle Geese.

At Chanonry Point the rain was really lashing down and a strong wind blew at us. It was worth getting out of the car and setting up the scopes though because we saw a pair of Long-tailed Ducks, a nice group of Turnstone, Redshank, Dunlin, Oystercatcher and both Guillemot and Black Guillemot; the first and last of this list being “year ticks” taking my year list up to 190. Only ten to go !

We drove through Rosemarkie (where we got a Yellowhammer) and Davidstown (where we got a Snipe) to the hide at Udale Bay where we stopped for our packed lunch and scanned the high-tide roost on the little peninsulas in front of the hide. There were at least three hundred Wigeon and half as many Oystercatcher. Also in the roost were perhaps a hundred Knot and smaller numbers of Redshank and Dunlin. There were also a few Bar-tailed Godwits and some Shelduck. There were around one hundred Pink-footed Geese there but on the field behind the hide there must have been a couple of hundred more. There were also some Canada Geese.

Further up the road we got a nice group of eight Scaup. On the way back we got a Snipe at Davidston. We crossed back over the bridge leaving the Cromarty Firth behind and followed the Moray Firth eastwards, taking a left turn off the A96 just past Milton of Culloden that leads down to Alturlie Point (see p100 of Gordon Hamlett’s book). Here we saw a flock of about fifty Long-tailed Ducks and three Slavonian Grebes, now in their winter plumage. There were around fifty Gannets, both young and adult, and on a spit of land sticking out into the Moray Firth, was a large mixed group of Curlew, Oystercatcher, Bar-tailed Godwit, and some Redshank. There were also Carrion Crow and not quite full Hooded Crows, the Black Isle being a crossover range for the full Hoodie. We drove on to the car park at Nairn Golf Course and whilst we were looking out for Eider (which we found) we discovered that John’s car was leaking diesel so we had to call out the AA who arrived fairly quickly. We looked out to sea and along the river while we waited but didn’t find anything new.

When the AA chap arrived he couldn’t fix the problem so we had to get towed back putting an end to the days birding except for a Pheasant and a couple of Red-legged Partridge by the side of the road near Ferness.So, apart from the rain and the breakdown, we had a pretty good day all in all.

Year Ticks : Long-tailed Duck at Chanonry Point and Alturlie Point and Black Guillemot at Chanonry Point.

Bird Sightings : Carr Road

Greylag Goose	200
Common Wood Pigeon	10
Eurasian Collared Dove	1
Eurasian Jackdaw	30
Rook	30
Fieldfare	2
Redwing	30
Mistle Thrush	30
Common Starling	20
Reed Bunting	1
Common Chaffinch	3
House Sparrow	8

Bird Sightings : Kessock Bridge

Gannet

100

Bird Sightings : Beauly Firth

Pink-footed Goose	30
Greylag Goose	100
Eurasian Wigeon	100
Mallard	30
Common Teal	10
Great Cormorant	6
Grey Heron	1
Eurasian Oystercatcher	20
Northern Lapwing	40
Common Redshank	70
Eurasian Curlew	10
Bar-tailed Godwit	10
Black-headed Gull	20
Great Black-backed Gull	1
Eurasian Jay	1
Great Tit	2
Eurasian Blue Tit	4
Meadow Pipit	1
Common Chaffinch	100

Bird Sightings : Inverness-shire

Pink-footed Goose	2
Barnacle Goose	300
Red Kite	1
Barn Swallow	5

Bird Sightings : Chanonry Point

Long-tailed Duck	50
Northern Gannet	30
Eurasian Oystercatcher	6
Common Ringed Plover	3
Common Redshank	10
Ruddy Turnstone	6
Dunlin	6
Common Guillemot	6
Black Guillemot	1
Herring Gull	8
Pied Wagtail	3

Bird Sightings : Inverness-shire

Greater Scaup	8
Common Snipe	1
Pied Wagtail	1
Yellowhammer	1
House Sparrow	6

Bird Sightings : Udale Bay

Pink-footed Goose	300
Canada Goose	30
Common Shelduck	30
Eurasian Wigeon	300
Little Grebe	1
Eurasian Oystercatcher	100
Common Redshank	40
Bar-tailed Godwit	8
Red Knot	60
Dunlin	12
Black-headed Gull	20

Bird Sightings : Alturlie Point

Long-tailed Duck	50
Slavonian Grebe	3
Northern Gannet	50
Grey Heron	2
Eurasian Oystercatcher	20
Eurasian Curlew	20
Bar-tailed Godwit	10
Carrion Crow	20

Bird Sightings : Inverness-shire

Common Eider	6
Red-legged Partridge	2
Common Pheasant	2

Highlands Day 2 : 15th October 2016