Magnificent Seven

15/05/09

Magnificent Seven

3rd May 2009. The coming week is going to be busy with family commitments, so I decided to break with tradition and go birding on a Saturday. It's just that I don't like crowds, and holiday weekends tend to be busier than normal. So I made an early start, and was at Strathbeg by 07.30 am.I had the place to myself, and immediately found both Common and Arctic Terns.Then close scrutiny of a more distant Ringed Plover revealed a yellow eye ring. Little Ringed Plover became my third year tick.


Moving on to the Tower Hide, in the hope of seeing the Great White Egret that has been around for a couple of days, I settled down to keep watch. The Sedge Warblers were drowning out a lot of other birds' calls, but gradually I became aware of the reeling of a Grasshopper Warbler. As the morning went on, it became more and more obvious, and was tick number 4. After a couple of hours, I had despaired of seeing the egret and began to head for the door. The only other occupant of the hide suddenly called out that it was there. I turned back to look, but too late. It had dropped down into the reeds. Nevertheless, I settled down again to watch. After about twenty minutes, it rose from the reedbed, and flew round for a minute, before going back down. No. 5, and the best one for a while. Not even the sight of two Marsh Harriers gliding over the reeds could outshine that one.


Since I was on a roll, I headed off to Rattray, to see if the Black Redstart and Common Redstart were still there. A walk round the house and garden produced nothing, but I noticed another birder focussed on the big clump of gorse. He beckoned me over, and soon we were watching a Lesser Whitethroat, my first of the year, and not a common spring bird here. On hearing that the Common Redstart was somewhere in the bush, I decided to hang around, and shortly after I was rewarded by seeing it emerge briefly. A stunning male bird. I retired to the car for lunch. Then it was back to the bush watching, to see Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and the Redstart again.


The rest of the day was a bit of an anticlimax. The Ytahn was quiet now that most of the waders have gone. I ended the day with a walk round Inchgarth Reservoir, hoping for a Common Whitethroat. There were Willow Warblers hammering out their song everywhere, and I'm fairly sure I heard the scratching of a Common Whitethroat somewhere across the river. But I wasn't completely sure, so that one will have to wait for another day.


There have been a few Swifts recorded already, so I kept my eyes open all the way home for one. It won't be long now.