Well after all the walking and Ferry Trips we were flagging a bit, so decided today would be a good day to head to Loch Ruthven in the hopes of seeing the Slavonian Grebes, we would then drive over the Farr Road to the Findhorn Valley in the hopes of Eagles and other Raptors. Mostly so we didn't have to walk much!!😂 The weather was a bit grey to start with, but brightened up nicely later!
Things started well at the car park with a few Stonechats, Pipits and a reeling Grasshopper Warbler, didn't get eyes on it sadly but a good start. We made our way down to the Loch, a quick scan with the scope revealed two pairs of the desired Grebes and a Red-throated Diver all sadly distant. We walked through the wood, lots of Willow Warblers and a flyover Redpoll, reaching the hide we scanned again another pair of the Grebes but again distant.
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| Stonechat |
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| Loch Ruthven |
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| Margie's pic of the distant Slavonian Grebes |
We were pleased to see em and they looked great in the scope in their impressive breeding plumage, we were just bemoaning our luck that they were so distant when a pair swam out of the reeds right in front of us!
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| Stunning views of these impressive birds! |
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| Eventually they moved further away much to the relief of my camera battery |
As per the plan we headed to the Farr Road, got completely lost, saw a large Bird of Prey flying along a ridge, turned out to be a Red Kite!! Found the Farr Road, drove along it stopping to scan, saw nothing and more surprisingly heard nothing. Where it comes off the moor and hits the river there was a bit of action, with a few birds in the trees most of which were Coal Tits! The scenery was nice though!
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| A couple of Red Deer on a Ridge, didn't see many Red Deer on this trip |
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| Common Buzzard |
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| Coal Tit |
We reached the Findhorn Valley and followed it upstream, bit more action here, with a few Curlews, Common Sandpipers and Pied Wagtails along the river, plus a few Oystercatchers. Not many Raptors seen at this point!
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| Curlew flyover |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Findhorn River |
We reached the end car park, there was a large group or Birders here, they had seen a White-tailed Eagle and reported seeing a Golden Eagle earlier in the day! We set up for a Raptor watch while we had lunch It didn't take long for a White-tailed Eagle to appear and fly across the Valley, where it was promptly attacked by several different Raptors!!! A pair of Peregrines, a Merlin and a Kestrel all had a go at it. They maybe top of the food chain but no one likes em!!! My pictures are not particularly good and I only caught the Peregrine action , but it was an exciting watch!
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| White-tailed Eagle |
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| WTE vs Peregrine |
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| Being escorted off the premises |
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| A moment of respite |
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| But not for long, someone is watching from above |
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| 2 against 1 |
Fantastic action, hard to keep up with it as they battled across the sky! We had just got our breath back when an Osprey appeared!! It seemed to be fishing the river which was a bit of a surprise considering how shallow it is at this point!
We had a little walk down the path, a few Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and a couple of Wheatears but nothing posed, we didn't get far as it was blooming hot and we were knackered, the scenery is pretty spectacular as captured by Margie below
With a bit of time left in the day, we decided to pop down the road to the Insh Marshes hoping to see the Hen Harriers that had been reported over the previous days, no sign but I did manage a surprise pair of Whooper Swans! Plenty of Curlew, Lapwing and Oystercatchers from the view point and Greenfinches singing from the nearby trees!
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| Whooper Swan with an arrow pointing to the yellow on the bill! |
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