A Local Patch

Male Greater Scaup
Birding Patience
13th December 2024
Male Greater Scaup
Birding Patience
13th December 2024

Finding somewhere relatively local that can be a good spot for seeing wildlife is something important to me, as I spend far too much time driving miles to see and photograph things. I spend a lot of time on Mull, where I used to live, but mainly for work these days. And I travel far and wide around the Scottish Highlands looking for new places, or revisiting favourites.

Closer to home there are a couple of locations I've been to. RSPB Udale Bay, over on the Black Isle, which if timed right can be amazing for the flocks of birds, mainly geese, ducks and waders, flying around and feeding. But despite appearing to be relatively close on a map, it's a bit of a bugger to get to. So not really a place that I can just "pop out" to.

Then there's Alturlie which offers a stretch of coastline alongside the Moray Firth, and again is good for wildfowl, waders and sometimes seals, plus the heathland area can be good for red kites and other raptors.

And over the Kessock Bridge, North Kessock and the coastline that runs up to Redcastle.

But a spot that I've been to on a couple of occasions proved to be somewhat special when we had a covering of snow, and possibly offers me what I'm looking for in terms of a proper local haunt; Dalziel. In particular the area of farmland around Easter Dalziel Farm, and over the main road, across Castle Stuart golf course. Just a 5 minute drive from home, and I've seen so much there lately.

As I type this, the outside temperature is a mild 10C, but a few days ago, it was closer to -10C, the whole area was carpeted in deep snow, and we were enjoying some glorious light.

Reports of a hen harrier had come in from the Highland Birds website, so I had to go for a look, and my luck was definitely in, as within minutes of parking up, I spotted it quartering one of the fields nearby.

What a stunning sight, hunting over snow-covered fields.

After watching the harrier hunting over the fields, she headed off out of sight, and I haven't seen her since. Passing through, perhaps, though the area suitable for hunting around here is vast, so maybe she's still in the area somewhere...

Whilst looking for her, I noticed a large flock of farmland birds - linnet. I scanned, hoping for perhaps a twite, but I don't think I spotted one. There were yellowhammers and reed buntings mixed in, and I'm told, snow buntings frequent the same areas.

Whilst watching this flock, I spotted something hurtling in like a small missile, and past the front of my car swept in a male merlin. In the blink of an eye, one of the flock had been captured, and was whisked away across the meadows again, to an annoyingly distant post to be consumed. I watched through my bins, but the shimmering light between me and it, meant pics were pointless.

I watched the merlin for some time, and eventually it flew to a tree that was a bit closer to the road, and by bolting on my 2x TC to my 500mm lens, I was able to get a half-decent image.

Also around the area were several red kites, though they tended to stay at enough of a distance away not to be worth a photo. Potential though, on future visits, hopefully.

Just as the light was fading, and the sky was turning orange, I spotted another raptor hunting the small birds. A sparrowhawk, and unlike the merlin, it came up short, perching up on a fence post to catch its breath instead.

I managed to roll the car close enough for a shot, camera resting on the wing-mirror, before it took flight, heading off towards woods across the fields, in hope of a late supper.

Not a bad visit, that afternoon. I managed to see a hen harrier, merlin, sparrowhawk, kestrel, buzzard, two red kites and an osprey, though the latter was an RAF aircraft, and deafening when it went overhead very low down!

And to finish the day, as I was driving home, I had to stop the car to grab a phone shot of the magical sunset in front of me.

After the raptor-fest of the previous day, I felt compelled to return, but aside from a brief cameo of a peregrine, and more distant red kites, there was little on offer from the birds of prey.

So I stopped at the area where the linnets were feeding on the seeds from the vegetation, and spent an hour or so just enjoying them.

Linnets are quite flighty normally, so finding an area where they were returning to, and coming pretty close, was fantastic. I had to be careful with swinging the 500mm lens around to prevent scaring the birds off, but they settled quickly, and I left with some lovely, wintery images.

So I now have what I think is a worthwhile "local patch" to enjoy. And it'll be interesting to see what visits over the year ahead. Hopefully more raptors!

A Local Patch
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