Kinneil Air Display

Kinneil Lagoons sit on the south bank of the River Forth, nestled between the picturesque towns of Grangemouth and Bo'ness and the area is an excellent place for bird watching. Flanked by a petrochemical refinery and a sewage treatment works on one side and a former landfill site on the other side it does not sound like the ideal place to see waders and wildfowl, but it is. By the way there is also a huge coal-fired power station on the other side of the river.

Grangemouth Refinery

Kinneil Kerse Sewage Treatment Works

Longannet Power Station

 

Now I have painted the scene for you let me tell you about my recent trip to Kinneil Lagoons.

As I approached the Lagoons I had a feeling it was going to be a good day for birding as the first bird I saw was a Fieldfare, a winter visitor from Scandinavia, and my first sighting of this colourful thrush this year. However it flew off from the ground where it was feeding and went into the trees, hence getting a decent photograph was very difficult (excuses already):

Fieldfare in tree

There were also flocks of mixed finches flying about............ which is always a good sign............ but very hard to photograph........ so I didn't.

 The lagoons at Kinneil are man-made features formed by creating an embankment around what was originally mudflats and then controlling the level of water within the enclosed area. The embankment has large pipes built in to it which allow some water from the river Forth to flow into the lagoons during high tide but stop all the water draining back in to the river at low tide, hence controlling the lagoon water level. The embankment is the part you walk along, affording views of both the river and the lagoons:

Embankment with River Forth on left and Lagoons on right

Flow to Lagoons



Kinneil Lagoons

 As I approached the embankment I could see lots of small ducks called Teal swimming and feeding around the shore of the river. The nearer I got to them the further they moved away from the river bank, some of them even taking flight to get away.

Teal Feeding

Teal Escaping

Teal Swimming



Teal Flying

 By chance the timing of my visit was perfect, an incoming tide almost at its highest point was driving waders off the mudflats of the river to the shallows of the Lagoons.  I knew that these waders would fly low along the river before pouring over the embankment and swooping down into the Lagoons.

I positioned myself strategically at a little bush halfway along the embankment overlooking the Lagoons and waited for the air display to happen. My first sighting was not of waders but a small group of Shelduck coasting past like some heavy bombers on a low-level reconnaissance flight: 

Shelduck Fly-past

The light was starting to fade a little and over the river there was a pink glow in the lower half of the sky whilst the upper half was quite dark. With the water being so still and calm it made for some great scenic views as I waited for the action to happen.

Looking Downstream to the Forth Estuary

Fife Panorama

Cormorant Skimming the River

Towards Grangemouth and Longannet

In the distance, through my binoculars, I could see what looked like a swarm of bees swooping and swirling.............but these were not bees...............these were the waders leaving the mudflats and heading my way. As they got closer I could here the whirring sound of their beating wings, it got louder and louder then whoosh!! ......they flew right over my head and swooped down to land at the far side of the Lagoons. I had my camera ready so fired off a few shots before they disappeared:

Wader Squadron

Dunlin or Knot?

 I wasn't quite sure what type of waders these were, going by their size and the length of their beaks I thought they were Dunlin but they flew past so quickly I didn't have time to identify them. Not sure if my photographs are good enough to make a positive ID (what do you expert birders out there think?).
These waders had no sooner put down at the Lagoons when something must have spooked them as they were up in the air again and flying back over the embankment and heading back up the river:

Spooked Waders

It was not long before I heard the next wave of waders approaching, this time I could see they were bigger waders with much longer beaks and I was pretty sure that they were Godwits:

Godwits Incoming

 Closer examination of my photographs revealed that they were in fact Black-tailed Godwits:

Black-tailed Godwits

It wasn't just ducks and waders involved in this air show I also had a small squadron of Black-headed Gulls and a solitary cormorant fly past me:

Black-headed Gulls

Cormorant

The light was fading fast and I knew I would not get many other decent photographs so I started to pack away my gear when I heard the distinctive 'piping' call of Redshanks coming from the Lagoon and a few seconds later they zoomed past. Luckily I still had a camera nearby so I managed to get a shot of them flying away, low across the river:

Redshank Heading Off

As I walked back towards my car I reflected on what a magical couple of hours I had experienced at Kinneil and vowed I would return soon.

I snapped a few photographs of the Grangemouth refinery and the flare stacks as I headed back which was a stark reminder that this is basically an industrial landscape, but as always nature finds a way.

Refinery and Flare Stack

 

Burning Bush?

Hope you enjoyed this little trip to Kinneil Lagoons and that it might inspire you to get out to places near you where wildlife thrives amongst the landscapes we create.

 

Take care

 

Teddy Edward

 

 

 

Pinkies are Perky

I was back at Vane Farm last week (this time accompanied by my friend Grant) and was amazed at how much things had changed since I was last there at the end of July. I don't mean the buildings or the layout of the RSPB reserve they had not changed but the difference in the wildlife was definitely noticeable.
Some of the beautiful wildflowers were still evident, like this lovely stand of cornflower:

Cornflower in the Meadow

It was a welcome splash of colour in a meadow that had mostly gone to seed.
Back in July I was buzzed by a super-charged Dragonfly which was almost impossible to photograph; however this time I found a very sluggish Dragonfly sunbathing on a bench, which was easy to snap:

Common Darter

Out on the wader scrape the waders had been usurped by a noisy band of geese and ducks, and the Glossy Ibis was long gone:

Geese & Ducks on the Wader Scrape

When we first arrived these were predominately Greylag Geese, but that was all about to change:

Greylag Geese on Island in Scrape

Over the next few hours we observed Pink-footed Geese arriving at the loch on their return from their Summer breeding grounds in Iceland and Greenland. Initially they came in flocks of twenty or thirty but then they started to arrive in their hundreds, flying right over our heads as they made their way to the loch:

 

 These Pinkies (as they are affectionately known) are much more timid than the Greylag Geese and chose to land on the loch or at the edge of the loch a couple of hundred metres away from where we were. Having just arrived from Iceland and Greenland they are both hungry and wary so by landing on or near the loch meant that they could check there were no predators on the land before starting to graze on the nearby fields.
If you look at the last video you can see the geese 'wiffling' ; this is when they turn on their side or even on their back in an attempt to lose altitude before they land. It is quite fun to see and I'm just glad aircraft don't do the same.
At this stage they are very twitchy and liable to take flight at the first sign of danger. The silhouette of a Buzzard in the sky can be enough to put them up, even though a Buzzard is unlikely to prey on a bird as big as a Pink-footed Goose.
There were no Buzzards around as far as we could see, but the Pinkies were still very nervous. Further inland from the loch-side we did however see a large bird of prey, a Marsh Harrier, it was being chased by a crow which was half its size.

These birds of prey will try to avoid such confrontations as they don't want their flight feathers damaged, which might affect their ability to hunt successfully. Having shaken off the attentions of the crow the Marsh Harrier provided us with a little flying display:

The Pinkies and the Marsh Harrier were not the only birds taking to air, as a family of Mute Swans made a bit of a splash as they took off from the wader scrape:

By mid-afternoon the Pinkies had settled down a bit and some had even flown across to the far end of the wader scrape, so we were able to observe them with our telescopes. They were still a bit touchy and occasionally a few would get spooked, taking to the air and flying around a bit before settling back down:

Pinkies on the move

Flying Pinkies

On one occasion a few Pinkies took to the air which caused a chain reaction and the whole mass of geese (Pink-Footed and Greylags) rose up in unison. There must have been over a thousand of these large birds in the air swirling around for minutes before eventually coming back down to land. I don't know what spooked them but it was very dramatic.

Eruption of Geese

 I don't think this photograph can really capture the spectacle (or noise) of all these geese taking to the air at once, hopefully the following video will give you some idea. Pump up the volume for the most dramatic effect:

It was a great spectacle to witness and one that will stay in the memory for some time to come.
I hope you enjoyed me sharing this with you.

cheers

Teddyedward

P.S. If you are under the age of fifty you probably won't get the reference in the title of this blog...................you could try googling it??

Vane Farm Visit

 

It's been a while since I last visited Vane Farm (aka RSPB Loch Leven) nature reserve in Fife and I can't really think why I left it so long. It is a great reserve with lots of different habitats and less than twenty minutes drive from my house.
Anyway on a bright sunny day last week I took a little trip to Vane Farm, armed with my binoculars, telescope, camcorder and a small camera (plus a packed lunch of course........even though they have a good café at the reserve).
It was mid morning when I got there and I headed straight to the hides down by Loch Leven, surprisingly I had the place to myself. I went into the first hide and had a scan over the loch, however apart from a few ducks that were quite far away there did not appear much to see, so I moved on.
I had a quick scan over the ponds outside the first hide just in case there were some dragonflies or damselflies about but no joy so  had to content myself with watching a few whirligig beetles, pond skaters and sticklebacks in the pond for a few minutes before moving on.
As I walked along the path towards the second hide I thought to myself "what a wonderful day".......it was sunny, the insects were buzzing about, swallows were swooping around, finches were chirping in the meadows........so I took a picture:

Path to the Hides at Vane Farm

As I moved along the path I noticed a couple of swallows had perched up on the wooden fence, busily preening, totally oblivious of my presence.......then one noticed me and flew off, whilst the other ignored me and posed for the camera:


Two Swallows Preening

Then there was one

Swallow Posing

Just before I got to the second hide I heard a Sedge Warbler singing away, belting out its scratchy tune. I checked the top of posts and bushes for the bird (as that's usually where you'll find them) and spotted it on top of a willowherb plant. I did not want to get too close in case I scared it off and hoped that it would stay there until I got my camcorder out.................and it did, so turn up the sound for this one:

As you may have noticed the Sedge Warbler was trying to catch bees that were visiting the flowers.......and singing at the same time, that's multi-tasking!!
I left the Sedge Warbler which was still singing away when I approached the second of the three hides. I noticed the hide door was open, which was unusual as nobody else was about, and as I entered the hide I noticed a bird perched in the corner which was trying desperately to fly out through the closed windows. It was a Pied Wagtail and it looked as though it had been in there for a while and was pretty stressed. It did not want to fly out the door and kept trying to get out of the closed windows so I put down my camcorder then tried to open a window for the bird to leave. Of course it would not go past me to the open window so I had to prop it open and step back:

 

With the Wagtail free I could sit down and get on with my bird watching.....well I could have if there were any birds to see!! Apart from a Heron in the distance and a very tired looking Pied Wagtail there was very little to see from this hide, so I moved on to the next hide.
As I approached the third hide (known as the Carden hide) which overlooks a large wader scrape I could see that it looked much more interesting with a large number of waders gathered on a small spit of land:

Approaching the Carden Hide

Once in the hide the first thing that caught my eye was a Grey Heron busily fishing at the side of the hide.....I grabbed a quick snap with my little camera:

Grey Heron

I then turned my attention to the line of waders a little further out on this little spit of land poking into the water of the scrape. With my binoculars they all looked like Curlew so I set up my telescope to get a better look:

View from Carden Hide

 As I scanned along the waders I noticed that one was definitely not a Curlew, it was far too dark and had the wrong shaped beak..............it was in fact a Glossy Ibis!!
I had heard that one had been seen in the area but I had sort of forgot about it until now. This is a bird that is normally on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, etc. not Loch Leven. I know they can occasional be seen down in the south coast of England but in Scotland they are quite rare.
Unfortunately it was a bit far out for my little camera but I did manage to get it on my camcorder (watch out for the aerial mastery of a swallow having a drink at the start of the clip):

 It's not the best video of a Glossy Ibis and doesn't really show off the iridescent colours of the bird's plumage but it was the best I could achieve at the time.
I was then joined in the hide by a very pleasant family who later told me that they were up visiting Scotland from St Albans. They were very excited about seeing the Glossy Ibis and made good use of my telescope. They said that they had a friend who was a keen birdwatcher and that he would not believe them when they tell him they have seen a Glossy Ibis in Scotland.
Well I can confirm that this family from St Albans most definitely saw a Glossy Ibis in Scotland:

Glossy Ibis spotters from St Albans

When I said that the previous clip was the best video of a Glossy Ibis I could get, that might not been quite right because the bird took flight and moved a little closer to the hide to feed (but not much). You can judge for yourselves if these clips are any better:

The Ibis flew into the long grass.......... so after a quick bite of lunch I decided it was time to move on myself.
On the way back from the hides I took a slight detour through a wildflower meadow and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of lovely plants that were there:

Path through Wildflower Meadow

Wildfllowers in Meadow

 I think I managed to identify a few of the more obvious wild flowers (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong):


Field Scabious

Viper's Bugloss (sorry about the shadow)

Cornflower



Bird's Foot Trefoil and Tufted Vetch

Grasses in Wildflower Meadow

Large White leaving Hardhead (Black Knapweed)

 As well as all the wild flowers attracting insects and butterflies, the birds were attracted by the insects and the seeds from the grasses. So the skies above the meadow were full of Swallows and occasionally I would disturb a small flock of finches which were feeding in amongst the grasses. They would fly off, chirping as they go, swirl around then land within the long grass a few yards further away. It was a very pleasant walk through the meadow and highly recommended.
I strolled back to the RSPB Centre and had a refreshing tub of ice-cream from the café before continuing with the next part of my trip. Heading in the opposite direction from the hides and the loch you can take a path that winds its way through woodlands up the side of Benarty Hill until you eventually reach the summit. From here you can get a fantastic view back down to the loch with the whole reserve laid out in front of you. That was my aim but with the very hot weather I wasn't too sure I would make it to the top.


Hillside Path

As I walked along an open part of the hillside path I was being 'buzzed' by a large Dragonfly that kept darting over my head then flying away, only to return a few seconds later to buzz me again. I tried to capture this crazy creature on camera but it was far too fast, super-charged by the sun's rays. I also tried to film it with my camcorder but this also proved very difficult. Here are the few clips I got (I apologise in advance for the quality) I have slowed the video down to a quarter of the actual speed in the hope that you can see the Dragonfly:

The Dragonfly finally gave up and I continued on my way up the hillside path. I passed through some pretty woodlands, where the dappled sunlight made for some nice photographs:

 

Bridge across the Burn



Path Through the Woods

From up here you could clearly see the wader scrape in front of the Carden hide where I had previously spotted the Glossy Ibis:

Wader Scrape from Benarty Hill

I continued to climb the hill up through the woodlands but it seemed to be getting even hotter than before and I had to make a decision on whether to continue or not. I knew that the final climb up the hill was not in the shade of woodlands but across a gorse and bracken moor and decided that it would be best to leave it to another (cooler) day, so I chickened out and started to head back down the hill.
I like to keep an eye out for 'quirky' things and on the way down I found a couple of items that took my fancy........ a mossy log (great habitat for beasties) and a bit of natural sculpture (with a little help from a chainsaw):

I love mossy logs

Natural sculpture (maybe Honey Badger?)

When I am out for a walk I prefer to go back a different route than the one I came so I could not refuse the following offer:

Right up my street

Of course I went off the beaten track, and it was a pleasant walk through more dappled woods with some woodland flowers on view:

Dappled Woodland



Foxglove

Track unbeaten

This track took me safely back down to the RSPB Centre and I had a quick look round the shop (eying up the expensive binoculars which I can not afford) before heading back to my car.
On the way home I drove up and over the Cleish Hills road which afforded me a spectacular view back towards Loch Leven:

Loch Leven from Cleish Hills

I really enjoyed my day at RSPB Loch Leven and this time I promised myself that I would not leave it too long before I returned..........after all I still have to finish climbing Benarty Hill

Take Care

TeddyEdward