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📖 Aviemore 18-19/06/2025

With Dazza away in England until tonight, Sunday 22nd, I decided to head over to Aviemore, planning to stop for the night on the 18th. My route included a stop to visit the Lecht Ski Centre and the old Lecht Mine. David Leslie had guided in that area in late May and mentioned to me that he had seen Ring Ouzels around the old mine building, suggesting they might be nesting there.

The last surviving building of what was once Scotland’s largest manganese mine.

The parking area at Lecht Mine was bustling with activity when I arrived. I spotted Stonechats, Willow Warblers, and Meadow Pipits all busy carrying food, and I could hear the young birds calling all around.

A young Stonechat closeby to the car park.

I began the short walk to the mine building. As I crossed the burn via the bridge, a couple of Dippers and a Grey Wagtail took flight. I saw both of them a little further down the burn. Upon reaching the mine building, there was no sign of any Ring Ouzel, but I did notice several nests built into the rafters, unfortunately, all of which were empty.

A Dipper along the burn.

After stopping for breakfast in Tomatin, I drove an additional 90 minutes to Loch Ruthven for the anticipated Slavonian Grebes. After parking my car and before heading up to the hide, I took a quick look around the loch and spotted a single bird. It turned out to be quite a fortunate sighting, as it was the only Slavonian Grebe I saw. My 45 minutes in the hide drew a blank, apart from a couple of Little Grebes.

Slavonian Grebe

I spent the rest of the day in the Findhorn Valley, which was somewhat challenging due to road construction in several areas. The roads are narrow and single-track, making the situation more difficult. Additionally, the parking area at Glenmazeran Burn was nearly entirely occupied by roadwork machinery. I managed a few excursions, particularly around the plantations where Willow Warblers, Siskin, Redpoll, Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Spotted Flycatcher were seen. The skies were particularly quiet, just a couple of Buzzards to report and no sign of any Eagles! The River held the usual Common Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail and Goosander.

Spotted Flycatcher along Finhorn Valley.

The following day, on the 19th, I started early at Craigellachie National Nature Reserve. It was a beautiful morning with clear blue skies. My target species were Pied Flycatcher and Wood Warbler, although I knew that the latter had not been reported. This location used to be a great place to find Wood Warblers, but, like my visit here last year with the RSPB Aberdeen & District Local Group, I drew a blank. I was more successful with Pied Flycatcher, managing to photograph a male feeding a newly fledged youngster. Also of note was a Tree Pipit.

Male Pied Flycatcher feeding a newly fledged youngster

While I was in the woodland, I could hear Ospreys' calling and eventually caught sight of one of the birds through a gap in the trees, perched on a branch of the adjacent cliff face. A short time later, in a clearing, I watched both adult Ospreys and what appeared to be a couple of juveniles.

Osprey is keeping an eye on the siblings.

My next stop was Loch Mallachie, where I planned to search for Crested Tit. Fortunately, I didn't have to venture far from the car park. I was sitting on a new bench near the Two Lochs Trail signs, checking my phone, when I suddenly heard a bird calling nearby. To my surprise, it was perched at the top of a pine tree right above me! It didn't stay long, but I did manage to snap a record image.

Crested Tit record shot.

After a pleasant morning, rain showers began to appear, prompting me to head to Lochindorb earlier than expected. My goal was to see Black-throated Divers. Fortunately, I found them almost immediately upon arrival and managed to get good views through my scope of a pair, although they remained quite distant.

Black-throated Divers at Lochindorb.

An enjoyable few days with some good species observed, although Wood Warblers have now become a rare commodity for the area. More images of my visit are below.

Heath Spotted Orchid

Newly Fledged Pied Flycatcher

Willow Warbler at Lecht Mine

Stonechat at Lecht Mine

Common Sandpiper along Findhorn Valley

I watched this Grey Wagtail feeding young along the Findhorn valley.

A young Osprey keeps in contact.

This Pied Flycatcher was constantly on the go for food.

📖 The Ythan Purple Patch

Sorry for the lack of updates, but since returning home from Poland three weeks ago, I've been focusing on catching up with my Scottish year list. To my astonishment, I also added four new Scottish lifers! I typically save those for my week in Shetland in October..

One of my regular birding spots is the Ythan River and Estuary, which is a fantastic location for spotting the occasional rarity. However, the past few weeks have been particularly exceptional. On June 2nd, an American Golden Plover was spotted, followed the next day by a Buff-breasted Sandpiper. As if that wasn't enough, a Broad-billed Sandpiper appeared on June 11th. To top it all off, a Bridled Tern graced us with its presence on June 12th. The latter was found by the wardens at Forvie NNR, who were completing a survey at the ternary. You can imagine their surprise when, amongst the usual mayhem of a tern colony, they spotted a Bridled Tern, a mega-rare bird for NE Scotland and only the third record ever! An account of the find and some great photos of the bird can be found on the Forvie Blog HERE.

My record image of an American Golden Plover, which I took from the Snub car park.

In addition to 'twitching' the four rarities mentioned earlier, I have been exploring several local areas, including Fetternear Woods, Dalmadilly Ponds, and a drive to Muir of Dinnet. On the evening of Thursday, June 12th, after spending a few hours watching the Bridled Tern, I headed over to Bullers of Buchan, where we took a group from the RSPB Aberdeen & District Local Group. Seabirds were the order of the day, particularly Puffins. After an enjoyable visit, we concluded the evening with fish and chips in Ellon, a good end to a long but lucrative day birding.

Yesterday, Sunday 15th, Dazza and I headed off to the Cairngorms, Dazza's 'happy place', where we enjoyed a long walk at Glen Callater. The highlights here were a male Ring Ouzel, although distant and the many young birds we encountered: Northern Wheatear, Stonechat, Meadow Pipits, Grey Wagtail and Common Sandpiper.

Below are a number of images taken over the period.

Puffins at Bullers of Buchan

Arctic Tern along the Ythan

Little Tern from the Ythan ternary

Fulmar

Squabbling Kitiwakes

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Muir of Dinnet

Juvenile Northern Wheatears at Glen Callater

Northern Wheatear Glen Callater

Male Reed Bunting

Female Reed Bunting

Juvenile Meadow Pipit

Common Sandpiper calling to young

📖 Bialowieza Forest 19th - 23th May 2025

Our final five days in Poland were spent in the village of Grudki, actually just a few kilometres away from the Belarusian border. From here, we were just a short drive from the Bialowieza National Park and the famous primeval forest.

Our home for five days - This was our fairytale cottage, surrounded by nature.

This ringed Willow Tit was a regular vistor to the garden and sang regularly.

Białowieża Forest is the last remaining primeval forest in lowland Europe. It covers an area of over 1500 km2 in the tranquil corner of Poland and Belarus.

This is the most extraordinary and unique forest in Europe. It has been a national park since the 1920s, but its protection dates back to the 14th century. What makes it special is that it has never been logged, and no trees have ever been planted here. While there are other natural forest fragments scattered throughout the area, the strict reserve is the most extensive and pristine.

Białowieża Forest strict reserve.

For the past century, access to this forest has been carefully regulated and is only allowed with a registered guide. Dazza and I typically prefer exploring wildlife on our own without the use of guides. However, after hiring one, we discovered that we were still restricted to a well-established trail (Trail 5), which offers two options: either a 4 km or a 14 km walk. However, don't feel short-changed; unrestricted access is not permitted for this remarkable forest, and despite the restrictions, it is definitely worth a visit—there is truly nothing else quite like it.

Entrance to the Białowieża Forest restricted area.

We hired Mateus Szymura from 'Pygmy Owl' Nature Tours for a day on Tuesday, the 20th. Since 2004, he has been an employee of Białowieża National Park, where he serves as the head of the Nature Conservation Department. In addition to his 10 years of forestry education, he has learned invaluable lessons about nature from his father, Arek. Throughout his career, which began in 1998, he has guided thousands of people, including Prince Charles. Since 2009, he has focused his research on birds.

Mateusz (Mathew) Szymura

Mateus speaks excellent English, and we spent the entire day with him, starting at 04:30, to see Pygmy Owls. Our day also included a visit to a restricted area and concluded with watching a Great Snipe lek at dusk. We cannot speak highly enough of Mateus; his knowledge is extensive, and his boundless energy is truly inspirational. We had a phenomenal day with him. Moreover, Mateus continued to send us updates throughout our stay, sharing information about various sightings and places to explore.

Pygmy Owl near its nesting site.

A Great Snipe at the 'lek'

In addition to a great day out with Mateus, we visited several sites throughout the National Park over the following days. These included Kosy Most, reputed to be one of the best sites for Hazel Grouse and Nutcracker, but we failed to find either species here. I also noted from Dave Gosney's pamphlet on Eastern Poland that he did not have success during his visit either in 2015, so I am unsure whether its reputation for those two species is warranted. However, in just three and a half hours, we recorded a total of forty species. Notable species included Black Woodpecker, Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, Middle-spotted Woodpecker, Red-backed Shrike, Icterine Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Wood Warbler and Barred Warbler. Additionally, we noted Spotted Flycatcher, Collared Flycatcher, and Red-breasted Flycatcher, all of which were excellent finds. Our eBird checklist can be found HERE

A Black Woodpecker tends the nesting site with a young bird begging for food.

Another great area to explore is the Siemianówka Reservoir, situated approximately 30 km north of Białowieża. The banks of this man-made reservoir vary from muddy, with pools, to grass-covered or concrete slopes. It is a large (over 32 sq km) reservoir on the upper Narew River. Although this is an artificial lake, it is quite a popular birding spot. The lake is crossed at its eastern part by a railway track that divides the reservoir into two parts. To the south, the lake touches the northern edges of the Bialowieza Forest.

We made a couple of visits to the reservoir and surrounding areas, and highlights included Citrine Wagtail, Wryneck, White-tailed Eagle, Caspian Gull, Caspian Tern, Black Tern, Whiskered Tern and Temminck's Stint. Our eBird checklists can be found HERE and HERE.

This distant Caspian Tern is easily recognisable by its size compared to other terns.

The weather during our five-day stay around the Bialowieza National Park was much better than what we experienced during our visit to the Biebrza Marshes (see previous post). We enjoyed several warm, sunny days with very little rain. Throughout our entire twelve-day trip, we drove nearly 1,800 kilometres, primarily along sandy and gravel roads rather than the main routes. During our journey, we walked over 85 miles and documented 155 bird species, 15 butterfly species, and 8 mammal species, which included Pine Marten, Raccoon Dog, and, of course, European Bison.

European Bison - Taken from the garden.

The woodlands are filled with birdsong, featuring species such as the Red-breasted Flycatcher and Collared Flycatcher, the latter being a native species of Poland. There are also no dogs allowed, and at times, you can literally feel as though you are the only ones there, with no traffic, trains, or planes to be heard. Along the flooded roadside ditches, we heard the sounds of River Warblers and Marsh Warblers regularly. Additionally, wherever there were bodies of water, we watched White-tailed Eagles fishing and had several sightings of Lesser-spotted Eagles.

A Lesser Spotted Eagle drifts silently overhead.

Finally, we successfully managed one target, which was to record seven species of Woodpeckers: Great Spotted, Black, Grey-headed, Lesser Spotted, Middle Spotted, Wryneck, and on our final day, Three-toed.

As another wonderful adventure concludes, I will share a few more images from our memorable trip to Poland 2025.