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| On the viewing platform at RSPB Insh Marshes - from left, Peter Skelson, Sue Misselbrook, Ian Misselbrook, Robin Bainbridge, Alan Smith, Jackie Locking, Pete Locking and Sally Johnston |
WHAT if a cuckoo ejected two eggs from the nest of an osprey, then laid one of its own?
Could the unthinkable happen? Surely not?
But this thought must have crossed the minds of visitors to the RSPB nature centre at Loch Garten in the Scottish Highlands early on Saturday morning when a single cuckoo perched directly next to an osprey's nest.
It stayed for only a few seconds before flying off, so, unfortunately, the 'experiment' had no opportunity to proceed.
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| This inquisitive cuckoo pondered whether to lay in an osprey's nest |
The sound of cuckoos echoing through Abernethy forest and off the waters of Loch Mallachie was one one of the highlights of the five-day early-May birding holiday run by the Lincolnshire Birding Club in conjunction with Yorkshire-based coach and accommodation company Cairngorm Travel.
During our 26-strong party's four hours at the nature centre, its ospreys were not to be seen hunting for fish, but the male seemed only too happy to pose for photographs from afar.
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| Stationary osprey - this is the bird Scottish statues go to for advice |
Other high spots of the morning at this famous RSB reserve included goldeneye on Loch Mallachie with common sandpipers, tree pipits and a singing redstart close by.
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| Common sandpiper - happily a plentiful wader on the shores of many lochs |
Some of the birders on the trip also glimpsed and/or heard crested tit, another iconic Scottish species, but, alas, only fleetingly.
Next on the itinerary was an hour-long stop at nearby Nethy Bridge which was hosting a small community fair which was enjoyed by those of the party who, by now, had become 'birded out' for the day.
For those who remained committed to birding, nearby was a short circular walk which yielded tree creepers, a robin and both thrush species but not much else of ornithological note though an unusual ground growing fungus and a red squirrel provided alternative diversions.
At the community fair was a Cats Protection League stall where one of the hosts was a birder from Essex who had moved to Nethy Bridge eight years ago so much did he love the village.
However, contrary to its reputation, he said crested tits and crossbills were seldom seen, though, by way of compensation, he and neighbours had, in recent evenings, been enjoying the reeling song of a grasshopper warbler from a patch of long grass behind their gardens.
The first excursion of the holiday, two days earlier, had been to Glenmore Forest and Loch Morlich, the latter possessing the highest inland beach in Britain which, in the sunshine had an almost Mediterranean feel.
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| It could almost be Spain - Loch Morlich in the sunshine |
It was while here that some the party glimpsed a white-tailed sea eagle majestically patrolling one quarter of the loch.
As at Loch Garten, there was also at least one tree pipit performing its enchanting song-flight from the top of a pine.
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| Tree pipit admiring the Scottish scenery |
Time was when greenshank used to nest on the shores of Loch Morlich, but their disappearance as summer-staying visitors has been attributed partly to the planting of pine right up to the water's edge and partly to the growth of water sport tourism.
In recent years, a large caravan and camping site has sprung. There are signs politely requesting dog-owners to keep their pets on leads to save causing disturbance to ground-nesting birds, but, unfortunately, these are routinely disregarded.
Thursday's afternoon two-hour stop-off was at Carrbridge, a village one of whose claims to fame is that it hosts the annual World Porridge Making Championship.
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| Who dares to jump? the famous bridge at Carrbridge |
There is a 30-minute circular walk to the bridge and back, passing a cemetery, but, maybe because it was early afternoon, birds were, for the most part, neither showing nor singing.
As last year, the party's stay was at Kingussie , 13 miles away from Aviemore. It is a delightful village which is lucky enough to have its own Co-op convenience store, a pharmacy, a library/bookshop, a post office, two charity shops, several art galleries. Oh yes, and a Chinese takeaway.
There is also a duck pond, The Glebe, surrounded by a reedbed, and the village is served by a bus route and a railway station, both within metres of the front door of our hotel, the Duke of Gordon.
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| The Glebe on one edge of Kingussie - note the daffodils were (just about) still in flower |
The 'DoG', as it is known locally, did us proud, with comfortable rooms, friendly staff and sumptuous fare - full Scottish breakfasts and beautifully presented (and ample) table-service four-course evening meals.
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| The Duke of Gordon - set in the heart of rich and diverse birding habitat |
Behind the hotel is a woodland which is home to treecreepers, red squirrels, great spotted woodpeckers and coal tits, with bullfinches, goldfinches greenfinches, siskins, blackbirds, wrens, long-tailed tits and thrushes, both mistle and song, all conspicuous in the well-shrubbed gardens of nearby houses.
Also nearby are two horse fields, each full of blackbirds and thrushes (of both species) and several red-legged partridges.
Seen from afar, one bird looked, at first, as if it might be a ring ouzel, but perhaps it was a trick of light or a plumage aberration because, on closer scrutiny, the bird proved to be a starling.
-Happily however, close-up sightings of the ring ouzel's close relative, the dipper (or water ouzel), were regular, with two or three (sometimes pursued by a feisty pair of grey wagtails) flitting up and down the fast flowing Gynack burn that runs alongside the hotel thence to the River Spey which is no more than 15 minutes' walk away.
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| Dippers were conspicuous in the burn running past the hotel |
Higher up beyond the wood to the rear of the hotel, is first a golf course, then moorland habitat where buzzards soar, wheatears flit and snipes perform their drumming flights.
A walk leads past a tarn, then down to the village of Newtonmore famed for its wildcats, from where it is two-mile walk back along a flat path footpath to Kingussie.
However, the Duke of Gordon's trump card when it comes to location is its proximity, just two or three miles away, from one of the RSPB's less-well known Scottish reserves - the one at Insh Marshes.
In winter, this is famed for its large population of whooper swans, but we were surprised, in the first week of May, to see two lingerers that had chosen to tarry a while longer before making the long trip back to their breeding home in Iceland.
It was in a field here, on Friday, that one of our party, Ian Misselbrook, detected, by both sound and sight, a handsome yellow wagtail - a familiar enough bird at Lincolnshire's RSPB Frampton Marsh reserve in Lincolnshire, where he is a volunteer guide, but a rarity, indeed, so far north in Scotland.
Thanks are due to all at Goole-based Cairngorm Travel, not least coach driver Paul, and to the very welcoming staff at the Duke of Gordon Hotel, plus the administrators of two Facebook groups, Lincolnshire Birding and Grimsby RSPB, for allowing their pages to be used for publicising the holiday.
For information about future birding holidays, keep checking these sites and preferably join the Lincolnshire Bird Club whose members have first access to updates via its forum and its monthly newsletter, The Heron.
* Cairngorm Travel:
https://cairngorm-travel.co.uk
* Lincolnshire Bird Club:
https://www.lincsbirdclub.co.uk
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| The village of Kingussie seen from RSPB Insh Marshes |
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| Mistle thrushes were common - this bird sharing a field with a curlew |
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| Every tree and bush seemed to have at least one singing willow warbler whistling its sweet but sad refrain |
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| This male reed bunting showed well at Loch Morlich |
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| Goldeneye were present on many of the waters |
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| Congratulations to Linda Sterling, seen with husband Bill, who won a copy of Chris Packham's Birdwatching Guide in the first of two free draws |
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| We never saw an osprey in flight - except in this painting on the wall at the side entrance to the hotel |
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| This drake shoveler showed well at Insh Marshes |
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| These greenfinches enjoyed feeding on one of the feeders outside a hide at Insh Marshes |
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| What would be a holiday in Scotland without tartan and bagpipes? Some of the team at the Duke of Gordon |
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| Well done to Pete Locking, seen with wife Jackie, winner of Hedgelands - prize book in the second of the two draws |
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| This bird got us quite cross. Seen from afar it could almost have been a ring ouzel, but closer scrutiny revealed . . . a starling! |
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| Searching for something to eat - grey heron in reedbed at Loch Morlich |
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| They really love their horses in the Cairngorms |
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| Watch out - birders about! |
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| Raven (that's the one on the left) and cow |
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| Our superlative coach driver, Paul, sports his magnificent Hulme tartan kilt |
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