I don't always use the fortnight of the school Easter holiday fully, in a birding sense, unless I've headed abroad. In the UK late March/early April is a bit of a limbo period with a trickle of summer migrants making their way through and the tail end of wintering birds quietly departing overnight. So we by-passed thoughts of spring and headed back into late winter with a trip up to the Highlands. The girls are both now old enough to manage a longer road trip so we headed to the Cairngorms with 2 day stop overs in York and Edinburgh on the way up.
I never need an excuse to spend time on the Great White Cape of Flamborough Head, in early spring the draw is the cliffs covered in seabirds. The return of the Black-browed Albatross made a trip to Bempton irresistible. I went with my Dad and although we were not fortunate enough to see this icon wheeling around the cliffs we did see it bobbing around offshore as it drifted out towards the headland. The guttural cacophony of Gannet business echoed up the sheer chalk face. Kittiwakes, with a vocal mantra akin to fingers rubbed on polished glass, threw themselves into the updraft joining the clouds of auks navigating their summer home. A Short-eared Owl was a little bonus quartering the rough clifftop grassland where Corn Bunting, Tree Sparrows, Yellowhammers and Skylarks were all making up the arable soundscape.
An early start allowed for a few hours pottering along the Northumberland coast spending time at favourite spots including Beadnell, Seahouses and Bamburgh. I had a good look for the wintering Black Scoter off it's regular haunts but there were few Scoter visible on choppy seas and no big custard splashes on the bills I could see. The rain set in as we left my last spot at Cocklawburn and was heavy by the time we crossed the border.
Next morning the Edinburgh pavements were glistening damply in the orange glow of street lamps as I made my way to Musselburgh. I was hopeful of connecting with a trio of belting seaduck which had been frequenting the River Esk mouth off and on the previous week. Surf Scoters are a steady fixture here during the winter, a young drake King Eider was a great bird to look for and the possibility of re-locating the super rare White-Winged Scoter was tantalising.
As the dawn broke the extent to which the mizzle was to restrict viewing became clear. Over time spells of this did clear and the sea was very calm allowing for birds to be picked out readily. There were 2 smart drake and a bulbous headed female Surf Scoter showing quite well alongside small flocks of Velvet and Common Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Eider and lone Slavonian Grebe and Black-throated Diver. Despite persistence I couldn't find the King Eider and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the White-winged Scoter. Great spot though and as the mist cleared to give views across the Forth I had to drag myself away. I woke early next day but a strengthened northerly wind put me off a return, there was no height to the viewing and with a choppy sea looking through seaduck is a very frustrating proposition.
Our base in the Cairngorms was just inside the National Park near Laggan. The bothy cottage had spectacular views down the upper Spey valley and at night Snipe were drumming and Curlew trembling their display over the moor. Early morning saw Black Grouse arrive to feed on pine needles in the small copse nearby. Pink-footed Geese were on the move with several hundred each day seen heading high and north across the mountains. Taking early drives out up the Spey valley produced some great expriences with roadside Divers, Greenshank and White-tailed Eagle. Mammals almost stole the show though with rutting Red Deer, boxing Hares and a Pine Marten that froze in the road watching us watching it, before hiding under a road bridge strut and then vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.
The special places gave up their treasures readily with Ospreys, Crested Tit, Ring Ouzel, Snow Bunting and Ptarmigan all seen at traditional viewpoints and roadside stops. A dawn walk around the forest looking for Capercaillie was fruitless but did produce Goshawk display over nearby plantation once the air warmed. A visit to the RSPB hide at Loch Ruthven gave stunning viewing of Slavonian Grebes and it were only Golden Eagle and Black-throated Diver that eluded.
It was a magical family holiday, the day climbing Cairngorm in the snow being particularly memorable, and the week flew by. We headed south via Glencoe and took a few more days rest with friends near Leeds. They have a Red Kite nest visible from their garden which gave great viewing and also provided an opportunity to visit the wintering site of the long staying Belted Kingfisher near Preston, a fantastic bird.
