Lochwinnoch twitching Hooded Merganser

For my firs twitch of 2017 I decided to finally make a move for the Hooded Merganser that had been residing in southern Scotland for the last few months. The location was Lochwinnoch just south of Glasgow. After testing multiple options, I decided that the best way to do it would be by train, going up from Halifax in the morning and returning the same day after a couple of hours at the bird. This method paid off, as I was rewarded with a nice afternoon out birding.

As soon as I arrived on site I connected with the Hooded Merganser. It remained distant throughout my stay unfortunately, on the far side of the Loch to myself, meaning only distant record shots could be obtained. Its a pretty stunning bird, although having seen Hooded Mergansers in collections before there was nothing overly surprising about seeing it. It did come a little closer when it came round the bank at the north end. I headed over that way but found it the same second it found me, so flushed it out again. However, it clearly flew no bother (not clipped) and was obviously wary, so I suspect this is a wild bird and should have no bother getting accepted by the relevant committees.

-Hooded Merganser

As for the supporting cast. There were a host of commoner year-ticks to be had but also some less common. A drake Scaup was unexpected, hanging out with the ample Tufted Ducks on the loch, and showing fairly well too, substantially better than the Merganser thats for certain. Unfortunately I diddnt manage to get a clear shot of it, meaning I still don't have a good photo of a Scaup.

-Scaup

But the highlight of the supporting cast were the Whooper Swans which were around. I headed onto the actual RSPB reserve after a while watching the Merganser and right in front of the hide was a family party of seven Whooper Swans. They were cracking birds, as Whoopers always are. 

-Whooper Swans

The light remained poor throughout the afternoon, with intermittent flecks of drizzle. For that reason I took no decent photos of any of the birds on the list. It was an awesome day out though, and well worth the effort.

Species List:

Lochwinnoch RSPB: Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Teal, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Cormorant, Hooded Merganser, Goosander, Mallard, Scaup, Whooper Swan, Kingfisher, Great-crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull,Coot, Pochard, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Nuthatch, 

Portland

Great-spotted Cuckoo is one of my most wanted to see birds of all time. With my ample time having finished uni I had planned to twitch one should one come up at any point during the spring. Such as it happened the peak time for one to drop in passed without report until one was found at Portland, about as far away as I could have imagined.

I could not go immediately, the distance meaning it would have to stay a little while to give it some credentials first, plus I had wrapping up the dissertation first. I handed in the dissertation two days early so to justify a possible trip down, but it took some work to convince myself that it would still be there.

I bought a ticket for a coach down at 1.00 in the morning, and then got the train from London Victoria to Weymouth. I did not expect the bird to have stayed overnight, but I was overjoyed to see a 'tweet' at 6.00 in the morning saying that the bird was still present. I finally made it on site at half 11 only to get the news that the bird had not been seen for over two hours. I had hope it would reappear but in two hours of unsuccessful searching the hope soon changed to despair. Signal was patchy and my phone battery was giving up so I decided to head to its favourite spot on the footpath at Reap Lane. Upon arrival I was informed that it was here, and had been showing for some time. Raises the question why news had not been put out. Anyway, it took a short while but the bird soon revealed itself and started to show very well.

It had a pattern of sitting out and feeding for about 10 mins, before flying into a dense thicket for between half and 3/4 of an hour. After a while in the thicket it would move to the back of the thicket where it could be seen, and then stay there until it decided to fly back out to the feeding area.

There were hundreds of Brown-tailed Moth caterpillars for it to feed on, and that is probably the reason it decided to stay, as the weather had turned overnight to looking quite chilly and overcast. The bird frequently sat looking like it would rather be anywhere else in the world than where it was, but when it sat up it was active and a real pleasure to watch. Sadly I labored to get any incredible shots like those that have littered twitter over its stay but I got a few nice record shots. 

-Great-spotted Cuckoo

Once located the Cuckoo stuck to that pattern for the four hours that I stayed to watch it. Well worth the journey down in the end. The only disappointment of the day was really the lack of supporting cast. Nice views of Peregrine on the deck and a few Ravens knocking about were about the best of the other birds on site. The chilly breeze probably tucked any migrants within the hedges and there was nothing moving on the sea, although in searching for the cuckoo I did not stay by the sea for very long.

When I finished watching the Cuckoo it was mid afternoon. Whilst waiting for my train I decided to have a quick look at Radipole Lake. I got fantastic views of Cettis Warbler in the car park, and I finally managed to connect with its famous Hooded Merganser, a bird which I have somehow missed on every over occasion I have been on the site.

-Hooded Merganser

The journey back took its tole, and by the time I got home at 5 in the morning I could not have gone on even if I had wanted to. But it was so worth it, the Cuckoo was something else, one of the best birds I have ever seen.

Species List:
Portland Bill: Peregrine, Herring Gull, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Starling, House Sparrow, Raven, Goldfinch, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Blackbird, Shag, Carrion Crow, Great-spotted Cuckoo, Woodpigeon, Swift, Swallow, Fulmar, Pied Wagtail, Linnet, Jackdaw,
Radipole Lake RSPB: Swift, Swallow, Mute Swan, Mallard, Cormorant, Hooded Merganser, House Martin, Shelduck, Great-crested Grebe, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Coot, Moorhen, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Greater Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, House Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Cettis Warbler, Carrion Crow, Oystercatcher, Great Tit, Woodpigeon, Chiffchaff, Gadwall,