Another incredibly beautiful, sunny day for the annual winter bird race. However, the early freezing fog and persistent below -zero temperatures created some challenging conditions for the participants and, indeed, for the birds themselves.
Left to right: Black Isle scene (Lesley Clunas), Black Isle scene (Sue Seright), Grey Partridges at Loch Eye (Thomas Plant)
13 teams took part this year with the object of seeing as many different birds as possible between 0000hrs and 1700hrs, within the Highland Recording Area. Teams joined from Inverness, Glen Urquhart, Cawdor, The Black Isle, Dingwall, Ullapool and Rum with several teams opting to do a walking only bird search. With teams gaining an extra 3 points if they included someone under 30, there were a good number of ‘young persons’ taking part and 6 teams benefited from these bonus points.
Teams planned their own route and stayed out as long as they liked, so long as they remained in the Highland recording area. In a spirit of camaraderie (as opposed to competitiveness) we set up a WhatsApp group for the day so that folk could keep in touch with photos and locations of birds seen. Several teams bumped into each other at the local birding hotspots and shared birdy news and commented on how cold it was!
Teams planned their own route and stayed out as long as they liked, so long as they remained in the Highland recording area. In a spirit of camaraderie (as opposed to competitiveness) we set up a WhatsApp group for the day so that folk could keep in touch with photos and locations of birds seen. Several teams bumped into each other at the local birding hotspots and shared birdy news and commented on how cold it was!
North Ron Rollers in the freezing fox (Alan MacAskill) (left) and Grey Wagtail, Rum (Sean Morris) (right)
Some great birds were seen during the day, including a Hawfinch at Allangrange, Green-winged Teal at Alturlie, 4 Water Rails at Merkinch Nature Reserve, Grey Wagtail on Rum and Grey Partridges near Loch Eye. A Norwegian colour ringed Bar-tailed Godwit at Tain Links was identified as JJK8, first ringed in 2017 at Porsanger, Finnmark in Norway as an adult female bird at least 3 years old, which makes this godwit at Tain at least 10 years old. Well spotted Thomas Plant and your team. The total birds seen during the day was 116.
Gallivanting, Hallival, Rum (Sean Morris)
We met in the evening over Zoom to swap stories and to award some virtual prizes. The team that saw the most birds, ‘The Youngsters’, of Josh Allan and Ross Macleod, saw or heard a respectable 90 birds, with 3 extra points taking their total to 93. Very well done! A special mention to their cheery and uncomplaining drivers who ferried them around all day! Runners up were North Ron Rollers of Craig Forsyth, Alan Macaskill, Blair White and Dave Barnett who got 85 points. Three teams were 3rd= with 82 points.
Another special mention to W Coast birders on Rum & in Ullapool who got top scores of 38 and 52 birds.
Best Team Name – ‘Dingwall Dippers’, Simon Cohen, Adam & Ben. Special mention to’ The Missing Lynx’ team name, Thomas Plant, Rosie Skye and Daniel Plunkett
Best Bird – 4 Water Rail, seen by several teams, but a shout out for the godwit mentioned above which we heard about later.
Bogey Bird – Mute Swan, NOT seen by several teams
The Eco Award for most birds on foot – The Hypothermic Hawfinches, George and Rob Polson Best photo –A frosty Robin by Sue Seright
A fun day out!
Carol Miller
Frosty growth (Tracy Allan) (left) and frosty Robin (Sue Seright) (right).
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