Vane Farm - Fife

27th December 2011

Ah well Xmas been and gone, and the turkey sandwiches starting to lose their attraction. Time to get out and about, I decided. All was quiet in the 'shire so I thought I would head over to Vane Farm for a look and see if the White Tailed Eagles were still there.

On arrival I had a quick chat with one of the volunteers who let me know that they had been seen frequently on St. Serfs Island, which isn't that far from the bank anyway. Usual cup of tea and a scone to start the day, and there from the viewing galleries were the two White Tailed Eagles for all to see!

After a while they took off to their respective tree tops.

Another piece of news on my arrival was the presence of Smew in the bay, and sure enough there were a couple there. They are a lovely bird to look at and the plumage was in surprisingly good condition for the time of year

I walked down to the far hide but the only real activity was from 100+ Black headed Gulls

and the ever present Grey Heron, which played hide and seek in and out of a trench for a while

A few Wigeon appeared in the bay

and Teal, as always, were present

Going back towards the main hide there was even a Lesser Redpoll sitting enjoying the calm, frost free morning.

Back on the feed tree there was the obligatory collection of Goldfinch, Greenfinch and a Robin helping themselves to the nuts, seeds and suet balls put out by the RSPB volunteers

Other than the usual Curlew, Whoopers, Mallard, Greylags and Moorhens that frequent the place, the only other bird of note, on the day was a solitary Dunnock that appeared to delight some children nearby.

Back to the first hide for another look at the Smew, and the White Tailed Eagle, then home for lunch.

All in all a good day

Vane Farm

11th December 2012

Well the twitter lines were alive with the fact that the White Tailed Sea Eagle had returned to the RSPB reserve at Vane Farm, so gear was packed on Friday night ready for a trip out.

Up on Saturday morning to a fine but slippy covering of snow in the 'shire meant the journey took longer that usual for safety reasons. On arriving at Vane Farm, the teas shop discussion was centred around the White Tail and its return. Sadly, there was quite a thick fog hanging over Loch Leven making any viewing, even from the observation deck almost a waste of time.

Fortified by tea and home made scones I decided to walk down to the newly refurbished 3rd hide, both for a nosy, and also to see if thw Eagle was there, as that had been its last known location.

As I wandered down and over the new bridge to the hide, I couldn't believe my eyes when sitting 20m from me, on a little raised patch of land was the very bird. Its head swivelled round and it fixed me with its beady eyes. I stood holding my breath, scared to move, or even get my camera or binos out in case I scared it.

After about 5 minutes, a few swans flapped overhead and spooked the bird, which took off into the mist.

(c) Wikipedia

I went down to the hide but didn't see it again

The mist came and went, going from impenetrable to hardly wort seeing and all that was there to be seen was a couple of Whooper Swans

a few Curlew not up to much

and not much else.

I wandered back up to the other hides, only seeing a single Grey Heron

At the last hide I couldn't see anything at all, other than the usual greenfinch and chaffinch feeding on the feeders, but did speak to an interesting lady who is finishing off a photography course, and doing a photo-documentary of Vane farm. Some of her work can be found on Linda Reid Photography, on Facebook, and are definitely worth a look.

Well that was that for the day and a trip through the RSPB shop brought great excitement when I shared the news of my sighting, bringing on tweets from @Caroline_Rance, and also announced by me on @WL_Birder

All in all a quiet day but entirely worth it. Hopefully I will get to see it in better conditions and get a few decent photographs of my own.

Vane Farm

Saturday 19th November

Ah well, another fine day considering the time of year, so it was up we get and away over to Vane Farm in Fife once more to see how the migrations and arrivals were doing, and possibly spy the elusive Sea Eagle.

No fog today going over the Bridge so arrived in good time at the RSPB Visitor Centre at Vane Farm. Usual stop off in the cafe for tea and freshly made hot scones found the place empty. They have a decent viewing gallery as part of the cafe with a few scopes set up so spent half an hour looking out from the comfort of a cup of tea. We could see a bird sitting on a post but it was just too far to be sure, although I thought it may have been a Merlin.

Photo from Stock

Off down to the hide and set up but to be fair not much was happening at all. Skeins of Pink Footed Geese moving from one end of the Loch to the other was pretty much it for the first half hour

 

along with about 20 Pintail at the waters edge with a Whooper Swan. 

In the far pond there was about 50 Curlew feeding in the margin mud.

A man and his three kids arrived at the hide then to cause a bit of enjoyable mayhem, them all being under six. The boy was looking at the Mute and Whooper Swans through my scope when a Grey Heron arrived over in the corner. It spent the next 30 minutes preening itself in front of the web-cam that is installed there.

Suddenly the Merlin appeared proving that we were correct earlier on

That just about done it so I moved back to the Gillman Hide for a look picking up a couple of Goldeneye

and Teal on the way

Not much to see in the hide, however there are a number of feeders installed to the side so it was entertaining watching the Goldfinches, Great Tits, Green Finches and a Dunnock helping themselves

By this time it was starting to get a bit overcast and chilly so it was it time to head up to the cafe for a cuppa and a walk round the well stocked RSPB shop in the visitor centre. Did meet the man and his three kids again so had to show them my photos, which was fine as it is nice to see an interest in ones so young, and they even introduced me to their lovely black labrador.

Sadly, no sign of the sea eagle

Linlithgow Loch

Days hols today with the weather overcast but not at all cold, saw me in the garden topping up my various feeding stations. Almost immediately, a Pied Wagtail,  a garden first, arrived at the seed tray

 along with three Siskin, which made a welcome return.

Nice to see the return of five House Sparrows, after me bemoaning their absence this year
.

The Coal Tits are still in evidence but still no sign of any Robins in the trees.

Walking down to Linlithgow Loch saw the sky getting cloudier, but still a good number of Mute and Whooper Swan

along with the ususal 'tame' Greylags.

Spied a couple of Wigeon on the water, which was a novelty, 

with plenty of Coots and Moorhens feeding away quite happily.

Walking up the path brought my first (and only) Robin so far this year.

Plenty of Mallard at the top of the Loch but not much else.

On turning for home a number of birds arrived whilst I was talking to an old chap walking his dog. This brought a good discussion as to whether or not they were Common Tern , Common Gulls or 1st Winter Black Headed Gulls.

All the evidence pointed towards Terns, orange bills with black tops, orange legs, dark bar on forewing but trailing edge to inner wing, but still could beBlack Headed Gulls

I will send a photo to my mate Bagsy, who is pretty expert on Gulls.

***Update***
Bagsy has agreed with my identification of Black Headed Gulls in adult winter plumage with the exception of the  top bird and the third one down who are both 1st Winter. As always my thanks and beer is on mw when I am next down in the Portland Bird Observatory

A quick walk back brought the sight of a solitary sheep scratching its back against a low branch, then it was home for lunch.

Vane Farm - Fife

Saturday 5th November

Well the Indian Summer has stayed here in Scotland a while longer, so I thought it might be time to pay a visit to the RSPB reserve at Vane Farm, in Fife.

Apparently if you get to the Visitor Centre by 10.00 you stand a good chance of getting a free, freshly made eco-friendly scone.

Still off down the Newton road towards the Forth Road Bridge, and it was displaying the classic fog-bound scene, with just the top of the cable towers visible from the high road. 

Didn't look promising to be honest, especially when the traffic ground to a halt behind an accident.

Still, persevered and it was certainly worth it. The fog cleared and I was treated to a fine view of bright cloudless skies over Loch Leven.

The reports had it that Pink-Footed Geese had been arriving in droves and there had been a Sea Eagle resident on one of the islands for a few days.

Quick cup of tea and a (paid for) scone and it was off down to one of the hides. Not to disappoint, the Pink Footed Geese started arriving in their droves to join the hundreds already there

, in amongst the Whooper Swans.

A solitary Golden eye dived in and out for food while the Coots, Moorhens and Mallards swum about in the morning sun.

Moving down to hide 2 saw me arriving at the same time as a flock ofLapwing who arrived in among the flatland puddles, 

much to the annoyance of the Curlew that were basking in the heat.

The flock scattering heralded the arrival of a Kestrel 

which hovered for a while before shooting away, to allow the Lapwing to return.

All the time there was skeins of Greylag Geese and Pink Footed Geese crash landing on the

loch. 

The Kestrel returned and the Lapwing and Curlew retired a safe distance.

Just as I was about to move back up the trail for a cuppa, three small Roe Deer appeared out of the long grass for a feed.

Back up towards the Visitor Centre cafe, there are a number of feedingvstations which were being visited by Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch

 and some Blue Tits.

Tea on the observation gallery brought views of over a hundred Teal, Wigeon and even a Snipe across towards the Loch.

Suddenly the beautifully horrible sight of a Sparrow Hawk dropping and taking one of the feeding birds woke everyone up from their winter sun induced dosing.

Quick walk round the well stocked RSPB shop and it was time to set course for home.

Great day out but sadly the Sea Eagle didn't make an appearance. Back next week to see if it is about.