Alpine birding

Alpine birding is a case of quality over quantity at the best of times, but even more so on our recent family holiday. We made quite of bit of effort to get into the high mountains, but, with hindsight, probably not high enough to connect with some of the more sought after species like Wallcreeper, Alpine Accentor and Snowfinch. We still managed memorable encounters with some special birds of the area though - in addition to the raptors in my last post, some other highlights are below.

You have to get up high to see an Alpine Chough - but when you do they can be very confiding

Son George and I hiked up from the Col de la Colombiere at 1600m to a high ridge at 2300m to see these

First sign of an Alpine Chough is the distinctive call - even more high pitched and wheezy than its red-billed cousin which we get in the UK

Characterful birds

A pair were scavenging scraps from picnickers on the ridge

On the way up to the ridge we passed through the feeding area for the local Crag Martin colony

A difficult bird to photograph

Eventually captured on film after a close fly-past

A robust bird, bigger than the local House Martins

Black Redstart appeared to be the commonest bird in the Alpine pastures...

...followed closely by Water Pipit

Female Black Redstart

Unable to photograph a couple of Citril Finch which flew past at Col de la Colombiere, I had more success with this male Linnet

Despite gaining considerable height, this was as close as I got to a Griffon Vulture (Col de la Colombiere)

Alpine Chough gather in large flocks on the Alpine Peaks

Yomping up another slope above Col du Petit Saint Bernard on the French-Italian border (more on which in a later post), a Marmot's alarm call gave away the presence of an immature Golden Eagle - the second Eagle of the trip

A wash up from north of the border

I've used up all the superlatives about Scottish landscapes and lochs in recent posts, so here are just a few photos to sweep up the remaining highlights of our Easter week on the west coast near Oban. 

Drake Eider in Oban Harbour

Female Eider, Oban Harbour

After a Golden Eagle-less day on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, the following day we saw one cruising over the coast road a few miles south of Oban. An emergency stop and fumble with the camera produced this photograph - I hoped it would circle, but as is often the way of the Golden Eagle, it pressed on purposefully

Raven frequented the point at Ardnamurchan

A pure-looking Rock Dove near Ardnamurchan Point, though I grant you it would have looked more convincing on a cliff face than a telegraph wire

The only Black Guillemot of the week which was still in winter plumage - photographed distantly from our cottage on the shore of Loch Creran

...and seen here passing a moulting Great Northern Diver like ships in the night. Not bad garden birds.

Eiders were also flying into the loch past the house in the morning and out again in the evening

Roe Deer near the cottage

Evening reflections and ripples on Loch Creran

Looking towards the head of Loch Creran from the cottage

View from the top of the Glencoe skilift - I was hoping for a Ptarmigan but to no avail

A direct approach to managing dog disturbance on Ardnamurchan. Probably a bit radical for the Dorset heaths.

A misty morning at Corran Ferry

Sunset looking towards Mull over Loch Creran

Mull: the bigger they are, the harder they are to photograph

So it seems with Golden Eagles. While thier White-tailed cousins can sometimes be tempted to fish off the back of boats, short of pinning a dead dear to a hillside and bivouacking overnight, you have to be lucky to get close to a Goldie. We enjoyed excellent scope views most days on Mull but these were the best pictures I could manage.

The upper one was taken in Glen More, 'Eagle Central', where a distant bird over the top of Ben More went into a huge stoop, dropping from over 3,000 feet almost to sea level in what seemed like seconds. The lower picture was taken as we headed home on our last night near Dervaig. It was first seen - and identified - by 8-year old George. I initially dismissed it as a Buzzard at first but on taking a second look realised he was right. That's my boy.