Alan hit the road for Scotland, destination Loch Leven RSPB Reserve to do some work for Leica Sports Optics. As he was heading north up the M6 signs proclaimed the town of Kendal, Cumbria and with a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling being seen here recently it seemed rude to drive past. The starling had been reported for a few days but Alan figured that there was a good chance the long staying rarity would still be about. Sat Nav soon found the right small residential housing estate, not an ideal venue for birding; it never feels comfortable walking around housing with a pair of binoculars. Luckily Alan found the Rose-coloured Starling quickly; it was sat on a power line, alone and rather sad looking, but a nice addition to the year list. With the bird under the belt he was soon out of there before any curtain twitchers called the cops!
A long drive north and he reached Dunfermline after dark, so no more birding possible.
Dawn was bitterly cold with a savage frost but a clear sky told of sunshine to come. After scraping the ice off the car, it was only a short drive to Loch Leven, but a shock awaited; almost the entire vast lake was frozen! The hoped for wildfowl fest was not going to happen. Driving around the minor roads near the lake he found a flock of geese and parked for a closer look. The majority were Pink-footed Geese, some five hundred birds. A small number of Grey-lag Geese were at the back of the flock and some fifty Whooper Swans grazed with the geese, a lovely sight in the winter sun. More Pink-feet flew in calling wildly and whiffled their way down into the field. Great to see birds on mass like this, we don’t get many big flocks of geese back in North Wales so always a treat to enjoy the sight and sounds.
It was time for work and the staff at Loch Leven made Alan very welcome and the training went well with much laughter. Work done a quick scan of the loch from the tea-room produced some ducks at last. Two small areas of water were ice free and these circles of liquid were crowded with birds. The star here was a stunning drake Smew! This delicious white and black duck dived repeatedly for fish in the cold waters. A queue formed to look through Alan’s 82mm Leica scope to enjoy great looks at this most handsome bird. The pools also held Goldeneye, Pintail, Wigeon and Teal. A fox trotted out on the ice and just kept going right across the huge frozen expanse, a weird sight!
Sadly it was time to head for home but had been a great, if brief, trip to this great reserve.