We've finally seen some breaks in our sunny streak this week, with the occasional rainy days causing some damp. Fortunately, this never seems to bother our birds, and we saw all of the many species that we have been recording of late. Hopefully the sun comes back soon though, rain doesn't make for the most pleasant outings after all!
Starting off the week we have a boatload of records from the other side of the loch. Gill Deacon has sent us a load of records from around Leffnel Point (in between Cairnryan and Stranraer). Some of these included Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and plenty of Wheatears. This last species is particularly encouraging to hear about since locally we haven't seen as many Wheatears. Going even further out, there were Whinchats and even some Crossbills up in the conifers on the moors behind Cairnryan. These are very exciting to hear about, and hopefully we can get over there to see them ourselves. Thanks again to Gill to providing these records for us.
Over at our end, things have seemed a little bit quiet this week, though maybe that's because the rain kept us indoors more often. Regardless of the weather, you can be always certain of seeing some gulls. This week we had regular sightings of Black-headed, Herring and Common Gulls, alongside good numbers (2-3 daily) of Greater Black-backed Gulls, and even some Lesser Black-backed Gulls scattered across the week. Quickly looking at our Terns; Sandwich Terns have been daily sightings, we've had a couple of Common Terns and one impressive group of 8 Arctic Terns on Thursday.
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| Flocks of male Eiders certainly do look magnificent |
Out on the loch our ducks have been starting to flock together. Male Eider have been gathering in groups of 30-50 individuals, with only the occasional female spotted. The males are gathering to moult, whereas the females have mostly headed off towards their breeding grounds. Whilst nice to see in these numbers, in the past we have seen several hundred of Eider round the Wig at the same time, so it is sad to see that they are not doing so well of late. Whilst the Scoters may have disappeared from our waters, Red-Breasted Mergansers are still about and were seen daily in groups of around 20 birds. Finally, in the marshes, we have been seeing some more Mallards again, but as of yet still no ducklings.
The marshes did have a pleasant surprise for us this week however, a record of the illusive Moorhen. Normally they stay well hidden in the vegetation, as indeed this one was. Fortunately it announced its presence by calling, which is encouraging know they are still about. Much can be heard from the marshes, as this week we also had three Sedge Warblers and a single Reed Bunting.
Of course, many species are showing continued signs of breeding. This week we saw it in Stonechats, with records of a male, female carrying food, and even a juvenile male as well. Many birds are showing more and more individuals in breeding plumage, including several Dunlin and our first summer plumage Turnstone. Whilst we're on the waders I have to mention the Ringed Plovers, which whilst are not uncommon around the Wig, tend to be only recorded in moderate numbers. This week we had over 170 in one day alone, truly an impressive count!
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| Just a tad of tadpoles! |
Finally, it's not only the birds that are actively breeding at this time. Not only did we have our first Common Frog sighting, but within the marsh pond we had over 5000 toad tadpoles (approximately, the thought of counting them individually was too much!). Hopefully a few of them are able to survive, and perhaps we'll see them again but as frogs this time.
That's probably enough for this week. Hopefully the rain lets up going into next week, after all, there is so much to see! There are still a few more species that we hope to see over the coming weeks, and I for one would love to see some Crossbills, so perhaps we'll get over there and you can hear about it in next week's article.
[All photographs were taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]
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