Starting Over in September: Bird Report for 14/09/20 - 20/09/20

My first official post for this blog and I'm fortunate enough for it to be during one of the most exciting times for bird migration. While the main author may have changed, fear not, the stars of the show (or blog, as the case may be) - the birds! - are still performing. For many of us, September may be synonymous with bird migration and this week has lived up to expectations. Our regular migrant species were still passing through but there has also been a turnover of species – with four new species for this blog being recorded.

A handsome skylark

Diving right in to our new species, first up is perhaps not what we tend to consider a migrant species: kingfisher. These stunning blue birds will disperse over smaller distances in search of food (especially when coming up to winter) and it was a pleasant surprise to find one fishing at the Fisher’s Lane outlet three days in a row this week. Kingfishers are sometimes seen over at Soleburn but it was nice to see one closer to home. Unfortunately, they tend not to stick around because there isn’t enough food for them here.

Another group of birds that people tend not to consider migrants are the gulls. Many people are surprised to earn that lesser black-backed gulls spend their winters in Portugal and this week we’ve seen 32 individuals flying south heading for warmer pastures. While some species are less often seen on passage, we’ve certainly seen the tell-tale increases in their numbers. Common scoters were up to 88 this week, alongside 73 mute swans scattered around the loch and 90 shags all seated on the pier. Our pale-bellied brent geese have started returning (up to 38 so far), bringing with them a couple of dark-bellies. A lonesome teal at the scar was an unusual sight, we would more expect to see it alongside the 158 others that were at Loch Connell this week. Loch Connell was really showing it’s stuff this week, being the site of two new species for the blog, the first of which was a couple of shoveler.

Our smaller migrant species have been seen in good counts this week, with our third new species amongst them. 92 swallows and 38 skylarks were the highest day-counts for these species and 25 meadow pipits being present at Loch Connell alone. Perched in a tree over-looking this flock was our unexpected new species: a Lapland bunting. Records of these have been more plentiful than usual along the west coast this autumn and I’m glad that we got to share in this influx. We have also seen willow warblers in our garden across the week, with goldcrests, chiffchaffs (some of these singing!), a sedge warbler and a couple of treecreepers also making an appearance.

Field sketch of the Lapland Bunting seen at Loch Connell

Back at the wig, three Greenland wheatears were seen over the week – these are a slightly larger subspecies of wheatear that breed in… you guessed it, Greenland! Waders have also been putting on a good show with a bar-tailed godwit, 145 golden plovers and 3 whimbrel (a slightly unusual record in autumn for us). We also saw an adult male ruff, still moulting out of its breeding plumage. This was quite exciting to see (if a little perplexing to identify at first!) because we generally don’t see moulting adult birds (we see juvenile birds in the main). Not to be outdone, in amongst the small numbers of ringed plovers and dunlin was our fourth and final (for this week anyway) new species: curlew sandpiper. These white-rumped waders are similar in appearance to dunlin and we see them in small numbers nearly every year.

We are not the only ones marvelling at the number of birds about: regular contributor Gill Deacon has seen scaup, wigeon and lots of razorbills (our own highest count this week was 95 birds around the loch) at Innermesson this week. Amongst these, Gill was fortunate enough to see two red-throated divers still in breeding plumage and a red-necked grebe. We haven’t recorded red-necked grebe for the past three weeks but it must have told its friends about us because by the end of the week there were four present!

In addition to this, we have some more records from further afield this week. At the weekend we headed out to do the monthly WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) count at Piltanton. Waders were definitely the stars of the show, with 172 curlew, 110 lapwings (I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen so many in a single flock!), 32 redshank and 10 greenshank. The greenshank were especially nice to see because we only occasionally see them around the wig and ten is quite a good count for us at Piltanton.

This just goes to show that, wherever you are, now is the time to be out birding! On that note, I’ll sign off for this week… time to go grab my bins!

[All photographs and pictures are taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask if you wish to use them.]

The Beginning of a New Chapter

This is a very special article for the blog, for with it I have now published 50 articles over these past 9 months! What started out as a pet project has received far more interest and feedback than I was ever expecting, and the interaction I have had with everyone during that period has been overwhelming. I am very grateful to everyone who has taken the time to read one of my articles, it is very encouraging to know that you are enjoying the content and sharing in the many birds that we have seen. Speaking of birds, these 9 months have been astronomical in terms of all the different wildlife we have seen. What started out as a list of 70 odd birds, is now a huge catalogue of 156 (and still rising!) different species, some of which were even new to us onLoch Ryan and the Wig. We've also had numerous mammal and insect species; even I who have been living here for 12 years (albeit with some gaps) am astonished by the sheer diversity of life we have seen this year. I am certainly been glad that I have had the opportunity to talk about many of these wonderful records, and through this hopefully you have enjoyed some of them as well. 

Now is the part when I have to announce that this is also going to be the last blog article that I write. I am now moving into grander things and in October I will start a PhD in Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia.  I couldn't be more excited about this as I will be able to combine my scientific background with my passion for the natural world - and get paid for it as well! I will no doubt get lots of bird watching in whilst I am down there, however I will be a bit too far removed from the Wig to carry on these articles. Fear not though, for my sister Eleanor will be taking over the mantle. As someone who's knowledge and passion far outshines my own I have no doubt that the blog is safe in her hands, in fact, it may well be even better than before! I hope you will continue to check out the articles in the future, I certainly will and look forward to enjoying them as a reader rather than the writer. 

From our local marsh (above) I'll be moving onto the Saltmarshes of Norfolk

Now that the tearful (No? Just me then, sniff) admin business is out of the way, there is still plenty of space to squeeze in some birds. Of course, being in September we are literally swamped in different species coming and going - there is something exciting everywhere you look. Despite the incredible abundance we had in last week article, we've matched - maybe even surpassed - that number this week and have yet more new species to boot. 

With another week rolling by, we are another step through autumn and so have had another load of winter species. Wigeon and Slavonian Grebes are just starting to arrive, but soon they will be commonplace on the loch. As it is they can be a little tough to spot right now, especially with all of the grebes being in various stages of moult as they transition into their winter plumage. Whilst by no means a common sight in winter, that is when we would expect to be seeing Great-northern Divers. Yet we found an immature bird out on the loch, definitely an early bird (though not many worms in the sea)! 

When the tide is out there is so much to see on the shore

Recently I spoke about how this was a good time to be seeing Mediterranean Gulls. They aren't the only ones however, as this past week we've also had another Yellow-legged Gull. Their numbers tend to rise across the UK at this time of year, but that doesn't make them any easier to separate from the Herring Gulls! With there being so many species of gulls that we get, you wouldn't think we'd have room for any more. Fortunately we were pleasantly surprised to add Sabines Gull to the list when we recorded 4 juvenile birds flying past the Scar. A very rare visitor in our area, these were probably blown in as they migrated from high arctic North America down to Africa. Another exciting record, even if it is another Gull species I shall have to learn how to confidently ID!

Before I cover yet even more new species, I have to mention our record of a Velvet Scoter. An irregular visitor during the winter, we get the occasional bird hiding out amongst the large flocks of Common Scoter. Currently, there are very few of these on the loch and so to see a Velvet Scoter this early was a nice surprise. Perhaps even more astonishing though is that this is the 2nd week in a row in which we added 3 new species to the blog. Second on the list was a Leach's Storm Petrel, appearing before we've even had the more common Storm Petrel. Breeding up the in the cold north they spend the rest of the year out at sea. Many birds are directed towards the UK at this time of year by autumn storms, but even so for an individual to dip into Loch Ryan is very unusual and so makes a great record for us. Perhaps the most regular group of birds that throws up migrants are the waders. After all, many of them share similar feeding habitats and across the world they are making migratory journies to their wintering grounds. We've already seen a huge diversity of wader species this week, but hidden amongst them another rarity cropped up; a Pectoral Sandpiper. Breeding in Northern America and Asia, it would seem like it was a long way off-course, however these are one of the most common vagrant wader species in the UK. We're still musing over where it might have come from but we're certainly more than happy to receive it. 

A new day dawns on Loch Ryan, and a new dawn for the blog

These past few weeks have seen so much excitement, and the good news is we're still in September so there is still plenty more to come. Still, it seems fitting that my last few articles should be filled with such exciting species, I have certainly marvelled over them so I hope everyone else is impressed as well. A final thanks to all of you readers, I am still amazed by the reception these articles have received, and I hope you will all continue to be avid readers as we begin a new chapter for the blog. 

Sheer Delight for Shearwaters: Bird Report for Late August

First off I have to apologize for the lack of blog posts these past couple weeks. I have been going through some exciting developments in my own life, and so have spent the past week down in England sorting out some personal things. Not that I wasn't doing birdwatching whilst I was down there (they certainly have more Egyptian geese than us!), but it has made me unable to write the weekly blog reports. The timing couldn't have been worse, as now that summer has officially come to a close the Wig has been busier than ever. We've seen hundreds of birds descend upon Loch Ryan, including several wintering species that we haven't seen for months, and no less than three brand new species to the blog! To make up for my absence this article will be nice and long, after all there is so much to cover!

I suppose the first thing to address is the huge influx of birds on the loch. Whilst many of these are species that we see year-round, now is when they are at their busiest - whether they are gathering before migrating or have travelled here from distant breeding grounds. Eider numbers are once again picking up with flocks of hundreds being seen on several occasions. Red-breasted Mergansers have seen a similar increase, as our regular flock of 40 or so has doubled to over 90 birds last week! Moving over to seabirds and we hit a peak count of 119 Black Guillemots, the most we've had this year. Last week we also saw a huge increase in the number of Razorbills on the loch. Our previous counts of small groups of under 10 birds suddenly shot up to almost 400 in a single day, and since then their numbers have remained high. The last species to experience this autumn influx are our Shags. Normally we have pretty solid numbers and can have 20 or 30 sunning themselves out on the Scar or at the pier at Cairnryan. This past week though their numbers shot up to 141 on consecutive days, many of which were all in a singular large group over on the pier. 

A Razorbill cruises across the waves

Another sign of summer's end is the arrival of many species that winter at Loch Ryan. One of our most notable species in the Red-throated Diver, and whilst their numbers are not yet at their winter peak, we have started to see more and more on a regular basis. Perhaps more surprising is the presence of Black-throated Divers out on the loch. Whilst not uncommon during the winter, we normally only see a couple of them when the season fully sets in. So far we've already had 3 birds recorded over the past few weeks, perhaps a sign of even more to come! Finally, whilst we've had no Great-northern Divers or Slavonian Grebes (winter staples) we have had records of Red-necked Grebes. Normally a rare visitor, we certainly have had a lot this year so things must be going well for them somewhere. During winter we see a lot of ducks sheltering on the loch. Whilst many of these have yet to arrive, we have been seeing Common Scoter on a more frequent basis. These have only been small flocks of 10-20 birds, but hopefully as Autumn progresses we will see these numbers rise until there are flocks of hundreds of them out on the water. 

Whilst seabirds like Razorbills are to be expected (they breed out on Ailsa Craig), we also had some surprise visitors that were blown in my the stormy weather a few weeks ago. Normally found further up the coast, a pair of Kittiwakes ventured into the loch, perhaps seeking a little shelter. They are irregular, but certainly not something we haven't seen before. 96 Manx Shearwaters on the other hand was a very unique record. We have had a couple blown into the loch in the past, however a group of 96 was definitely a first. Speaking of firsts, the strong westerlies not only brought in these birds but two brand new species for the blog as well! Sticking with Shearwaters, a Balearic Shearwater was also blown in at the same time as the Manxies.  Ever so slightly larger than the Manx Shearwater, these birds are seen annually around the UK, however as seagoing birds, it is unusual to see them on a sea-loch. It must have been quite a wind blowing because there was one last surprise in store of us that morning. Not only a new species for the blog but the first record for Loch Ryan as well (as far as we know), a Cory's Shearwater completed the Shearwater trio. Distinctly bigger than both the Manx and Balearic Shearwater it is a rare bird around the coasts of Britain. Spending all their lives at sea (apart from breeding), we presume that it was a strong westerly wind that blew it into the loch. Realizing this was a dead-end all the shearwaters swiftly departed. Nonetheless it was a very exciting record and an exceptional mornings birdwatching.  

Last of our seabirds are the gulls, of which we get plenty all year round. Herring Gulls we see on pretty much a day by day basis, but we've been seeing some huge flocks of them recently, peaking at over 400 birds on the Scar at one time. Meanwhile up in our garden, we had the surprise visit of a Lesser-black backed gull. Finally, we wrapped it up with yet another Mediterranean Gull. We've had a couple these past few weeks, and this autumn migration is the best time of the year to see them. 

This Sparrowhawk is on the lookout for something - probably food!

Our garden has been host to all sorts of exciting birds and mammals in the past, but these past few weeks its really turned up a notch. In particular, the numerous House Sparrows and Starlings seemed to have attracted some birds of prey into the garden. It began with a juvenile male Sparrowhawk, who was posing for pictures high up in a tree as it scanned for prey. It must have liked what it saw since it stuck around for quite a while, and even returned the next day. It has some competition now though, as we also had a Barn Owl pass by over the garden. We used to see a lot of these birds in our local area, but in the past few years they have been very scarce. Not only was this a really nice record, it was great to see it from the comfort of home as well. 

Moving back to the Wig, and the shore is bursting with all sorts of waders. With so many species stopping by on their passage, we get different species on a day to day basis. Species like Oystercatcher, Curlew and Ringed Plover can be seen regularly, but over the past weeks, we've seen Ruff, Sanderlings, Dunlins and Redshanks. The list doesn't stop there, we've also had Whimbrels, Black-tailed Godwits, Golden Plovers and even Lapwings down on the shore. This is a great time to get down and practise your wader identification, especially since many of them are transitioning between breeding and winter plumages. 

We're approaching the time of year in which its not only waders and gulls which grace the Scar, but geese as well! Many different flocks of geese stop by at the Wig on their annual passage, and many more roost up at Loch Connell. Already we've seen a steady increase in our Canada and Greylag Geese numbers, with over 100 and 300 birds respectively. It was only very recently that we had our first Pale-bellied Brent Goose. Now up to four birds, we often see small flocks pass us by, and maybe once again a group will winter with us here on the Wig. 

A Meadow Pipit, or Mipits as we affectionately call them

I've already covered so much, but somehow we found yet another new species for the blog that I just have to talk about. Meadow Pipits are scarce visitors to the Wig, despite many birds being UK based all year round. We get a few more at this time of year as more come south for winter, resulting in a mighty 13 recorded last week. Alongside them was our 3rd new species of the week, a pair of Tree Pipits! A very unusual species for us, we saw these birds whilst they were on their typical migration to Africa or southern Asia. Whilst not an irregular record for the UK, they normally don't stray this far west on their migration. Or perhaps they do and we just miss them, as they can be hard to spot and travel in small numbers. Either way it was another great record for the week which we were very happy to see. 

I could keep going on with the many more species which we've seen, but given that this article is twice the average length, perhaps I will save those for another week. As you can see, late August has been such a bountiful time for birds, and this will continue into much of September. We expect to see even more species arriving for winter, so be sure to get out and see some of them for yourselves.

[All photographs were taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]