September is a month of change, with summer visitors departing and winter visitors arriving. A good mix of species can, therefore, be expected. Without further ado, read on.
As far as is known, the Pale-bellied Brent Geese that winter at Loch Ryan originate from arctic Canada. It is thought their journey here takes them via Iceland, then over the Western Isles to Ireland, followed by a short flight across the North Channel. I saw my first birds of the season on the 10th, when two adults were at the Scar. They steadily increased in number, with 55 on the 24th and 113 on the 28th. On the 30th a small party of them included a bird of the dark bellied race. I didn’t notice any Pink-footed Geese until late in the month when there were 42 on the Scar in the early morning of the 25th.
The bugling calls of Whooper Swans greeted my ears in the twilight hours of the 25th. The sound ushered in the onset of winter. On the 27th I spied a party of eight birds at Loch Connell. They occasionally muttered to themselves in between bouts of preening and upending to feed. On Loch Ryan Mute Swans peaked at 93 birds on the 21st.
Shovelers are generally scarce visitors to the neighbourhood so is it nice to be able to report on what was probably a succession of birds at Loch Connell, including six on the 19th. Also here, and on the same date, were a handful of Wigeon, two Pintail, 137 Mallard, a Garganey (a regional rarity) and three Pochard - all in all a most memorable day. Teal, incidentally, also peaked at this site but on the 27th when there were 126 birds.
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| Garganey - drab from a distance but such beautiful highlights |
Loch Ryan was no less interesting, but for a different range of species. Should you desire to see Scaup then the seafront at Stranraer, round to Low Balyett, is always to be recommended. At the Wig they are scarce. A lonesome female here, from the 16th onwards, was therefore of interest. Eiders were thankfully more common, with 281 on the 10th; they rapidly decreased thereafter. As part of a national census of this species 110 birds were counted on the entirety of the loch, on the 16th. Come the end of the month 70, or so, birds remained. Three male Velvet Scoters on the 24th were a welcome addition to the waterbirds that grace the bay at this time of year. Common Scoters here peaked at 211 on the 10th. Remarkably, eight male Long-tailed Ducks, still in in full breeding dress, were observed on the 29th. Just a single Goldeneye was noted all month, on the 16th. Red-breasted Mergansers were seen daily in Wig Bay, often very close to shore; they peaked at 213 on the 29th - an impressive flotilla by any standards.
I cannot say that I ever tire of looking at Red-throated Divers. In whatever plumage I find them they always induce a sigh of satisfaction in me. They are very calming; and for that I am exceedingly grateful. A flock of eight drifting lazily on the ripples of the tide made for a serene view on the 10th; the highest count of the month, however, was on the 24th when 35 were noted. An immature Great Northern Diver on the 22nd was the only record of this species.
The majority of Great Crested Grebes observed were adults in breeding refinery, though towards the month’s end a few winter plumage birds began to appear. The highest count of this species about the Wig was ten, on the 28th. The first Slavonian grebes of the season were sighted on the 15th, with a pair sporting brick-red necks and golden ear-tufts of summer plumage. Nine birds in various states of dress were recorded on the 29th. A one-stop wonder was a gorgeous Red-necked Grebe on the 20th, and looking better than any illustration you might find in an identification guide. Little Grebe observations were confined to Loch Connell where, presumably, the same ten birds of the previous month were still in residence.
Numbers of Shags on Loch Ryan increased, as expected, with the highest count of 186 on the 16th: of these 158 formed a regimented line on one side of the pier at Cairnryan. If only counting birds could always be that easy! By comparison, 37 was the peak tally of Cormorants on both the 10th and 28th.
Like many a bird of prey the Sparrowhawk is an opportunistic hunter. I also like to think of them as having an ’optimistic’ prowess. And - as with any optimism - sometimes it pays off… and sometimes it doesn’t. A female tucking in to a Woodpigeon lunch - a prey item of slightly greater size and weight than she - was proof enough of a gamble paying dividends, on the 8th. A bird trying to catch hirundines in flight, on the 22nd, was the exact opposite: no doubt a juvenile blessed with pretentious arrogance!
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| Golden Plovers in flight |
Waders are the bread and butter of birding on the shores of Loch Ryan in September. A bewildering assortment of of species in varying plumages make a veritable feast for the experienced stalwarts or a headache for those less practiced. With approximately 20 species to go at there is plenty of scope for satisfaction and disappointment to be had. The first Golden Plovers were 14 on the 9th, steadily increasing to 198 on the 24th and 617 at the Scar on the 28th. Ringed Plover numbers hovered around 70 birds all month, whilst Turnstones peaked at over 100 on the 14th. A Curlew Sandpiper was a notable find at the Scar on the 11th. The WeBS count at Piltanton on the 12th logged a number of waders, including 222 Curlew, a Whimbrel, two Ruff, 42 Redshank and two Greenshank.
Seagulls are great! Ooops! Just offended many birders. Seagulls - like fish, apparently - don’t actually exist. Big, bold, and fearsome - Great Black-backed Gulls are impressive beasts: a coalition of 12 birds formed an implacable jury as they stood on the Scar, on the 12th. Far more numerous, and slightly less threatening looking, was a gathering of over 1000 Herring Gulls on the Wig flats in the early evening of the 22nd. Their counterparts, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, were considerably fewer in number across the month: a flock of 48, followed by another 14 birds, all flying south on the 8th, were noteworthy: also, 25 birds doing the same on the 15th.
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| A group of Great Black-backed Gulls can be very intimidating |
Gulls are renowned for being difficult to identify. Close views are especially advisable when it comes to determine a rarity or something a little odd-looking. Circumstances, however, are not always in the observer’s favour. I was reminded of this when I viewed a distant gull at Loch Connell on the 12th. First impressions suggested to me a Yellow-legged Gull but, after prolonged views - and even longer consideration - my thoughts switched to it being a hybrid Herring Gull x Lesser Black-back Gull. Unfortunately my deliberations ended there. The bird promptly flew away and now I - and you, reader - will never know its true identity.
What with rain on some days, fine on others, seeing hirundines has been very much a chance affair of late. The highest count of Swallows was 114 on the 22nd, with the peak of House Martins on the 20th, when in excess of 200 birds fed at altitude.
Long-tailed Tits receive little attention in the blog, mostly because they are quiet and small enough to go undetected. It was reassuring to be able to confirm their continued presence when a party of ten was espied amongst shore-line trees, on the 8th. Song Thrushes are similarly elusive at this time of year. I took the one I saw on the Wig track (also on the 8th) to be a sure sign of autumn passage in progress, however improbable that might seem to non-local readers.
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| Artistic rendition of a Long-tailed Tit |
A smattering of Wheatears across the month was a welcome change to the absence they displayed the previous year: six birds in close proximity on the 21st was a heart warming sight. Meadow Pipits are typically birds of passage about the Wig. Flocks here are generally small compared with some other parts of the region: 22 on the 21st and 18 on the 28th were thus notable. Their cousins, Rock Pipits, are generally solitary, so a party of 19 working its way along the beach at Kirkcolm on the 14th was a surprise as well as being unprecedented.
Regular readers will be aware that Greenfinches are generally rare on the local patch. This time of year, however, they sometimes become more frequent when birds from elsewhere pass through the area. Just eight at the Wig on the 24th kept them firmly in the ‘rare’ category, in my opinion. September is always a troublesome month for the identification of Twite and Linnet. It lies on the cusp of Linnets departing the area for their wintering quarters and Twite moving in to occupy the habitat vacated by their cousins. Given good views the species are relatively easy to distinguish - but, from a distance and out of earshot flocks become ‘little brown jobs’ (LBJ’s) and separating them then becomes nigh impossible. A flock of 130 birds on the 18th may have been either species - or, indeed, a combination of the two. Upwards of 300 birds in the appropriately known ‘Twite Fields’, on the 27th, were definitely their namesake - recognised by their characteristic, buzzing, twittering. The following day, the 28th, there were fewer Twite but 83 Linnets.
This article and the images contained within was
supplied by courtesy of S. Grover
