Two consecutive days stood out this month, the 3rd and the 4th. They were special because a variety of species uncommon to the local area, or of other significance, were likely brought together by prevailing inclement weather conditions. On the 3rd those species were Curlew Sandpiper, Purple Sandpiper, Richard’s Pipit, Wheatear and Twite, and on the 4th, Barnacle Goose, Gannet, Grey Phalarope, Kittiwake, Leaches Petrel, Little Gull, Red-necked Grebe, Sandwich Tern and Swallow. As for all the other species and for information on the above species, please continue to read the remainder of this post.
There were seemingly few Pink-footed Geese about my local patch this month, with 90 birds seen flying over being my highest count, on the 9th. The so-called ‘black geese’ were better represented. Barnacle Geese are always a scarce visitors to the area about Kirkcolm so a party of five that I watched passing the Scar during rough weather on the 4th was notable; this was followed later the same day by a lone bird heading west. Another singleton flew over the Wig on the 17th and one was at Loch Connell on the 27th, where it grazed in the company of 275 larger Canada Geese. At the Wig, I recorded Pale-bellied Brent Geese almost daily, with well over 100 birds logged on 14 days across the month, including three counts of in excess of 200 birds: 202 at the Scar on the 22nd and 250 there the following day (23rd), and 296 on the 26th.
What I like about Mute Swans is that they are big, white (at least the grown-up birds are) and at this time of year have a fondness for gathering in flocks with others of their own kind. For birdwatchers, such as myself, this combination of attributes has a two-fold advantage: it makes them relatively easy to identify and, hence, count, even when viewed from a considerable distance away, such as I regularly experience at Loch Ryan. The recording process is therefore mostly stress-free - the same of which cannot be said for counting distant Scaup or Scoters! Thus, from six miles away in my house I am reasonably confident of the tallies I make of the Mutes that congregate along the southern shore at Stranraer. (A prerequisite to this task is of course the aid of a powerful spotting scope and suitable weather conditions). My peak count of the species this month was 112 birds observed on the 17th. However… and there is always a however or a but… astute persons amongst the readership may have detected a flaw in my approach. ”What about confusion species, like the similar sized Whooper Swan, which readily associates with its commoner cousin: can the author be certain of excluding them from any counts?” This is a valid question and any answer I offer is likely to be fraught with circumspection, so please note the following. Any count… of any species… that any person ever makes.. is likely to be a source of error if constantly challenged and opposed: there are very few tallies reported that are absolute, unequivocal and definitive. We as people have to accept that error and discrepancy are constituent, and try to reduce these to a minimum to put the odds forever back in our favour. As for myself, I prefer to rely on my experience of any given species and put my trust in that. Thus, after a slight digression, back to waterfowl…I had nine observations of Whoopers Swan spread across the month, with birds at the Wig on six dates, the largest party being six birds on the 17th and 22nd. Loch Connell held the biggest flock, comprising 22 adults on the 5th. Shelduck at Loch Ryan are fast becoming one of those species consigned to memory only. Fortunately they are not quite there yet but it was still a delight to see four plump birds huddled together on the Scar during the blowy and otherwise dreary morning of the 23rd. Perhaps not surprisingly they represented my only sighting of the species during the month.
In many ways drake Gadwall are mundane-looking birds, especially when observed from a distance; but up close, when viewed through the magnifying power of a scope, the detail of their plumage is revealed, with many of their feathers showing fine bars, spots, or streaks - all in shades of grey, black, brown and white. Alas, it is not often that I get the chance to appreciate the delicate patterning of this species thus I relished the opportunity when a bird turned up at Loch Connell, on the 5th. On the same day this body of freshwater also held over 200 Teal hidden amongst the marginal vegetation, with, I suspect, many more obscured from view if their distant whistles were any measure of their presence. My highest counts of Wigeon came from the sea-loch, with a pleasing 144 at the Wig on the 22nd and a large flock of 668 mustered on the exposed flats at Low Balyett on the 10th.
I believe that having high hopes at the beginning of each month is a natural condition among birdwatchers. I certainly held that very sense of anticipation leading to the arrival of this October, looking forward to seeing large rafts of Common Scoters on Loch Ryan. As it turned out I saw relatively few birds, mostly because gusting winds and precipitation affected viewing. On one vaguely clear day (the 14th), I did succeed in making a count of 76 birds. My counts of Eider were similarly affected - the best being 164 on the 10th. Goldeneye were distinctly lacking about the Wig, with a high of just three birds on the 11th, and the situation with Long-tailed Duck was much the same with a winter-plumaged male on the 28th and 29th. Better than none, I suppose.
An immature Pochard was at Loch Connell on the 20th and a Scaup was at the same location on the 27th. The latter species is however more familiar on Loch Ryan but it is rare for me to see this species from either the Wig or my house. But on the 17th lady luck smiled upon me and under the prevailing clear conditions I logged 32 birds off Innermessan during a routine scan of the loch from my house. There were good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers about the Wig during the early part of the month. A flock of 96 close inshore, on the 4th, was handsomely beat the following day (the 5th) by a significant raft of 200 birds, reducing to 123 the next day, then to 105 on the 9th.
Great Crested Grebes were one of the staple species to be seen at Wig Bay during the month, often occurring in small but scattered groups. My highest count was 33 on the 20th. An unusual record was that of a Little Grebe at the Wig, on the 29th. The same locality had an adult Red-necked Grebe in breeding plumage, on the 4th; another on the 20th, two on the 22nd and 27th and a singleton on the 28th. Slavonian Grebes were of course more frequent than the preceding species, with a high of 22 birds on the 17th. A Black-throated Diver moulting out of breeding plumage was at Wig Bay on the 26th, whilst a resplendent summer-plumaged Great Northern Diver was here on the 6th and 7th, followed by two on the 20th, 27th and 29th. One species that seemed near impossible for me to miss was Red-throated Diver on account of them seemingly being everywhere on Loch Ryan that I cast my gaze: the 22nd was particularly notable, when I logged 223, including a tight raft of 110 birds.
I had a few surprises on the wader front this month, beginning with American Golden Plover. It might be said that this species has become an annual visitor to the Scar in recent years; I have certainly had a good run of birds. The key to finding one is regular and patient scrutinisation of sizeable flocks of the more common and familiar ‘Goldie’, searching through them one bird at a time for something that looks a tad different. A classically marked juvenile was present at the Scar on the 7th and 8th, and a slightly less neat-looking bird there on the 17th followed by a moulting adult on the 29th. At the Wig a juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit was present on the 3rd, with two on the 7th and a single on the 22nd. Also here on the 3rd was a very active, feeding, Common Sandpiper, which foraged amongst the pebbles and cobbles on the beach in the manner of a Turnstone. My best count of Curlew was on the 29th when I observed 72 feeding in the sloping grassy fields at Clendrie. Curlew Sandpipers are always nice birds to happen upon: two juveniles were at the Scar on the 3rd and another - with a very short bill (often appearing straight or with very little curve) - on the 7th. I confess, the bill of the last mentioned bird initially caused me consternation before further close study revealed to me its true identity.
There is something appealing about sizeable flocks of Golden Plover, whether they be carpeting the exposed flats at the Scar when the tide is out, or cavorting in the air above it, twisting and turning, flashing ever changing tones of dark and light as they bank first one way and then the other. If my artistic abilities were ever good enough then such golden spangled flocks would be high on my list to paint. But, I am content just to view the works of others, such as the late C. F. Tunnicliffe, and happy that I am able to view such splendid aggregations of birds from the comfort of my home. This month the Scar was ripe with burgeoning flocks, with over 600 strong, recorded on the 1st and 31st and several larger gatherings in between, including an awesome 923 birds on the 12th. And yes… before you should query it… when it comes to counting birds that are settled on the ground my preference is to count them individually, one at a time, rather than guesstimating blocks of 50 or so birds and then using that as a measure to gauge the number of birds present. This approach is of course painstakingly slow and fraught with peril as birds often do lift off on mass in response to disturbance, such as from a passing raptor or a dog walker. Sometimes the birds will alight nearby, allowing the count to begin again from scratch… 1, 2, 3, etc… and sometimes they will leave the area entirely. Their cousins, Grey Plover, are much less problematic to count, owing to the fact that barely a handful of birds are ever present - in fact, this month there was just a single juvenile on the 17th and two on the 23rd.
The next species is a fine example of being in the right place at the right time - a Grey Phalarope, seen flying past the Scar on the 4th. Knot seemed to have been scarcer than usual this autumn, so one on the 7th, 16 on the 16th and 7 on the 23rd were very much appreciated by me. An unexpected treat… but a very welcome one at that.. was two Purple Sandpipers at the Scar on the 3rd. Double figures of Redshank at the Wig are always of significant note: 10 were duly registered in the logbook on the 22nd. Ringed Plover is another staple species of the shoreline during autumn. In spite of this they are not always as obvious to me as I would like on account of their small size and bold plumage which effectively render them invisible against the equally disruptive pattern of pebbles and sand of the beach. Consequently, I was more than pleased with the 64 birds I counted on the 23rd. Like the preceding species, Turnstone are also camouflaged for the environment they inhabit but, perhaps, because they are slightly bigger they are easier for me to spot, particularly if the are dashing along the strand-line. 82 birds at the Scar on the 3rd was an excellent count, I thought. A Whimbrel observed in a grassland beside the Wig, on the 29th, was my only record of this species during the month.
On the 4th, five Kittiwake flew past the Scar, whilst on the spit itself sat a first-winter Little Gull amongst a host of commoner species. Two days later (the 6th) at high-tide a second-winter Mediterranean Gull sat on the shore by the Wig Car Park. The following day (the 7th) the very same spot was occupied by an adult bird in winter dress. I presume that the immature just mentioned was the same bird I saw paddling on the flood water in the Pool Field (to the north of the Scar) on the 22nd. A lone Sandwich Tern frequented Wig Bay on the 4th, constituting my only record of the species for the month.
Auk species were surprisingly few and far between: a singleton Guillemot at the Wig on the 17th and two there on the 20th; just a single observation of Razorbill, comprising a party of 11 birds on the 17th. On the seabird front the highlight was probably a Leach's Petrel, which I saw fly past the Scar on the 4th. As expected given the time of year numbers of Gannet were low, peaking at 23 (including a juvenile bird) on the the 4th; there were an additional two juveniles on the 5th and four more on the 6th; the last sighting of the month was of two adults on the 20th. My highest tally of Shag on Loch Ryan was up on the previous month, with a minimum of 256 being logged on the 3rd, split between some 140+ on the pier at Cairnryan and 116 on the Scar.
The Coal Tit is a species that I more regularly see and hear when I am out wandering through areas of woodland in the vicinity of my home. However, very recently they have become frequent visitors to my garden, probably because my neighbour puts out a variety of foods at his well stocked feeding station. The tits benefit from the food provided and I benefit by seeing the birds that are attracted: a win-win situation all round. And because I have recently cleared some of the scrubby growth from my garden there now exist small open patches which the tits use as places to stash their spoils gleaned at the feeders. I saw eight birds doing this very thing, on the 23rd. Feral Pigeon rarely feature in this blog. They are however a constituent part of the village bird community. I expect to come across small bands of them feeding out in the stubble fields or occasionally on the shore of the sea-loch. To see 48 of them at my neighbour’s garden feeding station, on the 6th, was somewhat unexpected.
Pipits are a notoriously difficult group of birds to identify, well known to induce headaches and acute frustration among even the most accomplished birders. It is therefore nice to sometimes come across a ‘text-book’ bird that readily displays all the salient features as might be found illustrated and described in an authoritative field guide. I saw one such bird foraging beside the beach at the Scar on the 3rd - it was a Richard’s Pipit, no less! Funnily enough it was in the very same location that I saw a bird of the same species some several years previous. Observing 35 Skylark on the Wig fields was an encouraging sign early in the month, on the 3rd. That number was exceeded by a party of 42 birds that flew over the Wig Car Park on the morning of the 29th. I noted a single Swallow on the 3rd and 4th and two birds later, on the 8th. It remains to be seen whether or not any others of this summering migrant will be recorded next month.
There was a welcome return of ‘wintering’ Twite to the fields beside the seashore, with a ‘confirmed’ flock of 80 near the observation hut at the Scar on the 22nd. However, I noted some 240 birds on the 14th, which appeared to comprise mostly Twite, with an unknown number of Linnets. I hadn’t recorded a Water Rail in, seemingly, an age; I was thus pleased when I heard one calling from the estate marsh on the 18th. A Wheatear of the Greenland race was at the Wig on the 3rd and a bird of the year was there on the 7th. Two White Wagtails at the same location as the previous species made a change from the more usual Pied’s that frequent the area. Rounding up this month’s offering, migrating flocks of Woodpigeon are more typically seen on my local patch during November but there was no doubt to the passage of over 400 heading south-west on the 27th.
All in all it was another great month full of equal measures of surprise and delight, both of which outshone the manifest frustrations caused by the poor weather. What will next month bring, I wonder?
This article was provided courtesy of the author, S. Grover
