After last week's influx of new species, this week seems relatively quiet in comparison. We've still been seeing a great variety of species however, including a particular focus on plants this week.
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| Early flowering Wood Sorrel, but more on this later |
Starting out on the Loch this week, and our Red-throated Diver numbers looked to be a little low compared to previous records. Whilst the highest count was only 30 birds, we did have a couple showing breeding plumage as well. Our other divers this week included a couple of Great-northern Divers, and a single Black-throated Diver at the beginning of the week. Alongside them, we had regular records of Slavonian Grebes, including a pair that were displaying.
One of the most interesting (or frustrating, depending on your perspective!) aspects of birds, is the individuality within species. This often leads to races of birds within a species (some of which become new species themselves) which are unique to specific areas. Despite these races being determined by locality, they often still crop up here and there. This week we had a continental Cormorant (P. carbo sinensis) and a Scandinavian Herring Gull (L.a argentatus), which is the species from which our western Herring Gull race originates. These are very hard to identify with the Cormorants having slightly whiter heads, and the Herring Gulls being a shade darker on their backs and wing, and have less black on the wingtips. There are many species with defined races, including Black Guillemots, Dunlins, and Ringed Plovers, just to name a few. However, for most of these the difference between races is in the biometric measurements, and so often impossible to tell by sight when in the field.
Speaking of Ringed Plover, they were a little thin on the ground this week, with only 1 bird recorded. On the whole though we had a good selection of waders, including 20 Curlews, 45 Turnstones, 150 Oystercatchers, and 3 Dunlins.
Whilst things may have been tough to see this week, there certainly was a lot to hear! From Great-spotted Woodpeckers drumming, to the startled cry of a Pheasant, many species gave away their presence without ever being seen. This can be particularly useful when it comes to small brown birds, who are hard to tell apart by sight sometimes. Luckily we had a delightful chorus this week, including Linnets, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Chiffchaffs.
One species that was on the rise were the Stonechats. Normally we perhaps get a record of one once a week, but this week we had 7! We also had some good records from Loch Connell this week, including both Greylag and Canada Geese, alongside Tufted Ducks and a lone Goosander.
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| Marsh Marigolds (left) and Ivy-leaved Crowfoot |
Following a very warm winter, we have seen lots of plants starting to flower much earlier than expected. Throughout the Corsewall Estate we've had numerous early flowering plants, including Wood Sorrel, which normally isn't out till April. Really getting ahead of the competition was the Ivy-leaved Crowfoot and Marsh Marigold, which locally flower in May! Whether this is a result of the warmer winter, or perhaps a sign of global warming is unknown, but perhaps something to consider should they follow this trend in future years.
And that's another week rounded out! We're still hoping to see lots of new species cropping up in the coming months, and even in light of the current world situation, we'll do our best to get out there and see some of them. We encourage people to continue birdwatching as part of their allowed excursions, however please practice the recommended distancing and stay safe. You might not be able to speak to fellow birdwatchers out and about, but we can still share records and photos online!
[All photographs were taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]
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