This week saw the start of June, and much of the breeding activity we saw last month is starting to now bare fruit in the form of nests and fluffy (or not so fluffy in some cases) chicks. We're also off to a strong start on the species front, with another two added to the blog. Its been a great week to kick off the month, and hopefully it sets the tone for the coming days.
We begin the week with a variety of different nest builders, some in the process of construction whilst others are already occupied. The most prolific of these were the Cormorants, who had 16 nests scattered across the rocks. Many of these may have already seen their charges leave, as there have been several juvenile and immature Cormorants recorded around the loch this week. Shags have also been present in good numbers, with 32 recorded in one day, and they even had a nest as well! Away from the shore and there were yet more to be found, with Great Tits busy building, whilst a few of our local houses are scattered with the muddy marks of House Martin nests.
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| Great Tits often come to the feeders in our garden |
For the early birds (with or without worms) many have already got young, or even fairly advanced fledglings. We can see this in the Greylag Geese up at Loch Connell, whose goslings from the past few weeks have now become almost juvenile geese. Some surprising additions have replaced them however, in the form of Canada Geese with three goslings of their own. These are part of a feral population that resides across Dumfries and Galloway, however normally they do not breed in our corner of the county, so they were a pleasant surprise. Elsewhere we have seen Rock Pipits with juvenile birds, and a single female Eider with three ducklings. Which of the many hundred males is the father, who can say?
Whilst the Wig is our local stomping ground, we went a little further afield this week, and from it netted some very exciting records. First of our new species to the blog was a Fulmar, which whilst have come as far as the Wig in the past, are naturally seabirds and so are normally out on the open sea coast. Similarly, Peregrines are not unusual to see, however they are always exciting to watch, and a male and female pair is even more so. To round our outing off, we finished it off with another new species, the Spotted Flycatcher. Another migratory species they come here from Africa and western Asia. Whilst one was exciting enough, we then had another two later in the week, so suffice to say we are thoroughly chuffed with our records this week.
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| Pied Wagtails like the fields behind our local school |
As always there was plenty more activity from around the Wig, so I shall try to pick out the highlights. Pied Wagtails haven't been as common as of late, so to see two was quite pleasant, having a Grey Wagtail was the cherry on top. We've also had some Stonechats this week, along with some small flocks of Linnets.
Finally, we've also seen lots of mammalian activity this week. Roe deer are relatively common for us, but six in one week is particularly nice, especially when one is a cute young fawn. We also had a Hornet, which themselves are quite rare in Scotland.
That's another week wrapped up, and a great way to start off June. With the summer sun set to continue to beam down upon us, we're sure to be out seeing plenty of more exciting records over the coming weeks.
[All photographs were taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]
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