This week has seen some pretty turbulent weather, from strong wings to sudden and intense downpours. This has made bird-watching very sporadic, though on the days we have been out the weather has been excellent (as my suntan will attest too). Stormy weather can have its benefits however, since as well as cooling us down it can often end up blowing birds out at sea inland towards us. We've not had anything quite as exciting as last week recorded yet, but with these winds looking to continue something may well get blown in soon enough.
Rainy days can lead to a lot of garden bird watching, but fortunately, we see quite a variety of birds as they travel down the gardens on our street. This week we've had a Robin, a singing Goldfinch and a Carrion Crow Hybrid (hybridized with Hooded Crow). We often have Herring Gulls fly over the garden (we'll have to get a fish pond or something to entice them in) but this week a Black-headed Gull visited as it took refuge from the wind.
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| A Black-headed Gull (though it is in fact dark brown) |
Keeping with gulls, and we had a single record of a Kittiwake this week. Normally seagoing birds we get some infrequent records of them, so perhaps this one was taking some shelter from the windy weather. Down on the Scar we've been having Sandwich Terns on a regular basis, whilst elsewhere on the loch we had an Arctic Tern, our first record in a couple of weeks.
The Scar is a great spot for local waders, especially when the tide is out and the sand spit is revealed to its full extent. We often see large gatherings of Oystercatchers there since they breed all along the beach and fields. This week a pair were seen mobbing a crow, a good indicator that they had a nest somewhere nearby. The Wig is normally a good spot for Ringed Plovers, however this week we've only had the one record them. Whether this is the weather or some other factor we don't really know, but hopefully we shall see more of them going into next week.
Sticking to our waders just a little longer, and this week we have had a few new visitors. Whilst not a new species, it has been a few months since we last had a Lapwing record. Normally at this time of year they should be breeding (not locally sadly) so it's possible that this bird was a failed breeder and is beginning its autumn migration. Back on the beach, and early in the week a sharp call caught our attention whilst trekking through the woods next to the shore. Coming back later in the week we confirmed our suspicions and recorded our first Common Sandpiper of the year! These birds have bred here in the past, however, we were beginning to think they wouldn't even arrive this year since we normally see them by April - May.
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| Chiffchaffs tend to be easier to hear than see in my experience |
On the topic of bird songs, it can often be very difficult to pick out an individual species from the cacophony of the woods. Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers are very much the sound of summer, and we have heard them every day that we were out this week. Joining their chorus were Blackcaps, Whitethroats, Skylarks, Song Thrushes (they really do live up to their namesake) and even a sole Goldcrest made its voice heard. It is quite impressive how many of our records come from bird calls, as no matter where you are around the Wig there is always something to hear.
Not that long ago I did an article covering many of the butterflies that we see starting to appear. Since then we have recorded several more species which definitely deserve a mention. This week we've had a Small Heath, Large Skipper, Large White, Ringlet and Common Blue. This does not include many of the common species mentioned in the highlighted article, so just goes so show the huge variety of butterflies we can get once the sun is out.
And with that our weekly recap comes to an end. With the sun, rain and wind we've still had a great variety of birds and insects this week, and even squeaked in another new species in the Common Sandpiper. We must be running out of these, however with more winds on the horizon it's always possible that something exciting could be blown in, so check back next week to see what we get.
[All photographs were taken by and belong to Stephen Grover, please ask for permission if you wish to use them.]
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